I have to admit that I have always felt uncomfortable when I see Jeremiah 29:7 used in that way. God is behind it. This is essentially what Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles in chapter 29 is about. The call to the Jews in Jeremiah 29:7 was in light of the fact that God had revealed a very specific long-term timeframe for the end of their exile. The book of Jeremiah maps out a constant battle between Jeremiah, who is bringing God’s message to his people, and false prophets, who want to contradict and undercut Jeremiah at every turn. God doesn’t want us serving a foreign king!”. Perhaps this could be a timeless teaching for the people of God: to misquote an old pop song: “if you can’t be in the city you love, love the city you’re in”. The argument is that they should do this as opposed to what they would do if they listened to the false prophets. The main message of Jeremiah 29 is in fact the old puppies-and-sunsets verse 11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope”. As with all Old Testament texts, we should do it carefully, looking to how this passage finds its fulfilment in Christ, and taking into account not only the similarities to our place in salvation history but also the very real differences. The message is that they are not forgotten and will be restored, that they will have to wait for 70 years for that restoration to occur, and so they should be using that time to get ready. Perhaps because we’re too quick to apologize for God and to gloss over the seemingly selfish motivation that is given, we don’t do the hard work of asking why God wants them to do this for their own benefit. Then the message gets started: Now without the context we have sketched, and if we just stopped there, you might think that the main point of this passage—the exiles’ primary calling—was to seek the good of the city of Babylon. WHAT ARGUMENTS MAY ENFORCE THE DUTIES OF PERSONAL AND COMBINED ACTIVITY IN SEEKING THE HIGHEST GOOD OF OUR LAND? Buy a physical copy (members receive a discount). (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). What God says here in Jeremiah makes us uncomfortable. II. 2. The freedom of the earth is given to his true children. Captives and bondmen as these Jews were, they were nevertheless involved in all that affected the welfare of the Babylonian state. You would say: “Well, there’s no use settling down here in Babylon. "Build ye houses, and dwell in them," etc. In many ways, this pre-exile message is best summarized in chapters 15 and 16. Moore College—from the days of Knox and Robinson through to Graeme Goldsworthy—is known for its focus on considering each part of the Scriptures in the light of the whole, and understanding each part through the lens of God’s great plans in Christ for all of history (which is what I mean by ‘biblical theology’). We’ll wait till we’re back in Jerusalem before we get married, have children, or do any work.”. (See Jeremiah 25:8–14 for one example.) They then cast this vision for comprehensive, city-wide. But in assessing the relevance of Jeremiah 29, we need to carefully see the differences as well as the similarities in our situation. III. II. And it is also not hard to imagine how those exiles would have received this message. He has rescued us from within Babylon—where we were born—and where we now live with a foot in two cities. These verses bring us back to the context of the letter. Leading up to the exile itself, Jeremiah was primarily a prophet of doom to Jerusalem. We’ll just sit here on the banks of the river and wait it out. If this is "Emmanuel's land," have we not the range of all its delectable mountains? Jeremiah 29:11 is no different. With that in mind, in this article, I want to look at Jeremiah 29:7 on its own terms, rather than as a mission statement. He wants them to have had children who grow up strong—physically and in faith—to take back with them when he ends this exile. The work of supplying our land with the preached Gospel, and with religious institutions, is the most important work to which Christians can devote their energies. The welfare or prosperity of Babylon is a means to an end of preserving God’s people. (See illustrations in Joseph and his brethren, Daniel and the three Hebrew youths, Esther and Mordecai, etc.) It means that for us the biggest reminder we need is that this city is not our home. Having said that, let me make some comments about how this chapter is relevant to us, because we too are living in exile. Because our own individual good is intimately connected with its general happiness and prosperity. It has a powerful message and was instrumental in my decision to accept Christ into my life. 1. 5. This promise is repeated in chapter 23, but this time with a Davidic or Messianic edge to the hope. Why is that important? THE IDENTITY OF INTEREST SUBSISTING BETWEEN THEE AND THE WORLD. It just doesn’t sound very like Jesus to say “Seek the welfare of the city—for your own good”. Don’t hide away, but love your neighbour in the broadest sense of that word. Peter tells us that the only reason for delay is so that more people can come to know Jesus and therefore not perish (2 Pet 3:9). These false assurances continue right through until the sword actually falls, the wave of exiles are taken off to Babylon, and Zedekiah is left on the throne in Jerusalem, effectively a puppet of Babylon. [1] - Jeremiah 29:11 Why? After the judgement, there will be salvation and restoration: Jeremiah is speaking of a new exodus (out of exile and back to Jerusalem) which will make the first exodus seem hardly worth talking about. Verses 1-3 explain who is writing, the recipients, and how the letter reached them. The judgment of God is falling.” In chapter 29, he wrote to exiles who had already been deported to Babylon, giving the same message, but in the middle of it we find this remarkable verse of comfort and hope (v. 11). Jeremiah 29 – Letter to the Captives A. We don’t have that certainty. The gospel is in every way God's message of peace to the world. It is a message that judgement and exile are not the end of the matter for God’s people. Contrary to the way it is used by some today, this verse has no relevance at all to the question of the priority of reaching cities over other places. (1 Corinthians 10:25, 26). It’s not a message to anyone and everyone about how to live in exile; it’s a response to this particular false prophecy they had been peddled. The citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem have also an earthly citizenship to maintain, the bonds of which are not broken through their being raised spiritually to a higher level than that of the worldly life around them. JEREMIAH'S LETTER TO THE EXILES. Secondly, Jeremiah is also about a future hope. It is important, imperative actually, that we understand the context of passages from the Bible. Back in chapter 16, God had said to Jeremiah in Jerusalem, “Don’t get married, and don’t have children, because they’re all just going to die. All this comes to a head with the message of the false prophet Hananiah, who prophesies in Jerusalem: It is not hard to imagine why this ‘prophecy’ of Hananiah might have been popular, and what damage it might have done. In studying the context of Jeremiah 29:11, I feel I have a better understanding of the true meaning.