In my eighth journey through the entire Bible, I just finished reading the book of Jeremiah. One reason I challenge myself to read God’s Word cover to cover is there cannot be excuses for skipping books that seem long or lacking application for my season of life. I have learned that God’s prescription for right living is best taken from the whole council of Scripture.
Though the prophet Jeremiah lived twenty-six hundred years ago, he was called to declare God’s Word to people both in his era and prophetically yet future. We can still take encouragement from the truths that he faithfully recorded. One of the most well-known verses in this prophetic book is found in Jeremiah 29:11. I bet most students of Scripture have it memorized: “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” Fewer students may know the context and setting where this verse lands in chapter 29.
This prophetic word of hope is given to a remnant sent into exile in a foreign land. God Almighty wanted His people to know that their time of heartache would not last forever. The rebellious people of Judah would receive discipline for their apostasy, as a loving act to turn them back to their Creator, but a glorious future would follow for those answering God’s call for repentance (Jeremiah 18:5-17; 46:27-28). God’s lovingkindness would prove everlasting, even if doubts shadowed their minds in a season of darkness.
A Covenantal Promise
When the LORD called Jeremiah back in chapter 1, he was appointed over nations and kingdoms “to root out and tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). This agrarian theme carries through the remainder of the book. (For further study, dive into Jeremiah 18:5-12; 31:27-28; 32:40-42; 42:10-12). It is also rooted in the covenant promise that God Almighty made with the nation’s second king, David son of Jesse, a man after God’s own heart.
In 2 Samuel 7, a covenant promise is made binding, where God promises (1) to establish David’s family line on the throne of Israel for an eternal kingdom and (2) to “establish a place for My people Israel, and [I] will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again…” (2 Samuel 7:10,16). All hope seemed lost in Jeremiah’s day when God allowed an enemy army to uproot and overthrow the same kingdom that was supposed to be established forever. From a human perspective, it seemed that David’s lineage was permanently cut off when the king of Judah was captured, his sons killed, the capital city burned, and the holy Temple destroyed. Surely, Israel had no chance for redemption!
Unfortunately we still have nay-sayers that declare God is finished with Israel, that He has completely replaced His chosen people with the Gentiles who “exclusively” make up the Church. They have yet to wrap their minds around God’s prophetic plan to bring two bodies into one, grafting Gentiles in with the firmly rooted Jewish people. No other plan allows God’s covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David to stand firm.
At the end of the age all will make sense. “In the last days you will clearly understand…” (Jeremiah 23:20, 30:24). God’s plan of redemption includes an eternal kingdom where “a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). When that Branch reigns from Zion, “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Then on that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal flag for the peoples, and His resting place will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:9-10). God always has a hope and a future for His people!
The Everlasting Covenant
After seventy years of exile, a remnant did return to the Land of Promise (Jeremiah 32:36-37). The time of judgment was behind them and with renewed hearts they had learned to revere their LORD.
They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and all My soul. For this is what the Lord says: ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. (Jeremiah 32:38-42)
In our lives, when all hope seems lost, we need to have a firm understanding of God’s character and the promises in His Word. His ways are higher than our ways. His plan of redemption may take longer than we could ever imagine, but God does not and cannot lie. When He makes a promise, He is always faithful to see it to completion. His word never fails. He always wins the victory. There is always hope and a future for the remnant who stays faithful to their LORD.
Just as the biblical prophecies foretold, the Messiah came to bring eternal salvation through the Cross (around 30 A.D.) And He will come again as the Hope of Israel and Savior King reigning over the entire world. “On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel” (Isaiah 4:2). How can we be sure? Go read the end of the Good Book. God Almighty has a prophetic plan in the works. Our future will be glorious when He reigns from Zion. Hang on to hope – it is the anchor of our souls!
All Scripture taken from New American Standard Bible. Photo credit: Twenty20Photos, Envato.com.
