Jeremiah - Lesson 32A

• Chapters 1-23 Review:

  • The LORD called Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations during the last five kings of Judah.

  • The LORD’s warning to His people is to stop worshipping false gods or He will judge them by destruction and exile using a nation from the North, Babylon.

    • The judgment will include the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

  • The people are to repent from their evil ways; the leaders are specifically called out for their rejection of the LORD’s covenant and the shedding of innocent blood; the false prophets are called out for misleading the people to believe the LORD would not bring judgment on them.

    • Jeremiah is reviled by the leaders and the people of Judah, but the LORD will protect him.

  • The LORD promises there will not be a complete destruction of His people, as He will provide a Messiah and will bring His people back into the Promised Land in a future time, never to be removed.

    • The words of the LORD are always fulfilled as He is sovereign over His creation.

• Chapters 24-29 Review:

  • Good figs are used to represent the Jews who go into exile and will ultimately be those who become the Jews brought back into the land at a future time. The bad figs represent those who rebel against the judgment the LORD has brought on them through Nebuchadnezzar to last for seventy years.

  • Hypocrisy and false teaching and prophecy plague the LORD’s people justifying the LORD’s judgment on them.

    • Jeremiah continues to experience persecution for bringing the LORD’s truth to His people like planning to stay for a long time in Babylon and calling out false prophets. Some of the false prophets are dealt with immediately.

• Chapter 30 Review:

  • The LORD speaks of a future for Judah and Israel that includes first a time of Jacob’s distress followed by a time of regathering and fortunes in the Promised Land. This is an overview of the Tribulation for Israel followed by the Millennial Kingdom ruled by the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

• Chapter 31 Review:

  • The LORD directs words of future promises to His people, beginning with regathering them to their land, ransoming them, and their joy-filled life with Him.

    • Prophecies are given regarding the pain of bereaved Rachel when the Messiah is born.

    • Prophecies regarding the physical regathering of Ephraim (Israel) are given.

    • Prophecies of the Messiah being both deity and man are given.

    • Prophecy of a New Covenant for all Israel in the future with a law put on their heart, not like the Mosaic covenant that was broken but the New Covenant will be kept by all Israel.

  • The LORD will never cease from honoring His people Israel.   

Jer. 32:1 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.
Jer. 32:2 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,
Jer. 32:3 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;
Jer. 32:4 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;
Jer. 32:5 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”’?”

• Verse 1 Jeremiah receive a word from the LORD.

  • The specific timing is given related to the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

  • This is the last year of the reign of Zedekiah before he will be taken into exile.

    • The specific timing is also confirmed in relationship to the eighteen year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

• Verse 2 Jerusalem was under siege by the Chaldean army.

  • Jeremiah is being held as a prisoner in the king’s house specifically in the court of the guard.

  • There will be more detailed information of events around this time period in later chapters of Jeremiah (37-38)

• Verses 3-4 Jeremiah was being held in custody at King Zedekiah’s command.

  • Zedekiah refused to accept the accuracy of the prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerusalem will fall to the king of Babylon, Zedekiah would be taken prisoner and face Nebuchadnezzar in person.

• Verse 5 Zedekiah will not leave Babylon but will die there, (he will be there until I visit him)

  • The fulfillment of the LORD’s word to Jeremiah regarding Zedekiah speaking with the king of Babylon face to face and eye to eye is given in 2Kings 25:4-7.

2Kings 25:4 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.
2Kings 25:5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him.
2Kings 25:6 Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him.
2Kings 25:7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

• Zedekiah was brought to the king of Babylon at Riblah to receive his sentence.

  • The last thing Zedekiah saw with his eyes was the slaughter of his sons before his eyes were put out.

    • The LORD knew the future for Zedekiah and spoke His words deliberately and prophetically.

Jer. 32:6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer. 32:7 ‘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.”’
Jer. 32:8 “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.

• Verses 6-7 During this time of imprisonment Jeremiah was given a word from the LORD concerning an unexpected proposal of land redemption.

  • The LORD prophesied that Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel was going to ask him to buy a field in Anathoth that Jeremiah had the right of redemption for.

    • The city of Anathoth would have already been overrun by the Chaldeans so to have someone try to sell the land to anyone might seem foolish at this time.

• Verse 8 Then the word of the LORD was fulfilled when Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel did come to him in the court of the guard and asked Jeremiah to buy his field in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin.

  • Hanamel declared Jeremiah had the right of possession and the redemption was his if he would purchase it.

    • The reason for Hanamel needing or desiring to sell the land is not given.

    • This may seem like an out-of-place event to mention, considering the larger and immediate context of the removal of the LORD’s people from their land in exile.

  • The LORD is using this event to demonstrate He never forgets His promises to His people and this includes what He has vowed regarding the possession of the Promised Land for His people.

  • The LORD promised this land to His people beginning with His covenant established with Abram.

Gen. 12:7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

Gen. 15:7 And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”

• The assignment of inheritance of the Promised Land had been established when Israel entered the land under the leadership of Joshua, revealed in the book of Joshua (Chapters 13-18).

  • The process for the distribution of the land was prescribed in the Law, Numbers 26:52-56

Num. 26:52 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Num. 26:53 “Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.
Num. 26:54 “To the larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to the smaller group you shall diminish their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance according to those who were numbered of them.
Num. 26:55 “But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.
Num. 26:56 “According to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups.”

• The land was divided and given to the tribes of Israel according to the names of their fathers.

  • The tribe of Levi was the exception as they were the priestly tribe and did not receive a separate parcel of land but were given cities sprinkled throughout the tribes of Israel as their possession.

Josh. 21:41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.

• Anathoth was a city within the possession of the tribe of Benjamin.

Josh. 21:17 From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,
Josh. 21:18 Anathoth with its pasture lands and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.
Josh. 21:19 All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

• Jeremiah was a son of a priest from the city of Anathoth.

Jer. 1:1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

• The law was established for how the land was to be treated before Israel entered the Promised Land.

Lev. 25:23 ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.
Lev. 25:24 ‘Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.
Lev. 25:25 ‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold.

• Verse 23 The land belongs to the LORD.

  • Verse 24 For every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.

    • Keeping the land in the possession of the tribe it had been assigned to was important to the LORD.

• Verse 25 When an Israelite was forced to sell their land for financial reasons then his nearest kinsman was to buy back the land that was sold.

• Jer. 32:8 Jeremiah’s cousin, Hanamel had come to ask him to buy his field in Anathoth.

  • Jeremiah had the right of redemption to this field.

    • This means Jeremiah is the nearest kinsman as his cousin.

    • There are no brothers or uncles to sell the land to but a cousin is his nearest kinsmen.

    • There may never have been any other relatives or they may all be gone at this point, either killed or exiled and only Jeremiah remains.

  • The request for Jeremiah to redeem the field was a fulfillment of the word of the LORD.

Jer. 32:9 “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.
Jer. 32:10 “I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.
Jer. 32:11 “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy;
Jer. 32:12 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.
Jer. 32:13 “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,
Jer. 32:14 ‘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.”
Jer. 32:15 ‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’

• Verse 9 Jeremiah buys the field from Hanamel for seventeen shekels of silver.

• Verse 10 Jeremiah signed and sealed the deed.

  • Jeremiah called in witnesses to the sale and weighed out the silver for the purchase.

• Verse 11 There are two deeds of purchase; one is sealed and the other is open.

  • The existence of the sealed document was to ensure a backup of the original agreement in case the signed document was ever tampered with by either party.

• Verse 12 The deed of purchase is given to Baruch.

  • This Baruch was a scribe.

Jer. 36:32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe,

• Future scriptures will identify Baruch as a secretary for Jeremiah.

  • The transfer of the deeds to Baruch was witnessed by Hanamel, the witnesses who signed the deed and the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.

• Verse 13-14 Jeremiah says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel told him to have the deeds, both the sealed deed and the open deed, put in an earthenware jar that would survive a long time.

  • If you have visited or seen pictures of the jars discovered in Qumran, that preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls, then you have an idea of what is being described here.

• Verse 15 The reason the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, is having these deeds preserved is because there will be a time in the future when houses and fields and vineyards will be purchased in the Promised Land.

  • The LORD is demonstrating His grace before the judgment of His people reassuring them of a future when His people will be brought back to the Promised Land.

  • The promise of the LORD to His people began with the land He brings them miraculously to the land and He requires loyalty of ownership of the land and for the redemption of the land. (not something understood in our culture: family pride in continual land ownership)

    • Jeremiah demonstrated his faith in the promises of the LORD by fulfilling his obligation to redeem the land as the kinsman.

Jer. 32:16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the LORD, saying,
Jer. 32:17 ‘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,
Jer. 32:18 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;
Jer. 32:19 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;
Jer. 32:20 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.
Jer. 32:21 ‘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;
Jer. 32:22 and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Jer. 32:23 ‘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.
Jer. 32:24 ‘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.
Jer. 32:25 ‘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.’”

• Verse 16 When Jeremiah has given the deed of purchase over to Baruch he prays to the LORD.

  • Verse 17 Jeremiah acknowledges the sovereignty and power of the Lord God through His creation of the heavens and the earth.

    • There is nothing too difficult for the LORD.

• Verse 18 Jeremiah acknowledges the LORD’s lovingkindness demonstrated to thousands, but also the justice of the LORD established through repaying the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their descendants.

  • These are the same words the LORD spoke concerning Himself to Moses.

Ex. 34:4 So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand.
Ex. 34:5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD.
Ex. 34:6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
Ex. 34:7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

• Verses 6-7 It is the LORD who makes this proclamation about Himself.

  • He is compassionate

  • He is gracious

  • He is slow to anger

  • He is abounding in lovingkindness

  • He is abounding in truth

  • He keeps lovingkindness for thousands

  • He forgives iniquity

  • He forgives transgression

  • He forgives sin

    • And YET He will not leave the guilty unpunished; He will bring the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

• Jer. 32:18 Jeremiah is repeating in prayer to the LORD what He has revealed to His people about Himself in the scriptures, the Law.

  • Jeremiah reviews what is true about the LORD.

  • The judgement that is about to take place was also prophesied by the LORD regarding His people.

  • Every word the LORD has spoken is true.

• Verse 19 The LORD’s counsel is great.

  • The LORD follows His counsel with strength of deeds.

  • The LORD sees all the ways of the sons of men.

  • The LORD gives to everyone according to his ways, and the fruit of his deeds. (judgement & rewards are based on ways and deeds)

    • The concept of punishing future generations for the iniquity of their fathers is not mutually exclusive of the LORD seeing all the ways of the sons of men and judging according to each ones ways and deeds.

    • Those who are born to these fathers are those who continue to do things in their actions that deserve judgment from the LORD.

    • These can both be true at the same time.

• Verse 20 The LORD who can do this judging perfectly is the one who set the signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

  • These would refer to the miracles the LORD performed when brining the Israelites out of Egypt.

  • This same LORD continues to do signs and wonders both in Israel and among all men.

  • There were many recorded miracles in the scriptures demonstrating the LORD’s miraculous works for His people.

    • These miracles were known to be performed by the LORD being communicated by, “You have made a name for Yourself.”

• Verse 21 The LORD did bring His people out of Egypt with signs and wonders.

  • These signs and wonders were performed by the strength of the LORD which brought great terror.

• Verse 22  The LORD was faithful in giving His people the land that He swore to their forefathers He would give to them.

• Verse 23 His people were able to take possession of the land but then they did not obey the LORD.

  • They did not walk in the LORD’s Law.

  • They did nothing the LORD commanded them to do.

    • This is the reason for the calamity that is about to fall on His people.

• Verse 24 Jeremiah now describes what is apparent to all; and that is the siege ramps have been completed to allow the city of Jerusalem to be taken by the Chaldeans.

  • The LORD had already spoken about the destruction of the sword, famine and pestilence which the people have experienced.

    • The final event prophesied is about to be fulfilled.

• Verse 25 Jeremiah now reiterates that it was by the words of the Lord God he was told to buy the field with money and have witnesses of this event right before the city will be given over to the Chaldeans.

  • Jeremiah believes in the word of the Lord God.

  • Jeremiah as the declared kinsman redeemer of the land publicly carries out the purchase of the land.

  • Jeremiah’s actions demonstrate his faith in the word of the LORD, despite what the circumstances of the current moment were and what the LORD had revealed to Jeremiah was in the immediate future of Judah.

    • Jeremiah’s prayer to the LORD reflects a sincere worship of who the LORD is followed by an acknowledgment of what the LORD is doing and a submission to what the LORD is asking Jeremiah to do in obedience.

    • Jeremiah had learned to do as the LORD instructed throughout his life, things that were hard or did not always make sense in the moment.

  • Jer. 13 The wearing of a linen waistband and a journey to the Euphrates River.

  • Jer. 16 Jeremiah was not to take a wife.

  • Jer. 18 Watching the potter make a bad project.

  • Jer. 19 Break a pot in front of priests.

  • Jer. 27 Wear yokes and bonds

    • This is a picture of a man living out his faith.

Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Heb. 11:2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

• Jeremiah had no idea how the LORD was going to bring His people back into the Promised Land; he did know the LORD was going to accomplish this promise in the future.

  • Jeremiah is practicing walking out His faith by obeying the LORD when it does not make sense to him in the moment.

  • Jeremiah is keeping his eyes on an eternal God.