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. 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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (Jeremiah 29:10-14)

This is a well-known passage to most of us evangelicals, especially verse 11: “For I know the plans I have for you [or For I know the thoughts I think toward you]. . . “ It’s common to see this verse on paintings, photos, cards, and the like as a reminder. In the last several years, there’s also been a widespread objection to such uses of this verse. The objection? This passage was written to Israel in exile. The implication of this objection almost seems to be that it has nothing to say to us today. After all, it is found in the Old Testament. And we are living in the New Testament.

What to Do With It

Unfortunately, I voiced this objection myself for many years. Yet, isn’t all Scripture inspired by God? Isn’t all Scripture given for us, to teach us and train us? Yes indeed, for Paul reminded Timothy,

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

When Paul wrote these words, the only Scriptures they had were the Old Testament. Therefore, he attests to their validity and authority. Verse 17 is an important verse to remember here. It simply says that all Scripture is helpful in making the man (and woman) of God complete and equipped. Thus, to refuse to study and learn from the Old Testament is to be incomplete and not fully equipped.

If all Scripture is given by God for our training and maturity, then even the Old Testament must have things that we can and should learn. Even a passage like this with a specific prophecy to a specific group of people. Such is the case with this passage. It teaches us at least two things: God’s care for His people, and the fact that we are not home yet.

God Cares for His People

The first thing this passage teaches us is simply that God cares for His people. Israel had been sent away to exile because of their idolatrous ways and refusal to obey the covenant. They continually sought other gods and worshipped them. They adopted the practices of the nations around them, at times even including child sacrifice. God finally sent them away. Yet, as we read Israel was homesick. We see this in Lamentations and other writings. God must surely have felt much like a human father must feel when he has to discipline a son or daughter. In this passage, He promises to bring them back to the land He gave to their forefathers. Even though they sinned against Him repeatedly, God continued to show grace and mercy. He continued to tell Israel, through Jeremiah and others, that their time in exile would end. And then, you know what? He would judge the nation that mistreated them.

In fact, He cares for His people so much that He gave them another promise just two chapters later:

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

God’s love was so great for His people that He provided a new way for them. A way for them to be able to live obediently.

So it is with us. Sometimes God disciplines us–not to punish us, but to train us in His ways. Discipline and discipleship are closely related words. He doesn’t discipline us because He is angry. He disciplines us because He loves us and wants the best for us. And that discipline will end. He will bring us back to Himself, if we are willing. Even in our pain, He cares for us, and He has a plan for us, just as He had for them. And He has graciously included us in that same New Covenant.

We Are Not Home Yet

The other thing this passage teaches us is that we are simply not home yet. We were created for a perfect world, to live with God in communion and harmony. We aren’t there yet. Often we are like exiles and strangers in a foreign land. Often the very pain we go through reminds us of this. As the song “Blessings” by Laura Story says,

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

And because this is not our home, God promises us, just as He did Israel, that He will bring us home. He will complete His work in us.

So, when trouble is all around, when darkness closes in, go ahead. Hang on to that popular verse. Because it is true. God has a good plan for you. He plans for good and not evil, to give you hope and a future.

And He promises to take you home with Him.