What a great promise! I will bring you back to your land. How the people must have rejoiced . . . .
Actually, there can be little doubt that this letter from Jeremiah was received by the exiles in Babylonia with great disbelief and sorrow and even anger. Why?
Practically speaking, this was a death sentence for everyone who heard it. God said he would keep his promise at the end of seventy years. The average lifespan in those days was probably less than fifty years. Anyone who was old enough to hear and understand the letter would almost certainly be dead by the time God kept his promise. When we read it, we may hear a blessing; when they heard it read, it said to them, "You will die here in exile."
Most of us have found ourselves in some uncomfortable life situation that we very much want to get out of, "so we can get on with our lives." God does indeed have plans for us, just as he told the people in exile: plans for prosperity, for a future and a hope.
And yet I cannot help but notice God's instructions to them. He says, Get on with your life now, where you are. Raise families (in exile), plant gardens (in exile), even pray for the welfare of that place where you don't want to be.
What is God's plan for my life? Is it a particular person to marry, a certain house to live in, the right job I should be doing? God has a much higher plan for our lives. He wants us to become like Jesus. This is our true future and hope. An important part of this process is to serve God with all our hearts and with thankfulness in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. In our own Babylon we should be increasing and not decreasing.
"I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content . . . I can do all things in him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:11, 13) (RSV)