WWUTT 2524 Jeremiah Purchases Land (Jeremiah 32:1-15)

Jeremiah’s Sign of Restoration Through a Land Purchase

God told Jeremiah to make a land purchase, and this purchase was supposed to be a sign to Israel that they would be restored to their land, but it's a sign to us as well of a greater promise when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Jeremiah, we come today to chapter 32, where God is going to instruct Jeremiah to buy a field, and the reason he's buying this field is that through this illustration, God is showing that he is going to restore his people to their land.

We've been reading a portion of Jeremiah that's called the Book of Consolation. It goes from chapters 30 to 33, where though God has punished his people, giving them into the hands of their enemies, this was because Israel and Judah had worshiped false gods, and so God is disciplining them, but he is promising that he will restore them.

This is that consolation. He will bring them back to their land. Last week, we read in chapter 31 of the New Covenant, and we looked into the book of Hebrews to see how the New Covenant was really pointing toward Christ and this is the reason why God is preserving his people, because he will fulfill his promises to them and through them, that through the Jews would come the Savior, who would be the Savior, not just of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles.

All who would believe in him would be reconciled to God. We would be in covenant with God through Jesus Christ, this favorable covenant that we have. We're now under his grace. We have nothing to fear of the judgment of God, but we've been forgiven our sins and have eternal life.

That lesson even comes through these things that God says to Israel and to Judah that we read about here in the book of consolation. So let's continue with this study. We're gonna pick up in chapter 32 today.

Jeremiah 32:1-5 and the Siege of Jerusalem

Now, the portion we're looking at is gonna go through verse 15. I'm not gonna read quite that far, but let's start with this instruction that God gives to Jeremiah to purchase a field. So here's Jeremiah 32 verses one through five.

Hear the word of the Lord. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the 10th year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. 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 that was in the palace of the king of Judah. For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him saying, why do you prophesy and say, thus says the Lord, behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall capture it.

Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. And he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord.

Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed. So that's as far as we're gonna read for now. And this is even kind of a recap for us. Some of the things that have been going on pertaining to Judah and their king.

Zedekiah would not listen to the word of Jeremiah. What Jeremiah had said to the people from the Lord, of course, was that the people were to submit to the king of Babylon. They were to go into captivity and the Lord would protect them there and he would restore them to the land.

That was what was behind everything in Jeremiah 29. Remember we have that famous verse in Jeremiah 29, 11. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, a plan to prosper and not harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

Well, that was specifically to the Jews who were being exiled to Babylon. I'm not going to allow you to be annihilated in Babylonian captivity, he was saying to them. But he did have a purpose and plan for them and he would restore them back to their land after 70 years when they would be in captivity.

They would even come back and rebuild the temple and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But they needed to obey God and they needed to go into captivity. And anyone who fought against Babylon would be punished.

They would perish. They would not be of those people that would have the opportunity to return. So Zedekiah was one of those. He would not listen to Jeremiah the prophet. He listened to the words of false prophets.

And so for this reason, God has punished him severely because he would not listen to the voice of the Lord and submit to the King of Babylon. He was to be in submission to Nebuchadnezzar and Zedekiah refused.

Jeremiah’s Kinsman Redeemer and the Field at Anathoth

So we go on from here. Let's pick up now in verse six. Jeremiah said, the word of the Lord came to me. Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shalem, your uncle, will come to you and say, by my field that is at Anathoth.

Remember, that's where Jeremiah was from. He came from Anathoth. That's where his father and his brothers were. For the right of redemption by purchase is yours. So this is talking about, you've probably heard of a kinsman redeemer.

The story in the Bible that is the best example of this, story in the Old Testament anyway, is the book of Ruth. Because Boaz is Ruth's kinsman redeemer. That's his title, essentially. That's what, oh, who was her mother-in-law?

Why does that escape my memory?

Naomi.

So Naomi, when she's talking about Boaz to Ruth, says he's our kin. He's our kinsman redeemer. So he can purchase the field that had previously belonged to Elimelech, and then at the same time receive Ruth as a wife.

So he is the closest relative. Well, there was another, but I'm just kind of cutting the story short. But Boaz was the closest relative to be able to inherit that property. And here, that same law is applying to Jeremiah.

He gets first dibs on this field. Now, why would Jeremiah want to buy a field when he knows that the Jews are about to be exiled into Babylonian captivity? Why would he bother buying a field when he knows that?

And some of that captivity has already happened. So this would be, it would ordinarily be a poor investment for him to buy a field when he knows we're not even staying in this land anyway. So why would I lay claim on something I'm not even gonna get to keep?

It's a waste of money. But this is to show, the purpose of this is to show that God is gonna restore them to the land. So Jeremiah is buying this, trusting in the Lord that he is going to fulfill his promise.

So therefore, Jeremiah is going to take the right that is his to purchase that field in the land of Anathoth of Benjamin. For the right of possession and redemption is yours, buy it for yourself. And then Jeremiah says, then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

Jeremiah’s Purchase as a Sign of Israel’s Return

So now verse nine. And I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel, my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, 17 shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales.

Then I took the sealed deed of purchase containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. And I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, son of Masih, in the presence of Hanamel, my cousin, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.

I charged Baruch in their presence saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel that they may last for a long time.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land. So there's the illustration that God has given through the prophet Jeremiah to show I am going to bring you back.

Now, remember we had read of a new covenant at the end of chapter 31. But this is the word of God. What is going to be the sign that God is going to fulfill the promise that he will give to his people?

And here you have a real tangible, hands-on exchange of contracts that serve as God saying to his people, here it is. So just like you see Jeremiah doing this, so I am going to do with you. I am signing it as a contract.

It is written down. It will be fulfilled that you will get to return to your land. So this would have been very encouraging to the Jews to hear of this and to have so many witnesses be able to speak of it.

Notice that Jeremiah talks about all the different people that were there. I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch in the presence of Hanumel, my cousin, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.

There were so many people there who witnessed this happen. So you have seen and you hear the testimony and you know that God has promised to restore you to this land. And here, a prophet of God has made a purchase that would ordinarily seem nonsensical.

Why are you doing this? If you know that the land is going to go into the hand of the Babylonians or later to the Medes and Persians, although that doesn't necessarily come up here, and then later to the Greeks, and then later to the Romans, that there are many others who are going to have claim over that land.

Though the Jews will occupy it, they will be subservient to other people. So why, knowing that, would you make a purchase in that? Because this is signifying, it's showing that God is going to restore you to the land.

Christians as Exiles and the Better Country

Now, my friends, the Bible refers to us as Christians, as exiles. That's the way Peter started both of his letters, I believe, 1 Peter and 2 Peter, talking to those who are exiles in this world. We are strangers in this place.

We are citizens of another kingdom. We who are in Christ Jesus are citizens of the kingdom of God. So this world, as it stands, is not our home. We're passing through, as the old spiritual goes. We are exiles in this place, strangers in a land that is not our final dwelling place.

We are on our way to glory, or as Isaac Watts put it, we're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion. Though you may be a citizen of the country in which you reside, this is not ultimately our final stop.

This is not our home. But we are looking toward that place where God dwells. And that is our promise, and that is our great reward, to be with him forever in glory. Even the Old Testament faithful, Jeremiah, Abraham, et cetera, those who trusted God were looking forward to something greater than some land promise.

Consider Hebrews 11, 13 to 16. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised. Just consider the number of Jews that went into exile that didn't get the chance to come back. 70 years in exile.

So they didn't get to see the land when they came back. Ezekiel, Jeremiah did not get to see the land that they would be returned to, that the Jews would be returned to. These died in faith, not having received the things promised but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. And so my friends, even these things that we read about here, these are types and shadows pointing to something greater, something that is given to us and fulfilled in Christ.

Even last week, as we were reading about the new covenant in Jeremiah chapter 31, this was a covenant that was pointing to Christ as we read about in Hebrews. God has always dealt with his people in covenants, a covenant being like a contract or an arrangement, and there are conditions that need to be met.

Even when God gave the first law's instructions to Adam, it was given in the form of a covenant. Genesis 2, 16 and 17, the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat.

For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So God gives paradise to Adam, but he has to obey God's command. If you eat of this tree, then you will die. That's the consequence. And of course we know how that went.

Eve was tempted by the serpent, took of the fruit, gave it to Adam who ate, and then they fell. Their eyes were open to understanding good and evil. Now that was the tree they ate from, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

They recognized they were naked. They had sinned against God. They tried to cover themselves up with puny fig leaves. The Lord was gracious to them, even though they were cursed, even though now having disobeyed God, the curse came upon them and upon all of mankind.

And yet it is said in Genesis 3 that he covered them with skins. So there was an animal that was killed for them to have their sins atoned for. And all of this even, being an illustration, types and shadows of the greater forgiveness that would come through Christ.

What had to be given in order for our sins to be forgiven. And that was the perfect son of God who died on the cross for us, who rose again from the dead so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

And it is only through Christ that we have the forgiveness of sins and this reconciliation with God and the promise of this great kingdom to come, which is not a land that we're looking for on earth, but a kingdom of glory with Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7, the apostle Paul talks about how there are treasures in jars of clay. We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. So just as these contracts were placed in these jars between Jeremiah and Baruch, so the covenant that God has given to us in Christ Jesus is in these jars of clay.

These bodies are gonna break down and they are going to die, but the treasure that has been given to us, the treasure of Christ is forever. And he will raise us from the dead and he will give to us eternal life.

And he will bring us to a land that cannot be taken from us, that no enemy will ever come against, from which we will never be driven, in which we are not exiles, but we are home forever with God and glory in a place where there won't be evil anymore, not even the temptation to sin.

There will not be suffering and death as Revelation chapter 21 says, every tear will be wiped away from our eyes and death will be no more. We will dwell with God forever in his perfect and glorious kingdom.

The New Covenant in Christ and the Hope of Glory

Do you believe this? And the contracts that God has given to us, it's right here in his word. It is the word that we have in the Bible is the word that God has spoken to us through his son, through the prophets and apostles given to us so that we would know the surpassing power belongs not to us, but to God.

These very great and precious promises that God has made us inheritors of in Christ Jesus. And so even here, as we read this account in Jeremiah 32 of this contract exchange, this land purchase that was made between Jeremiah and his cousin, even this points us to a greater contract that has been made through Jesus Christ, our savior, that in his name, we have life and we have it abundantly.

At the Lord's table, when Jesus broke bread and passed the cup among his disciples, the night before he was to be crucified, he said to them of the cup, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood that has been given for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. May that be the day that you hope for and I hope for together, we will be with God forever in glory in Christ.

Heavenly father, we thank you for this reminder that we get even from this land purchase in Jeremiah chapter 32. And I pray Lord that we would continue to look to Christ and hold fast to Christ and know that a promise has been given and will be fulfilled for us.

The seal that has been given to us is the Holy Spirit on our hearts as talked about in Ephesians chapter one. The deed itself, if we look at it in God's word is the word of the spirit, that the spirit spoke to the apostles and prophets for our benefit.

As said in Romans 15, four, what was written was written in former days for our benefit that through the instruction and encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. And so we have hope for today, bright hope for tomorrow.

Great is thy faithfulness through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's in his name that we pray, amen.

This has been, When We Understand the Text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

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