Confession time. I can't stand people who claim Jeremiah 29:11 as their life verse. Mostly because I don't think you can have just one verse as your life verse. But also because everyone chooses Jeremiah 29:11. I'm anti-establishment.
However. If you read the entirety of Jeremiah 29, you realize that this verse is in the context of a letter to the exiles. Their entire world had been taken away, and they were afraid to move on. What would that mean? Is it okay to enjoy life again even if you've lost everything? How do you worship God in that context?
I feel like an exile.
I'm a very solitary person. I like knowing that I'm safe and have a secure future. I also know that things can change in an instant. So I tend to withdraw from people, because if I get too close, it'll hurt all the more when they inevitably leave. Or when I do. (I don't know where the abandonment complex came from. My parents are wonderful people.)
But when I read what God says to the exiles, I feel hope.
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 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. 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.” Yes, 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. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call on 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. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “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. For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.
Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the Lord.
Here are my favorite parts of this letter.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile... God knows where they are. He put them there. True, he did it to teach them a lesson. But he didn't leave them alone while they were learning it.
Increase in number there; do not decrease. Life sucks? Fine. But don't mope around whining about it getting weaker. Get better. How? Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. Duh.
Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. You've put your faith in a lot of different people and things. I have not sent them. So stop it.
I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. Your safe place is still there. So is God. He promised to come for you, and he keeps his promises.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you. Everyone always talks about God chasing after them. And God does go looking for people. But we also have to seek after him. And when we seek, we will find.
this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile - famine, sword, etc. You think you have it bad? That safe place you were complaining about leaving is about to get all kinds of bad. So learn how to live with what you have.
And then, you know, a bunch of stuff about how it could be worse. And the stories you'll tell in the future will be all about how bad the other guy had it.
So I guess I have to stop being annoyed by Jeremiah 29:11 people. I will, however, casually suggest that they read the entire chapter before harping on that one verse.
There's good stuff in this book, people.
However. If you read the entirety of Jeremiah 29, you realize that this verse is in the context of a letter to the exiles. Their entire world had been taken away, and they were afraid to move on. What would that mean? Is it okay to enjoy life again even if you've lost everything? How do you worship God in that context?
I feel like an exile.
I'm a very solitary person. I like knowing that I'm safe and have a secure future. I also know that things can change in an instant. So I tend to withdraw from people, because if I get too close, it'll hurt all the more when they inevitably leave. Or when I do. (I don't know where the abandonment complex came from. My parents are wonderful people.)
But when I read what God says to the exiles, I feel hope.
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 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. 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.” Yes, 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. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call on 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. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “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. For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.
Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the Lord.
Here are my favorite parts of this letter.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile... God knows where they are. He put them there. True, he did it to teach them a lesson. But he didn't leave them alone while they were learning it.
Increase in number there; do not decrease. Life sucks? Fine. But don't mope around whining about it getting weaker. Get better. How? Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. Duh.
Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. You've put your faith in a lot of different people and things. I have not sent them. So stop it.
I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. Your safe place is still there. So is God. He promised to come for you, and he keeps his promises.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you. Everyone always talks about God chasing after them. And God does go looking for people. But we also have to seek after him. And when we seek, we will find.
this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile - famine, sword, etc. You think you have it bad? That safe place you were complaining about leaving is about to get all kinds of bad. So learn how to live with what you have.
And then, you know, a bunch of stuff about how it could be worse. And the stories you'll tell in the future will be all about how bad the other guy had it.
So I guess I have to stop being annoyed by Jeremiah 29:11 people. I will, however, casually suggest that they read the entire chapter before harping on that one verse.
There's good stuff in this book, people.
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