Jeremiah 32 is a chapter that is intriguing on multiple levels. It opens to reveal that the events took place while Jeremiah was imprisoned in the guards’ quarters attached to the king of Judah’s palace. King Tzidkiyahu had imprisoned him, demanding, “How dare you prophesy that Adonai says, ‘I will hand this city over to the king of Bavel, and he will capture it; Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah will not escape from the Kasdim but will certainly be handed over to the king of Bavel, who will address him face to face, with their eyes meeting; and he will lead Tzidkiyahu to Bavel, where he will stay until I remember him,’ says Adonai, ‘and even if you fight the Kasdim you will fail’?” (Jeremiah 32:3-5)
This was a dismal time during Jeremiah’s life, and while he could have just written that he was in prison without the information about Judah’s king, in doing so it sets up some important information and context for us concerning the time this was written. It happened during Tzidkiyahu’s tenth year as king, marking the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. It shows that Jeremiah was imprisoned because of a specific prophecy against the king, and Rashi notes that the phrase, “until I remember him” refers to Tzidkiyahu’s death. I imagine he was none too pleased to hear this prophet tell him that not only would Jerusalem fall, but that he would be taken into captivity, look his conqueror in the eye, and then die in a land other than his own, no longer king, but a prisoner. This first handful of verses sets the stage for the next word that Jeremiah would hear from Adonai, and in the natural, it was one that did not make a whole lot of sense.
[6] Yirmeyahu said, “The word of Adonai came to me; [7] ‘Hanam’el, the son of your uncle Shalum, will approach you and say, “Buy my field at ‘Anatot; you have next-of-kin’s right to redeem it; so, buy it.”’” [8] As Adonai had said, my cousin Hanam’el came to me in the guards’ quarters and said, “Please buy my field at ‘Anatot, in the territory of Binyamin; because you will inherit it, and you have next-of-kin’s rights to redeem it, so buy it for yourself.” Then I was certain that this was Adonai’s word. Jeremiah 32:6-8
We find the man of God in prison, and he receives a word from the Lord that his cousin is going to come to him and ask him to buy his field after Jeremiah has prophesied far and wide that the country would fall to Babylon and that its people would be killed or driven into exile. Assuming that his cousin believed the prophetic words he had given, he knew that they would gone for seventy years. We see that the location and territory of this plot of land is specific, and that this is a sale transaction. In the following verses, it tells us that Jeremiah bought the field for seven ounces of silver shekels, the purchase contract was signed and sealed, there were witnesses and that the money was weighed on a scale. There were two copies signed, one that was sealed and the other that was unsealed, and Jeremiah gave the copies to Barukh the sone of Neriyah, who was Jeremiah’s good friend and scribe, and told him to take both copies, the sealed and the unsealed and to place them in a clay jar so that they could be preserved for a long time. Then specifically said, “For Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says that one day homes, fields, and vineyards will again be brought in this land.” (V 9-15)
What is so incredible about this account is that we are seeing how a legal, financial transaction, a land purchase took place in ancient Israel. I went online to do some research concerning how these transactions were done and discovered something pretty remarkable. www.bible.ca gives a detailed account about legal documents and how the transactions were handled. In this description it gives this very account from Jeremiah, noting that the reason for having a sealed and unsealed copy was so that if there were a claim dispute, the sealed document would be the one used in court. We know that the documents were put into clay jars, and when the city was burned, the documents would have been destroyed, but the seal would have been “fired” as it was made from clay. But more than that, it gives account of a couple of seals that have been found in an archeological dig that could very well be that of Barukh, Jeremiah’s scribe from this exact land purchase that scripture describes. How exciting is to see the Bible come to life in our time through archeology.
Upon the completion of this transaction, Jeremiah went into prayer, starting off with a sentence that I have been incorporating into my own life lately.
Adoani, God! You made the heaven and earth by your great power and outstretched arm; nothing is too hard for you. Jeremiah 32:17
He continues his prayer, recounting the mighty deeds of Adonai, from the miracles and signs in the land of Egypt, to the entering of the Promised Land, how the people did not follow the ways of Adonai or pay attention to His voice, bringing about the disaster they were currently facing, stating that what Adonai had foretold was being fulfilled. Yet, even after saying all of this and that nothing is too hard for Adonai, Jeremiah closes his prayer with a statement that shows how human he still really was. “Yet you, Adonai, God, have said to me, ‘Buy the field for money, and call witnesses; even as the city is being turned over to the Kasdim!’” Jeremiah 32:25. Remember, he is in jail, the city is under siege, there are priests and false prophets who are calling not just for his imprisonment, but his death and he knows that when the city falls, the people will be in exile for seventy years. Upon reading this, I couldn’t help but think about my own failings at times in my faith. “I know Adonai CAN, but WILL He for me?” And then, like Adonai’s response to Jeremiah, I have felt it echo within my own spirit. Look, I am Adonai, the God of every living creature; is there anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27
Jeremiah’s own words were given back to him at the beginning of the answer to his prayer, restrengthening his faith, “Is there anything too hard for me?” I found these words again echoed to me as I was reading the book of Matthew. Every morning while having my coffee, I read the daily Torah portion, daily Psalms, and recently added in a chapter from the New Testament, starting with Matthew. Before penning the above paragraph, in the morning the words of Yeshua in Chapter 19 jumped off the page. “Humanly, this is impossible; but with God everything is possible.” (V 26) Is there anything too hard for Him?
As I have written before, I have four adult sons. For the past year I have agonized over one of them. I have cried more tears for him than I ever thought humanly possible. I have physically felt my heart shatter because of him. Because of this, I have a deeper understanding of the parable of the prodigal son and the father in that story and why he didn’t write his son off as society expected he should. I have prayed and poured my heart out to Adonai and without a doubt, He has spoken to me moments of hope and love, assuring me He has heard me and that He is in control, but my heart has still said, “I know You can, and You do and have for others, but will you for me?” A couple of nights ago I had a dream about my son, one that I woke up from crying and praying. As I shook of the haze off the dream and sleep, I went into intercessory for my baby son and it was so painfully urgent. I don’t know how to explain that I know there was a battle in the spiritual going on concerning him at that moment, but I know there was. I started praying from Luke 22 that Satan could NOT sift my son like wheat, that regardless of where he was now, he belongs to Adonai. When I looked up those scriptures, the final sentence of verse 32 shown like light from the page. “And when you have turned back in repentance, strengthen your brothers.” The battle wasn’t and isn’t just about my prodigal son, but all of them.
As I have rolled all of this over, and prepared my heart to begin writing this post, I heard in my heart concerning my child the words He spoke to Jeremiah during his own uncertainty. “I am the God of every living creature; is there anything too hard for me?” As I continued reading Adonai’s reply, he reaffirmed that while they were indeed going to go into exile, that they had stirred up His anger by turning their backs on Him, for building up the high places of Ba’al and burning their children alive in sacrifice to Molekh. But then, after that pronouncement of dark judgment, He shines forth the light of promise once more. [37] “I will gather them out of all the countries where I drove them in my anger, fury, and great wrath; and I will bring them back to this place and have them live here in safety. [38] They will be my people, and I will be their God. [39] I will give them singleness of heart and singleness of purpose, so that they will fear me forever – this will be for their own good and for the good of their children after them. [40] I will make with them an everlasting covenant not to turn away from them, but to do them good; I will put fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not leave me. [41] I will take joy in them, so as to do them good. I will plant them in this land truly, with my whole heart and being.” The promise of return, oh how my heart sings with it for my own child. He will gather my child from the land of exile. He will bring him to the place of safety, He will take joy in my son and do him good, and my son will be counted among His people, and He will be my son’s God. And when my son has that singleness of heart and purpose, he will strengthen his brothers! Three times in preparation for this post He has told me that there is nothing too hard for Him, and I have to stand on His faithful promise.
Adonai closes Jeremiah 32 by reassuring Jeremiah that although the land would be given over to Babylon and that it would be desolate, devoid of humans or animals that people would buy fields for money, sign the contracts and call witnesses, not just in the territory of Benjamin, where the field Jeremiah had just purchased laid, but around Jerusalem, throughout the cities of Judah, in the hill country, and all across the land. For He would cause their exiles, and ours to return.
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