- Jan 2, 2015
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“‘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’” (Jeremiah 29:11) This is one of the most quoted, yet I think most misunderstood verses, in the entire Bible.
God, the ultimate Author of this text, like any good author, provides the subject of the passage for us: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon … “ (Jeremiah 29:4). Yet we use this verse in graduation cards, and it's printed on posters in the church nursery. . .
Are we misapplying this text, and countless others, when we take them from their context, and put them on a feel-good bumper stickers?
Does context matter, or are we free to take any text and apply it in any way we wish?
God, the ultimate Author of this text, like any good author, provides the subject of the passage for us: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon … “ (Jeremiah 29:4). Yet we use this verse in graduation cards, and it's printed on posters in the church nursery. . .
Are we misapplying this text, and countless others, when we take them from their context, and put them on a feel-good bumper stickers?
Does context matter, or are we free to take any text and apply it in any way we wish?
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