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.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah Behold, I give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
Jeremiah had bought a field in a country about to be destroyed, and his prayer ended by asking God why. God answers as "the God of all flesh," then confirms the worst: the city will fall, and He Himself is handing it over.
This verse is part of God's answer to His servant's prayer. One writer shows how the answer is built:
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 the message of comfort and peace once more. 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 verse itself gives no reason for the handover. The verses right after it do:
So nothing would set aside the speedy execution of the long-delayed sentence. From the beginning — for it is always so with man — Jerusalem had been a cause of His anger and His fury to this day. Its people made His house the special seat of their evil practices. They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, with the horrible sacrifices of sons and daughters to Molech. Judgment therefore had to fall on their idol worship and their sin. If anyone denies Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
The capture of the city changed the shape of world history. God's throne had stood in Jerusalem. With its fall, rule over the earth passed to Gentile kings:
"The times of the Gentiles" begin with what Daniel describes. Nebuchadnezzar, as the servant of God, went up and took the city. That was the place where the throne of the Lord God had been, where the temple of God was, and where the worship of God was still offered in name at least. He took it and levelled it to the ground, because of the sin and iniquity of its inhabitants. God had forsaken His people. Ezekiel describes how the glory of the Lord slowly left the place (Ezekiel 10:4, 18, 19). The next thing, in God's righteous government, was that He passed His earthly people, the Jews, into the hands of the enemy. So "the times of the Gentiles" began.
Jeremiah heard this sentence just after buying land inside the doomed country:
Such was the faith and the patience of this holy prophet. To bear at all cost a true testimony of Jehovah's mind to His people was far dearer to him than earthly goods, or honour, or life. When outward peace reigned, he saw the coming ruin. When the ruin was almost at its worst, he acted on his understanding of the word of Jehovah. He took steps toward a restoration that could not fail.
Later in the chapter God repeats the people's own verdict on the land. Then He overturns it, promising ordinary property deals in the places now being overrun:
Jehovah will yet pour out His heart of grace upon His people. "Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will surely plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. … And fields shall be bought in this land, of which you say, It is desolate, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for money. They shall sign deeds, seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin and in the places around Jerusalem" (verses 41-44).
Jeremiah had confessed God's power, yet could not see how money spent on enemy-held land would come back:
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" is the Lord's challenge to Jeremiah on this occasion, as it is to Sarah in Genesis 18. Sarah's body was then dead. She did not know how she could have a child, for she did not know the resurrection-strength of God. Jeremiah was laying out his money on a piece of ground that was then in the hand of the enemy. He did not know how he could get its value back again; for, like Sarah, he did not know the resurrection-strength of God.
- His hand. The city does not just fall to a stronger army. God says He is handing it over, and the Chaldeans are the tool of His sentence.
- Their sin. Generations of idol worship, ending in child sacrifice, brought the long-delayed sentence down at last.
- Gentile hands. When God gave this city up, rule over the earth passed from Jerusalem to Gentile kings, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar.
- Bought back. The words the people used to write off the land — "given into the hand of the Chaldeans" — return later as the setting for fields bought, deeds signed and witnesses called.
- Nothing too hard. The God who hands the city over is the God whose question stands over the whole chapter: is anything too hard for Him?
And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come in and set fire to this city, and shall burn it, and the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
God answers Jeremiah's prayer by naming the city He will hand over to Babylon. The fire falls on the very roofs where the people had worshipped other gods — the place of the sin becomes the place of the burning.
Jeremiah had just prayed that nothing is too hard for the Lord. God turns that confession into a question back to him, then gives His reply in two parts.
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 the message of comfort and peace again. 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).
Why single out the roofs? In Judah the flat roof of an ordinary house was where people turned to other gods.
"Baal" was the idol god of the Phoenicians and Canaanites. The word means "lord" or "possessor." Immoral sexual practices went with the worship of this god... They worshipped the hosts of the heavens from housetops. They worshipped the stars. They studied their movements as if the stars could help them and give them a revelation. Astrology is practised widely among nations today, and it is an old cult.
God Himself gave the drink offering, and it belonged to Him. Here the people pour it out for other gods, and the prophets record that pattern again and again.
In the prophets, all the other direct references to the drink offering except one point to idol worship connected with this offering. Psalm 16:4 does the same. Every blessing that God has ever given to man, man has corrupted. This is true of the drink offering also. We must make sure that all our worship — and all our thoughts, words and actions — aim at giving joy to God.
God did not burn the city in a sudden fit of anger. He had named this fire long before, and He held it back for years.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So Nebuchadnezzar and his armies came against Jerusalem and besieged it. They "burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem" and "broke down the walls around Jerusalem" (2 Kings 25:1-10). This was God's judgment carried out. He had foretold it long before, and He had held it back a long time in His patience.
When the city fell, it happened word for word: the same army, the same fire, the same houses.
At Riblah, in front of Nebuchadnezzar, they kill Zedekiah's sons before his eyes. They put all the nobles of Judah to death. They put out Zedekiah's eyes, bind him with chains of bronze, and carry him to Babylon. "And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem" (v. 8).
The same chapter that promises the fire also promises the land back. That is why Jeremiah, shut up in prison, had just paid good money for a field.
Yet Jeremiah had obeyed and bought the field for money when all looked hopeless, for God was his confidence — He had made the heavens and the earth... God will give the city into the hand of the king of Babylon. The people, princes, priests and prophets had sinned and done evil from their youth, and so provoked Him to anger. Yet He will gather them again. "Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul." They will own the fields and lands and cities again, and prosper richly. What a God is Israel's! What a God is ours!
- Question — Jeremiah prays that nothing is too hard for God. God answers with His own question, and His reply comes in two parts: first the doomed city, then the promised return.
- Roof — The housetops had become shrines to Baal and to the stars. The flat roof of an ordinary home was where Judah's idolatry happened.
- Offering — The drink offering was God's gift, poured out for Him. Poured out for other gods, it provoked His anger. Every blessing God gives, man can corrupt.
- Patience — God named the fire on those houses long before it fell, and He held it back while He bore with the people.
- Field — The same chapter that burns the houses promises them again. Jeremiah bought a field while in prison, because the God who could judge could also restore.
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have been doing only evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah is a prisoner inside a besieged Jerusalem, and he has just prayed to the God for whom nothing is too hard. God's reply begins with a charge sheet, not with comfort. This verse is its heart: Israel and Judah have a record of evil, and evil only.
This sentence is not an outburst. It belongs to an ordered reply that moves from sentence to promise.
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 charge reaches back past the kings to the nation's beginning. One word covers the whole story, from the golden calf in the desert to the cross.
They have done evil in the sight of the Lord their God, to provoke Him to anger. That one word, "evil" takes all in, from the calf at Horeb to the cross at Calvary. Such is Israel's past.
The evil named here has a fixed meaning in the prophets. It is not bad workmanship; it is what people make and then bow down to.
"The works of their hands," of which they did not repent, is a phrase peculiar to heathen idolatry (Isa. 2:8; Jer. 1:16; 25:6-7, 14; Deut. 4:28; Ps. 115:4-7; 135:15).
The record explains why nothing could hold back the judgment. God's faithfulness to Himself stands behind it.
Nothing would set aside the speedy carrying out of the long-suspended sentence. From the beginning (for so it always is with man) Jerusalem had been an object of His anger and of His fury to this day. Its people made His house the special seat of their abominations. They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, with the horrid sacrifices of sons and daughters to Molech. Judgment therefore must fall on their idolatries and their iniquities. If any deny Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Molech and Baal were gods of the surrounding nations. The valley of the son of Hinnom lay just outside Jerusalem. There people burned their own children in sacrifice.
It would be easy to read the verse as a report on one bad nation long ago. It is aimed closer to home.
Do not think, dear reader, that all this was written only as the history of one unusually corrupt people. Oh, no; by it God wants to show us what the heart of man is — my heart, your heart — even when God has lavished upon us all His care. The human heart is completely corrupt; good does not exist in it; so it is impossible to get any good out of it. As long as God acted on the principle of law, looking for fruit from responsible man, the same sad result was bound to follow. God has made the trial with the people of Israel once for all.
The timing matters. God states the worst about them at the moment they gave up hope. Then He tells them what He will do anyway.
He points out the iniquity of the people and of the city from the beginning. But now, in despair through sin, they saw their ruin as certain. At that point Jehovah declares not only a return from captivity, but the full power of His grace. He would give oneness of heart to the people, that they may serve Him for ever... Jehovah will rejoice in doing them good. He would plant them in the land with His whole heart, and His whole soul. It was He who had brought all this evil in judgment, and it was He who would bring all the good which He had promised.
God did not stop at words. At the darkest hour He had the prophet act out redemption in a piece of land.
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... Just so it is with God — the right of redemption is His. Here is a fine subject for gospel preachers... "Man's extremity is God's opportunity!" Those who have proved His redeeming love know this.
- Charge. God's answer to Jeremiah opens with the fate of the doomed city, and only then moves to comfort. Sentence comes before promise.
- Cause. The evil is idolatry — "the works of their hands," a phrase the prophets keep for worshipping what people make.
- Length. "From their youth" stretches the charge across the whole story, from the calf at Horeb to the cross.
- Mirror. God wrote the record so we would see our own hearts in it. He has made the trial of man once for all.
- Grace. Nothing good can come out of that record. So God promises what He will do Himself: one heart, an everlasting covenant, and a land replanted with His whole heart and soul.
For this city hath been to me [a provocation] of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
Jerusalem is under siege, the prophet sits in the palace prison, and God has just told him to buy a field. Before He explains that field, God explains the ruin. The city has stirred up His anger since the day its walls first went up, and now He will remove it from His sight.
Jeremiah had prayed. What comes back to him is not one message but two, and the order matters.
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 will be His people (verses 36-44).
The charge is not that Jerusalem declined late in its life. It reaches back to the founding. One writer reads this as the plain pattern of human nature. He also points to where the worst of it happened: in God's own house, and in the valley where people sacrificed their children to the god Molech.
Thus nothing would set aside the speedy execution of the long-suspended sentence. From the beginning (for so it always is with man) Jerusalem had stirred His anger and His fury, right up to this day. They made His house the chief seat of their detestable practices. They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, with the horrible sacrifices of sons and daughters to Molech. Judgment therefore must fall on their idol worship and their sin. If any deny Him, He must deny them. But He abides faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
If the provocation ran that far back, the striking thing is how long God held off. One writer traces that patience to what God had already invested in the place.
God bore long with Ephraim: "How shall I give you up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver you, Israel?" He bore with greater patience the greater provocations of Judah. For His house was in Jerusalem, and His name was recorded there. That covenant still held with Judah after Ephraim. When it too was broken and judgment could not be avoided, there was still, as it were, the lingering of divine compassion. For we know Who wept with human tears over Jerusalem.
Being removed from God's sight sounds final. Writing on Lamentations, one commentator marks the difference between being cast down and being written off.
It was sad to consider that the city once called "the holy" should have become so vile and unfaithful to God that the Lord could no longer endure it… It was "cast down to earth," treated like a city of the nations. Yes, the nations trampled it. Still it is destined yet to hold a place of glory such as it never knew in the past. God had to discipline it by hard times, but He did not abandon it forever.
The timing matters. God lists the guilt of the city from its beginning just when the people can no longer imagine a way out.
He points out the sin of the people and of the city from the beginning. But now, in despair through sin, their ruin appeared to them certain. At that point the Lord declares not only a return from captivity, but the full effect of His grace. He would give oneness of heart to the people, so that they may serve Him forever… He was the One who had brought all this evil in judgment, and He was the One who would bring all the good He had promised.
Jeremiah bought a field in a land facing ruin. He did not buy it on his own idea.
It was the Lord who told him to do it. The purchase was a testimony of the greatest value. Despite the desolation, despite the destruction of the city, Jeremiah believed that the Jews would return to their property. He believed people would still farm that land and build houses there.
- Provocation. The complaint reaches back to the city's founding. This is the pattern of man from the beginning, and God's own house became the chief seat of the evil.
- Patience. His house stood in Jerusalem and His name was there. So He bore Judah's greater provocations longer, and the sentence hung suspended before it fell.
- Removal. At last He could no longer endure the city. He cast it down and the nations trampled it — discipline, not abandonment.
- Promise. At the moment ruin looked final, He promised more than a return from captivity. He promised the full effect of His grace — oneness of heart, so they may serve Him forever.
- Proof. The same God who brought the evil in judgment would bring the good He promised — and Jeremiah's field, bought in a doomed land, was the proof.
because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Babylon's army is at the walls of Jerusalem, and the city's fall is certain. Before God promises to bring His people home, He names who brought the ruin — and this verse leaves out no rank of Israel.
The verse names one class of people after another, from the king down to the ordinary citizen. Older translations, which the writers quote, call the officials "princes." The failure was not limited to a bad king or a corrupt priesthood. The state of the temple showed what the city had already become.
It is very sad to see the temple defiled in the days of David's unfaithful sons. Its treasures were taken away, its doors were shut, and the house needed repair and cleansing. The condition of God's house reflected the moral state of the city... Everyone shared in the evil, as Jeremiah 32:32 shows — kings, princes, priests, prophets and people. So the glory of the Lord, unwilling but compelled, left the city that had shamefully dishonoured the holy Name of the God of Israel. All this happened before the temple and the city were destroyed.
Priests and prophets stand in the middle of that list. God had given them to His people as His own servants.
Their sins were glaring, and worst of all where sin is most hateful and offensive to God. He would have denied Himself if He had not brought His people down to the dust and scattered them to the ends of the earth... It was a great privilege to have such servants of Jehovah. That made it all the more distressing when they polluted His name and His people.
This was not a good start spoiled late. The record runs back to the beginning, and God is settling it now.
From the beginning — for it is always so with man — Jerusalem had stirred His anger and His fury, right up to this day. The people made His house the chief place of their detestable things. They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and there they offered the horrible sacrifices of sons and daughters to the god Molech. Judgment therefore must fall on their idolatries and their iniquities. If any deny Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
All of this ran alongside an unbroken show of religion. The building was still standing, so the people assumed they were safe.
All this shows how far people can go while keeping up an outward show of godliness. Every section of the community gave itself to almost every kind of evil. Kings, princes, priests, prophets and people were all guilty before God. Yet their trust was in "The temple of Jehovah." They wrongly imagined that nothing could harm them as long as the temple stood in Jerusalem. Jehovah's word meant nothing to them. They did not care about the honour of His Name. Truth had perished, and only an empty form was left.
It would be easy to read this as old news about one wicked nation. Commentators press the opposite point.
Do not think, dear reader, that all this is only the history of one especially corrupt people. Oh no; by it God wants to show us what the heart of man is — my heart, your heart — even when God has lavished all His care upon us... But God will not leave His people in this deplorable condition. He has proved that they cannot produce good fruit. Now He reveals Himself as their Redeemer. He takes on Himself the work of taking away their iniquity, and gives them a new heart inclined to obey Him.
The list of the guilty is not the end of the chapter. God names the sin first, and what follows can only be grace.
He points out the sin of the people and of the city from the beginning. But now sin had left them in despair, and their ruin looked certain to them. At that very moment Jehovah promises not only a return from captivity, but the full power of His grace. He would give oneness of heart to the people, that they may 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 which He had promised.
- Everyone. Kings, officials, priests, prophets and people stand on one charge sheet. Every part of the nation added to the evil.
- Everywhere. The defiled temple showed what the city had become. The form of religion stayed; the truth had perished.
- Always. From the beginning, Jerusalem had stirred God's anger — a settled character, not a late slip.
- Us. God shows us here what the human heart is — "my heart, your heart" — even after all His care.
- Yet. God names the whole guilt so that what comes next can only be grace. He gives a new heart, and one heart to serve Him for ever. The hand that brought the judgment brings all the promised good.
And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face; and though I taught them, rising early and teaching, they hearkened not to receive instruction.
Jeremiah 32:33 comes inside God's answer to Jeremiah's prayer. It is God's own summary of why the city must fall: not ignorance, but a people who turned their backs on the One who taught them.
The verse belongs to the first half of a two-part answer.
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).
Turning the back is Jeremiah's picture of a love abandoned. The same complaint returns again and again in Jeremiah 2.
Jeremiah 2 is the first recorded word to the people. It gives the first thought which filled the heart of the Lord, the main reason, as we have said, for all the sorrow — those who once loved Him had forsaken Him. He could not forget the kindness of their early years when they first went after Him. He remembered the love of their engagement days. But now He complains again and again: they have "gone far from Me"; they have "forsaken Me"; they have "turned their back to Me"; they have "forgotten Me."
Even so, they still cried out for rescue when trouble came.
Their backs and their faces were turned from Jehovah. But when the time of trouble comes, they will say, "Arise, save us." But could or would the false gods they had made respond and save them? Some day a remnant of that nation will turn to the Lord and cry, "Arise, save us," and He will answer.
The word "persistently" in this verse reads "rising early and teaching" in older translations. Writing on Zephaniah, and quoting one of those older versions, a commentator notes that the people matched God's early rising with their own.
"I said, Surely you will fear me, you will receive instruction; so their dwelling would not be cut off, no matter how I punished them. But they rose early, and corrupted all their doings." As Jehovah rose early to send them messages and warnings, they rose early to indulge in their wickedness.
Not hearing was a choice, not a weakness. Zechariah looked back on the same people and described them in almost the same terms.
"They refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts as hard as diamond, so that they might not hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets." So there was not only indifference. There was active hostility to the word of God, even open rebellion against Him and His claims… It was the will of Israel not to hear, and in this way they turned firmly away from the pleadings and warnings of the prophets.
The judgment on the city is real. What follows it is a promise.
If any deny Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself… "I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation… And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever… I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me."
Centuries later Christ met the same response. One writer uses this verse to voice His sorrow.
The Lord's own knowledge of the hardness of man's heart in no way lessened His energy or His love. Still, the sorrow was there. The sons of Israel were not all ready, like aged Simeon, to receive Him as the Lord's Christ. His lament might be put in the recorded words of Jehovah to Jeremiah: "They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction."
The verse is not only about an ancient nation. Believers can still meet the same patient Teacher with a distracted heart.
There is something deeply gracious in the way the Lord waits on His people to teach them. It is meant to draw out the hearts and minds of believers in love and gratitude. But how often they have cause for shame! Their minds and hearts are so taken up with other things that they cannot feel the many ways and means by which a God of love teaches them.
- He turns toward. God rose early and taught them day after day. The failure was never a silence on His side.
- They turn away. The back, not the face, is the language of a love once given and then abandoned. Yet in trouble they still cry, "Arise, save us."
- They turn hard. They chose not to listen: shoulders turned, ears stopped, hearts as hard as diamond.
- He turns the city over. Judgment on Jerusalem follows in verses 28-35: those who deny Him He must deny.
- He will not turn away. Verses 36-44 answer the turned back with an everlasting covenant. God puts the fear of Him in their hearts, so they will never turn away again.
And they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it;
God has answered Jeremiah's prayer with a list of reasons why Jerusalem must fall. This verse names the sharpest item on that list: the idols did not stay out in the valley — the people carried them into the one building that bore God's own name.
This charge is part of God's reply to a praying prophet, and the reply comes in two halves.
The answer the Lord gave to praying Jeremiah is twofold. Jeremiah had said in faith, "Nothing is too hard for you." The Lord answered him, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?" Then He announces first 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).
Their idolatry — the "abominations" of the verse — had a chosen address.
From the beginning (for it is always so with man) Jerusalem had provoked His anger and His fury, right up to this day. They made His house the special seat of their abominations. They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, with the horrible sacrifices of sons and daughters to Molech. Judgment therefore had to fall on their idolatries and their iniquities. If any deny Him, He must deny them. But He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Ezekiel, prophesying in the same years, was given a guided tour of the temple so that the reason for the coming judgment could not be disputed.
The glory of Jehovah appeared to the prophet, and in the visions of God He took him to Jerusalem. There, in the courts, the chambers and the gates, He showed him every form of hateful and defiling idolatry that the elders and others of Israel practised in Jehovah's own house. Now compare this with the history of Jeremiah, and with the outward profession they kept up — the claim that the law would never be lost from the priest. Then we shall understand how great the iniquity of the Jews was, and how deep their hypocrisy.
"Called by my name" was the very thing the people leaned on, as if the address were insurance.
Just before the captivity of Judah, there was the outward pretension to the worship of Jehovah, but idolatry had even come into that which bore Jehovah's Name. They were still saying, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD" (Jer. 7:4). They imagined, in vain, that their formal though corrupt worship would save them from God's judgment, simply because the building called by God's Name still stood.
Verse 34 says the defiling was deliberate — and the same principle had already been demonstrated once before, at the earlier sanctuary in Shiloh.
And what a solemn fact it is — judgment fell on the house at Shiloh, where the Lord first made His name dwell (Jer. 7:12). Then it came on the house at Jerusalem as well. He said, "therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh" (v. 14). And so it happened. Likewise the apostle Peter tells us, "it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God" (1 Peter 4:17). We see it in the symbolic history of the churches in Revelation 2 and 3. God will judge corrupt Christendom no less than He judged corrupt Judaism… When people falsify the truth and true piety is gone, what can come but judgment from God? And still more so, if this false thing bears His holy Name.
The charge is not where the chapter ends.
He points out the iniquity of the people and of the city from the beginning. But now their sin had left them in despair, and their ruin looked certain to them. At that very point Jehovah declares not only a return from captivity, but the full power of His grace. He would give oneness of heart to the people, that they may serve Him for ever.
- The name. God had put His own name on the temple. That name is what the people trusted in. They kept saying "the temple of the LORD" while their worship was corrupt.
- The invasion. Idolatry did not stay outside. It came into the very thing that bore His name, and His house became the chief seat of their abominations.
- The insult. God showed Ezekiel every form of defiling idolatry in the courts, chambers and gates of His own house, while the people kept up a loud outward profession. That is the hypocrisy God calls out.
- The judgment. Shiloh first, then Jerusalem. The principle still stands: judgment begins at the household of God, and it falls heavier where the false thing carries His holy name.
- The grace. God spells out the iniquity first. Only then, when ruin looks final, does He promise a return from captivity, one heart, and service to Him for ever.
and they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause to pass through [the fire] their sons and their daughters unto Molech which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
God is listing the reasons why the city He chose must fall under judgment. Verse 35 names the worst of them: shrines in a valley just outside Jerusalem, where parents burned their own children to an idol.
The valley has its own history, from its place south of the city to the name the New Testament later used for eternal punishment:
The valley running from east to west, on the south of Jerusalem, is often called "the valley of the son of Hinnom." In some part of it, thought to be the east end, people passed their children through the fire to false gods (Jer. 7:31-32; Jer. 32:35). To stop this, Josiah defiled Topheth in this valley. The prophet Isaiah gives the key to why the New Testament links it, under the name Gehenna, with eternal punishment.
Some read this as a ritual the children survived. The passages weigh against that:
This is the fire-god, "the abomination of Ammon," and the Israelites sacrificed their children to this idol. "Passing their children through the fire" might seem to mean the children were dedicated to the idol by being passed quickly through a fire without being burned. That may have happened. But some passages do not allow this reading. Of the Canaanites Scripture says, "their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods." Of Israel it records that they "caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them, to devour them... for when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it."
One writer describes how it was done:
Molech was an image with its arms outstretched, and people would place their children in its arms, while a fire was lit beneath. Drums and noisy music then drowned out the cries of the child as the fire burned it to death. So this religious wickedness made the torture and murder of an unwanted child into a holy act!
There is a logic behind the horror. A conscience away from God will pay any price it invents:
A false god always means what is false and morally evil, for if man's conscience were not defiled, he could not be away from God. The gods men take for themselves are a true picture of the desires that call for them. Serving those gods feeds those desires and makes them grow. But conscience brings remorse, and remorse claims frightful penalties — until men offer the fruit of their bodies for the sin of their souls, passion and fear holding them by turns in bondage.
God says the practice never entered His mind. That test still applies to worship men invent:
How many practices and customs in Christendom have been "devised" out of men's own hearts and have no foundation in Scripture! God condemned Israel for doing what, He says, "I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind" (Jer. 7:31; also 19:5; 32:35). It is the thoughts of God's heart, not mine, that I am to heed and put into practice.
The verse charges the spread of the sin, not just the act. The trail runs back to Solomon:
Here we move from wives to children, and to that most inhuman rite in which Satan so blinded parents that they gave their own children as sacrifices to Molech or Moloch. He was the guardian god of the Ammonites, and the name Molech means "King." From Jer. 19:5 it appears that people worshipped Baal in this way too. The practice was widespread under various idols over the earth, and how terrible that Solomon gave in to his pagan wives... The greatest science and learning, the highest civilization and luxury, can in no way stop this, if they do not help it on.
The charge is not the last word in the chapter:
From the beginning — for it is always so with man — Jerusalem had been an object of His anger and His fury, right up to this day. They made His house the chief seat of their abominations. They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, with the horrid sacrifices of sons and daughters to Molech. 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. "And now therefore thus says the Lord... behold, I will gather them out of all countries... and I will make an everlasting covenant with them."
- Place. Topheth in the valley of Hinnom lay just outside Jerusalem. That ground gave its name to Gehenna, the word for final judgment.
- Practice. Parents laid their children in the idol's outstretched arms over a fire, and drums covered the cries. Some passages may allow a milder reading; others do not.
- Cause. Once a conscience leaves God, fear and desire take turns ruling it. In the end men pay for the sin of their souls with the fruit of their bodies.
- Verdict. God never commanded it, and it never entered His mind. That judges every act of worship invented by the human heart instead of found in His Word.
- After. The same chapter promises a gathering back from every country and an everlasting covenant. God stays faithful because He cannot deny Himself.
And now therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith thus concerning this city, whereof ye say, It hath been given over into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence
Jerusalem is under siege. Jeremiah sits in the palace prison. The people have already passed their own verdict on the city: it is finished. God takes that sentence of theirs, repeats it back to them word for word, and then says "Behold."
God does not soften the charge before He softens the outcome. The city's fall was already fixed, and the reason was its long record of idol worship.
Nothing would set aside the quick carrying out of the sentence He had long held back. From the beginning (for it is always so with man) Jerusalem had been a cause of His anger and His fury to this day... 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.
The words "of which you say" matter. The people had given up, and that is when God speaks.
Jeremiah had declared that Babylon would take the city and lead Zedekiah away captive. But the LORD 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 their sin had left them in despair, and their ruin seemed to them unavoidable. At that point the LORD declares not only a return from captivity, but the full power of His grace.
What follows in verse 37 is more than permission to come home. It is a covenant God ties Himself to.
It was quite true that the LORD would hand the men of Judah over as captives to the king of Babylon, because of their wicked deeds. At the same time the LORD says, "Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, where I have driven them in My anger... and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God... and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good"... He will never turn away from His people.
The promise came attached to an action. God told His imprisoned prophet to spend real money on land the enemy already held.
God gave the precious promises in these two chapters while His prophet sat in prison (see Jeremiah 32:2 and 33:1). The king of Babylon's army had Jerusalem under siege. Zedekiah tried to stop prophetic 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... "Man's extremity is God's opportunity!" Those who have proved His redeeming love know this.
God asks Jeremiah the same question He once asked Sarah.
"Is anything too hard for the LORD?" is the LORD's challenge to Jeremiah on this occasion, as it is to Sarah in Genesis 18. Sarah's body was then dead. She did not know how she could have a child, because she did not know the resurrection-strength of God. Jeremiah was spending his money on a piece of ground then in the enemy's hand. He did not know how he could ever get its value back. Like Sarah, he did not know the resurrection-strength of God.
The people did return from captivity. Commentators here hold that the promise reaches further. What it describes has never yet been true of Israel.
Unless some false system twists the mind, this is too plain to mistake: the LORD speaks of a day still future for Israel. He has never yet gathered them out of all countries. He has not caused them to dwell safely in their land since He scattered them. He has not yet reversed the sentence of Lo-ammi. They have not had one heart and one way, fearing the LORD always for the good of themselves and their children after them.
("Lo-ammi" means "not my people.")
Some read these promises as belonging to the church instead of Israel. Three questions test that reading.
Is that the church? Has He scattered it in wrath, anger, and fury into all lands; and is it only at some future restoration to its original place that He will own it as His people? Do you believe it applies to the church?
- Sentence — Sword, famine, and disease would take the city. God repeats the people's own verdict instead of denying it.
- Turn — Their ruin looked unavoidable to them. Right there He promises not just release, but the full power of His grace.
- Pledge — Jeremiah buys a field inside the besieged city. Faith answers the challenge, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?"
- Covenant — The gathering ends in an everlasting covenant — one heart, one way. God binds Himself never to stop doing them good.
- Reach — God has never yet gathered Israel out of all countries, or let them dwell safely there. So the promise still waits — for that nation, in that land.
Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries whither I have driven them, in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.
Babylon's army had surrounded Jerusalem, and Jeremiah himself sat locked in the court of the prison. Yet God's word to him was not about the siege but about a homecoming, and it raises a question: when will the hand that scattered His people gather them back?
Just before this promise, God told Jeremiah to buy a piece of family land at Anathoth. Everything about that moment argued against buying it.
The capture of the city was near, but Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me: Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth.'" What a time to buy a field! The city was sure to fall, and the prophet himself was in prison. By his own word, there was no escape from the Babylonian army.
The verse does not say the nations dragged Israel away. It says God drove them, and it stacks up three words for His displeasure. Yet the judgment and the promise come from the same speaker.
Judgment had to fall on their idolatries and their sins. If anyone denies Him, He must deny them. But He stays faithful; He cannot deny Himself. So the Lord, the God of Israel, speaks about this city, the city they said the king of Babylon would take by sword, famine and disease: "I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation."
The consequences were real — a ruined city, seventy years away from home. But this chapter shows what God intends on the far side of them.
This remarkable incident shows one of the most beautiful sides of discipline: grace. It is true that in the way God governs, "whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). Yet even when He governs and disciplines, God acts in grace. Failure may bring consequences that cannot be avoided, like the seventy years of captivity. Still, God's aim is to bless.
A group did come back from Babylon. But commentators test this promise by its own wording, and they say it reaches far past that return.
This is too plain to be mistaken, unless some false system has twisted the mind: Jehovah is speaking of a day still future for Israel. They have never yet been gathered out of all countries. He has never made them dwell safely in their land since they were scattered. Nor have they had one heart and one way, fearing Jehovah always, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
Another writer measures that return against what Nehemiah said about it later:
Do you insist that this chapter applies to the return from Babylon? Then I would quote Nehemiah 9:36-37: "Behold, we are slaves this day… and we are in great distress." That shows how little the return from Babylon fulfilled all these promises we have been reading. Was that restoration the whole heart and the whole soul of God for His people?
Some read such promises as describing the church instead of Israel. One writer answers with three questions.
Is that the church? Has He scattered it in wrath, anger, and fury, into all lands; and is it only at some future restoration to its original place that He will own it as His people? Do you believe it applies to the church?
The gathering in verse 37 is the doorway into what follows: a people owned by God, given one heart, and held by a covenant.
This is a further word of the Lord about the new covenant. It will be an everlasting one. He will never turn away from His people. The Jews have never yet inherited their land under the new covenant, still less under the everlasting covenant. They are to inherit under both titles. The new covenant marks it off from anything that ever was before. The everlasting covenant shows that the new covenant will never go out of date or grow obsolete. It will always hold good for their possession and their blessing.
- Driven — God calls the scattering His own act, done in anger, fury and great wrath.
- Gathered — the hand that drove them out will bring them back, because He stays faithful and cannot deny Himself.
- Safely — He promises settled homes, one heart and one way; commentators say Israel has not seen this yet.
- Sealed — Jeremiah bought a field while the city was sure to fall and he sat in prison; the promise was that certain.
- Everlasting — the covenant behind the promise never expires, so God's discipline ends in blessing.
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Jeremiah spoke these words from prison, while Babylon's army surrounded Jerusalem. God's answer to the ruin was a promise: these people would still be His own — but when has that ever been true?
Commentators point first to the timing. God chose the moment of total loss to have His prophet buy a field.
God gave the precious promises in these two chapters at a moment marked out by the imprisonment of His prophet (see Jer. 32:2 and 33:1). At that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem. Zedekiah tried to stop prophetic speech. God was shut out, and everything looked very black — they faced despair and ruin. 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. Just so it is with God — the right of redemption is His.
The words "they shall be my people" reverse a sentence God had already passed. Through the prophet Hosea He had named a child Lo-ammi, and that name ended the tie.
Secondly, God has disowned them as His people. "Then, said God, call his name Lo-ammi (that is, not my people): for you are not my people, and I will not be your God." (Hosea 1:9.) In all their earlier troubles, God had still owned them as His people. He had owned Himself to be their God. This was, in fact, what made the great difference between them and other nations. But now, in judgment, He set this aside.
Commentators test this promise against history. Nothing so far matches it.
Unless some false system has twisted the mind, this is too plain to miss: Jehovah speaks of a day still future for Israel. God has never yet gathered them out of all countries. They have never lived safely in their land since their scattering. God has not yet reversed the sentence of Lo-ammi. They have not yet had one heart and one way, fearing Jehovah always for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
The promise does not stand alone. It belongs to the new covenant, and Kelly points out how long that covenant holds.
This is a further word of the Lord about the new covenant. It will be an everlasting one. He will never turn away from His people.
The promise also shows how God feels about keeping it.
Jeremiah 32:37-42. A moving passage about the thoughts of the Lord concerning His people! First He gives them promises of blessing in grace, and assures them that He will be their God. Then the Lord says, "And I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them."
Buying land in a besieged country looks like a waste. Commentators see grace at work in it.
This remarkable incident illustrates one of the most beautiful aspects of discipline: grace. While it is true that, in God's governmental ways, "whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal. 6:7), even in government and discipline God acts in grace. Failure may bring consequences no one can avoid, like the 70 years of captivity. Even so, God's design is to bless.
- Prison — God gave this promise while Jeremiah sat locked up and Babylon's army ringed Jerusalem. He spoke of redemption at the point where everything looked finished.
- Disowned — "They shall be my people" undoes Lo-ammi, "not my people." That name had ended the bond which set Israel apart from every other nation.
- Future — Commentators say this has not happened yet. God has not gathered Israel from all countries, they have not lived safely in the land, and Lo-ammi still stands.
- Everlasting — An everlasting covenant holds the bond, because God will never turn away from His people.
- Wholehearted — He plants them with His whole heart and whole soul. The God who brought the evil promises to bring all the good.
And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me all [their] days, for the good of them, and of their children after them.
Jerusalem was under siege and Jeremiah sat in prison, yet this promise looks past the ruin to a people God will remake from the inside. Who does the changing here, and can anyone produce such a heart on demand?
The words come with a strange command: buy a field in a country about to be overrun. One writer sets out the moment God chose.
God gave the precious promises in these two chapters at a moment marked out by the imprisonment of His prophet. Jerusalem was then under siege by the king of Babylon's army. Zedekiah tried to stop prophetic speech, 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. Just so it is with God — the right of redemption is His.
Buying the field was faith put to the test.
Now God puts him to the test by making him buy the land. If Jeremiah believed his own prophecy he should act on it and "put his money where his mouth was", and he did.
The gift of one heart rests on a covenant with two names.
This is a further word from the Lord about the new covenant. It will be an everlasting one. He will never turn away from His people... They are to inherit under both titles. The new covenant marks it off from anything that ever was before. The everlasting covenant shows that the new covenant will never go out of date or grow obsolete. It will always hold good for their possession and their blessing.
Some apply promises like this to the church instead. One writer answers with a question.
Now do you believe that God has scattered the church completely? And that only when He brings it back again will He begin to put His fear in the hearts of the people who make it up? Or is it not perfectly plain what it all applies to?
A divided people is the problem this phrase answers, and the same theme runs through the prophets.
The unity of the people of God evidently lies very near to His heart. The Holy Spirit seems to take special delight in dwelling on it in connection with the coming day. Elsewhere we read, "And I will make them one nation … and one King shall be King over them all. They shall no longer be two nations, and they shall never be divided again … and they shall all have one Shepherd" (Ezek. 37:22-24).
The gift is also a reversal.
One heart and one way will then be theirs who had turned every one to his own way (Jer. 32:39). For they will know the Lord.
"That they may fear me forever" is the outcome, not the condition. God Himself supplies what makes it last.
The central thought of the New Covenant is that man's heart is put right. So in the world to come Israel will be unchangeably faithful too! God will put His fear or reverence in their hearts, so that they will not depart from Him. This is the exceeding glory of the New Covenant.
When God gave the law, Israel lacked such a heart. One writer sets that lack beside what is coming.
So God would have formed them for Himself to show forth His praise, if they had had in them such a heart that they would fear Him and keep His commandments. It will be so when He puts the law within them and writes it on their hearts.
God's stated motive is their good — and He does it gladly.
Now the love of God is the essence of the new covenant. No verse quite says so, yet we can get pretty near it in Jeremiah 32:39-41... So it truly gives God positive joy to bless us. It is as if He said, "You don't know what joy it gives Me to bless you." Does this not show the heart of God?
Does any of this touch Christians now? One writer says it does.
This is the new covenant — the everlasting covenant — and these are its details. Every feature of spiritual blessing, in all that God in the future will do for Israel, is made good to us now.
- Given — the whole promise is God's own giving: one heart, one way, and the fear that holds them. God asks nothing of Israel first.
- Gathered — the scattered become one people, with one King and one Shepherd. Each once turned to his own way; that day is over.
- Guaranteed — the covenant behind it is called both new and everlasting. God never turns away from it, and it never grows obsolete.
- Gladly — God is not reluctant. Blessing them gives Him joy, and it reaches their children after them.
- Grace in the dark — the promise came while Jerusalem was falling and Jeremiah sat in prison. He bought a field there to show he believed it.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not draw back from them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their heart, that they may not turn aside from me.
Babylon's army was surrounding Jerusalem, and Jeremiah sat in prison. In that setting God announced a covenant that would never wear out. What makes it unbreakable? And how does God keep a people who had broken the old covenant from turning away again?
God chose the hour when everything looked finished to promise a lasting future. He even told His prophet to buy a field.
God gave the precious promises in these two chapters at a moment marked by the imprisonment of His prophet. The king of Babylon's army was then besieging Jerusalem. Zedekiah tried to silence prophecy. 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. Just so it is with God — the right of redemption is His.
This covenant carries two names, and each name does its own work.
We know that the Jews have never yet inherited their land according to the new covenant. Still less have they inherited it according to the everlasting covenant. They are to inherit under both titles. The title "new covenant" marks it off from anything that ever was before. The title "everlasting covenant" shows that the new covenant will never go out of date or grow obsolete. It will always be effective and valid for their possession and their blessing.
Every clause of the verse begins with God: I will make, I will not turn away, I will put. The old covenant worked the other way round, and blessing hung on the people's side of it.
On the Lord's side nothing was missing. Everything was sure. God watched faithfully over the carrying out of His will. But what good was that under the old covenant, if the people for their part were unfaithful to it? It will be different when the Lord makes a new covenant with Israel. That covenant is all of grace, and unconditional. In it the responsibility of the people will not count at all.
God also works on the human side. He puts His own fear inside people, and that fear holds them near Him. One writer traces the same effect in a believer's life today.
The teaching that the heart is desperately wicked is true of everyone. It is the verdict of God, who knows all things, however much a person's own experience questions it... Receiving this doctrine in its power helps to keep the believer humble and watchful. So, "the Lord keeps the feet of His saints," putting His fear in their hearts. And when they live in the fear of the Lord all day, He keeps them from many an outbreak of desperate wickedness — the common result of walking in self-confidence.
The promise "to do them good" is not cold policy.
The love of God is the essence of the new covenant. No verse says so in as many words, but we can get very near it in Jeremiah 32:39-41: "I will rejoice in doing them good... with all my heart and all my soul." This all belongs to the everlasting covenant spoken of in verse 40. So it really gives God joy to bless us, as if He said, "You don't know what joy it gives Me to bless you." Does it not show the heart of God?
God makes this promise to a nation. Commentators say its terms have never yet been met in history.
Unless some false system has twisted the mind, this is too plain to mistake: Jehovah speaks of a day still future for Israel. He has never yet gathered them out of all countries, nor has He made them dwell safely in their land since their dispersion... And no one can pretend that He has already made the "everlasting covenant" with them — the covenant in which they will not depart from Jehovah and He will rejoice over them.
Yet Christians are not shut out from its blessing. One writer distinguishes the covenant itself from the foundation it rests on.
I do not say we, Christians, have got the new covenant itself, but we have got the blood of the new covenant. We have that on which the new covenant is founded... The new covenant supposes certain spiritual blessings, namely, the law of God written in the heart and our sins forgiven. These spiritual parts of the new covenant we have received now.
- Timing — God spoke this promise with the city under siege and His prophet in custody. His "I will" is loudest when human hope is gone.
- Signature — every clause is God's own. Unlike the old covenant, the people's responsibility "will not count at all."
- Duration — "new" marks it off from everything before. "Everlasting" means it can never grow obsolete.
- Security — He puts His fear inside them. The guard against turning away is His gift, not their resolve.
- Motive — behind "to do them good" lies joy. God blesses with all His heart and all His soul, and believers today already hold the blood that covenant rests on.
And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Judah is about to lose everything to Babylon, and God tells Jeremiah to buy a field there anyway. He then promises to plant His people back in the land — which raises two questions: why does blessing give God joy, and who are the people He will plant?
(Note: these writers quote an older translation. It reads "assuredly … with my whole heart, and with my whole soul." The ESV has "in faithfulness … with all my heart and all my soul.")
Buying a field just before an invasion looks pointless. One writer treats the episode as a lesson in how God disciplines.
In this way, the task of buying a field looked unreasonable, yet it had a wonderful meaning… This remarkable event shows one of the most beautiful sides of discipline: grace. It is true that in the way God governs, "whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). Yet even in government and discipline God acts in grace. There may be unavoidable consequences from failure, like the seventy years of captivity. Even so, God's design is to bless.
The verse does not say God will merely agree to do them good. It says He will rejoice in it. One writer draws out what that means for anyone who wonders how God feels about them.
Now the love of God is the essence of the new covenant. No verse actually says as much, yet we can get pretty near it in Jeremiah 32:39-41… This all connects with the everlasting covenant spoken of in verse 40. So it gives God positive joy to bless us. It is as if He said, "You don't know what joy it gives Me to bless you." Does that not show the heart of God? This is what comes out in Luke 15. I do hope all have grasped this, not merely as doctrine, but in all its intense practical reality.
God attaches His whole heart and whole soul to this promise. One writer turns that into a question about us.
God says of the restoration of His ancient people, "I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart, and with My whole soul." Can we hear that and feel no interest in the subject? He is so interested that He speaks of doing this with His whole heart and with His whole soul. Has the subject no interest for us?… Do we need any other reason to study these precious testimonies of God's Word than to see all that is in the Lord's heart put into words?
Two covenants stand behind the planting. One writer explains why both titles matter.
We know that the Jews have never yet inherited their land according to the new covenant, still less according to the everlasting covenant. They are to inherit under both titles. It is called the new covenant to mark it off from anything that ever was before. It is called the everlasting covenant to show that the new covenant will never be out of date, or grow obsolete. It will always be effective and valid for their possession and their blessing.
Some say this promise came true when the exiles came home from Babylon. One writer tests that against what those returned exiles said about themselves.
If you insist that this chapter applies to the return from Babylon, I would quote Nehemiah 9:36-37: "Behold, we are slaves this day… and we are in great distress." That shows how little the return from Babylon fulfilled all these promises we have been reading. Was that restoration the whole heart and the whole soul of God in favour of His people?… No: these promises of God were not fulfilled at that time.
Others read the promise as belonging to the church rather than to Israel. The same writer answers by asking who was judged.
Who is it that the Lord has broken down, thrown down, and destroyed? The same that He will build and plant. It is a little unreasonable to apply all the judgments to Israel, and then give to the church all the blessings that belong to the same people. And if this passage really speaks of the church, what do "from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate" and "the hill Gareb" mean?
- Whole in discipline — God makes this promise while He is judging the nation. The consequences still run their course, yet His design is to bless.
- Whole in gladness — doing His people good gives God positive joy, the joy of Luke 15.
- Whole in commitment — "with My whole heart and with My whole soul" is God's own measure of what stands behind the planting.
- Whole in duration — the promise rests on an everlasting covenant. It will never grow obsolete, so the planting cannot be undone.
- Whole in fulfilment — the return from Babylon left the people still slaves and in distress. The same people God uprooted are the ones He will yet plant.
For thus saith Jehovah Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have spoken concerning them.
Jeremiah spoke these words while Babylon's army surrounded Jerusalem. He was under guard, and he had just bought a field he could never expect to farm. God ties the future of His people to His own record: the hand that ruined them is the hand that will restore them.
Nothing in Jeremiah's situation supported this promise.
The capture of the city was imminent, but Jeremiah said, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum your uncle, shall come to you, saying, Buy my field that is in Anathoth." What a time to buy a field! The city was certain to be taken, and the prophet himself was in prison! By his own word there was no escape from the Babylonian army. There was no escape either from the rulers in Jerusalem, whose pride and false patriotism his testimony flatly opposed.
The verse does not set God's anger against God's kindness. It puts both under one will.
The Lord had made Jeremiah buy a field, as proof that the people would certainly return… Their ruin now looked final to them, and they despaired because of their sin. Yet the Lord promises not only a return from captivity, but the full power of His grace. He would give the people one heart, so that they may serve Him for ever. Their relationship to God as His people would be fully established by the power of an everlasting covenant. The Lord will rejoice in doing them good.
after_note: DELETE He would plant them in the land with His whole heart, and His whole soul. It was He who had brought all this evil in judgment, and it was He who would bring all the good which He had promised.
The verse's comparison is also an argument: everything God said about their suffering came true.
No prophecy about their sufferings has failed, and none ever will, for God will never let His word fall to the ground. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." Shall He prove less faithful as to their promised future blessings? Impossible… Do we want to know something of this good? Read Isa. 60; Isa. 65:17-25; Isa. 66:10-16.
Nothing in Israel's history since has matched this promise.
Unless a false system has twisted the mind, this is too plain to be mistaken: the Lord speaks of a day still future for Israel. They have never yet been gathered out of all countries, and since they were scattered they have never lived safely in their land… And no one can pretend that God has yet made the "everlasting covenant" with them. Under that covenant they will never turn away from the Lord, and He will rejoice over them, planting them in the land in truth, with all His heart and all His soul.
Ridout ties the state of the land to the state of the people.
The grace that will redeem the people will also restore the land to them for their enjoyment… So in a way the empty land is itself a reminder of God's unfailing promise: He would not give to others what He kept for His own… Mercy to the people must always come with mercy to the land. The one will not be without the other.
The good comes to a people who first face what they have done.
God's verdict that they are not His people still stands today. Yet despite it all, He will keep His promises to the nation. The day is coming when God will bring that nation to admit their sin and folly, and to recognise as their deliverer the One whom they crucified. Their long centuries of blindness will then be over. Through mercy, they will come to trust the Lord Jesus, whom we have trusted.
Jeremiah bought the field because he believed a word his circumstances contradicted. Unbelief runs the other way, in two stages:
Before the threatened evil or judgment comes from the hand of the Lord men do not believe it. They are always hoping for a deliverance where there is no deliverance, for peace where there is no peace… When the chastening comes, they all sink into despair. Then they think it is all over with the people, and that no blessing will ever come from the hand of the Lord. Faith, by contrast, believes the judgment before it comes. It also believes in the goodness of the Lord, and that mercy triumphs over judgment.
- One hand. The God who brought the disaster is the God who brings the good — not two moods, but one purpose carried through.
- One standard. Every threat came true. That record is the measure of how surely the good will come.
- One pledge. A field bought during a siege was God's proof that the people would return.
- One scope. People and land together — the empty land shows God kept it for His own.
- One response. Unbelief denies the judgment, then despairs after it. Faith takes God at His word for both.
And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jerusalem was under siege, and the people had already written the land off as lost. God answers their verdict with a promise that sounds impossible: fields in that ruined country will change hands again.
One writer points out when God chose to speak:
God gave the precious promises in these two chapters at a moment marked by the imprisonment of the prophet of God (see Jeremiah 32:2 and 33:1). The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem. Zedekiah tried to silence prophetic speech, 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. Just so it is with God — the right of redemption is His. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land" (v. 15) — and that by right of redemption, and according to "an everlasting covenant" (v. 40). "Man's extremity is God's opportunity!" Those who have proved His redeeming love know this.
Before God said that fields would be bought, He had Jeremiah buy one:
Yet, at such a moment Jeremiah's uncle asked him to buy a field. What! when they were about to be all swept out of the land and carried into captivity! Should he then buy a field? What could be the ground for such a transaction? But it was Jehovah who told him to do it. The purchase was a testimony of the greatest value. Despite the desolation, despite the destruction of the city, Jeremiah believed that the Jews would return to their possessions. He believed that people would still farm that land and build houses there.
The prophet obeyed first and asked his question only after he had finished the paperwork:
He does not stop to question the Lord's way in this strange procedure. He does not pause for a moment to take counsel in his own heart about it. The Lord had commanded him, so he weighs the money, signs the deed, seals it, and takes witnesses, so that he may buy the field in Anathoth… Then, when his obedience was complete, but not till then, he asks the Lord, Why was all this?
The words "It is a desolation" are the people's own verdict. That verdict exposes a failure of faith:
Notice that unbelief shows itself in two ways that are the opposite of faith. Before the threatened evil or judgment comes from the hand of the Lord, men do not believe it. They are always hoping for a deliverance where there is no deliverance, for peace where there is no peace. This is the first effect of unbelief — a fighting against Jehovah's chastening. When the chastening comes, they are all plunged into despair. Then they think all is over with the people, and that there never will be any blessing from the hand of the Lord. Faith does the opposite. It believes the judgment before it comes. It also believes in the goodness of the Lord, and that mercy shall rejoice against judgment.
One writer reads the whole episode as a lesson in how God disciplines His people:
This remarkable incident illustrates one of the most beautiful aspects of discipline: grace. It is true that, in God's governmental ways, "whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Galatians 6:7). Yet even in government and discipline God acts in grace. Failure may bring consequences that cannot be avoided, like the seventy years of captivity. But God's design is to bless.
The promise names fields, not only people:
The grace that will redeem the people will also restore the land to them for their enjoyment… So in a way the very desolations of the land are a reminder of God's unfailing promise. He would not give to others what He had kept for His own… Mercy to the people must always come with mercy to the land. The one will not be without the other.
One writer reads this promise as still waiting for its day:
Unless some false system twists the mind, it is too plain to be mistaken: Jehovah speaks of a day still future for Israel. God has never yet gathered them out of all countries. He has never yet made them dwell safely in their own land since they were scattered.
- Extremity — God gave this promise in a besieged city, from a prison, when everything looked black. He speaks His best word at man's worst hour.
- Evidence — God did not only promise. He made His prophet pay money, sign a deed, seal it and call witnesses, so the promise had a purchase behind it.
- Echo — "It is a desolation" was the people's own verdict, and God quotes it back to them. Faith believes the judgment beforehand and believes in God's goodness afterwards.
- Exchange — Discipline is not the end of the story. Even in government and discipline God acts in grace, and His design is to bless.
- Estate — Mercy reaches the soil as well as the sinner. God restores people and land together, and that day is still future.
[Men] shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the writings, and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south for I will turn their captivity, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah wrote this from prison, with Nebuchadnezzar's army camped around a city God had already sentenced to fall. The chapter ends with the most ordinary act in the world: buying a field and signing the papers. God makes it the sign that His people will hold their land again.
The verse generalises what the prophet had just done himself. God had told him to buy his cousin's field at Anathoth while the enemy held the ground, and the price he paid was the proof he believed his own preaching.
In all this there was a beautiful message of grace. God would put an end to the rule of the Gentiles. A time of blessing would come. Land should be bought and sold again. Jeremiah had spoken about the new covenant (31:31–40). He had told how God would act with His people in grace, in a day that is still future, after a remnant of the people repents. Now God puts him to the test by making him buy the land. If Jeremiah believed his own prophecy he should act on it and "put his money where his mouth was", and he did.
Nothing about the moment invited it.
Yet, at such a moment Jeremiah's uncle asked him to buy a field. What! They were about to be swept out of the land and carried into captivity! Should he then buy a field? What reason could there be for such a deal? But it was Jehovah Who told him to do it. That purchase was a testimony of the greatest value. It showed that despite the ruin, despite the destruction of the city, Jeremiah believed that the Jews would return to their possessions, and that people would still farm the land and build houses there.
The deeds here were real legal documents, drawn up in two copies.
All was done according to the custom of the law. The open document was for consultation. The sealed one was that on which all depended; it was the incontestable proof.
The verse names region after region, from Benjamin down to the Negeb in the far south. God's own reason closes it: He will restore their fortunes. One writer sees this promise reaching beyond any return that has happened so far.
Unless the mind is twisted by some false system, it is too plain to be mistaken: Jehovah speaks of a day yet future for Israel. God has never yet gathered them out of all countries, nor has He made them dwell safely in their land since they were scattered.
The same chapter that spells out the city's ruin ends with fields changing hands again.
This remarkable incident illustrates one of the most beautiful aspects of discipline: grace. It is true that, in the way God governs, "whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). But even in His government and discipline God acts in grace. There may be unavoidable consequences from failure, like the 70 years of captivity. But God's design is to bless.
Unbelief misreads both halves of this chapter — the judgment and the restoration.
Unbelief shows itself in two ways that are exactly the opposite of faith. Before the threatened evil or judgment comes from the hand of the Lord men do not believe it. They are always hoping for a deliverance where there is no deliverance, for peace where there is no peace. This is the first effect of unbelief — a fighting against Jehovah's chastening. When the chastening comes, they are all plunged into despair. Then they think all is over with the people, and that there never will be any blessing from the hand of the Lord. Faith, on the contrary, believes the judgment before it comes. But it also believes in the goodness of the Lord, and that mercy triumphs over judgment.
Hanameel sold; Jeremiah bought. The difference was in what each man valued.
Hanameel clearly thought it was better to sell his inheritance and have money instead, since captivity was near. It showed that he valued money more than the inheritance God had given him. Is there not a similar spirit at work among those who profess to be Christians today? Men are lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Tim. 3:1-4).
- Deed. Fields bought, papers signed and sealed before witnesses — God promises ordinary life back. Jeremiah's deed was the first copy of it.
- Proof. Jeremiah made two documents: an open one to consult, and a sealed one that was the proof everything rested on.
- Grace. Even while He disciplines, God's design is to bless. Consequences run their course, but they are not the last word.
- Reach. From Benjamin to the far south, every region is named. No return since has matched what is promised here.
- Faith. Unbelief denies the judgment, then despairs after it. Faith accepts the judgment and still buys the field.