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For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
First it should be noted that the question is not “What does this verse mean to you?”, rather we search for the true meaning of the message as the writer intended. This verse has been used many times by a great many preachers to say that God wants to prosper us and shower us with blessings. Often it is used to tell us that God’s greatest joy in the world is to give gifts to His children (usually referred to as all humans, saved and unsaved) and wants nothing more than to give us everything that our heart’s desire. It is used to bring comfort to those who are suffering or to fleece money from unsuspecting viewers of television evangelists. There are serious problems though with the application of the verse in either of these manners reading the verse in its historical, grammatical context.
1. It doesn’t match up with reality If God’s plan were to bless his followers, why isn’t He doing this? Why are there suffering Christians all over the world? Just look at the website of the Voice of the Martyrs to see what Christians are experiencing. Or search for “Christian Martyrs” on the Internet to understand what is happening in the world around us right now. Quickly one comes to the realization prosperity is not the plan for all of Christ’s followers. In addition many unbelievers are very prosperous, especially when it comes to the area of finances. Most of the richest people on our planet are not Christ followers. It is clear that prosperity is not a “rule” or law of God.
2. God was not speaking to all people for all time; he was speaking to the exiles. This verse is in the middle of a letter to the exiles that were taken prisoner by Babylon. This must be read in the context of where it is written otherwise it ceases to have any reasonable meaning. Verse 1 starts with “These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem 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.” Notice the introduction says that it is to all the people in exile. God, speaking through Jeremiah, is giving comfort and guidance to these people and therefore it would seem that the whole letter would apply to these people. Just prior to the verse in question Jeremiah says (verse 10)“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. It is clear again from this that he is speaking specifically to those captives. In the beginning of verse 11 he uses the word “For”. This word tells us that it is connected to the words just previously spoken. Verse 11 should not be used on it’s own out of context.
3. Typically the version of the Bible quoted is the NIV The NIV says:For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. However this is drastically different than every other version:ESV:For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. KJV:For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. NASB:‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Why the difference?
To understand this better we should look to the root word used in the Hebrew where the NIV translates as prosper & harm.
Prosper: (šalôm) shalomThere is no single English word that describes this word fully. This is the most famous Hebrew word and we can not comprehend the meaning without speaking the original language.
It should be translated as all of the following:- Peace (The most common use); Completeness; Safeness; Health; Friend; Blessing
The NIV is the only version that chooses a word that doesn’t really fit in with the whole list here. Even when the other versions choose different words they still do not do justice to the meaning of the word.
Harm: (racah) rachah
Here again is a word that is translated a variety of ways throughout scripture. It shows up 663 times and in the AV (Authorized Version) it is primarily translated as “evil” 442 times, “wickedness” 59 times, “wicked” 25 times, “mischief” 21 times, “hurt” 20 times, “bad” 13 times, “trouble” 10 times, “harm” 3 times. So while it may be valid to use the word harm, it may be translated any number of ways into English. While no English version will serve as a perfect translation, all other versions provide a more accurate view than the NIV.
Conclusion The overall intent of the verse can be used and applied as it provides insight into God’s character. However, care must be taken when applying the verse to ensure that the impression is not that God will prosper every Christian and no harm will come. The extension of this is that if a Christian is not prospering or some harm is coming to them that God is either unable or unwilling to act. The true message is that God will provide comfort and peace no matter what His children are going through. This does not mean that life will be easy and that no harm will come to you. Rather that God will walk with you and bring shalom even in times of massive trouble and calamity. |
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| To add a comment to "Jeremiah 29:11" |
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Mike N Laura June 16, 2007
Ah, the importance of context. Definitely an oft misused passage... ~mike
ps... This will likely not be a popular blog, I wouldn't count on too many stars. :-( |
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Voice In Dc June 16, 2007
It doesn’t match up with reality If God’s plan were to bless his followers, why isn’t He doing this? <==Careful here. You are sounding like Job. Who are we to say He isn't blessing us even in our valleys of the shadow of death? The blessing is for His glory. Most the time our perspective is wrong.
God was not speaking to all people for all time; he was speaking to the exiles. <==Or better yet, strangers in a strange land...those who were in a world, but not to be a part of it...wait, that is us, too. Ummm...
The scripture is full of types and shadows that are for us today. This is one of them. Even when we go through tough times, we are reminded that God has a plan for us...to prosper us...not to harm us. All things work together for His glory, His good, not ours... and that is prosperity at its peak - see Job.
While your explanation here is very good, we can't lose sight that this scripture is just as real for us today as it was then for them. Regarding martyrs, I have often wondered if we knew that the suffering we are going through was going to result in an entire nation turning to Christ, would we say it is good? Would we say "no harm done?" Well, if not an entire nation, what about one family? What about one person? If that (spreading the Gospel) is truly what we are living for, then a reminder when we are going through the rough times that His plans are to prosper us, not harm us, but to give us peace...well, that might be all we need to make it through one more day in the valley.
While I agree with much of what you have written here, I refuse to sell short the value of scripture that is the same yesterday, today, and forever for it never returns void.
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Ryan Chase June 16, 2007
I agree on the Job reference and maybe I could work on the wording more, this is why I like responses. The blessing that God may give us is simply the supernatural ability to go through the persecution or the valleys. This is the peace that surpasses all understanding.
The scripture is holistically real for us, but not specifically real. There are a myriad of other verses that tell us of God's desire to bless us and pour out his love on us. This verse though has been used in a corrupted fashion to tell people God wants to give them that new house, he might or he might not.
I wrote this as a specific response to teaching that I disagreed with, looking for a refining of the arguement, thanks for the response...it helps! |
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Voice In Dc June 16, 2007
| | "This verse though has been used in a corrupted fashion to tell people God wants to give them that new house, he might or he might not"
Totally agree with you here. To "prosper us" is what is often misunderstood. Prosperity in God's terms is measured in souls...we don't usually think of it that way...and when it is taught that way, I tell people to be careful that they are not using God's name in vain.<==Something I learned from my Pastor Shawn. |
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Ian September 13, 2008
Only six verses later, there's a verse that doesn't look very good as an embroidered wall-hanging:
Jer 29:17 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.
Imagine seeing that verse quoted, on its own, as frequently as verse 11. We would be portraying quite a different God! So indeed, we must take care when we take an individual verse out of context, asking ourselves how it would look if we did the same to other verses.
Interesting also: As the reader, you knew whether which of verses 11 or 17 applied to you, on the basis of which prophet you heeded as the true prophet (Jeremiah), and which prophet you identified as the false prophet (e.g. Hananiah; read Jer 28). And ironically, the true prophet was predicting unpleasant things for the short term (if you consider 70 years to be "short term"!), while the false prophet was predicting pleasant, "shalom" things. So not only is context important; so is perspective. |
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