What Jeremiah 29:11 Really Means

We live in a day where scripture is frequently taken out of context. For example, 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.” // The average person reads that and believes God has this amazing plan that’ll happen presently or in the very near future. This very verse is plastered on posters and car bumper stickers. In and of itself, it sounds great. But, we must realize the background of it.

Jeremiah was a faithful, God-fearing man. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet around 629 BC. His very name means the “weeping prophet.” God sent Jeremiah to give Israel the last warning before He cast them out of the land. Why did he weep? Jeremiah had great inner turmoil over the fate of his people, and he begged them to listen. He cried tears of sadness, not only because he knew what was about to happen, but because no matter how hard he tried, the people of Israel would not listen.

Fast forward roughly 30 years and what Jeremiah feared would happen, happened. King Nebuchadnezzar II (around 599 BC) and his men rounded up 10,000 citizens of Jerusalem and dropped them 500 miles from home. They had nothing. They lost everything. Jeremiah told them to get on with there lives because they had no way to return. He said; “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” (Jer 29:5) Jeremiah knew that nothing would change anytime soon.

They spent many years in exile, yet God promised this wasn’t the end for them. In 70 years, the exiled Jews returned home. THIS is the “hope” and “future” mentioned in 29:11.

Jeremiah 29:11 doesn’t guarantee personal gain or fulfillment. It promises that wherever you are, God is with you. We must not leave out what Jeremiah says in verses 12 and 13. “12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”