Could it be that even in the midst of exile, God’s plans for your life are good? Louie Giglio explores how, when we zoom out to see the entire scope of Jeremiah 29:11, what we find waiting for us is an epic promise of hope.
Key Takeaway
The place you are in right now might not be good, but His plans for you are.
Have you ever found yourself in a place you never intended to end up?
Maybe you are facing the consequences of the choices you made, or of choices made for you. Maybe your actions led to a fractured relationship, or you were hit by a heartbreak you never saw coming. Maybe you are in the midst of a barren land, an estranged family, a harvest from seeds you sowed, or miles away from everything you know and love.
Many of us can relate to the question: “how did I get here?”
When we open Jeremiah chapter 29, we find the people of Judah in a similar situation. They insisted on doing things their own way, and those very actions landed them displaced, captive, embarrassed, and disheartened as exiles in a foreign land.
Scripture outlines this harrowing reality for us in Psalm 81:10-12, reminding us that, if we insist, God will let us do it our own way. And yet, for the recipients of Jeremiah’s letter and anyone in exile today, there is a promise and a hope to cling to.
1. God’s plans for your life are better than your plans for your life.
No matter how far away you are right now, God still has good plans for your life. In Jeremiah 29, God could have written off the Israelites in Babylon, but He wanted to bring them back. In order to do so, he had to send them out into exile.
In all things, even in exile, God works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
2. God is faithful to keep His promise to you.
God was in control when His people went out of Jerusalem and into captivity. We see this at work through the rise and fall of empires.
The Assryian empire rose to power under Esarhaddon, who died in 669. His son, Ashurbanipal reigned in Nineveh, and brought the Assyrian Empire to great power–stretching from Iran to the Mediterranean, and eventually including Egypt.
His brother, Samash-Shum-Ukin, ruled some territories in the region of Babylon and instigated a revolt, conquering some of the outlying cities. In turn, Ashurbanipal set siege to Babylon for four years and in 648, Babylon fell again to Assyrian control.
Following Ashurbanipal's death in 631, Babylonia and the Medes began to advance against Assyrian cities. Nabopolassar, the ruler in Babylon, forged an alliance with the Medes by having his son, Nebuchadnezzar, marry the daughter of the ruler of the Medes.
In 612, the Babylonians and Medes set siege against Nineveh and Nineveh fell, and in 605, at the consequential battle of Carchemish, the Assyrian Empire fell.
When Nebuchadnezzar became King in 605, he expanded the Babylonian territory, conquering the areas of the Middle East along the Mediterranean, including Judea, besieging the city of Jerusalem.
In 597, another siege was launched against Jerusalem and thousands of captives were taken into Babylon.
In 587, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and more captives were led into exile.
But the story doesn’t stop there. Nebuchadnezzar died in 562, and in 539, Cyrus the Great, ruler of the Persian empire, overthrew the great city of Babylon and the Babylonian Empire fell.
But it wasn’t until the Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great in 331, that the Israelites were freed from captivity.
In Isaiah 46, verses 8 through 13, we see that God was moving while Israelites were under the control of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire.
God freed them in order to restore them to the hope and future He had for them. Look at Jeremiah 29:10. A sovereign God is in charge of your destiny, and He will move heaven and earth to bring you into the hope and future He has for you.
3. Be wary of false voices when you are in exile.
People always have an opinion in exile. The Israelities wanted to cut the process short. However, in Jeremiah 29:8, the Lord tells the Israelites not to let the prophets or the diviners deceive them. He did not send them.
Don’t let anyone come into your exile and shorten the completion God wants to do through you.
Devotion is more important than the destination. In Nehemiah 8, the temple was not rebuilt until seventy years after being destroyed in 587 under Ezra. They had the law and prophets, but we have the Word.
God is making you all He wants you to be.
4. God gives you a hope so big you can bless exile.
When you hear Jeremiah 29:11 in exile, it gives you a whole new perspective. You don’t have to love the circumstance to bless your current address.
When you have a promise of God on your life, you can bless people where you are. Instead of saying, “God get me out of this,” ask, “God, how can I bless somebody in this?” That is how a me-centered promise becomes a everyone-centered possibility.
5. The hope and future are a person, not a place. A relationship, not a destination.
The promise, hope and future is God. In the midst of their exile, God is saying: “You can find Me. I am the hope and the future, and I will bring you back from captivity.”
Maybe the circumstance won’t change right this minute, but you can change right this minute.
Discussion Questions
- How does understanding the historical context of Jeremiah 29:11 shape your interpretation of this verse?
- Have you ever experienced a situation where doing things your own way led to difficult consequences? How did you see God work through that?
- What does it mean to trust that God’s plans for your life are good, even when your current circumstances are not?
- How does the historical context of this story illustrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness to His promises?
- How can we discern God’s truth and beware of false voices during challenging times?
- What are practical ways you can bless the exile you may be in?
- Does the idea of hope being found in a person (Jesus) rather than a place or destination challenge or encourage you?
Scripture References
