If you’ve ever served at or attended a Vacation Bible School – or Vacation Bible Xperience for one church I attended – you’ve likely sung Jeremiah 29:11. “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” (Jeremiah 29:11). For children and adults alike, going through good times or bad times, what an encouraging message. Who wouldn’t want to hear that God has a plan for their life? And not just a plan, but a plan for prosperity and hope!
That word the ESV translates “welfare” is a word that refers to peace, health, fullness, and overall well-being. Generally translated “peace,” it encompasses far more than that to a Hebrew. A fair number of English speakers have likely heard it as a greeting in some churches or VBS programs. It’s the word “shalom.” This is not a plan for a narrow sort of mild welfare, this is a plan for general and abundant well-being, peace, and goodness.
Especially as a one-liner given to children, what a lovely thing to say to someone. Who wouldn’t want to hear this and think, “man, God sees me specifically, and he has a plan for my prosperity”? However, as with almost everything that everyone likes to hear, that’s not what this verse is talking about.
As you can already tell from the placement of the verse in the Old Testament, there should be a creeping expectation that this verse might not be referring to modern day people or even modern-day Christians. While this verse sounds great on its own, I think it sounds better in context. You should be aware though, that this verse means something completely different in that context.
But knowing what God meant by what He said is worth losing a nice one-liner. It might not be a message that non-Christians and children receive with open arms, but that’s not a surprise. Frankly, most of the items in Scripture when properly understood are not things that non-Christians like. But when properly understood, I believe that the truth demonstrated by Jeremiah 29:11 will be one of the most encouraging things that a Christian can hear. It reveals a trait of God that is so glorious and reassuring that I wouldn’t trade it even for a God that just wants to make me prosperous in this life. In fact, it reveals a trait about God that is downright essential to my faith in Him.
If it weren’t for Jeremiah 29:11 and verses like it, my life and future would be shrouded in anxiety and fear. If it weren’t for the truth about God demonstrated by Jeremiah 29:11 and other verses like it, all people – even and perhaps especially Christians – would be trapped by divine fear and uncertainty.
So, if you are only familiar with Jeremiah 29:11 as a one-liner pulled out of context for children and non-Christians, then I would encourage you to keep reading. You might lose a false promise about God’s plans for temporal prosperity, but you’ll gain an assurance of something worlds more powerful and comforting. At least, that’s what happened for me.
Interpretation of Jeremiah 29:11
Jeremiah 29:4-23 is a prophetic letter written by Jeremiah after King Jehoiachin – referred to as “Jeconiah” by Jeremiah – is carried off into exile by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1-2; 2 Kings 24:10-17; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10). If you’re not familiar with this stage of Israel’s history, I would encourage you to give 2 Kings 24-25 a quick read. If you’ve got more time, 2 Kings 18-25 will give all the historical context that we’ll cover in this discussion, but 2 Kings 24-25 is good enough if that’s what you have time for. Feel free to have Jeremiah 29 open on another window or in your Bible as you read this as well.
The letter in Jeremiah 29:4-23 is specifically addressed “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” (Jeremiah 29:1 ESV). Therefore, the intended audience of Jeremiah 29:11 – which is a statement within this letter – is the Judean exiles who have been carried to Babylon shortly beforehand.
In the initial section of this letter, God commands the Jews in Babylon to live with the expectation of being in Babylon long-term. They are commanded to build houses, to get married, to produce offspring, to arrange for the marriage of their children, to seek the welfare of the cities they inhabit, and to ignore the words of those who say they will soon return from exile (Jeremiah 29:5-9). In fact, God specifically states that “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” (Jeremiah 29:10). The Jews not only know that they will be exiled long-term, but they also know that exile will be 70 years – a duration both interpreted literally by Daniel while the Jews are still in exile (Daniel 9:1-2) and fulfilled literally by the proclamation of King Cyrus of Persia (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).
In fact, the statement made in Jeremiah 29:10 is further commented on in Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah 29:11 is introduced by כִּי “Kee” (“for, because, that”), which introduces a subordinate clause explaining the previous statement — in this case, the reason for that previous statement. This is critical because Jeremiah 29:11 is not meant to stand alone. Jeremiah 29:10-11 is a single statement, and Jeremiah 29:10 provides the main statement while Jeremiah 29:11 explains why God is making the statement in Jeremiah 29:10. God declares, “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” (Jeremiah 29:10). And why is it that God will deliver His people back out from Babylon when 70 years are completed? “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” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Because Jeremiah 29:11 is providing the motivation underlying God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:10, it is impossible for it to be a general statement meant to apply to all individual believers.
First, it is a statement provided to a group of people, not to individuals (Jeremiah 29:1). Of the individuals who have been exiled to Babylon, most if not all of them will never return from exile. God’s statement in verse 11 concerns His continuing commitment to His nation, not His intentions toward individuals. God’s care for the individuals in exile can be derived from statements elsewhere – e.g., God’s promise to bring down judgment on the people who have resisted going into exile in Jeremiah 29:16-19 as opposed to those already in Babylon – but that is not the point of Jeremiah 29:11 specifically.
Second, Jeremiah 29:11 is written to the population of Jewish exiles in Babylon during the 70 years before God restores them to Israel – based on verse 1 and verse 10. Not only can an individual Christian not claim this promise for himself because it is not written to individuals, but Christians generally cannot claim this promise as a group because it is written to a specific group at a specific time. God’s “plans for welfare … to give [the Jews in Babylonian exile] a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11) are specifically regarding when God “will restore [their] fortunes and gather [them] from all the nations and all the places where [He] has driven [them], and [He] will bring [them] back to the place from which [He] sent [them] into exile” (Jeremiah 29:14) following their repentance and return to their God (Jeremiah 29:12-13). These are not general plans for general welfare, they are specific plans for the restoration of Jewish exiles back into the geographical land of Israel.
God’s Character Displayed in Jeremiah 29:11
What, then, is the proper use of these verses for the modern Christian? In most circumstances, modern Christians are not Jewish – and we certainly are not exiled Jews living in Babylon during the time of Jeremiah. Should we therefore highlight Jeremiah 29:11 with a black sharpie? Should we skip it and move on to the passages in the Bible that actually have value today? Of course not.
One of the fundamental assumptions of a Christian reading the Old Testament is Paul’s statement that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). In another letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to God’s interactions with Israel recorded in the Pentateuch saying, “these things took place as examples for us” (1 Corinthians 10:6). While the events Jeremiah discusses are not contained in the Pentateuch, it is a demonstration of the principle that God’s interactions with His people in the Old Testament are valuable for even Gentile Christians –as the Corinthian church was largely Gentile – to consider and learn from.
God’s character never changes – in the words of James, in God “there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17) – so there is much to learn from His behavior historically. While we live in a different time and context, we serve and live under the same God. Every historical account of God’s behavior – especially in the pages of His own inspired Word – is a character-study on the Sovereign of our world and our individual lives.
So, what do we learn – as Christians living in the New Covenant – from God’s statement in Jeremiah 29:11?
We learn that difficult temporal circumstances – even when sent as a judgment from God Himself – do not mean that God has abandoned His people or reneged on His promises.
When God first made a covenant with Abram, He promised to bless Abram and to bless the entire world through Abram (Genesis 12:1-3), and He promised to make Abram’s descendants into a great nation that would possess the land of Israel (Genesis 12:2, 15:18-20). Furthermore, God promised that there would be a king to rule over the nation of Israel – specifically, a king and a kingdom that would stand forever (2 Samuel 7:12-17).
While these promises are further back in Israel’s history from the audience of Jeremiah 29, there are more promises which would be more freshly in their mind: the prophecy of Isaiah.
After the Assyrian exile of the Northern Tribes of Israel during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:9-12), the prophet Isaiah prophesied. In response to the dispersion of the Northern Tribes of Israel, Isaiah looks forward to the future glory of Israel where other nations will bring their wealth to her and serve her (Isaiah 60:4-14). In contrast to the desolation of Israel, God promises to “make [Israel] majestic forever, a joy from age to age” (Isaiah 60:15). Note again that Isaiah prophesied comparatively shortly before Jeremiah.
Consider, then, the state of Judah. Judah had looked at the exile of the Northern Tribes, and they received a prophecy looking forward to “the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of [their] God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:2). They received a prophecy of a time when God would place watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem and make “it a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-7).
Imagine those living in Judah hearing these words. Imagine living in Judah – your sister-tribes having been hauled off in brutality and desolation by the Assyrians – hearing of a time in the future where Israel would not only be restored, but when God would “extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream” (Isaiah 66:12). Imagine the sorrow resulting from 10 of the 12 tribes being lost, but the burgeoning hope that those 10 tribes would be reunited with you.
Now imagine that not only is your nation not being restored and exalted, but also those few of you that were left in the land of Israel are being carried off by yet another Gentile nation (2 Kings 24:1-17). While there are a still smaller number of Israelites living in Judah under Zedekiah – and Zedekiah eventually decides to fight against Babylon (2 Kings 24:18-20) – not only will Zedekiah not prevail against Babylon, but you hear that those still in Jerusalem will face God’s severe judgment (Jeremiah 29:16-19) and those in exile will be in exile for 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10).
As you sit in a foreign nation having only been carried off in chains maybe a few years ago, wouldn’t you think of all those promises made to Abraham of land and blessing (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:18-20)? Wouldn’t you think of the promises made to David of an enduring king and kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12-17)? Wouldn’t you think of the recent prophecies of prosperity and national glory from Isaiah 58-66?
As you sit in this foreign nation receiving a letter from Jeremiah that the Israelites will return decades in the future (Jeremiah 29:10) – when you yourself will likely be dead – and that those still in Jerusalem are doomed to be killed or carried off and doomed to suffer greatly in the meantime (Jeremiah 29:16-19); would those promises feel close or far away? Might you not feel like God had abandoned all those promises He made to your forefathers and your nation?
But God has not abandoned those promises. God has plans for Israel. Even in this most dire and depressing period of Israel’s history, God is looking to the future. God “know[s] the plans [He] has for [Israel] … plans for welfare, and not for evil, to give [Israel] a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
In fact, Israel loses hope. A couple chapters later, God discusses the words of Israel with Jeremiah: “Have you not observed that these people [Israel] are saying, ‘The LORD has rejected the two clans that he chose’?” (Jeremiah 33:24). The people were saying that God had abandoned them, but God’s response was to say this, “If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them” (Jeremiah 33:25-26). If God has rejected his covenant with Noah that the world would continue on its cycles until God finally destroys it (Genesis 9:11-17), then it can be said that He has rejected Israel and all the promises He made to them. Since we can still look at the sky and see a rainbow, since the sun still rises and sets, since the months and seasons still continue, and since the world still has not been destroyed by a global flood; we can clearly see that God still intends to fulfill all His promises to the people of Israel.
The nation of Israel was without hope. They were suffering the just and promised penalty of exile for their national sins (Deuteronomy 28; 2 Kings 23:26-27). Despite all of that, God had not turned from His promises of prosperity and a kingdom. God restored them after 70 years of exile, and God will still fulfill His promises of Israel’s repentance and kingdom under their Messiah in the future (Romans 11:25-36; Revelation 20:1-6, 21:1-27).
Despite the horrible temporal circumstances that Israel faced, God’s promises were secure. Despite the fact that Israel was – and in the modern day, still is – under God’s judgment, Israel never stopped being God’s people, and Israel never will stop being God’s people. God’s promises are still secure. Israel’s sin couldn’t shake off God’s promises, and neither could God’s judgment.
The Application for the Christian of Jeremiah 29:11
Jeremiah 29:11 is proof of the security of God’s promises and God’s word. Even to those who have sinned greatly against God, God’s promises are secure. Even to those who are facing the fierce temporal judgment of God, God’s promises are secure. Even when a group or person to whom God has made promises has lost all hope in those promises, God’s promises are secure.
Hasn’t God made some promises to the Church and to Christians?
Has God not promised that a Christian will be saved from Hell and be brought to Heaven (Romans 6:23, 10:10-13; John 3:16-17; Revelation 20:11-21:4)? Has God not promised that if you repent and turn to Him in faith, that your salvation will be secure to the end regardless of personal failure or external circumstance (Romans 5:9-11, 8:1-2, 8:37-39; Ephesians 1:11-14; 1 John 2:18-19)? Are there not many more of God’s promises that would be too lengthy to relate here?
Don’t we suffer though? As Christians, we are promised that the world will hate us (John 15:18-25). As Christians, we are promised that we will suffer (1 Peter 4:12).
We do not only suffer because we are righteous though. We suffer when God disciplines us for our sin. The author of Hebrews calls out to us as we struggle against sin, “have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives’” (Hebrews 12:5-6).
While Christians are not defined by sin any longer (Romans 6:1-4; 1 John 3:6-10), even those with the Spirit can sin and sin greatly – consider David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11), or Ananias and Sapphira whose sin was so grave that they were publicly executed by God for it (Acts 5:1-11). As such, we will suffer not only because we are righteous, but we also will suffer for our sins – very similarly to the suffering of the Israelites to whom Jeremiah 29:11 was written.
When we ourselves are in terrible circumstances – even circumstances of judgment brought by God Himself – we can know that God’s deep love for us still endures (Romans 8:28, 38-39). Just like Israel had not lost God’s promises or love when Jeremiah wrote Jeremiah 29:11, the Church and Christians will never lose the love or the promises God has given to us.
This is why Jeremiah 29:11 gives me such peace, and why I would never trade it for the shallow interpretation that has become so popular. God has promised to save me despite the fact that I am weak and frail and rebellious. When I look at those sins which have plagued my life even since becoming a Christian, I don’t have to wonder if God will change His mind. As I look at eternity and realize that that is a long time for God to get sick of me and get rid of me, I know His promises are secure and His love is unchanging. If I didn’t know that God’s promises and love are so firm that no amount of sin or difficulty could ever shake them, where would my peace be when I was being disciplined by Him? When my life turns for the worse – whether because of amoral circumstances or as discipline for my sin – I can be secure knowing that while my situation may tremble, my God’s closeness to me never will.
The peace in whatever circumstance that Jeremiah 29:11 and verses like it provides is far more powerful and far deeper than a false promise that God will make me prosperous someday. This is not because Jeremiah 29:11 is written to me or to Christians, this is because it is yet another in a long line of situations where God displayed His unchanging character.
God is a promise-Keeper. That’s just as true now about Christians and Jews as it was about Jews when Jeremiah 29:11 was written.
What an encouraging message.