Jeremiah 29:11, a Plan to Prosper You?

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 316 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 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 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 828 by the way the third most searched verse on the internet but we need to see the fulfillment of these promises the way the