Prosperity or Persecution: Jeremiah 29:11, Context, and the Promises of God
Have you ever visited a beautiful country, looked around at the stunning landscape, and claimed this promise from the Lord: "Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever." (Genesis 13:14)?
Have you dreamed of doing something truly great with your life when suddenly you came across the following verse and received it as God's promise to you: "And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies." (1 Samuel 10:1)?
Why not? Why don't we claim these verses for ourselves and share them with others as God's promises to them? Why don’t we stitch them on pillows, print them on mugs, and write them in notes of encouragement as God’s promises to our family and friends?
What about this verse: "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 a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)?
If you've spent much time with Christians, it's likely you have been encouraged with this promise or even "claimed it" for yourself. The problem is that this promise wasn't given to you. In fact, none of the promises above were given to Christians for our lives today.[1] A quick reading of the context demonstrates that Genesis 13:14-15 was a promise given to Abraham regarding the land of Canaan, and 1 Samuel 10:1 was a promise to Saul, the first king of Israel. Likewise, the context of Jeremiah 29:11 reveals that this was a promise given to the Jews taken into exile in Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Jeremiah 29:1-4).
The letter in which this promise is found begins, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 'Build houses and settle down...plant gardens...take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage...seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile....'" (Jeremiah 29:4-7). The letter goes on to caution the exiles not to listen to the prophets and diviners around them, and warns them they will be in exile for seventy years. Once the seventy years are completed, the Lord will bring them back to Israel, prosper and not harm them, and give them a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:8-11).
The somewhat vague promise to prosper the Israelites who returned from exile is clarified in the following sentences. The Lord would prosper them by turning their hearts toward him; they would seek him with all their heart and find him. The Lord also promised to restore Israel’s national fortunes, which had been stolen by foreign leaders who conquered Israel. And, as mentioned above, the Lord also promised to return them to their homeland of Israel (Jeremiah 29:12-14).
Even for these Israelites, the promise was not that every individual would always be healthy, wealthy, and successful in all they did, but that God’s remnant of exiled Israelites would seek the Lord with all their hearts and find him, they would return to Israel, and they would have their national treasures returned. National Israel would not be obliterated or forgotten.
For those who did not go into exile, the letter continues with a very different promise: "I will send the sword, famine, and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with the sword, famine, and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them." (Jeremiah 29:17-18).
So, for the Israelites who went into exile in Babylon, the Lord tells them they will be there seventy years but then he will return them to their homeland and prosper them once again. For those who didn't go into exile, he will bring scorn, reproach, and horror. You can't know which promise is for you if you don't know which group you're in, so which one are you? Did you go into exile in Babylon when Jerusalem was conquered, or did you stay back at your farm in Judea?
I hope it's obvious that you and I are in neither of these groups. We are not the Jews in exile in Babylon, nor are we the Jews who refused to go into exile when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Therefore, these promises are not for us! Stay with me here. I'm not saying there is nothing we can learn from these passages, for "all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."(2 Timothy 3:16-17). But not all promises found in Scripture are promises for us today. We must consider the context!
Considering Jeremiah 29:11 within its context, we can take comfort in knowing that God was faithful to his covenant promises and he didn’t give up on his people, even when they failed colossally. Since God’s character never changes, we can trust that he will continue to honor his covenant promises, dealing with his people in patience and faithfulness even as we fall short time and time again.
At the same time, the verses and chapters surrounding Jeremiah 29:11 remind us that God takes sin very seriously, and so must we. Although we fail to love God and others perfectly, we must repent of our sins and strive for holiness with all our being, never giving up on our decision to trust the One who never gives up on us.
In short, there is much to be taken from the accounts recorded in Jeremiah, but guarantees of health, wealth, and personal prosperity for individual Christians today is not one of them.
If we want to know God's promises for New Covenant disciples, we ought to look at 2 Timothy 3:12, which says, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Written by the apostle Paul at the end of his life to his disciple Timothy, this promise in particular leaves no doubt as to its universal application for obedient followers of Jesus due to its context and use of the phrase, "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus."
We can also turn to John 16:33, which says, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." This promise is found in Jesus’s final words to his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion, as he is preparing them for what is to come after he is gone. The promise of trouble (translated "tribulation" in the ESV) is wedged between Jesus’s promise to send the Holy Spirit and his prayer for unity among his disciples, including future disciples who will one day believe. The context describes what Jesus had in mind for all believers, and it is consistent with the rest of the New Testament to understand that followers of Jesus will experience tribulation.
To confirm this, we can look to 1 Peter 4:12-13, in which the apostle Peter warns the believers scattered throughout the known world, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Giving attention to the context in which this was written, there is no indication that this promise was limited to only the believers of that time.
Of course there are many other promises for New Covenant believers that do not pertain to suffering, but if you're looking for guarantees of prosperity, success, and freedom from harm in this life, you're not going to find them. What you are going to find is that in the midst of our suffering the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). You'll see that we have an advocate to help us and be with us forever (John 14:16-17; Romans 8:9-10, 26-27). You'll find assurance that when we pray about our concerns and entrust them to the Lord, he will give us peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:6-7). And you'll find many promises that no matter how difficult our lives become now, our eternal future will be glorious in Christ (2 Corinthians 4:17; Romans 2:7; Revelation 21-22)!
These, and many others, are promises given to faithful followers of Jesus, and when our hope is rightly-placed we will not be disappointed.
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[1] Jews may rightfully claim the land promised to them through Abraham; however, even Jews may not apply this promise to any land they desire. This was a specific land promised to a specific people.
