Advent 1: Jeremiah 29:1-14

‘He (Jeremiah) was a man sent by God at Israel’s darkest hour and proclaimed God’s word at great personal cost for over forty years. ‘ Andrew Hill and John H. Walton, A Survery of the Old Testament, 534.

Jeremiah ‘proclaims the magnificence of the covenant blessings of God. The recipients of these blessings are not limited to Judah alone. Remarkably, they extend not only to wayward Israel but also to the surrounding Gentile nations. The initial phase of these blessings occurs in the highly anticipated Judean restoration to the Israelite homeland of Canaan, but the true reality of the Lord’s covenant promises see their fullest realization in the coming of Christ, the true messianic Branch of David (23:4, 33:15).’ Miles V. Van Pelt, A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament, 277.

‘The history of Israel’s monarchies testifies to their weakness and failures, so much that they led the people farther away from the Lord and added to their troubles. But in this new covenant era, the Lord will bring forth an ideal king, the messianic ‘Branch’ who will provide life and salvation. This ‘Branch’ will be none other than the Lord himself who ‘is our righteousness’ (33:15). Miles V. Van Pelt, A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament, 297.

Exalting Jesus in Jeremiah, Lamentations Thrive in Exile (Jeremiah 29:4–9)

The section ends with a warning against the false prophets. This assumes the false prophets were encouraging them to do something other than be supportive of their host country. Perhaps they were advancing a nationalism that, while well intended, did not seek the best for the land they were occupying.

This posture might strike us as odd. Are they to act like nothing is wrong? Of course not! They are in fact exiles. The markets they patronize are different from what they are used to. The ground yields different crops; the customs are different. Everything seems to be different. God never asks us to pretend.

But there is a specific reason they should seek to thrive in exile: the promise of future deliverance.

Exalting Jesus in Jeremiah, Lamentations Thrive in Exile because of Future Deliverance (Jeremiah 29:10–14)

This would have been at once encouraging and tough. How do you accept that God is giving you a hopeful future when you have no home, when all of your memories are tied to a land that you are not sure you will see again, when you have just walked hundreds of miles to be displaced among a strange people, when you are a blessed people living in a pagan land, and when you are literally under the judgment of God? That is a hard ask for humans. But God is not asking them to trust the plans.

The assurance is not in the plans; it is in God’s knowledge of the plans (v. 11). God knows. So that they may focus on the present, he tells them now what he plans to do later.

Jeremiah summarized all these blessings in one wonderful promise: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (29:11). The promise meant that God knew what he was doing. He had known it all along, as he always does. God makes his plan and then he carries it out. Everything he does is for the ultimate good of his people.

Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word Commentary, accessed via Olive Tree Bible Software.

When God says he knows the plans he has for you, it is important to understand whom he means by "you." Christians often apply Jeremiah's promise to themselves individually. "Terrific!" they say. "God knows the plans he has for me." This shows how self-centered Bible reading can be. Jeremiah's promise should not be taken individualistically. It is not a private promise. It is for the entire church. The "you" in "I know the plans I have for you" refers to the whole people of God. Before thinking about what the promise means for you, think about what it means for us.

Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word Commentary, accessed via Olive Tree Bible Software.

If God knows his plans for the church, then he also knows his plans for the Christian. Although we should not take Jeremiah's promise individualistically, we can apply it individually. God does know his plans for each and every Christian. Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word Commentary, accessed via Olive Tree Bible Software.

The Exile did last seventy years. R. K. Harrison counts seventy years from the Babylonian victory at Carchemish in 605 B.C. to the return of the first exiles in 536 B.C. In any case, the point is that the Exile was not to last forever. Even though God's people were going through the worst of times, things were still promising because God knew the plans he had for them. Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word Commentary, accessed via Olive Tree Bible Software.

key points to remember:

‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel’ says-