Promise of true prosperity

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).”

I have had this verse exclaimed to me when I have given voice to fears and weariness, usually over my children’s future and mostly regarding those with cystic fibrosis. “This isn’t just encouragement; it’s a promise for all believers!” Aside from denigrating true encouragement, is this a promise of wealth and health of years for all believers? Since the exclaimers are probably not referring to our heavenly future of prosperity, what have millions of poor, troubled believers from the apostles to the saints to the Third World done wrong to miss this promise? Why are so many lovers of the Lord poor and sick, or persecuted and killed?

First of all, the verse sits in the middle of a letter of prophesy from Jeremiah to the Israelites, most of whom were exiles in Babylon. God told them to submit to King Nebuchadnezzar and settle down, that they would not be freed to return home for seventy years, that He knew the plans He had for them . . . (and the rest of the verse). It is a specific plan for a specific situation with a specific nation, not for individual people to “claim a promise.” I imagine there were Israelite women who, upon hearing the prophesy read, crumpled a little on the inside. “The promise will come too late for us, Lord. Our husbands and older sons were speared to death; our daughters were abducted; our little ones have been sold into slavery. I am all alone and starving.” God did indeed have a plan for their nation and it was good. Later.

This does not mean the Old Testament holds no significance for Christians today of course. The New Testament is hidden within the Old, offering luminous glimpses of Jesus in the drama of early salvation history as it advanced toward the Incarnation. What we know from it all is that God has a plan, that obedience matters, and because we are living in the Church Age, that hope and future mean heaven. “Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing tht suffering produces endurance; endurance produces character; and character produces hope (Romans 5:2-4).”

There are also telling translation differences. The translations that use “prosper” (NIV and GNT) were published in the mid-twentieth century, while older ones (and some newer ones as well) use “peace” (shalom).

“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace and not affliction, to give you an end and patience.” (Douay-Rheims)

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord; plans for your welfare, not for your woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.” (New American)

God guided the Israelites to an earthly land, government, and salvation from their enemies. But the new covenant has Jesus teaching us that His kingdom is within us and among us, regardless of government; and that our land, hope, and future are found in His Father’s House. That is true prosperity.

So the verse is not promising plans of material prosperity without harm. It is part of the story of our Creator’s love and leading of the nation of Israel, our elder brothers in the faith, to salvation. We read the story and focus our knowledge of God onto the Person of Jesus Christ, who loves and leads his church to salvation. It is truly a better promise than earthly prosperity, and is harmonious with scriptures about suffering and trouble.

From our catechism: “Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. In Abraham’s progeny all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself, in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad … the promised Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it (#706).”

And from Galatians 3:29: “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

God, the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent I Am, thinks about his people. Has plans of peace for his people. Has a hopeful future for his people. Adopts us into his family. Because he is Love. Now that’s a prosperity promise I can exclaim over.