In these studies in the second half of the book of Jeremiah,  we will see God’s word coming through Jeremiah and being rejected again and again. We will see the difficulties of Jeremiah but also the way he is saved through it all. Jeremiah is God’s reporter on the spot, in the midst of one of the most tumultuous periods in Israel’s history.

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, and the particular theme, as with studies elsewhere, each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read on the main Bible page.

Jeremiah to buy a field

Jer 32:1-15

1 This is 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 The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.

³ Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ⁴ Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. ⁵ He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”

⁶ Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷ Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’

⁸ “Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; ⁹ so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy— ¹² and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³ “In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ¹⁴ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. ¹⁵ For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

A. Find Out

1. What was happening at this moment? v.2a
2. What had happened to Jeremiah? v.2b,3a
3. What had Jeremiah been prophesying? v.3b-5
4. What was the word of knowledge God gave him? v.6,7
5. What did Jeremiah do with the deeds? v.13,14
6. What was the Lord saying through this? v.15

B. Think:

1. Why, at first sight, would it have been crazy for Jeremiah to buy a plot of land in Benjamin?
2. Why did Jeremiah know it was right for him to buy the land when his cousin offered it?
3. When did the Lord reveal His purpose behind this action?

C. Comment:

The end of Jerusalem appears near as the army of Nebuchadnezzar is besieging it. The rest of the land is under his control as well. Jeremiah had been prophesying that Nebuchadnezzar would prevail and take the city and the king. For that the king had imprisoned Jeremiah with guards.

Suddenly the Lord warns Jeremiah that his cousin will come and offer to sell some of the family land in Benjamin, land under the control of Nebuchadnezzar, land that was, therefore, currently worthless!  When his cousin comes Jeremiah understands that he is to buy the land.

Everyone who looked on must have thought Jeremiah was a fool to purchase worthless land, but as he does it understanding comes from the Lord: the Lord is signifying that the land will come back to Israel and his action is to be a picture of faith in that.  There is a future here in the land, because the Lord has said so!  God is conveying hope to those who will hear.

D. Application:

1. Will we go by what we see or what God says about our future?
2. Praise God that He knows our future and has it in His hands. Rest in Him today.  Leave your tomorrow with Him.

Jeremiah Prays

Jer 32:16-25   

¹⁶ “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:

¹⁷ “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. ¹⁸ You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, ¹⁹ great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. ²⁰ You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. ²¹ You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. ²² You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.

²⁴ “See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see. ²⁵ And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’”

A. Find Out

1. When did Jeremiah pray? v.16
2. What did he first acknowledge? v.17
3. What did he then recognise? v.18,19
4. What did he remember? v.20-22
5. What has caused the present disaster? v.23
6. What was actually happening? v.24
7. What query does he finish with? v.25

B. Think:

1. What, about the Lord, does Jeremiah first declare?
2. How does his final query contradict this?
3. How does Jeremiah accept that what the Lord is doing with Jerusalem is correct?

C. Comment:

Jeremiah has a query in his mind over the buying of the land. He’s heard the word of the Lord over it but never-the-less he still doubts. In his praying he acknowledges the Lord’s greatness in both creating the world and in delivering Israel into the Promised Land. He also acknowledges the Lord’s moral perfection and His right to deal with those who transgress His laws. He appears to have no problems with the way that God is dealing with Jerusalem.

When he comes to the end of his prayer, it is as if he says, “This is all very right but what’s the point  of me getting hold of this land? Can you really get this land back from Nebuchadnezzar?”. In this Jeremiah reveals his humanity. Prophet of God he may be but he’s still very human. It’s comforting for us to know that this man is still very much a man with human wonderings and that the Lord doesn’t reject him for it.  The Lord does not despise our honest doubts that are shared with Him, for then He can share His answers.  That this is the way Jeremiah feels is confirmed by the way the Lord answers, and we’ll look at that tomorrow.

D. Application:

1. Can we honestly share our heart with the Lord?
2. The Lord knows what you feel, He understands you, so share it with Him. He loves you!

The Lord’s Reply

Jer 32:26-44

²⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? ²⁸ Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. ²⁹ The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

³⁰ “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord. ³¹ From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight. ³² The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. ³³ They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. ³⁴ They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. ³⁵ They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.

³⁶ “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ³⁷ I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. ³⁸ They will be my people, and I will be their God. ³⁹ I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. ⁴⁰ I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. ⁴¹ I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

⁴² “This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. ⁴³ Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’ ⁴⁴ Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”

A. Find Out

1. What is the Lord about to do with Jerusalem? v.28
2. What will be the extent of that? v.29
3. How had Israel done evil?  a) v.33   b) v.34   c) v.35
4. What does the Lord say He will also do? v.37
5. What will He do in them? v.39
6. What will eventually happen? v.43,44

B. Think:

1. How does the Lord show that what He is doing is not a hasty action? (see v.30-35)
2. Why do you think future generations  of Israel would have “singleness of heart” and fear God “for their own good”?
3. How did the Lord answer Jeremiah’s query about why he had just bought worthless land?

C. Comment:

After Jeremiah finishes praying, the Lord challenges him as to whether he really believes what he says (see v.17 & 27), that nothing is too hard for the Lord.  Yes, He is bringing an end to Jerusalem but what He has already said (v.15) WILL happen.  Fields WILL be bought and sold again by Israel..

It is easy to observe from our vantage point in history and wonder why Jeremiah doubted God’s word, but we should remember how many times WE need reassuring when God speaks important things to us. Believing is not easy in such circumstances.

For Jeremiah, to contemplate the utter destruction of Jerusalem was to contemplate the end of Israel.  There appears no future. All he could see was the coming disaster. That filled his vision so that he could see nothing beyond it. It takes much faith to see beyond the immediate catastrophe, and the Lord knows that. That’s why He speaks and speaks again.

D. Application:

1. Ask the Lord to help you come to a place a really being able to say “Nothing is too hard for you” (v.17).
2. Praise Him for that truth today.