Article: DO NOT WASTE YOUR EXILE! | Jacob Varghese

Jeremiah 29:11- 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. This is one of our favorite Bible verses because it just makes us feel so good. I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper, to give you a hope and a future. Isn’t it exactly what we want to hear? God has a plan for you and it is a good plan with a future and a hope. Who doesn’t want a future and a hope? Am I right? But the only thing is, this verse is so often taken out of its original context. So often we will find people using this verse as a way to support their own plans that they have put in place for their lives rather than a reminder to surrender to God’s ultimate and redeeming will.We often approach Jeremiah 29:11 as a security blanket: God has a plan for me that is good, so clearly this suffering I’m going through will end soon and then my flourishing will begin! But that is not at all what God was promising to the Israelites, and it’s not what he’s promising us, either.Should we as Christians be quoting this verse-what does this verse mean in its original context and should we just jump and apply it to our own lives. This is one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. We need to really understand what that verse actually means so that if we choose to quote it, we will be quoting it with the right perspective. Let us look at the context of Jeremiah 29:11. Well, in order to understand Jeremiah chapter 29, it is important for us to understand the context of the book of Jeremiah to begin with. At this specific time in history when Jeremiah is writing this letter, the Israelites God’s people are living in exile in Babylon under the rein of king Nebuchadnezzar. This is not a good time for them. Let us go back and do a little bit of an overview of the Old Testament history.

First and foremost we have the nation of Israel and they move into the promised land and this land was previously inhabited by all sorts of pagan nations like the Jebusites, the Hittites, the Canaanites and all the different other pagan ungodly evil nations. And it was God’s intent that the nation of Israel would be a light and they would permeate the culture with God’s goodness and God’s righteousness and God’s standards and norms and all of these things. But sadly the nation of Israel failed on that mission and instead of infusing that culture around them, they conformed to the pagan culture and they became quickly contaminated by the evil nations around them. And so their light was extinguished but because God loved them so much God did not just punish them and destroy them right away. No, He warned them over the period of hundreds of years by sending prophets like Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and all these different people. But they rejected the message; they did not want to listen to all these people. Eventually over a period, God said you know what I am going to do to get their attention, I am going to punish my children by allowing a foreign wicked nation called Babylon to enter into Jerusalem, to enter into the Promised Land, to kidnap them, to destroy that land, and take them back over to Babylon. Jeremiah is one of those prophets who God has sent to speak to the people of Israel, while they have been taken away from their land in captivity. So the context of Jeremiah chapter 29 is that God has punished His people, they are depressed, they are discouraged, they are losing hope, they don’t believe that God has a plan for them anymore and they are no longer living in the Promised Land. So now that we see the context for the book of Jeremiah, let us now look at the content of Jeremiah chapter 29, the first thing that we see in this passage of scripture is basically that God is telling them you need to get comfortable right where you are because you are going to be there for a very long time.

Let us read what it says in verses 5&6, Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. So basically what God is saying here is you are not going to go anywhere, anytime soon, so you might as well just stretch out, just settle down, just get comfortable because don’t think that, this is going to be a quick little time that you are over here in Babylon and you are just going to come right back to your homeland. No, you are going to be here for a while so just get comfortable.This is not at all what the Israelites wanted to hear! They wanted to be told that they were going to go home. They wanted to be told that their suffering was going to end. Instead, God’s plan was for them to stay right where they were, and to help prosper the nation that enslaved them! Think about it, if you are going to be in a place only for a short period, or whenever you and I anticipate being able to leave somewhere soon, we don’t normally send our children to schools, do not start a business or start constructing a house. Isn’t it? But God is telling here, you need to do all those things because you are going to be there for 70 years. Now I am sure that, this was the exact opposite, of what the nation of Israel wanted to hear. But particularly if you were of the older generation because that basically means that if there is 70 years that we are going to be in Babylon that means that I may not even return back to my home land.So once again we are starting to see the context of this verse is that it’s pretty bad situation and it is going to continue to be bad before it actually gets better. But the second thing that we see that God tells them to do is not only to be comfortable but to actually help their oppressor.

In vs.7 also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Notice what it says, here it says work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you in to exile, pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare. You see, whenever you and I are in a bad situation, the very last thing that we feel like doing is praying for the very person or the people that were responsible for getting us into that situation but God is saying, look since you are going to be there for 70 years, you might as well make the best of it, pray for the people around you and pray for the city that you are living in because as that city prospers, even if you don’t like the people in that city, you are going to prosper as well. And since you are not going anywhere for 70 years that is probably a good thing for you to do. But the third thing that God tells them in vs.8. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.Remember we have not even reached to verse 11; the one we always love to quote-what the Lord says is this to reject prosperity preaching now. If you think the prosperity preaching just stared in the recent years, then my friend you are sadly mistaken because this idea of prosperity preaching and theology that actually extended way back in to the Old Testament. Before we even get to Jeremiah chapter 29, it is helpful for us to look back to a chapter and actually look at the context in Jeremiah chapter 28 and there what you will see is that there was a false prophet by the name of Hananiah and this prophet was basically prophesying that they were only going to be removed from their land for 2 years, yes two years and God is saying like no that’s wrong, that’s a false prophesy. Let us actually have a look at it. Notice it says here in Jeremiah 28, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’” But later in the same chapter we see that the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’” In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.

This is exactly what false prophets in our present days are actually doing, they are claiming that they are hearing from God but they are really not. It says here this is what the Lord of heaven, the God of Israel says I will remove the yoke of the king of Babylon from your necks. No, God did not say that. God said that you are going to be there for 70 years. See what Hananiah is saying, hey you are only going to be over there for two years because God is going to bless you, God is going to bring you back, God is going to bring the king back, God is going to break the yoke of the Babylonians. Let us see what God is actually saying ,let us come back to chapter 29 and it says this- God is saying do not let your prophets and fortune tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you, do not listen to their dreams because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not send them says the Lord. This is the reason why we need to be careful who we listen to, who we place ourselves under because there are so many people out there going to tell you that your blessing is on the way. God has a miracle in your life, God is going to break this yoke in your life, God is going to deliver you, and God is going to bless you. No,no,no! Do not believe them; you may be in the same condition for another year or two, you may be unemployed for some more time, you may not be healed of your sickness for some more time.
Actually we do not want to hear those things so what we do? We surround ourselves with people who are going to tell us what our itching ears want to hear and that’s exactly what is happening here in the Old Testament. So God is essentially saying I did not tell them, you are going to be there only for two years. No, I am in the midst of punishing you for your bad behavior, for your disobedience. You know often times we ourselves are getting into situations and then we expect God to just deliver us. If you are in a situation because of your disobedience it does not matter somebody prophesize over your life. It very well may be God is disciplining you in the season of life that you are in now. That is not the first time that God is telling them to get away from the false prophets. Look at chapter 23 of Jeremiah vs. 16 &17 this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’
Have you ever thought that God was angry with you? Have you sometimes questioned His love? This often happens when we are going through some great tragedy. Satan often uses the circumstances of our lives to bring doubt concerning God’s love. Sometimes things are not as we want them to be. Despite our best efforts, our circumstances aren’t friendly. False prophets were telling the people, “Don’t give up; there’s still hope. God will surely send a miracle of deliverance as He has in the past.” But Jeremiah’s message was, “There’s no last minute miracle on the way. The judgment of God is falling.” In chapter 29, he wrote to exiles who had already been exiled to Babylon, giving the same message, but in the middle of it we find this remarkable verse of comfort and hope (v. 11). In conclusion, let me tell you in looking at this chapter, we can learn something about responding to negative surroundings.

When we are not where we want to be, how should we respond?
1. Make the Best of Things (vv. 4-6):
2. Pray Where You Are (v. 7):
3. Beware the Wrong Voices (vv. 8-9):
4. Take the Long View (v. 10):
5. Get Hopeful about God’s Plans (v. 11):
6. Seek the Lord Above All (v. 13-14):
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Whatever our circumstances, we can make Him Lord of our lives and seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. Jeremiah calls out Hananiah’s lie and then states the promise we read in 29:11. God does indeed have a good plan for the Israelites, and it is a plan that will give them hope and a prospering future.The thing is, before he shares this promise, he gives them this directive from God: “seek the peace and the prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, of course, God knows the plans He has for us. And ultimately He will give us a glorious future. But as we work out our lives on this crazy earth, let’s remember that the best growth comes through persevering through trials, not escaping them entirely. And when we learn perseverance, we find surprising joy.
Notice how the verse says, For I, God knows the plans; I God has for you, not for you to know the plans that you have already made up for your life. Though this promise was given in a context thousands of years ago, I also believe that this is a promise that Christians can claim with confidence today as well. Two reasons for this-First it is clear that this is a promise made by God to the Israelites, His covenant people so then how can we lay claim to it. Well aren’t we also God’s covenant people through Christ. Aren’t we the benefactors of a new covenant brought and sealed with His blood and therefore as covenant children of God we can lay claim to His covenant promises. We cannot distort His promises to align with our own personal will but we can rely on what His word says and the second reason I believe we as Christians today can lay claim to this promise is because this entire story of the Israelite exile into Babylon. It stands as a metaphor for what God is doing throughout all of humanity. Philippians 3:20 tell us that our citizenship is in heaven as children of God. We are not citizens in this world. We are in a sense exiles in a foreign land. Even though we are not at home in this world, God has still called us to take root here, to connect, to multiply and seek the welfare of others and through Jesus, God has also given us a future and a hope that one day we will live forever with Him in our true home. Yes, definitely God has a plan for our future. So let us NOT WASTE OUR EXILE!

JACOB VARGHESE

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