In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Althea shared with us from Jeremiah chapter 32. As we begin this week's reflections, let us take time today to read the chapter in its entirety.
Jeremiah
32 (NASB)
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. 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, 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; 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; 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”’?” And Jeremiah said, “The word of
the Lord came to me, saying, ‘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.”’ 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.
“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. I signed and sealed
the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the
scales. Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy
containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; 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. And I commanded Baruch in their presence,
saying, ‘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.” For thus says the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought
in this land.”’
“After I had given the
deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the Lord,
saying, ‘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, 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; 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; 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. 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; and gave
them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land
flowing with milk and honey. 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. 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. 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.’”
Then the word of the Lord came
to Jeremiah, saying, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is
anything too difficult for Me?” 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. 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. 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. “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, 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. 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. But
they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name,
to defile it. 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.
“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.’ 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. They shall be My people, and I
will be their God; 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.” 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.”