Hey, everyone! It’s been a minute since I last posted. In June, I enjoyed a month-long sabbatical. I did a lot of resting; my daughter graduated from the police academy; my wife and I went thrift shopping; and I started taking banjo lessons. I’m not very good, but I enjoy learning and practicing.
Some time ago, I made a statement about how someone used a passage. Sometimes Christians use Bible passages for motivation and inspiration, and I think that’s wonderful. However, they’re often used as if it were personally written to them, thereby overlooking the context of the verse altogether. My verse in question is Jeremiah 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.
Many people know and love this verse. It’s in their bios on social media. For some, it’s their personal motto passage. In the style of Norman Vincent Peale, they are using the power of positive thinking. However, most who use it this way were never Jewish exiles to Babylon. We have to remember that the Bible wasn’t written to us, but it was written for us.
Is there anything wrong with finding encouragement from a Bible passage? Absolutely not! By all means, I encourage that. I also caution using Scripture in that way, because God was not writing this to you or me. I recall when in middle school, Daddy and I were watching a boxing match between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson. It was the infamous match where Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear. While walking to the ring, Holyfield wore Philippians 4:13 on his robe. We scurried to find a Bible to read that passage. When we did, it became an instant favorite of ours. Years later, while studying Scripture in school, I learned its meaning and the circumstances that led Paul to write it. That verse had nothing to do with winning a boxing match, but the good that came from it was a father and son reading the Bible. So, I can see how this is both positive and negative. Though the negativity isn’t the end of the world.
Jeremiah was a priest and prophet who warned Jerusalem that God’s wrath is coming. His instrument of choice would be the Babylonians, and Jeremiah is urging repentance and a return to the covenant that Israel had also broken, which had landed them in Assyria. Judah was worshipping at the temple, but they had also adopted some Canaanite worship practices, some as bad as making their children pass through the fire—something God had forbidden.
When studying Scripture, there are always some questions to ask. My late homiletics (public speaking) teacher, Tom Holland (not the actor or Roman Empire scholar), used to say, “Ask the Bible questions.” By so doing, you will dive into a study of Scripture to find those answers.
- Who’s writing the book? In this case, it’s not even Jeremiah, but his disciple and scribe, Baruch (Jer. 36:4–8).
- To whom is the book written? Anyone present in Jerusalem during said timeline.
- What circumstances necessitated the writing? King Josiah is dead, and his next-to-eldest son was installed by the Egyptians (2 Kings 23:34).
- In this case, who is the “you” in this passage?
The first twenty-four chapters are Jeremiah’s preaching and warning Judah. The priests, king, and prophets have become idolatrous, and this has led to injustices against widows, orphans, and migrants. By chapter twenty-five, Babylon is heading to Jerusalem to execute God’s wrath. Jews are taken captive, Jeremiah among them, and the material in chapter twenty-nine is a letter to the captives from Jeremiah.
So why would I think one verse from that letter is written to me? It isn’t. Yet, how I treat the Bible determines how I’ll understand it. I prefer to take the posture of Jesus (Matt. 5:17–19). The minutest points of the Law Jesus revered. Coming to Scripture and reading it as I describe above is a tad selfish and self-centered. Again, there’s nothing wrong with finding encouragement in Scripture, but context matters.
If I’m not to read this passage this way, what can I take from it? I can take from it that despite how wicked God’s people had been, He still has their best interests at heart. Though He has left them traumatized and decimated, it isn’t without purpose. All that they can see before them is destruction and a foreign land, but God tells them that the story doesn’t end in Babylon. Better times lie ahead, and despite what they’ve endured, God still loves them and wants the best for them.
This isn’t a universal application. God may not intend the same for everyone, but He may have a specific plan for a person. For Peter, He had a plan in mind, and it wasn’t akin to the Jewish exiles (John 21:18–19). No one uses this passage as they do the one from Jeremiah, do they? It’s because they know it’s speaking about someone else. No one takes the words of any letter as if they are the “you” unless that letter’s specifically addressed to them. Even when it’s not, there are times that a universal application is present, such as in Acts 2:38–39. How is a person called? Paul writes elsewhere that one is called when the gospel is preached (2 Thess. 2:14). These are not limited to the Thessalonians or those present at Pentecost, respectively.
Still, keep Jeremiah 29:11 in your bio, but know that its meaning isn’t a bumper sticker for your life. The meaning behind it, if you only use it that way, robs the Jews who were exiled of its richness. Everything written before that point happened to them, and not taking that into account leads a person to misunderstand what God was truly saying.
A Minister's Study 