God plans are for your welfare, to give you a future and a hope – Jeremiah 29:11
God tells us that he plans for us in the future. They will be plans that will be for your welfare or for your peace. With these plans you will have a wonderful future and a hope.
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. Jeremiah 29:11
This is an exciting verse to read as it potentially talks about your future. To participate in these plans you only need to love God and obey his commands.
Two principles
When we read the Bible and come to understand better our God, it becomes clear that there are two overriding principles:
Firstly, whatever God does He does for our health and happiness—not to make us deprived or miserable (Psalm 19:7–11; Jeremiah 29:11, 12; Romans 8:28). Secondly, God desires us to love Him by our own choice and of our own free will—not out of force or terror (1 John 4:18, 19; Hebrews 11:24–26; Psalm 18:1–3). Unfortunately, these two principles are either not understood or not believed by the majority of people in the world. As a result, they ignore God and do their own thing.
The verse we are considering in this article speaks of that first principle. The prophet Jeremiah in those words is speaking of two different times. He is speaking of the period when he lived but he is also speaking of the future.
In the time Jeremiah lived the Jews had been taken into captivity by the invading Babylonian army. They had been held captive by the Babylonians for seventy years. Jeremiah is saying in these verses that the captivity will finish and they will be allowed to return back to their land where they will experience freedom and no longer be under the control of a foreign country. God was giving them a future and a hope.
Jeremiah is also speaking of a future time. It is a time when those who have come to God will experience the joy of salvation. This is talking about the whole world –both Jew and Gentile. It refers just as much to us living now in the 21st century. Jeremiah in these words is talking about eternal inheritance for those who love God and want to willingly obey Him. This eternal inheritance will happen at the return of Jesus Christ. God will be their salvation that they will trust and not be afraid.
Therefore the prophet Jeremiah is speaking of God’s purpose of peace. God will undertake all those things necessary so that those who come to him will have a wonderful future where they are given eternal life and permitted to enter the kingdom of God.
The great reward
King David talks about the great reward God offers to those who come to Him and willingly obey His word:
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Psalm 19:7-11
The servant of God knows there is a God who has made all things by looking at the order and harmony of the Creation. It can be seen in the amazing design of living things. But what does God offer man who he has created? He offers eternal life. This is the great reward. Men and women can live forever without ever worrying about death. This is on offer, but there are requirements in order to be saved from this mortal state. The man (or woman) must respond to the purpose of God. But to hear this message from God he must read it for himself (or be taught by a teacher). For faith only comes through hearing the Word of God.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10: 14-17
Six practical virtues
The passage from Psalm 19 (above) lists six practical virtues of the Word of God which lead to the great reward for believers:
- The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul
The law of God is the expression of His teaching, doctrine and instruction. This teaching of God will convert (restore) the soul. When a person is depressed, when the way ahead is difficult, or when some feels bad after they have sinned, then the Law of God is a healing and refreshing influence that can restore the whole person. As the verse says, this law is perfect. If only the modern man (and woman) would learn of God’s law. Instead they rely on their own understanding which leads to men and women degenerating and sinking into despair through ignorance of their purpose.
- The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
This is saying that the testimony (or statutes) of God is sure or trustworthy, and because of this, the insecure or naïve will not turn away from God’s paths of wisdom. These words are reassuring the unsure that there is nothing in God’s way that is uncertain.
What God has proposed, He has done or will do. In the main verse we are considering it says that “for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord”. We can be completely confident that those plans will be carried out exactly in the way God intended. There is no doubt. God is completely consistent in carrying out His plans. Reading the Word of God is a way for God’s wisdom to be passed over to us.
- The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
The statutes are the commandments of God. There are general rules intended to regulate the behaviour or thought of men and women. These statutes are right or just, and the response of the believer is one of rejoicing. There is a happy feeling when you walk in the ways of the wisdom of God.
In this verse “wisdom” is personified as a woman:
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Proverbs 3:17
- the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The word “pure” here is giving the idea of clarity. It is illustrated by Song of Solomon chapter 6 and verse 10:
“Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?”
Here the sun is described as bright or “clear”. The penetrating light of the sun makes objects plain and clear. In a similar way, the commandments of God enlighten our eyes to the reality of good and evil. They make issues of life very easy to see.
- The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever.
The NIV translation says: The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
What we are being told here is that we cannot begin to be wise unless we have a reverence for God. King David in the verse from Psalm 19 is telling us that this fear of God is clean or pure. Over the centuries there have been many “religions” but these have been unclean and morally polluting. In contrast to this, the fear of Israel’s God (whose book is the Bible) is wholesome and will last to eternity.
- the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether
In these words, King David describes the judgments of the Lord as being true and righteous altogether. How greatly this contrasts with the judicial scene in every modern country where judgement (to varying degrees) quite often does not reach that high goal of being true and righteous. The judgements of God reveal His mind and His character. God’s judgements allow great thoughts and searching out, but they appeal to the servant of God because of their rightness, their balance of justice and mercy.
Above, there are six statements about God and his commandments. They tell us of the value of the Word of God where God’s wisdom can be found. The possession of God’s Word is greater wealth than anything that man can wish for. Using it, men of God can evaluate things correctly. They see their Bible as greater riches than any treasure they could accumulate in this world.
Plans for welfare
This brings us back to the main verse we are considering in Jeremiah 29:11.
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.
Whatever God does, He does for our health and happiness—not to make us deprived or miserable. The six practical virtues of the Word of God which we have just considered are designed to be for our benefit in our daily life and will lead to the great reward for believers. They will lead ultimately to eternal life.
The Bible can sometimes be unpleasant in that it is correcting wrong behaviours. There are many lessons designed to encourage the believer against going down the broad way to destruction. Instead we should take the path to the great reward offered by God. God knows the plan for each one of us, and he plans for welfare to give each one of us a future and a hope. The hope spoken about is the hope of life for it speaks of “glory and honour and immortality, eternal life”(Romans 2:7). It is a hope which is beyond the grave.
The words of the apostle Paul nicely summarises the words of the central verse (Jeremiah 29:11) we are considering in this article:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
How true that is – there is nothing but good to come to those who love God.
