"When Seventy Years Are Completed"

Scripture:

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.

Verse 11 is probably one of the most quoted scriptures in all of the Bible because it's so jam-packed with hope and encouragement straight from the Lord.  Many of my girls consider it their life verse because it points us to a God who loves us and is in complete control amidst the chaos of our lives.  But it is even more powerful in context of the surrounding verses.  So for the next few days, I want to pull out 5 powerful parts of Jeremiah 29:10-14:

Part 1: "When Seventy Years Are Completed"

Part 2: "Fulfill My Good Promise"

Part 3: "With All Your Heart"

Part 4: "Back from Captivity"

Observations:

When we read Jeremiah 29:11, we usually neglect to read the verse right before it… the one that starts with "when seventy years are complete."  How much is seventy years?  It's about one lifetime.  God promises hope to the Israelites-- but it's a lifetime away.  They know right then that they will be away from home for an entire lifetime.

How does this parallel to us?  We're away from home for a lifetime too.  We were created to be in perfect unity with God… our bodies for Eden… our hearts for heaven.  We spend a lifetime here on this messy earth surrounded by pain and brokenness.  It doesn't take long for us to get homesick for heaven.  Romans 8:23 says, "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies."  We know we aren't at home here in our own Babylon.  

Realizing this is the context for the Lord's promise of hope totally changes my perspective on this verse.  God is in control and has a plan for my life, but the picture here is much bigger.  That is only the worldly perspective for his promise.  I want to look at the eternal perspective.  God is promising a much better future than what we are hoping or imagining when we read Jeremiah 29:11.  He's promising an eternal hope!  Whatever happens here on earth… we are promised heaven.  However lonely we feel… we are promised His presence for eternity.  No matter how jacked up we are here on earth, we've got redemption waiting on us "when seventy years are completed."

Application:

In Hebrews 11, we see a list of people who demonstrated true faith in action.  There is a whole paragraph dedicated to Abraham, highlighting one step after another he took in faith.  Verse 10 explains why he was able to step out in faith so many times, "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."  

If we are going to trust God completely, we must trust that our Jeremiah 29:11 promise is not just for this lifetime.  A few months ago, Pastor Chris asked us to take a "Thought Audit."  

Since then, I have been hyper-aware of how "worldly-minded" I am.  I've also realize how much the Bible talks about setting your eyes on the eternal. "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18).  Our hope is far beyond any blessing we will receive in this world.  Our hope is in the promise of an eternal home with God which was purchased for us in Christ Jesus.

Prayer:

Dear God, your promises are so amazing-- so far beyond what I can imagine.  Lord, my hope is in you… and in the promise of our forever home in heaven.  Help me to focus on that.  Help me to set my eyes on heaven.  You've promised me abundant life here but you've promised me perfect life forever in heaven!  Thank you, Lord!  In Jesus' name!  Amen!

Confident in this…

Miranda