“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.’” Jeremiah 29:11.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a well-known verse to many but, as with any verse, context is vitally important. Jeremiah 29 is a message to the people of God who were consigned to a life of exile in a foreign land for seventy years. Having been conquered by the brutal Babylonians, this was hardly the life they would have chosen. And yet, amidst this darkest of hours, a message of hope is extended to them from Yahweh concerning their future. All was not lost; their exile existence was a temporary condition.

We read in verses 5-7 instructions for living in their land of exile. They are to settle in to the land, build houses, marry, bear children, and seek the welfare of the city; pray to the LORD on its behalf for their own welfare.

These are applicable instructions for us as well. We reside in a foreign land as we await the land of promise, the kingdom of God. We do well to go about similar routines, and to actively seek the welfare of this land for our own benefit and protection. Similarly, in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 we are urged to pray for government leaders that we might lead quiet and peaceable lives.

Jeremiah 29:11 is indeed a bright promise, but it is best appreciated within the context of the chapter. It is a promise for a brighter tomorrow amidst the long and dark exile existence in a foreign land. Such is our lot, and such is our hope. “for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near” Romans 13:11-12.

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