Nov 3, 2019 Jeremiah 29:10-23 9|13
These just may be THE most misunderstood, taken out of context verses in all of Scripture. The “you” is plural, referring to the nation as a whole and that “you” were about to begin 70 years of exile, and only then, after 70 years (which was a judgment from God), would the re-prospering come - to the nation. It’s not a specific promise to vague individuals who claim it some 2500 years later in the most prosperous nation on the planet or anywhere else for that matter.
That said, God certainly does have plans for you, the individual as a member of His Church. But I don’t know about you, but I’d rather begin walking in them now, instead of waiting 70 years. And it should be noted that those 70 years were shortened as an act of His grace for the people. Ephesians 1:3-7; 2:10 God certainly does have plans for us. From before the foundation of the world these plans were brewing in His elegant mind. Plans that He would redeem us, forgive us, adopt us, bestow grace on us, bless us with every spiritual blessing… make us become His workmanship, crafted in such a way that we would do/ walk out simple good works He has planned for us to do. Those are the plans He has for us, plural, the Church for all of us who are His. So He does have awesome plans for us… even though they were not referred to in Jeremiah 29.
And that’s one of the main reasons we gather as a Church – to keep hearing more and more about what those plans look like in us – and to keep us on track, to keep refining us, together as a people of God.
