10 This is what the Lord
says: “When seventy years are completed
for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back
to this place.
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. 12 Then you will call on
me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.
How often have I have heard and
quoted Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the
plans I have for you - plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you a hope and a future” but has anyone ever put this verse in context in a
sermon or teaching? I don’t remember
ever hearing verse 10 conjoined to 11 and yet how crucial it to understand the
environment in which this promise from God was set.
2 (This was after King
Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders
of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into
exile from Jerusalem.)
It also follows God’s instruction
to these exiles to build houses, settle down, have children, pray for peace of
their captors because if it went well with them it went well with the
Israelites. In exile they were told it
would be 70 years before they would go back to their homeland. That means if they were 20 when taken into
captivity they would be 90 when they returned home. If born in captivity they would not even
have a reference point for home other than the stories their families told them. If one was 50 then most likely they would
die in captivity. In such circumstances
I imagine most of us would question the validity of a promise from God, “I know the plans. . . .to give you a hope
and a future” and yet it is, today, a coveted life-verse many hold on
to.
In those 70 years of hardship and
toil would anyone have the resolve to live in such a way that, although held
captive, they prospered and were at peace with their circumstances? Would the plan God told them He had for them
take place 70 years hence, or was there a deeper meaning we all too often
miss?
I believe we have missed the depth
of this promise. It is not a promise
that God’s plans will fit neatly into our parameters for prosperity and peace
and wealth. It is not a promise that we
will necessarily like the plans unfolding before our eyes. It is a promise that right in the midst of
the mess of life, the mess we ourselves often make of life God knows us, loves
us, and God’s plan is to prosper us in every circumstance – even captivity.
These captives got themselves in
this situation. God promised safety in
their own land if He remained their one and only God and they chose instead to
meld into surrounding societal norms, adopting the worship of inanimate gods
carved of wood and stone. We are no
different today. In our own country, founded
upon the knowledge of the One True God there is a culture invading hearth and
home not at all unlike what the Israelites faced. If we were taken into captivity because of
our apostasy would we understand if God spoke such a promise as Jeremiah 29:11? Would we humble ourselves, turn from our
wicked ways, seek His face so that He could one day restore us to our homeland
and in the meantime live IN his hope and peace, or would we live in rebellion
because His promise didn’t seem to fit our parameters of prosperity and hope? “Fixing your eyes on Jesus” comes to mind just now. “In every circumstance I have learned to be content” also arises in my heart and mind. That is what God told those held captive in Babylon who would be there for 70 years – keep your eyes on ME. As I live with the eyes of my heart fixed solidly on Him, living each day knowing THIS DAY He fulfills His promise then the reality of Jeremiah 29:11 will be a life verse that carries me IN the good times and IN the bad and I will dwell IN the hope of His good plans. IN them, in the midst of life’s mess – that’s the environment of such a great promise from God. For today, for tomorrow, for every day after than He knows the plans He has for me even when I make a mess of things. Every day I can take this promise to the bank, and every day I can dwell in His promised hope.
suemccarysargis
8/22/2014
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