Elisha Vision – Commentary

Jeremiah 29 has one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. Yet, it is greatly misunderstood. Christians are quick to jump on verse 11:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yehovah, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

This text is not a blanket promise that things will always get better for everybody. History and life certainly contradicts that interpretation. So what is the message here that is so encouraging to believers? I see three distinct messages in the context of Jeremiah 29.

1. First, this is written historically to the specific Jews who taken away from Jerusalem and Judah in the 70 year-long Babylonian captivity. In verse 11, Jeremiah speaks a literal promise to them that Yehovah God has not forgotten them. They are to live and thrive in that strange land. Notice this verse:

And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yehovah for it; for in its peace you will have peace. Jeremiah 29:7

So verse 11 is a literal promise that God will restore them after 70 years.

2. Secondly, this promise does apply as a general principle of God’s covenant faithfulness, but only to those who believe and follow His ways. In that sense, it applies to us today who love Yehovah and walk in His pathway. However, it cannot be taken as a blanket promise for all people. There is still reaping and sowing and accountability. Judah’s physical and spiritual adultery is why they ended up in Babylon. If you want to claim the promise, you also sign on for the accountability part. So remember that there is a future and a hope….in God!

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13

3. Thirdly, there is a literal application for Israel today! Yes, it applied to historical Judah. Yes, it applies to believers everywhere who call on Him from the heart. They will find Him. But almost like a verse that doesn’t fit, verse 14 speaks of a different historical period that is way in the future.

I will be found by you, says Yehovah, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yehovah, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. Jeremiah 29:14

This does not refer to Egypt or Babylon or any limited captivity in a single nation, but to the future great Diaspora (dispersion). It foretells a time when Israel will have been scattered to all the nations of the world. This has been their condition for nearly 2,000 years since the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. BUT GOD! But, Yehovah does not leave them scattered. He has planned one last great regathering of His chosen ones to the PLACE from which they were scattered. We are now eyewitnesses of this great miracle that proves Yehovah’s covenant faithfulness. He is the promise keeping God!

I wrote in my first book that God has no Plan B. The church did not replace Israel, we were adopted by the Father and added to the family. If God broke His promise to Israel then we have no logical basis to trust Him to keep His promises to Christians. Ah, but He has kept His Israel promise. He is restoring them to their land, their language, their scriptures, their God and their Messiah.

Yay God! We are with you. Count us in. We rejoice in the true peace of Jerusalem. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists.     (READ MORE)

(As is my custom, I have taken the liberty to change the word “LORD” to Yehovah. Every single time you see LORD or GOD in all capital letters in the Old Testament, the actual Hebrew word is Yehovah. This name occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text, yet remains untranslated in most Bibles. His name, obscured for 2,500 years, is now being revealed. It is TIME to restore the name of Yehovah!) (for deeper study click here.)