The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5 And he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 “And I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12 And I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24 Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”
26 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the Lord. 31 This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God
36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
42 “For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 32 ESV
Jeremiah 32 Jeremiah Buys a Field During The Siege
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36: 11-14
1-15. In the tenth year of Zedekiah - At the time of this, Zedekiah has little left to his reign, and the city is under siege by Babylon again for it's rebellion.
Had imprisoned him - Jeremiah did in harsher times, under a tyrant, what few pastors will do in times of great freedom. He told the truth. He said what God said and stuck with it. The people's ears itched every bit as much then as they do now, and there many false prophets competing for their ears, but Jeremiah is in prison for telling the truth.
…10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.… Matthew 5: 10-12
Why do you prophesy - This king, and all other worldlings, they don't get it. Jeremiah saying something doesn't make it happen. It is God Who speaks things into existence. Jeremiah is only a messenger. You may want him to say something else, but wanting makes nothing, and beating him, putting him in prison, that doesn't change what God says, it only makes room for His wrath.
Buy my field - He sees this playing out before hand, but it doesn't seem like the best time to invest in real-estate. Jerusalem is under siege, and the surrounding lands are already under the Babylonian Empire. Because it is from the Lord he does it; he redeems the land. Put your money where your mouth is.
That they last for a long time - It is the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar, and so there are about 50 years left before the first of the returning exiles. He does it and says, as fits in line with the previous chapters, "houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land." Israel is not cast off forever.
16-35. I prayed to the Lord - Jeremiah knows it was the Lord's voice that instructed him to buy the land, but he is no sage, and so now he entreats the Lord for understanding. This is key to understanding scripture, learning through and surviving trials; talking towards heaven causes a man to prevail in so many arenas.
Nothing is too hard for You - All the more reason to go to Him. Help me understand this, help me to do your will, to say what you would have me to say. You made it all, it all answers to You, You are above and I am below, help me to see.
…34Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.” 35 Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him. 36“Abba, Father,” He said, “all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”… Mark 14: 34-36
On whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal - Yes, the Chaldeans will come, and God is the just King above all kings, and this will right the wrongs. Those houses are a disgrace, and it shall be removed from God's site.
They set up their abominations in the house that is called by My name, to defile it - This is very personal. They had other altars, the priest were traitors to the cloth, and later, in Jesus time, they will make it a place of mammon. This was no longer a light house, a city set high on a hill to display the glory and majesty of the Lord, no, it had been defiled.
11The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” 12Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’ ”… Matthew 21: 11-13
Nor did it enter into my mind - They were sacrificing their own children to Molech, what a disgusting practice, how barbaric, oh wait, we do that today, we haven't evolved as men say, we just call it abortion instead, and pretend it's not a human being. Yet, we still want to go around saying, "science, science." No, we love sin, and we only hate it's consequences, and only when they effect us directly.
36-44. I will bring them back to this place - When He says He can do anything, He means anything, what are the odds? He will bring them back from Babylon with the decree of Cyrus the Persian, whom He has already named. They will build another temple, not so grand as the first, but we will see this fulfilled, and yet we know there is much more to come.
I will put the fear of Me in their hearts - No longer will He write in stone, but upon new hearts, prepared to do His will.
…14But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation. 16Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.… Galatians 6: 14-16
…4Then you will know that I have sent you this commandment so that My covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD of Hosts. 5“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, which I gave to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. 6True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.… Malachi 2: 4-6
Just as I have brought - He has promised to punish sin, declared that He is holy and just, not a respecter of persons. He brought it; He kept His word and His integrity. He has promised them good, to make a way to bring that, a Redeemer, and He will accomplish that as well.
…21Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified. 22The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will accomplish it quickly. Isaiah 60: 21-22
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