Jeremiah 29:10-14 – God has a great destiny for us

In his letter to the exile, Jeremiah encouraged the Jews to do three things. Firstly they were told to live their lives in exile normally and continue to grow as a people, qualitatively and quantitatively. Verse 6 said, they ought to “Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 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.” Secondly, verse 7 said that they must seek the welfare of Babylon and pray for the nation. And thirdly verse 8 said that they ought to stop listening to the false prophets who claimed to speak on God’s behalf but were spewing out lies. God added that he did not send them.     

Continuing his letter, Jeremiah 29:10-14, the prophet Jeremiah gave them a message of hope. He first reiterated that their captivity was scheduled for 70 years. After that duration, He would visit them and fulfill His promise to them. He would bring them back to Jerusalem. Why was there a need for God to re-assure the exile?

God just told them that they would be in captivity for 70 years. Interestingly Moses in Psalm 90 said that generally, that is the length of a person’s life. We can guess that many listening to Jeremiah then would have wondered what would happen to them and the nation by then, let alone returning to Jerusalem. The assurance of God to them was that while they could not see their future, God could. He said He knew exactly what His plan for them was in verse 11. It was a plan of hope and great destiny and not a plan of calamity. This verse had often been taken by Christians to apply them individually and personally. But in context, this promise was meant for Judah as the nation. God was talking about their future as a whole unit.  He promised them a great future with better conditions.

Verses 12-13 establish the purpose for why they would have a great future. Know it or not, God wanted to hear their prayers and have them enjoy fellowship with Him.  The plan for the great future was so that they  could call upon Him and draw near to pray to Him. His promise was that He would listen to them. And when they seek Him with their whole heart, they would find Him for He would reveal Himself to them.  God promised to restore them to their homeland.

The lessons: Whatever, we are experiencing the purpose of God is to get us to return to the destiny He has planned for us. His desire is for us to have a connected and healthy relationship with Him. And such a relationship is cultivated through constant and consistent fellowship. We need to spend time seeking Him, availing ourselves to Him in prayer. In good times remember to give thanks, in hard times remember to  pray to Him, and at all times we must praise Him. Remember God is not through with us yet.

 

If God’s plans are for our future destiny, we must not complain if we need to endure hard times now. For we know that in every circumstance, congenial or not congenial, positive or negative, God is working out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Hence,  James 1:2 urged us to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”