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.