Great thoughts on Jeremiah 29:11 from a good friend

One of my good friends from seminary recently commented on a comment thread about Jeremiah 29:11. Often times this is a passage which is quoted from an individualistic stance. I love what he had to say:

Very humble suggestion: Remember as we read these words that the English 'you' that we read today is translated from the Hebrew ' אַתֶּם ' from the Old Testament. It is a plural 'you' referring to the entire people of Israel. I only present this because this passage is often presented and read in a very exclusive manner with 'plan' and 'prosperity' interpreted in a very individualistic and financial/economic approach. However, our modern understanding of 'economy' and society not to mention the 'individual' would be quite foreign to the context in which this passage was written. As we are encouraged by this passage, let us remember: that God established Israel to be a light to all the world and desired for them to prosper in that plan and for that plan to be the future they hoped for as this passage maintains. Because God desires that all, that ' אַתֶּם ' would prosper in the plans that God knows for us. For God's love is for all the world (John 3:16) and this 'plan' and 'prosperity' are intrinsically communal. So, let us 'individually' seek to prosper in servitude and death to Christ (Philippians 1: 21-30; Philippians 2: 1-11) Constantly putting the 'prosperity' of God and neighbor first before ourselves. We are who we are because of God, and God created and shapes us within community and God will redeem us in community (Every knee, every tongue) so let us read this passage and interpret our very lives through a communal lens.