As a lecturer in biblical studies, I hear Jeremiah 29:11 quoted all the time and I see it on inspirational posters all the time. In fact, there was a poster with this verse on it in the breakroom of one of the Christian colleges for which I recently worked. Christians quote and use Jeremiah 29:11 to encourage themselves, one another, and even me in times of difficulty and hardship. It is one of the most beloved verses and one that most Christians have memorized. But is Jeremiah 29:11 about Christians?
“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.”
JEREMIAH 29:11
Jeremiah 29:11 is not about Christians. It is about the Israelites who were in exile in Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. God was promising the Israelite exiles in Babylon that he would bring them back to Jerusalem after 70 years and fulfill his salvation plans through them.
Sadly, Jeremiah 29:11 is not about Christians and is a poor verse to quote in the midst of difficulty and hardship. However, it does have significance for modern Christians. Let’s take a closer look at this beloved passage and determine its meaning and significance.
The Literary and Historical Context of Jeremiah 29:11
Jeremiah 29:11 is part of a letter that spans from Jeremiah 29:1–23. The letter is written by Jeremiah the prophet to “the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon” (Jer 29:1, emphasis added). Thus, the letter was written around the year 586 BC.
Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles contains God’s instructions for them while they are in exile at Babylon. God confirms that they will be in exile for 70 years (Jer 29:10) and gives them instructions, such as “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29:7). Fun Fact: Jeremiah 29:7 is another popular passage that is frequently taken out of context. As you can see here, it is a message for the exiles, not Christians.
After God tells the exiles how to live and conduct themselves in Babylon (Jer 29:4–9), he moves on to give them hope for their future (29:10–14). This message of hope is where our verse is situated.
Understanding the Message of Jeremiah 29:11
In order to understand the message of Jeremiah 29:11, we need to determine the antecedents to the pronouns “I” and “you” in “For I know the plans I have for you.” Thanks to the literary and historical context above, we can confidently assert that “I” refers to God, whose name is Yahweh, and “you” refers to the exiles. Thus, we may translate Jeremiah 29:11 as such,
“For I, Yahweh, know the plans I have for you, the exiles in Babylon, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you, the exiles, a future and a hope.”
JEREMIAH 29:11, amplified
Based on the accurate translation above, Jeremiah 29:11 is not a message for Christians, nor for Jews, but for those particular Israelites who were exiled in Babylon for 70 years between 586BC and 516BC.
God’s message in Jeremiah 29:10–13 is that when the seventy years of exile are completed, God will visit his people in Babylon and bring them back to Jerusalem. Jeremiah 29:10–13 is a promise by God that he has not abandoned his people and that he will not abandon his people. In Jeremiah 29:11, God confirms he has not abandoned his people in exile by revealing that he has specific plans for them that will give them a future and a hope.
Thus, God is not promising you, the individual Christian, that he has plans for you. God is not promising you, the individual Christian, that he will give you a future. God is not promising you, the individual Christian, that he will give you a hope. In fact, Christianity did not even exist until after Jesus died, rose, and ascended.
The promises of Jeremiah 29:11 are for God’s people who were in exile in Babylon between 586BC and 516BC. Because you, Christian, are not in exile in Babylon between 586BC and 516BC, Jeremiah 29:11 is not about you.
The Significance of Jeremiah 29:11 for Modern Christians
It should be apparent by now that Jeremiah 29:11 is not about Christians. But does it still have significance for Christians? Yes, Jeremiah 29:11 has significance for Christians because the fulfillment of God’s promises in Jeremiah 29:11 directly impacts us.
The promises of the Abrahamic covenant, Davidic covenant, and promises of salvation for God’s people and the world are in jeopardy if God abandons his people. Jeremiah 29:11 is a promise that God has not abandoned his people and that he has specific plans for them. In short, God will keep these people alive and protected so that he can fulfill his promises through them.
The promises of God find their culmination in Jesus. If God had not promised peace, a future, and a hope to the exiles, then the promises concerning Jesus never would have been fulfilled, Jesus would never have come, and you and I would be dead in our sins. However, because God kept his word in Jeremiah 29:11 to the exiles, they returned to Jerusalem and God set in motion the coming of Jesus. You and I are in a right relationship with God through Jesus because of God’s faithfulness to fulfilling the promises in Jeremiah 29:11.
Summary and Concluding Remarks
Jeremiah 29:11 is not about Christians. In this passage, God is not promising us that he has a plan for us, will give us a future, or give us a hope. Rather, God was promising the Israelite exiles in Babylon that he would bring them back to Jerusalem after 70 years and fulfill his salvation plans through them. We Christians should praise and glorify God for his faithfulness because we, today, are able to obtain salvation with God on account of his faithfulness to these exiles. Remember, Jesus never would have come had God abandoned the exiles in Babylon forever.
Thus, Jeremiah 29:11 should only be used by Christians in times of distress and hardship if we acknowledge that because God already fulfilled this promise approximately 2,500 years ago, we now have (a) direct access to God the father to bring our petitions and struggles to him, (b) the Holy Spirit indwelling us, and (c) the church which can help us with most of our needs.
Does God have a plan for each individual Christian? Does he have plans to give us a future and a hope? Of course, but Jeremiah 29:11 is not the passage that tells us this.