Jeremiah 29:11, a Plan to Prosper You?

Jeremiah 29:11 and the Context of Exile

Jeremiah 29 11 reads for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord a plan to prosper and not to harm you to give you a hope and a future. What a beautiful promise from God's Word. Right. Slap it on a coffee cup and fill me up with some of that.

We love that verse. In fact according to BibleGateway .com it is the second most searched Bible verse on the internet after John 3 16. There's a problem with the way we tend to use it. Jeremiah 29 11 isn't addressing us.

The verse appears in a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah to Israel who at the time was under Babylonian captivity having been exiled because of their sin. In verse 11 God was assuring them that they would not be annihilated by Babylon but instead needed to pray that they would benefit from the welfare of their captors.

He then says that they will call out to him and he would restore their scattered nation. But that was a promise that wouldn't be fulfilled for another hundred and fifty years. The Israelites hearing that letter weren't even of the generation that would receive the things it promised.

A Promise to a Specific Nation, Not Individual Prosperity

So what we have is a proclamation given to a specific nation in a particular situation that prophesied the restoration of a future generation. It was not written to individuals promising health and wealth.

Romans 8:28 and the Better Hope of Hebrews 11

It's true that to those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. That's Romans 8 28 by the way the third most searched verse on the internet. But we need to see the fulfillment of these promises the way the Old Testament faithful did as it says in Hebrews 11 16 it wasn't an earthly land they desired but a heavenly one and that's what we should be looking forward to when we understand the text.