The Plans I Have For You

It's good to know that the Lord knows the plans that He has....

for Israel.

The problem with many "charismatics" and "Word Of Faith" proponents is that they always lift a verse out of context. You never hear them do accurate expository teaching on the text that they intend to viciously abuse.

From the start, they deliberately intend to give you their thoughts and ideas of the text and completely avoid the text. Some of them have degrees but it seems like they've never passed reading comprehension in elementary school.

I’m insulting their intelligence because I used to do the same thing.

Ignore the text to deceive the people.

They’ve become good story tellers and the people they preach or teach to, the people never confront them or challenge them based on 1 Thessalonians 5:21 and 1 John 4:1-8.

They've called it "revelation knowledge" so that they throw you off the trail of discovering what they're doing. And you never see them show a LIVE ON THE SPOT example to prove their teaching.

Many years ago, E.W. Kenyon wrote a book called "Two Kinds Of Knowledge."

Kenneth E. Hagin studied Kenyon and even plagiarized some of his material.

I've read Kenyon’s book and the gist of it is simple. Heart Knowledge versus Head Knowledge.

Heart knowledge is based on, according to Kenyon, the Word of God which is beyond your physical senses. Head knowledge is based on the physical senses that's called worldly knowledge.

Heart knowledge is revelation knowledge. In other words, whatever the Holy Spirit reveals to you. For instance, you don't go by what you see. You go by what you know based on the Word of God and what the Word of God said.

It's also known as positive confession or speaking by faith for things to exist or to change things with the power of your words.

Example?

You feel pain. You rebuke the pain in your body and just say by faith that you're healed.

Now the Lord created the human body. When Adam sinned, he brought death into the world. The body will give "signals" and over time, you know that when certain signals are given, you have to address the signal.

Pain in the body is a signal.

So false teachers will use "revelation knowledge" to teach you that God has a plan for your life. And He does but there's a more accurate text that you could teach it from than using Jeremiah 29:11.

You're not going to stop people from teaching error. But at least demand that they teach the context first.

Preachers and teachers copy each other and say some of the most outlandish things and abuse the text.

I've mentioned all of this to tell you that people will use Jeremiah 29:11 but they’ll never teach the full text.

Why? Some of them lack good homiletic skills. They fail to study the text and to put together a comprehensive outline within context.

So let's read the text in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 (NKJV)

"For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive."

There was a false prophet that told Israel that they would not be in Babylon long.

Well, that false prophet obviously lied and eventually died.

Jeremiah 28:15-17 (NKJV)

"Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.

Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.’”

So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month."

Israel rebelled against the Lord and the land was supposed to have rest (see 2 Chronicles 36:15-21 and Jeremiah 52:4-30).

Because Israel rebelled against the Lord, they were sent to Babylon for 70 years.

The plans that the Lord had for Israel takes us to Daniel chapter 2.

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and the Lord revealed the dream to Daniel.

Here's God's plan for Israel.

There was a statue that Nebuchadnezzar had seen.

Head of Gold= Babylon.

Chest & Arms of Silver= Medes & Persians (Iran).

Belly & Thighs of Bronze= Greece.

Legs of Iron= Rome.

Feet Partly of Iron & Clay= 10 Kingdoms.

10 is the focus. 10 kingdoms, 10 toes, 10 horns, 10 crowns. They're all symbolic language that only means 10 kingdoms that will be under the power of the Beast, also known as the Antichrist.

The 10 kingdoms (Feet partly of Iron and Clay) occurs in the last week of Daniel's 70 Week prophesy (see Daniel chapter 9). This ties in with Matthew chapter 24, Romans chapters 9 through 11, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, and Revelation chapters 5 through 20.

This is the correct teaching of Jeremiah 29:11.

These passing kingdoms serves as markers to give Israel exactly the time frame how the Lord would bring about their deliverance. This leads to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus (see Revelation chapter 19).

The beginning of this plan was prophesied from Genesis 3:15.

When Isaiah prophesied about the virgin birth, and when Christ came into the earth, the plan of salvation for Israel and all of man that would repent and place faith on Christ alone, ushered in the last days (see Hebrews 1:1-3).

Now while it's true that the Lord prepared in advance the plan of salvation for each of us (see John 10:16, Romans chapter 11, and Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:10-11), when it comes to this text in Jeremiah 29, let's teach the context of the text first.

False teachers and prophets have abused the text in Jeremiah 29:11 to mean one thing only.

Your personal plan for life on earth.

Let's not eat the bad fruit of bad trees in the field of the earth.

False prophets and teachers are bad trees that will only yield bad fruit.