Jeremiah 32, Buying Land During an Invasion

^32:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh 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.

Jeremiah’s prophecies are not in chronological order. The siege of Jerusalem began in 589 BC but was interrupted when Egypt threatened to attack the army of Babylon. The army of Babylon returned shortly to take up the siege again and finished the job in 587. Jeremiah was arrested trying to leave the city during that time when Babylon lifted its siege to attend to Egypt. He was accused of deserting to the Babylonians (he wasn’t). He was beaten and put in a most uncomfortable dungeon for quite a while. He appeared before Zedekiah and asked to be kept somewhere more comfortable and was allowed to be kept in the courtyard of the guard.

³ Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what Yahweh 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 Yahweh. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”

Jeremiah has preached what Zedekiah considers treason. Because Zedekiah does not want Jeremiah preaching this message to his people, he imprisons him.

⁶ Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh; 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

It is ridiculous to purchase property during an invasion. The land Jeremiah was purchasing was already under Babylonian control. But God is using Jeremiah to illustrate that just as certainly as He will punish Judah with exile, He will restore Israel to her land.

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

¹⁷ “Ah, Sovereign Yahweh, 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’”

Jeremiah’s prayer expresses his trust in Yahweh’s ability to make the restoration of his people to the land a reality. The God who created the heavens and the earth can do anything. He doesn’t punish the children for their parents’ sins, but brings the consequences for their sin into their laps. He accurately assesses every person for reward or punishment. He delivered Israel from Egypt, a feat of tremendous power, and brought them to Canaan, a rich land. It was only Israel’s contemptible sin and disobedience that has brought Him to the point of exiling them. The siege ramps will succeed and Jerusalem will be completely destroyed. Nevertheless, Yahweh has had Jeremiah buy this field, demonstrating His intent to restore the people in the future.

²⁶ Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ “I am Yahweh, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? ²⁸ Therefore this is what Yahweh 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 Yahweh. 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.

In response to Jeremiah’s prayer, Yahweh affirms that the city will be destroyed, Judah defeated, because of her great sin of idolatry which was practiced by all for generations.

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 Yahweh, 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.

Nevertheless, Yahweh will bring His people back to the land. He will make an everlasting covenant with them (the New Covenant) making it so that they have singleness of heart and action to follow Him, and they will never again turn away from Him. Of course, this has yet to happen. He did bring them back after the seventy years in captivity, but they did not continue in singleness of heart to fear Him, though they did seem cured of idolatry.

⁴² “This is what Yahweh 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 Yahweh.”(Jeremiah 32)

As Jeremiah purchased this land in Benjamin, so purchase of land will happen again when God’s people are restored to the land after their punishment.

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Discussion Questions:

1. Who do you think this object lesson of Jeremiah purchasing property was for?
2. Has God used any object lessons to speak to you?
3. Does anybody in this passage make you angry? Who and why?