Introduction
In this chapter Jeremiah’s faith in the LORD’s words about restoration in Jeremiah 30-31 is being tested. This chapter is important because it shows the reality of Jeremiah’s faith in the promises of the LORD about the restoration of the people.
1 - 5 Circumstances of Jeremiah
1 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 Now 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, which [was in] the house of the king of Judah, 3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; 5 and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the LORD. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”‘?”
These verses are the introduction to a special event in Jeremiah’s life. That event relates to buying a piece of land and contains a wonderful illustration of true faith. The situation at that time looks anything but rosy for Jeremiah. This event is right in the middle of the comfort book of Jeremiah 30-33 and fits in perfectly.
The word of the LORD comes to Jeremiah in the tenth year of Zedekiah’s reign (verse 1). Zedekiah reigned for eleven years (2Chr 36:11). In the eleventh year, Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem. Before the word of the LORD is given – it comes in verse 6 – we first hear of Jeremiah’s circumstances. The situation is very dire. The Babylonians have moved against Jerusalem and laid siege to the city (verse 2). In the captive city, Jeremiah himself is also imprisoned.
Zedekiah has him shut up because he constantly says that the LORD will give the city into the hand of the king of Babylon (verse 3). Zedekiah will also be captured and brought before the king of Babylon (verse 4). There he will remain, until the LORD finds it enough and will visit him (verse 5). Jeremiah called for him not to fight against the king of Babylon, but to surrender to him. All this Zedekiah holds out to Jeremiah. He should, as it were, just think about it and stop speaking so. Then he will be set free again.
6 - 8 Offer to Buy a Field
6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy [it].”‘ 8 Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy [it] for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
While Jeremiah is in prison because Zedekiah no longer wants to hear His service, the word of the LORD comes to him (verse 6). A prison is no hindrance to the LORD passing on His word to His prophet. He tells Jeremiah that he will be visited by his cousin Hanamel (verse 7). His cousin will ask him to buy his field, because he has the right of redemption (Lev 25:23-28; Rth 4:1-6). The enemy has already taken possession of the entire land, including Anathoth. Only Jerusalem has yet to be taken. That the enemy already possesses Anathoth makes the request to buy the land remarkable.
As the LORD has said, it happens. Hanamel comes to Jeremiah in his captivity and makes him the offer to buy his field (verse 8). He adds where the field is and why Jeremiah is being offered the field for sale. Jeremiah acknowledges in what is happening, that it is the hand of the LORD.
It is a remarkable message. It is not a command, for we do not read the LORD telling Jeremiah to buy that field. All the circumstances indicate that buying a piece of land is a foolish investment. The enemy is in front of the city and it will soon be destroyed. Anathoth is already in the hands of the enemy. Jeremiah himself is in prison. Now in such a situation and with such a prospect, what is one to do with buying a piece of land?
However, it is not a foolish investment if you believe that the LORD will give restoration. Rather, it is then a testimony of faith. Jeremiah also spoke of that restoration and not just the removal and destruction. The simple purchase of a field becomes an act of faith because of the circumstances.
9 - 15 Jeremiah Buys a Field
9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed [copy containing] the terms and conditions and the open [copy]; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s [son] and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.” 15 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”‘
Jeremiah, recognizing the word of the LORD through his cousin’s visit and offer, buys the field (verse 9). He weighs the asking price for it. Although Jeremiah is a prisoner, he apparently does have some freedom of action. The amount is not high. That will have to do with the situation at the time.
The transaction is recorded in a deed of purchase that Jeremiah signs (verse 10). He then seals the deed and has witnesses confirm that he has paid the correct amount. The deed consists of two deeds: a sealed deed and an open deed (verse 11). The sealed deed provides security; the open deed can be seen by anyone to prove that the deal was done entirely as agreed.
The sealing is regulated by law. Jeremiah gives both deeds to Baruch. Everything is transacted with the greatest openness (verse 12). Everything is transparent and observable by all. There is no suspicion that anything is done with hidden intentions. At the same time, it is also a testimony of faith. Jeremiah buys a piece of land also as proof of his trust in the LORD, that He will give restoration.
When Jeremiah hands the deeds to Baruch, he adds a command (verse 13). Baruch is to put the sealed deed and the unsealed deed in an earthenware jar (verse 14). Jeremiah gives him this instruction in the Name of “the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel”. The power of God and that He is the God of His people are for faith the guarantee of His promises (cf. Jer 27:4). They are to be put into an earthenware jar, in order that both deeds may be kept for a long time and that they may be legible after that long time. When they are brought out after a long time, it will be seen that the deed left open and the sealed deed have the same content. The purchase will still be in full force.
That they will be brought out is certain. For the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says that a time will come when houses and fields and vineyards will be bought again in this land (verse 15). Jeremiah’s purchase is a purchase in faith. He is doing in faith what will soon be possible for the whole land.
What happens to Jeremiah is a picture of what happens to Christ. Christ has not only been in prison, but has purchased the field, the world, with His blood (Rev 5:1-13). We see Him breaking the seals of ownership of the world because He is the rightful Owner (Rev 6:1-17). Then He comes to claim His inheritance and all believers may be present at that moment (Rev 19:11-21).
16 - 25 Jeremiah’s Doubts and Prayer
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the LORD, saying, 17 ‘Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The LORD of hosts is His name; 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; 20 who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, [and] even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You 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 with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror; 22 and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this calamity come upon them. 24 Behold, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see [it]. 25 You have said to me, O Lord GOD, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”
When the purchase is done, Jeremiah is overcome by despair and prays to the LORD (verse 16). He does not report his doubts to people, but does the only right thing. He turns to the Lord GOD, Adonai Yahweh, which is the sovereign Ruler (Adonai) and the God of the covenant with His people (Yahweh) (verse 17). He remembers Who the LORD is. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, which He made by His great power and His outstretched arm. For that great, all-powerful Creator, nothing is too difficult. That Creator proves Himself both in lovingkindness and in repayment of the iniquity to men (verse 18). Also in these acts He proves to be the “great and mighty God”.
This God is “great in counsel and mighty in deed”, just in His ways with men, to thereby give to each what is due him as a result of his actions (verse 19). He is not an unmoved spectator of all that men do. Often we think so, but that is because of our limited view. That He is concerned with what happens on earth and especially with His own, He has shown in the signs and wonders He performed in Egypt, at the deliverance of His people from it (verse 20). He has also shown it in Israel and to all people on earth, as it was visible at that time.
With His people He has gone a special way. He has always proven Himself to His people as the God Who has been working for them since He led them out of the land of Egypt (verse 21). He has brought them into the land which He swore to their fathers to give them, the good land flowing with milk and honey (verse 22). Briefly Jeremiah summarizes: “They came in and took possession of it” (verse 23). Immediately he adds how they behaved in it. They have not done what the LORD has said, and therefore He has made all this calamity they are now experiencing, to come upon them (Neh 9:22-35).
Jeremiah, with the exclamation “behold, the siege ramps “ directs the LORD’s attention to the current situation (verse 24). At the same time, he justifies the LORD. What He has said that should happen, is happening. After all, the LORD sees it Himself.
Then comes his desperate question that always plays in the background of everything he has said before about the LORD and His people. How is it possible, when the situation is so hopeless because of the people’s unfaithfulness, that he had to buy a certain field with witnesses to it (verse 25)? Surely the LORD does see that this purchase seems to be of no use because the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans, doesn’t He?
26 - 35 The Answer of the LORD
26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” 28 Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where [people] have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. 30 Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the LORD. 31 “Indeed this city has been to Me [a provocation of] My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from before My face, 32 because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned [their] back to Me and not [their] face; though [I] taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction. 34 But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Then comes the LORD’s answer to Jeremiah (verse 26). It is an answer in which we must learn to rest. He is “the LORD, the God of all flesh” (verse 27), that is, not only of His people Israel, but of all mortal and limited people. He is far above them. All His purposes He will carry out, no matter how the situation, in which His people, then or now, find themselves, may seem to belittle it. To Him nothing is too difficult, a word the LORD also said to Abraham a thousand years earlier in connection with the birth of a son, while he and Sarah were at that time humanly too old to have children (Gen 18:14).
The city will be taken by the Babylonians (verse 28). That is the current situation. The LORD is doing this on the basis of His Word, because His people have been unfaithful to Him. The enemies will ruin the city (verse 29). They will burn the city and also the houses, because many houses have become idolatrous altars, where people offer sacrifices to Baal and other gods. Consequently, the LORD has become angry toward the city.
Their behavior has not suddenly changed. They have done what is evil in His sight from their youth, from their earliest days as a nation (verse 30). There has hardly been a time when the city has responded to His purpose (verse 31). It is remarkable how long the LORD has endured the city. But the time of forbearance has an end. He must now remove the city from before His face. The attitude of the entire population of the city is the cause of it (verse 32).
The LORD taught them about His will every time, early and late, all day long, but they turned their back and not their faces to Him (verse 33). We too can experience this ingratitude from those to whom we have done good and for whom we have sought good.
Instead of repenting, they have taken their wickedness to the extreme, by setting up abominable idols in His house (verse 34). By doing so, they have defiled the house of His Name. Even outside of it, the abominations are endless (verse 35). They sacrifice their children to Molech, the god of the Ammonites. God did not command this, it is nowhere in the law, not even a thought of it entered His heart. Such disgusting acts are entirely strange to Him and He does not encourage people to do them (Jam 1:13). Idolatry in any form and sins in any expression do not come from Him. He is not the Author of sin.
36 - 44 Promises of Restoration
36 “Now therefore thus says the LORD 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 out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. 38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for [the good of] their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. 42 For thus says the LORD, ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43 Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44 Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD.”
The LORD now has another word of comfort for Jeremiah and for every God-fearing person (verse 36). He again introduces Himself as “the LORD God of Israel”, despite the circumstances in which His people find themselves. The city is given into the hand of the king of Babylon under terrible circumstances. Jeremiah rightly says so.
Then comes the word of comfort, the promise (verse 37). The “anger”, “wrath”, and “great indignation” of the LORD to which He also points at the same time, do indicate in their combination how much the punishment is deserved. But the disciplining has an end and the people have a restoration. God will bring His disciplined people, whom He has driven out and scattered, back to Jerusalem and cause them to dwell there unconcerned, without fear of enemies and in peace and prosperity. They will be His people and He will be their God (verse 38).
Their hearts will no longer be divided, but undivided on Him (verse 39). They will have a new heart (Eze 36:26), by which they will also go one way, His way. They will not stray from that way, to go back into their own ways. There is fear of Him in them and also in their children. That fear will be a benefit to them. Fearing the LORD brings good upon a people.
The LORD makes an everlasting covenant with them (verse 40). He guarantees its fulfillment. He promises that He will not turn away from them, and will do them good. He does not have to turn away from them anymore either, because He will put His fear into their hearts so that they will not turn away from Him anymore. God never changes. The problem is always man’s erring heart. That problem will then be solved. There is perfect harmony between the desires of God and those of His people. They will delight the LORD and He will do them good (verse 41).
He will turn everything for the better of His people, who will then be faithful to Him, “with all My heart and with all My soul”. This is a unique expression that reveals that the LORD is speaking in rapture, as it were, of His purpose to plant His people in their land.
It is God’s greatest possible joy also today, to bring restoration among His people when He sees repentance. Then He wants to give again the enjoyment of the blessings of the land, blessings connected with a glorified Lord. Returning to the land also means returning to God’s altar and God’s house.
The LORD will bring good upon His people, just as He has brought disaster on His people by virtue of His Word (verse 42). He has spoken it, and what He says He makes true. His Word is a word that has power. It makes everything sure and certain.
When the people have returned from exile, fields will be bought again, as Jeremiah has already done in faith (verse 43). It will take a long time, another seventy years, but the return will come. Then the whole exile will be forgotten. For Jeremiah, its redemption will happen in the realm of peace. What he has acquired, he will not lose.
All possessors of fields will then be put in possession of their property (verse 44). Each one will be able to prove the right to it. It is a right granted to them by the LORD who has given a portion in the land to each tribe of His people. They can count on it to happen, for the LORD has said that He will restore the fortunes of His people.