Jeremiah 29:1-20

 “The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon. He sent it after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had been exiled from Jerusalem. He sent it with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah. King Zedekiah of Judah had sent these men to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letter said: “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says to all those he sent into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, ‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away. Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the Lord for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’ “For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Do not let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream. They are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. But I did not send them. I, the Lord, affirm it!’ “For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland. For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, I will make myself available to you,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will reverse your plight and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’ “You say, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets of good news for us here in Babylon.’ But just listen to what the Lord has to say about the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem and were not carried off into exile with you. The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will chase after them with war, starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them. For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,’ says the Lord. ‘And you exiles have not paid any attention to them either,’ says the Lord. ‘So pay attention to what I, the Lord, have said, all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’”

— ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭1‬-‭20‬‬

I know this is a long passage. But when I see the verse of the day as 29:11, I think to myself, “Ok, I’ll just post a few surrounding verses for context.” But then the verse beyond that was important, and the verse before that introduced the speech. Then historical background was given. And even now, vv. 21 and on give response to Jeremiah’s letter, so we need to continue reading. 

29:11 may be the top of my least liked verses taken out of context. I’ve written before about God’s generosity, kindness, goodness, mercy. That’s not the issue. Of course, He longs to bless. He is love. But for teachers/pastors/mentors to use passages like this to “promise” blessing is just around the corner is so dangerous. What if it never comes? 

And for high school students? They have a life of blessing ahead? Really? What if it’s not? What a great way to shatter faith, basing hope in a horribly applied verse.

The beauty of this verse is that YHWH is speaking to His people, again whether before or in exile—debatable. But false prophets are giving promises that it will be a short time and they can go home soon. God says, “Not so fast. We have a covenant. I had mercy for a long time, and I am actually being faithful to the covenant by sending you in exile. You will be here 70 years. Get comfortable. Plant vineyards. Build houses. Get to know your neighbors.”

He even tells them to pray for the prosperity of Babylon, because Babylon’s greatness will benefit them.

After this time of discipline, He will return them to their homeland. The relationship between God’s sovereign plan and their repentance (v. 12) is the same discussion as we always love to discuss (me, not so much). But God would allow them to return under Cyrus of Persia in 538 BC. 

We can study the three stages of exile, and each one was more brutal than the last, and there were three returns to the land of Israel after Persia conquered Babylon. Still, not many Jews returned home. This time of exile drastically affected their emotional and spiritual state/relationship with YHWH. They did grow comfortable in Babylon and around the near east. 

Does this verse have any value to us then? Does God have plans for us? Yes. Are they to prosper us? I don’t know. We have to insert this exile story into the larger narrative of Jesus as Messiah. His ministry, death, resurrection conquers all evil and pain. In Him we find all peace and rest. I hesitate to jump to 1 Peter where we are called foreigners and exiles still. Some may. But it may be the best route to say in Jesus we find the fulfillment of God’s covenant, plans of redemption and ultimate restoration.

For another perspective, see Russell Moore: https://www.russellmoore.com/2017/06/28/jeremiah-2911-apply/

Another issue that comes up (practically speaking) in this passage is the relationship between “exiles” and the nation where they live. Again, 1 Peter is the go to “bridge” passage between Jeremiah and the present, but I would need to do more research on the ethnicity of Peter’s audience. If they are primarily Jewish, then the term exile (i.e., the Diaspora, similar to James’ letter) would apply naturally. It could still reach to us by extension.

The issue is how we as Christians are supposed to relate to our geo-political realm. The term Christian nationalism has been thrown around a lot lately, and there’s a whole spectrum of definitions. People have built their whole writing and research platform on it, but before any conversation begins, you have to define terms. I’m not really going to discuss it here so I’m not going to dive in to the issue fully. I can reach my point without getting too deep into it.

Of course, Paul and Peter say to pray for ruling authorities and government. That reflects what Jeremiah says here, and the NT commands seem to apply regardless of the exile context. So do we seek the prosperity and blessing of our nation? Do we pray God’s hand of healing and restoration, since we have become the exiles? Perhaps. I suppose. Many would use Jeremiah 29 as support for this mindset.

I would use it in the opposite sense. Not that we shouldn’t pray for government. Not that we should hate our nation. But do we forget that the Jewish exiles lived—in Babylon. Centuries before, the northern tribes were captured by Assyria—you know, all those sermons you hear about ruthless Ninevites. Then Greece, Persia, and Rome? Rulers like Nero, Caligula, Domitian. We want them to prosper—and the motivation of the passage—so we benefit, too?

This is why I focus more on the global church in passages like this. What if I were a Christian (probably facing severe persecution) in a country that wasn’t too friendly with America? Would I be able to pray for its prosperity? 

Or would I focus on the kingdom of God and allow a passage to live in its context? Certainly applicable to me, but can be illogical and dangerous if I don’t have a broad enough view.