Jeremiah 32 (HCSB)
Jeremiah’s Land Purchase
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 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it. 4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye. 5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon where he will stay until I attend to him’—this is the Lord’s declaration. ‘You will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed’?”
6 Jeremiah replied, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.’
8 “Then my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard as the Lord had said and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. 9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out to him the money—17 shekels of silver. 10 I recorded it on a scroll, sealed it, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver in the scales. 11 I took the purchase agreement—the sealed copy with its terms and conditions and the open copy— 12 and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard’s courtyard.
13 “I instructed Baruch in their sight, 14 ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls—this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy—and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’
16 “After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: 17 Oh, Lord God! You Yourself made the heavens and earth by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You! 18 You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers’ sins on their sons’ laps after them, great and mighty God whose name is Yahweh of Hosts, 19 the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men in order to give to each person according to his ways and the result of his deeds. 20 You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and do so to this very day both in Israel and among mankind. You made a name for Yourself, as is the case today. 21 You brought Your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror. 22 You gave them this land You swore to give to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They entered and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice or live according to Your instructions. They failed to perform all You commanded them to do, and so You have brought all this disaster on them. 24 Look! Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened. Look, You can see it! 25 Yet You, Lord God, have said to me: Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses—even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans!”
26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “Look, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me? 28 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are going to fight against this city will come, set this city on fire, and burn it along with the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger. 30 From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in My sight! They have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands”—this is the Lord’s declaration— 31 “for this city has caused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from My presence, 32 because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline. 34 They have placed their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and have defiled it. 35 They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!
36 “Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’: 37 I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My anger, rage and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety. 38 They will be My people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way so that for their good and for the good of their descendants after them, they will fear Me always.
40 “I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me. 41 I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all My heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land.
42 “For this is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them. 43 Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It’s a desolation without man or beast; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!’ 44 Fields will be purchased with silver, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah’s cities—the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev—because I will restore their fortunes.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 23): In this one verse, You speak of Your people not obeying Your voice, not living according to Your instructions, and not performing all that You have commanded them to do. This has been me for the majority of my life since coming to faith, Father. Even nowadays, I do struggle with adhering to Your commands and Your way for my life. The most difficult part of this journey isn’t even the action side of things; it’s actually my thought life and my feelings. Please forgive me of this, Father. Help me to fully embrace Your will for my life especially internally, so that my thought life matches the way You want me to live. Forgive me for often dwelling on the negative thoughts of the enemy, the world, and my own selfish pride. Forgive me for not fully embracing Your instructions for my life, Father.
PROMISE (verse 42): The promise here is quite clear to me, Father. You promise us that whether Your promises are positive or negative in our perspective of living, that You will always remain faithful to Your promises. You promised that although Your people here will have to reap what they sowed through great disasters, that they will also be giving all of the good promises after. You promise that through the suffering there will eventually be light at the end of their painful journey, and You assure us that You are faithful to all the promises You make to us. Thank You for Your faithfulness, Father.
ATTITUDE (verses 17, 27): I often lean on my own understanding and my own strength for many things in this life, Father. Oftentimes it’s out of pride or selfish desires, but sometimes it is because I lack the full trust and faith, I should have in You throughout my life when things begin to get a little difficult for me. In this verse You clearly tell Jeremiah “Is anything too difficult for Me?” Please help me to change my attitude towards You, Father, so that I do fully embrace this question You’ve asked Jeremiah so that my answer is always no. Help me to always remember that You are the God of ALL flesh and that You are more than capable of taking on ANY challenge this life brings to my table. Thank You for posing this question, Father, so that I can hopefully no longer live in doubt and worry in this life.
COMMAND (verses 39-40): You command us to have a healthy fear of You through this life, Father. You tell us that You have put it on our hearts to have this fear of You, so that we will not stray from Your presence again. Thank You for this, Father. Although You do give us free will to love You willingly, You give us so many lessons to live this life by. Thank You for being a loving God that we can truly love, but at the same time also have a healthy and righteous fear of. There is nothing wrong with a fear of You as that fear causes us to stray away from things that will disappoint or upset You. Just as we have a fear of breaking laws or doing things against our earthly parent’s rules during our upbringing, we should also have a fear of doing the same towards You. Help me to embrace this fear, Father, knowing that it is a loving fear and not a terrifying fear like those creepy spiders that always freak me out in my home.
EXAMPLE (verses 2-7): The example Jeremiah provides to us here is absolutely amazing. He is literally locked up by the King of the land that he’s been prophesying Your words to for a long time. Now that he’s locked up, they are approaching him with convictive language asking him how dare he prophesize such negativity about their land and kingdom and how it will be destroyed and taken over soon. Throughout this jail time, he never stopped being faithful to You as he continued to speak the words You wanted him to speak to them even while sitting in jail. I can only imagine how bad the conditions were for him, sitting in a jail back in that day in general, but also sitting in a jail of a kingdom going through war which they are destined to lose. His life is essentially on the line and he is suffering greatly through his life right now for simply speaking God’s truths. Thank You for giving this example of faithfulness through Jeremiah, Father. Thank You for showing me that whether I am going through great times, bad times, or even just neutral times that I should always remain faithful to You just as You have always remained faithful to me.
*DAILY NOTE: Help me to be better in living this life in faithfulness to You, Father, no matter the struggles I’m going through. I have often let my circumstances define my responses in an unhealthy and unrighteous manner and I am sorry for that. You show us through Jeremiah, that even when we’re locked up in a prison, whether it be a real one or one of our own creation, we can stay faithful to You through that difficult circumstance. Remind me in the valleys of my faith walk to ascend faithfully back to the top of the mountain where Your glory can shine on me, Father. Remind me to not sit and be stuck in those valleys for too long so that I can learn the lessons they are teaching me then take those lessons up the mountain with me to build me up stronger for Your glory.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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