I found myself kind of depressed as I read the book of Jeremiah! He warned the people of Jerusalem that there was judgment coming their way if they didn’t repent of their sins, but God kept telling him it was too late.

In fact, at one point, in chapter 14, God actually tells Jeremiah to stop praying for them: “The Lord said to me, ‘Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, & though they offer burnt & grain offerings, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, & by pestilence.’” (verse 11-12).

Yikes!!

Other prophets were telling them all was well & to just ignore Jeremiah. They spoke about peace & prosperity, assuring them they wouldn’t see the sword nor have to face famine but would be assured of peace right there in that place of sin & rebellion. 

But God told Jeremiah that those words were lies meant to keep the people in a place of comfortable deceit. Other prophets spoke words of fluffy reassurance, & the people were eating it up & spitting out the ones Jeremiah spoke. 

Because Jeremiah spoke truth & truth can be prickly, causing feelings of discomfort & dread. God was talking to them & they refused to listen but just continued on with their sin & rebellion. So God warned that He would be sending a judgment to the prophets who spoke lies to the people as well as judgment for the people who preferred the lies over His truth. 

How do we work this out alongside the words He spoke in Jeremiah 29:11 when He assures the people that God has a plan & purpose for them, plans for welfare & not for evil, to give them hope & a future? How do we resolve this apparent contradiction in our own lives when we feel the sting of His judgment for sin in our lives & as we face the consequences of our sins? 

What is it that He plans for us: sword, famine, & captivity – or hope & a future?

Dare I say both? 

Facing God’s righteous judgment for Jerusalem’s sins doesn’t mean He didn’t have a hope & a future planned out for them & that He doesn’t have the same thing in mind for us. It just requires a patient kind of waiting for that promise to be revealed over time, & a turning back to Him, recognizing that God isn’t bringing punishment to destroy but to refine us. 

In order to realize the good plans & promises that He has for us, it is completely necessary to first understand our sinfulness & rebellion because this is what holds us captive.

So, where exactly do we find the hope He has for us? 

In verse 10, God tells them, “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill my promise to bring you back to this place.” Our hope is found in the character of Who God is. . . He is a promise keeper. He is there for anyone who calls on Him. He hears all who pray to Him. He will be found by all who seek Him with all their hearts. And He brings restoration as He returns His people back from exile. (Jer. 29:12-14). 

If we turn back to Him and away from our sins, God will redeem, restore, and return to us all we thought we had lost. 

I actually love the NKJV of 29:11, “ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God doesn’t only think about us, His very thoughts are toward us. His thoughts are always drifting toward us. We might not know what those thoughts are, but He knows and can always be trusted.

 As Charles Spurgeon says, “The Lord not only thinks of you, but towards you. His thoughts are all drifting your way. This is the way the south wind of his thoughts of peace is moving: it is towards you. The Lord never forgets his own, for he has graven them upon the palms of his hands. Never at any moment does Jehovah turn his thoughts from his beloved, even though he has the whole universe to rule.”

His thoughts, His plans, and the purposes that He has for our futures might seem uncertain because of a long season of captivity and struggle, but we can be certain of a God who knows the future of the people He has engraved on the palms of His hands.