The Promises of God ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Now you know I don't usually like the AMP versions, but this one is great, to me it encompasses all other versions.

Jeremiah 29:11 is BFF's life verse - we really enjoyed digging into this verse and finding so much goodness to discuss!

Let us share with you what we learned -

Jeremiah 29 is titled "A Letter to the Exiles"

First of all it blew our minds that Jeremiah wrote this letter to God's chosen people who were at that moment exiled to Babylon (it is amazing what you learn when you read more than just one verse).

I can't imagine that they felt like chosen people when they were living in exile in a foreign land, away from the land God had given them.

Doesn't that beg the question - why were they living in exile in Babylon? Well, they were there by the will of God for their generations of rebellion against Him.

G E N E R A T I O N S - if you ask the Google how long a generation is, it will tell you.....In human populations, generation time typically has ranged from 20-30 years. Don't we read all through the Bible about rebellion against God? Don't you think these people would have learned to do what is right? Gosh it's like a perpetual teenager!

Are we any different from them? Will we ever learn?

I love this entire verse, but my favorite part is.....

For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you....

God thinks about us!!!

God alone knows the plans and thoughts that He has towards us!

"We cannot know the thoughts of the Lord because they are too high for our conception, or too deep for our understanding, yet the Lord knows them." - Spurgeon

Who am I that God would think about me?! Talk about mind blowing!

Why do You bother with us? Why take a second look our way? - Psalms 8:4 MSG

In the surrounding verses God tells them a lot through Jeremiah's letter.

• They will be in Babylon for 70 years.

  • God had appointed an end - this long and no longer.

• He instructs them to live and be productive.

• Don't be tricked by fortune tellers (false prophets), they are telling lies in God's name.

• God will bring them home again.

• He is listening to them.

• To look for God wholeheartedly.

Basically to make the best of it - make yourself at home and be good citizens and after 70 years God promises to bring them back to the land (Verses 10-14).

Now here is where it gets very interesting and we had more mind blowing going on - In Jeremiah 24, God is showing Jeremiah a vision of Good and Bad Figs. The good Figs represent God's people, the Exiles He sent to Babylon. The bad Figs represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem and those who live in Egypt.

In Verses 9 and 10, God tells Jeremiah what will happen to the bad Figs....

"I will make them an object of horror and a symbol of evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I scatter them. And I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors."

One commentary said they would be utterly destroyed.

Jeremiah 39 tells of The Fall of Jerusalem.

Is your mind blown?!

God sent his people to exile in Babylon to protect them!

God knew the plans He had for them - for peace and well-being and not for disaster.

The same plans He has for us - let's not rebel or seek our own way. Let us seek His face and His will in all things!