God’s plan to give Israel a hope and a future was a plan to cast them out into a brutal foreign land so that they would turn from their idols and call on His name then He would finally bring them home. God would deliver His people over to their enemies, but not forever. God was punishing them harshly, but it was for their own good. It was to bring them to repentance, turn them from their idols, and bring them back safely. God’s ultimate goal in the exile was not to harm the nation of Judah. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile,’” (Jeremiah 29:11-14). You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. God was punishing His people, but He was not abandoning them. Though few in the current generation would live to see it, their children and grandchildren would not be left in exile forever. Any prophet who told them otherwise was a liar. All the adults (and many of the young children) who were taken into exile would grow old and die there without ever being able to come home. God gave them a specific time frame: seventy years. For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place,'” (Jeremiah 29:8-10). For they prophesy falsely to you in My name I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. Yet, there seem to have been false prophets that were trying to tell the people otherwise, for we read: The point is clear: God was sending them away for a long time. If Babylon fell on hard times, the Jews would have to suffer through those hard times with them. Why? Because, no matter what, they were going to have to live there. Instead of hoping for the quick downfall of Babylon, they were to pray for Babylon’s prosperity. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will have welfare,'” (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters and multiply there and do not decrease. “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce. They are going to be there a long time and need to live accordingly: Unlike earlier times, such as in the days of the judges, God will not swiftly raise up a deliverer. God then proceeds to instruct them that their exile will not be brief. “Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,” (Jeremiah 29:1). Thus, when we arrive at chapter 29, we read:

Indeed, some portions of the book were written after the process of exile had already begun. It is not a rosy book of happy promises, but a stern warning of what they deserve and what God will soon bring about. The book of Jeremiah is primarily concerned with Judah’s sin and God’s intention to punish them by sending them into exile in Babylon. To understand this (or any) verse, it is important to consider the immediate context.

Yet, after all is carefully read and the context fully considered, this passage (like all of Scripture) still does have meaning for Christians today, if not exactly the meaning that we initially thought. Yet, more biblically astute readers are often quick to point out that such a shallow, feel-good usage of this verse entirely ignores the context and thus misses the point. One can certainly see how people might find these words encouraging. “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope,” (Jeremiah 29:11). Jeremiah 29:11 is often quoted and printed on images and materials as a source of inspiration and comfort.

Jeremiah 29 verse11