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11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as [was] the heart of David his father. 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 11:6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as [did] David his father. So does this means on God's scale that having multiple wives is somehow worse than just sleeping with one and killing her husband?
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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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Since we are no longer living under law but under grace the issue of how much to tithe has actually become more difficult rather than easier. We don’t “have” to follow the law but rather through the Holy Spirit we “want” to follow the law.
Under the law the Israelites were required to support the Levites in full time ministry by giving 10% of their income to this tribe. In addition 10% of what was left was to support the government and church, which at that time was the same. Finally of what was left 10% of this was to go towards festivals and celebrations to celebrate and worship God.
So a mathematical example:
$100 salary
$10 – Goes to Levites
$90 left
$9 – To church & governmental affairs
$81 left
$8.10 – To festivals and celebrations
Leaving: $72.80 (27.2% of their income)
The issue is that this also formed their taxes, income and personal. Of course while they were under their own rule. Once the Romans took over there were additional taxes collected.
So how much should we give today? 10%, is that enough? What about the missing portions? We are under a new covenant; this does not remove the law but fulfills it. Rather than being forced to follow the law, through the Holy Spirit we will want to follow the law, but it comes back to the question of how much to give? The answer is easy and very difficult at the same time; the basic message is that you should give as much as you want to.
At first this sounds great, you don’t have to give. The problem is that if you are progressing in your Christian walk you should want to give. If you don’t want to give and want to hang onto all your money this means it is more important to you than anything else, including God. Jesus told us that the greatest commandment was to love God, this means that nothing will come in front of God. For many of us money is the little god we follow.
A natural outpouring of the grace you have been given is that you will want to bless others and see them also enter the kingdom of heaven. You will want to give.
Jesus does not call you to give out of duty, the math is simple at 10% but that’s about it, he wants you to give out of love. If you’re not progressing on your giving you need to search out and determine if you truly believe in Christ or if you have formed your own god to follow.
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Justification – What does it say?
This is the expression we use to say you are “justified” or declared righteous in God’s eyes. In a works based gospel this will not occur until you perform certain acts. These acts would be good deeds, communion, or anything that would “earn” your way into heaven. The reformation in the 1500’s was primarily to restore the true idea of justification as presented in scripture, mainly Paul’s letters of Romans and Galatians that you are justified by faith alone.
Romans 3:28 - Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
However, the main proof of this concept came from Jesus hanging on a cross beside a thief who he told the thief on the cross next to Him that he would be with Him today in paradise (Luke 23:42-44)
Today most mainline evangelical churches believe in this concept, however many have taken it to the extreme and pushed the boundary of what “faith” means. They have taken it to mean that it is enough to simply believe in Christ and accept that you’re a sinner. The problem with this is that the devil would agree with that statement, most of us would agree that the devil will not be in heaven. So what is the faith they are speaking of? What does this faith look like? Well, it is putting your whole trust in Christ and Christ alone for your salvation. You demonstrate this through repentance, a turning from sin and through a change of your heart to a love for everything God loves.
This means you are still guilty of sin, but you are washed clean through the blood of Christ.
Reading through Romans, Galatians, and 1 John reveals many of the details of how you determine if you have truly repented and put you faith in Christ. Each of us should feel perfectly comfortable in answering questions about our salvation, the answers are easy if you’re saved.
The criteria is fairly simple and laid out first by Jesus when he was asked by the teachers of the day; what is the greatest commandment? In response He said, Love your God and Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:34-40)
You are born again – See John 3
You love to worship God – Deuteronomy 6:13, Revelation 19:10, 22:9 (among many others)
This is not just listening to music and feeling good. This is your every thought, word, and deed being dedicated to the glory of God. You thank Him daily for simply allowing you one more day and giving you air to breathe,
You love to read God’s Word – Same as above, the Bible reveals God’s character and plan.
Every day you read the Bible, you love reading God’s Word and any other books which speak of interpretation or application of scripture.
A new heart that hates sin – Romans 6:14, 1 John 2:3-4
This doesn’t mean you don’t like the consequences of sin, you hate the sin itself. It doesn’t mean you will never sin again, but that you have a new heart towards sin, you hate it and do everything you can to remove it from your life.
· People count on God’s grace to get them through, they lean on only the promises of God to forgive them and as a result they continue to sin counting on God’s grace.
· You can numb your conscience because you think that you can sin then just simply repent and be forgiven or worse lean a theology that says that all sins are forgiven past, present and future. The scriptures do not say this, in fact they say much the opposite Romans 3:25, 2 Peter 1:9)
You will want to fellowship with other believers – Hebrews 10:25
You will want to be around like minded people and talk of the things of God. This will be a focus and a love.
You will have a desire to reach out to the lost
This is two fold, one it is a commandment from your king (Mark 16:15), but it also a reflection on your love for other people. You want to see them inherit the kingdom of heaven.
You will extend grace towards others as an outpouring of the grace you have been extended.
See James 2:24, an often confused text. This is a natural outpouring of the grace given to you by God; you will want to pour it out into others.
The reality is that wide is the path to destruction and Christ will say to many on the day of judgment that He never knew you. This should fill us with fear if we can see none of the above manifesting in our lives. It is not a simple thing to believe, you must change your heart. However the good news is that Christ will meet you halfway, when you turn from your sin and put you full trust in Christ He will respond through the Holy Spirit and give you a new heart with new desires.
If this hasn't happened to you, then search your heart and get into the Word.
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