7/25/2023 0 Comments Scripture jeremiah 29 11![]() ![]() They will raise families, and ply their trades. ( Jeremiah 29:11) In the mean time, they will learn to pray, and to seek God with their whole hearts, something they were obviously lacking before this captivity. ( Jeremiah 29:10) It is only after going through this testing trial, that God will bring them back home, and God’s plan for them will be fulfilled. Furthermore, it does not promise an immediate end to current suffering, but a lengthy time (70 years to be exact), that the people are actually told by God to make the best of a bad situation. That makes a big difference to how we are to interpret this entire passage. This is not written to an individual but to a group. The letter is written to a specific group of people who are going through a specific situation. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” ( 29:7) Instead, Jeremiah warns the exiles not to listen to the lies, and to “seek the peace and the prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Given the nation’s circumstance at the time, this is just the kind of prophesy people in captivity would embrace whole heartedly. Jeremiah, in exile with them, calls out the lies of the false prophet, Hananiah who has proclaimed that God would free Israel from Babylon in two years. ( Jeremiah 29:4-7) The Israelites were in exile, a punishment from God as a result of their disobedience. Jeremiah 29 is a letter written to the exiles who were captured by the king, Nebuchadnezzar who took them from their homes in Jerusalem and carried them to Babylon. ![]() To do otherwise, devalues this most popular verse so it becomes merely a platitude that we hang on our wall as décor to give us misguided encouragement whenever we look at it. Unfortunately, this verse MUST be interpreted and understood within its Biblical context. Knowing that we have a future filled with blessings from God…well…what’s not to like? It really requires little from us as individuals per se. The idea that God has a perfect plan for you that will prosper and not harm you is a sentiment that is worthy of embracing and hoping for. I certainly understand why Jeremiah 29:11 would be a most popular verse if we read it completely out of context. According to Bible Gateway, the most popular verse in 2018 was Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” followed closely by John 3:16, and Philippians 4:13.
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