David Bahn – Reflections

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 28-30, Psalm 66.

Jeremiah 29:10-14

“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. ¹¹ 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. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ 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.

This is a favorite passage of many. God has plans—good plans—for hope and a future, plans for prosperity and not for harm. What a wonderful promise! Who wouldn’t want to have that printed and taped to the bathroom mirror?

Before we get to the incredible promises of this passage, however, we need to set them in the context of Judah’s situation during Jeremiah’s ministry. The people are on the brink of exile, though they have not yet been carried away. The false prophets are assuring everyone, “It’ll be fine. No need to worry. Everything is good here.” Jeremiah forcefully challenges that lie:

“Do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish.” (Jeremiah 27:9–10)

Just so you know…this is not good news.

But Jeremiah’s message is good news. Better yet, it is honest good news. There is no pie in the sky. No pretending everything is alright when it isn’t. That’s what the false prophets were doing.

Jeremiah speaks of a hope that lies beyond the coming judgment. It is a hope anchored in God’s own promise: “Thus says the LORD…” Trouble still looms on the horizon. Babylon will conquer Jerusalem and carry God’s people into exile. But after the seventy years are complete, God will bring his people home.

Why?

Because God has plans for hope and a future. Plans for their welfare and not for their harm. There will be a return.

I love sharing this passage with churches as we engage in strategic mission planning. It reminds us that God’s plans are always bigger than our own. Notice what he promises: “You will call upon me and come and pray to me… You will seek me and find me… I will restore your fortunes and gather you…” (Jeremiah 29:12–14). God’s deepest desire is not merely that his people enjoy prosperity, but that they return to him.

Judah’s greatest good is found not in comfort or success, but in a restored relationship with the LORD. He will bring them back from exile so they can worship him, rebuild what has been broken, and once again live lives marked by justice, humility, faithfulness, and righteousness. Everything flows from being brought back into fellowship with God.

That promise reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection, he has brought us home from an even deeper exile—the exile of sin and death. He reconciles us to the Father and calls us into a life of loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. God’s plans for us have always been centered on that restored relationship. Through faith in Jesus, we have both a sure hope and an eternal future.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.