Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah 29:11 is a very well known bible verse and an oft quoted one.

‘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.’

 

We take this verse; quote it, learn it and meditate on it with the knowledge that this is a promise of wealth. Or at least I have. The question is, is it? How often did I take into account the context of the verse?

This verse is found in a letter Jeremiah wrote to the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon. These people had been ripped out of the land they considered home and transplanted into another culture. Think about that for a moment. Some people thrive in circumstances like that, but many people I know don’t voluntarily leave the state they were born in, let alone country, so I can’t see how they would do if forcibly shifted and made to adapt to another culture.

These people were in exile, they had no choice. God put them there because they hadn’t listened to him in the first place and in this letter he tells them through Jeremiah that he doesn’t plan to harm them. I’m sure some, even many scoffed at that.

God tells the people to make Babylon their home, to seek peace and prosperity for the city for in that way they will prosper too (vs 7). This isn’t a promise to one person it is about a lifestyle for a community – have houses, gardens, food, children, weddings and seek the peace and prosperity of the city. This is not an insular thing, it is very external. It is an instruction to move forward, don’t get stuck in the past or isolate yourself. A pretty relevant lesson for today. It seems to prove we can live in the world, be a part of it, even influence it. Honestly how will anyone new be introduced to Christ if we become like the Pharisees and cut ourselves off.

Immediately after being told to increase and create a prosperous community comes a warning against false prophets.

 

Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do

not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not

listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying

lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:8-9

 

The phrasing seems to indicate these prophets were telling the people what they wanted to hear and it’s placement suggests to me that they may have been encouraging isolation, anger and bitterness. All things harmful to a community and individuals.

Verse ten is a reinforcement of God’s promise to deliver them from Babylon and this is the verse that directly preceeds the promise we know so well. To my mind then God seems to be saying ‘trust me I do not intend for you to be harmed by what happened, rather I would see you strengthened, prospered and with a hope for all the future holds.’

Sometimes we get offended and annoyed with God because we see things that happen as harmful simply because they don’t fit in with our plans. But if we are going to hold onto the promise of this verse we would probably do well to remember it in conjunction with

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those

who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4;13

 

Prosperity like abundance doesn’t necessarily have to mean money. I know people who have heaps of money but they don’t have the family life I do or, in many ways the happiness. I have a prosperity of spirit that they don’t. It’s good for me to remember that when I get caught up in longing for stuff.

This letter to the people doesn’t end at verse eleven:

 

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I

will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you

seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares

the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity…

Jeremiah 29:12-14(a)

 

This is a rich and layered text. It had meaning then and has meaning now. It had specific meaning and general meaning. They turned their back on God so He stepped back from them and now He is telling them if they turn back to Him he will be there for them to find and return them to the promised land. It is also indicative of our relationship with God today, He wants a close relationship with us and so often we turn away, end up somewhere we weren’t expecting and wonder why God did it to us. We conveniently forget the choices we made that resulted in exile.

Maybe we have a tendency to take God for granted. We want the promises but don’t engage all we are into seeking God in the process. We want the blessings but we don’t want to invest anything of ourselves into getting them. We can’t earn salvation but remember faith without works is dead.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:17

We want the good stuff but we don’t want to actually have to do anything to get it. If we say we believe but don’t do anything about it, is our faith empty, superficial, something that is just part of the façade we show people? Will our faith stand up to exile. Is our faith active and alive or is it merely words?

The verse that means so much to us is found in a letter that goes for twenty verses. We like to pick two, one tenth of what is said, and focus on that. Consider this thought; that God is not as interested in prosperity as He is his people listening to and encouraging false prophets. We all like to hear certain things and avoid others. There is a part of us that likes to have our ears tickled but we are warned about that, in both testaments. Come on this is part of why these people were exiled in the first place. It is still a valid warning for us today.

Check with the bible, check with God and the Holy Spirit residing in you that what you are hearing is God’s word and not just what you want to hear. We hear the prosperity message crystal clear, but somehow the ‘obey me or live in exile’ part gets lost in transmission. Exile for us doesn’t mean being shipped off to another country but it could mean living outside God’s best for us and God’s best isn’t always what we think it’s going to be. God’s definition of prosperity isn’t necessarily what we want it to be. I don’t know about you but me, when I get to heaven I want to hear those words ‘well done good and faithful servant’, after all it’s not like I can take my big screen tv and DVD collection with me.