And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jeremiah has just bought a field in a doomed city, and then prayed to God about it. This verse records the reply arriving — and all that follows in the chapter, the doom of the city and the regathering of the people, hangs on it.
The answer comes in two parts. It opens with Jeremiah's own words handed back to him.
The answer the Lord gave to praying Jeremiah is twofold. Jeremiah had said in faith, "There is nothing too hard for the LORD." The Lord answered him, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for Me?" Then He announces first of all the fate of the doomed city (verses 28-35). After this comes once more the message of comfort and peace. It looks forward to that blessed future when God gathers Israel out of all countries and brings them back to the land — when they shall be His people (verses 36-44).
Buying that field put the prophet himself to the test. He had to act on the truth he had preached.
In Jeremiah 32, a very striking incident follows this prophecy of the new covenant, and it tests the prophet's faith in his own prediction. The Lord tests His servants all the time. If the Lord gives us to witness to some great truth, we shall have to prove our own faith in that truth.
God spoke when there was no way out in sight.
God gave the precious promises in these two chapters at a moment marked out in a special way: His prophet was in prison. The king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem. Zedekiah tried to stop the prophet from speaking, God was shut out, and everything looked very black — despair and desolation faced them. At such a moment God shows His redemption and grace. He tells the prophet to buy the field of Hanameel, because "the right of redemption" belonged to Jeremiah. It is just so with God — the right of redemption is His. "Man's extremity is God's opportunity!" Those who have proved His redeeming love know this.
Jeremiah kept telling God's people the truth, whatever it cost him. The word came to him while he was still pleading.
Such was the faith and the patience of this holy prophet. Giving God's people a true testimony of Jehovah's mind, at any cost, was far dearer to him than possessions, or honour, or life. When outward peace reigned, he saw the coming ruin. When the ruin was almost at its height, he acted on his understanding of the word of Jehovah and took steps toward a restoration that could not fail. So the word of Jehovah comes to the pleading prophet. "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me? Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it."
The sentence on the city still stands. God's promise does not cancel His judgment.
So nothing would set aside the speedy carrying out of the long-delayed sentence. From the beginning Jerusalem had stirred His anger and His fury, right up to this day — for it is always so with man. The people made His house the special place of their abominations. Judgment therefore must fall on their idolatries and their sins. If any deny Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Kelly checks those promises against Israel's history so far.
Jehovah speaks of a day still future for Israel. This is too plain to be mistaken, unless some false system has twisted the mind. God has never yet gathered them out of all countries. Since their scattering, He has never made them live in safety in their land. Nor have they had one heart and one way, fearing Jehovah always for their own good and the good of their children after them.
- Prayer answered. Jeremiah prayed from prison. The reply came to "the pleading prophet" — God speaks here as an answer to a man already asking.
- Words returned. God takes Jeremiah's own words about His power and hands them back as a question. The prophet's confession becomes God's guarantee.
- Extremity. The promise arrives while the army surrounds the city and the prophet sits in prison — "Man's extremity is God's opportunity."
- Two halves. The answer runs first to the doom of the city, then to the gathering of the people. Judgment and comfort come from the same mouth.
- Faithfulness. "If any deny Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself" — and the regathering promised here still waits for its day.
Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh is there anything too hard for me?
Babylon's army is closing in on Jerusalem. Jeremiah has just spent good money on a field the enemy already holds. He had ended his prayer by telling God that nothing is too hard for Him — and here God hands the same words back as a question.
The verse opens God's reply to the prophet's prayer, and that reply runs in two directions at once. One writer sets out its shape:
The answer the Lord gave to praying Jeremiah is twofold. … He announces first of all the fate of the doomed city (verses 28-35). After this comes once more the message of comfort and peace. It looks forward to that blessed future when God gathers Israel out of all countries and brings them back to the land — when they shall be His people (verses 36-44).
The word that follows this question is not rescue but ruin: the city goes into Babylonian hands. God's power first carries out His sentence on sin. That sentence had been long delayed:
So nothing would set aside the quick carrying out of the long-delayed sentence. From the beginning (for it is always so with man) Jerusalem had been the object of His anger and His fury to this day. Its people made His house the special seat of their detestable practices. They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and there they made the horrible sacrifices of sons and daughters to the god Molech. Judgment therefore had to fall on their idolatries and their sins. If anyone denies Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
God had asked this question once before. He put it to Sarah, who could not see how she could ever have a child. One writer sets the two scenes side by side and finds the same missing piece in each:
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" is the Lord's challenge to Jeremiah when he buys Hanameel's field, just as it was His challenge to Sarah in Genesis 18. Sarah's body was then as good as dead. She did not know how she could have a child, because she did not know the resurrection-strength of God. Jeremiah was laying out his money on a piece of ground that the enemy already held. He did not know how he could ever get its value back. Like Sarah, he did not know the resurrection-strength of God.
Buying the field was not a side story. Jeremiah had preached a coming restoration, and now he had to stake his own money on it:
In Jeremiah 32, this prophecy of the new covenant is followed by a very striking incident. It tests the prophet's faith in his own prediction. The Lord constantly allows His servants to be tested. If the Lord gives us to witness to some great truth, we shall have to prove our own faith in that truth.
Jeremiah had announced the disaster himself, and nothing he could see gave him reason for hope:
But how different was the spirit of Jeremiah! His own people made him suffer. He himself admitted that God had stretched out His hand against Jerusalem. Yet he acted in this calm and striking way, on the simple faith of God's word alone. He had no confidence at all in his own power, and no sign of confidence in Zedekiah or in the people of the Jews. He did this in the face of the crushing weight of Babylonian power, which God had raised up to trample down the proud and rebellious city of Jerusalem.
The disaster and the recovery come from one source. The God of all flesh stands behind both:
Jeremiah had declared that the city would be taken and Zedekiah led away captive. But Jehovah had made him buy a field, as proof that the people would certainly return. He points out the sin of the people and of the city from the beginning. But now sin had driven them to despair, and their ruin seemed to them unavoidable. At that very point Jehovah declares not only a return from captivity, but the full effect of His grace. He would give the people one heart, so that they might serve Him for ever. … It was He who had brought all this evil in judgment, and it was He who would bring all the good He had promised.
- Prayer returned. Jeremiah told God nothing was too hard for Him. God asks the same question back, then answers it in two parts: the city falls, then the nation returns.
- Judgment first. The question is no shelter from the sentence. Idolatry brought the ruin, and God cannot deny Himself by ignoring it.
- Resurrection-strength. Sarah and Jeremiah stumbled at the same point. Neither yet knew God's power to bring life and value out of what is already dead.
- Faith tested. God gives a servant a great truth to preach. Then He asks him to prove he believes it — here, by buying land the enemy already held.
- One hand, both halves. The God who brought the evil in judgment brings the promised good. He gives His people one heart to serve Him for ever.