"For I know the plans I have for you"

Its been awhile since my last blog. I don't think its ironic that my last post was titled "As we make plans, life happens". My 'plan' was to blog at least once every 1-2 weeks, but as I said life happens. Then I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11.  Its a favorite verse to many. I actually have a bracelet with the words quoted,

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The point of this post is to express my concern about the absence of context. Many times we hear a verse that stands out as encouraging and leave out the words that are before and after or what is known as context. The context is what gives us the meaning of the verse. Its very easy to read Jeremiah 29:11 and think God wants us to have the "good" life that we all dream to have, but when we read the context of chapter 29 we realize that perfect life is a few years off for the original audience. Jeremiah 29:1-23 states,

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear 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 I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, hand will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ 20 Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

The people of Israel were exiled from Jerusalem by God. Verse 19 explains why they were sent away, "Because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord."  God tells his people to make themselves at home in verses 5, "Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce." They are called to "multiply there, and do not decrease" by taking wives and having children in verse 6. God tells them find peace in Babylon in verse 7, "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." God is telling his people to get comfortable because his plan was to keep them in exile for 70 years. God's promise is found in verse 10-11, "For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." And of course when it comes to Scripture it doesn't just end there. We learn in verses 12-13 what it will take for God to fulfill his promise, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." This is the call to all Christians to seek God full heartily, to pray earnestly with faith knowing that God keeps his promise. 

There is more in this Scripture that could be unwrapped but I think I have made my point as far as seeking the true meaning of a single verse.
Here's my last point I want to make looking at Jeremiah 29:11: God's promise is fulfilled in his Son Jesus Christ who was sent to be a sacrifice for our sins in order to bring God glory. Our welfare or peace is not found in worldly things but in relationship with Christ our Lord who is our only hope in a broken world. I thank God for his plan for his people to humble us through suffering, for the cross that will ultimately restore his kingdom and for his unending love and mercy he bestows daily. Praise to God our Father who is the almighty creator and 'planner' of his universe!