Does God want me to prosper?

Image Courtesy : Cournell Ngare

Everyone dreams about being prosperous in this world. Who would not want to be rich here on earth? We live in a culture where money drives everything. In theory, money doesn’t have any value in itself when its paper or metal. But it becomes valuable when it can be traded for many desires and dreams we have. Is it Gods plan to make everyone rich in this world? Scripture is very clear that love of money is the root of all evil. Even Christianity is commercialized now by promising earthly prosperity if we believe in Christ. And one of the key verses used for the same is Jeremiah 29:11. I know this is the favorite verse of many and we hear it often in testimonies of people. I have to agree that it encourages us when we are really depressed or grieved. But does Bible guarantee material prosperity? I know some of you might have a face with🤨 but it has been sickening to hear the misinterpretation of the verse so I hope you will understand the intent of this article😊. Today we will look at its context and see how it impacts us and what it's real application is.

Due to their disobedience, Israelites were punished by God and were sent to Babylon as exiles. If we read the previous chapters of Jeremiah (25 and 26), we can understand that God was going to send the people of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and make Israelites serve the King of Babylon for seventy years. He even says that he would make them an object of horror and scorn. From that, we could realize the intensity of Gods wrath. Things go on and in chapter 28, we see a false prophet named Hananiah. He proclaims that God was going to break the yoke of the King of Babylon and free Israel from Babylon in two years. But Prophet Jeremiah confronts Hananiah and calls out his lie.

In this context, he writes chapter 29 and declares the promise of the Lord to the exiles in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had already removed some Jews to Babylon even though the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem and the entire city was yet to come(verse 1). The prophet writes to the exiles that they would have to carry on with their normal life in Babylon and settle down there. He also encourages the exiles to seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon and warns them not to let the false prophets deceive them. Unfortunately, this was not what the Israelites wanted to hear from the prophet. They wanted to be told that their suffering was going to end soon.

But Gods plan was different. He wanted them to stay where they were and help prosper the nation. In verse 10, the prophet encourages them and declares that when seventy years are completed, God will fulfill his good promises for them. This meant that only few would ever return to their home and that was discouraging for the Israelites. But the prophet doesn’t stop there and reassures them in verse 11 that God has not forsaken them. They will be restored. God’s plans for His chosen people were “for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”.

One thing we can learn from this verse is the general principle of God’s grace and compassion to his people. We learn about the unchanging nature of God. God is immutable and his character doesn’t change. The promise in Jeremiah 29:11 was to the nation of Israel and God promised to bring them back to Jerusalem after seventy years. They were promised a future and a hope in the land. Likewise God has promised an eternal hope to those who are in Christ. Our sins are forgiven and we stand righteous before God in Christ. Through the finished work of Christ, we have been sanctified by his blood and we are awaiting for our glorification which is yet to happen. That is our future and hope. In preparation to that, God has begun a good work in us (Philippians 1:6) so that we would be holy and blameless before him (Ephesians 1:4). God uses our circumstances to shape us into a better image that conforms to his Son. The phrase, “hope and a future” should be viewed from an eternal perspective rather than from a temporal/earthly viewpoint.

I would say Romans 8:28 is the interpretation of Jeremiah 29:11 for the church in New Covenant. The context and application of Romans 8:28 has been described here. We may be able to enjoy earthly pleasures but if we read the New Testament, it is clear that prosperity for us in the new covenant is promised in eternity and not on earth. If we think from an eternal perspective, it would make sense that plans for welfare doesn’t refer to happily-ever-after on earth but to the future hope that has been promised to every person who has placed their trust in Christ Jesus. Sufferings, persecution and sickness are all part of this earthly life and the ultimate plan of God is not the absence of these problems in this world but transforming us to the image of Jesus Christ through all these trials.

But unfortunately, many of our modern preachers misquote this verse to their benefit and give false hope to Christians. Prosperity gospel says, “If you believe in God, you will prosper materially and all you need is faith to claim it”. According to prosperity preachers, God wants us to be rich and it is his will for us is to be physically and financially successful. They even use the atonement of Christ to prove that earthly blessings are included. But let me tell you that it is a false gospel being promoted to us and I would like exhort you to not fall into it. I am not against being rich or enjoying earthly pleasures so don’t get me wrong. The problem is when we use God and Scripture to promise earthly blessings.

Christ didn’t come to this world to set up an earthly kingdom and throughout the New Testament, we see that all Apostles had to suffer for the sake of the gospel. In fact, even the Old Testament saints did not receive what had been promised to them. Hebrews 11:39-40 says - These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. According to prosperity gospel, there should be no poor person. If they still justify it by saying it is their lack of faith, then I would say that no one now has a supernatural faith as the Old Testament saints had and the writer of Hebrews says even they did not receive what was promised. So let us study the Scripture in a balanced way without misquoting and understand the scriptural promises in the eternal perspective.

Jeremiah 29:11 should be read and understood in the context of the whole book of Jeremiah and Israel’s story. The ultimate hope for the nation of Israel was the arrival of Messiah but they still renounced him and we (wild branches) by Gods grace got grafted into the olive tree. We were privileged to be called into the eternal hope of Christ. Still remember the fact that God has not rejected Israel and though there is a partial hardening on Israel until the full number of Gentiles has come in, they will look unto the one (Christ) whom they have pierced, in the future. God is still faithful to his promises. Amen!

So then how does Jeremiah 29:11 apply to you? It applies to us in Christ. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him (2 Cor 1:20). And the promise to us is that we who are united to Christ are co-heirs with Christ. The good future and hope promised to us is in eternity and not an earthly kingdom so let us not run for fame or prosperity here but invest in the kingdom of God. That alone gives us eternal pleasure and brings glory to God. The health and wealth will all perish one day but we have an imperishable heavenly inheritance which is awaiting us. So let us be faithful in every step of our life and be satisfied in Christ alone. Your Best Life Is In Eternity And Not Now!!