And Jeremiah said, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Jeremiah sits in prison while the Babylonian army closes in on Jerusalem. Verse 6 begins a message from God about buying land — an errand He sends through the prophet's own family.
King Zedekiah had jailed Jeremiah for prophesying that the city would fall. The prison held the man:
From verse 6 we have the message itself. As an old writer remarks, if the prophet was bound, the word of God was not bound.
God announces the visit of his cousin Hanamel in advance. When the man turns up with that very request, Jeremiah knows who is behind it — "Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD" (v. 8).
The Lord had first told the prophet to buy the field, and then Hanamel came to offer his field for sale.
The offer was not simply family business. It fell under Israel's law of redemption:
God announced in advance that his cousin would come and ask him to buy his field in Anathoth. The right of redemption was Jeremiah's. (See Leviticus 25:25.) Hanamel came, and Jeremiah, realising that it was of the Lord, bought the field, paying for it seventeen shekels of silver. The sale was done legally and properly, with two scrolls, one sealed and the other open. Everything went to Baruch, the prophet's faithful secretary, who was told to put it all in a clay jar. By this action the prophet proved his simple faith in the promised return.
Commentators draw a wider principle out of it:
Redemption is the exercise of a right that already exists, an existing claim on the thing redeemed or to be redeemed. The redeemer, whether God or man, holds the authority to exercise that right. You can see this principle beautifully illustrated in the book of Ruth, and in Jeremiah 32:6-15. In each case there was someone with a right to redeem.
Everything about the timing argued against the deal:
The city was about to be captured... What a time to buy a field! The city certain to be taken, the prophet himself in prison! By his own word, there was no escape from the Babylonian army. And there was no escape from the hostile power of those who ruled in Jerusalem, for his testimony was dead against their pride and their false patriotism.
Preaching a future is one thing. Paying for it is another:
In all this there was a beautiful message of grace. God would put an end to the dominion of the Gentiles. A time of blessing would come. Land would be bought and sold again. Jeremiah had spoken about the new covenant (31:31-40). He had spoken of 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.
The field became public evidence that God meant what He had said:
The purchase was a testimony of the greatest value. It showed that despite the ruin, despite the destruction of the city, Jeremiah believed the Jews would return to their possessions, and that people would still farm the land and build houses there.
Commentators see more than history here. Boaz, the redeeming relative in the book of Ruth, stands beside Jeremiah:
In Boaz and Jeremiah we see what a kinsman does. The bright, wonderful and perfect ways of the Son of Man outdo and outshine them. Like a more self-sacrificing Boaz, at a price that cost Him everything, He has rescued more than a childless, penniless relative. He has rescued one who was guilty and ruined and sold into shameful captivity. And like a better Jeremiah, He has now waited a long time, through an age of bitter rejection, for the inheritance which He purchased with His own blood on the day of Calvary.
- Word — The prophet was shut in, but the message was not. Verse 6 begins God's word to a prisoner.
- Warning — God names the visitor and the errand in advance. So when Hanamel arrives, Jeremiah knows whose word it is.
- Right — The claim on the field was already Jeremiah's. Redemption means acting on a right you already hold.
- Risk — He weighs out silver for land about to be overrun. Faith that preaches a future has to pay for it.
- Reach — The sealed deed, kept in a clay jar, said that people would farm and build here again. It points on to a Kinsman who paid at Calvary and still waits for His inheritance.
Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum thine uncle, shall come unto thee, saying, Buy for thyself my field which is in Anathoth; for thine is the right of redemption, to buy [it].
Jeremiah hears this word in prison, while Babylon's army camps around Jerusalem and the city's fall is certain. God tells him in advance that his cousin will arrive with a sales offer — and that the right to redeem the land is his.
The instruction comes at the darkest possible moment, and that is the point of it.
God gave these precious promises at a moment marked 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 illustrates His redemption and grace. He tells the prophet to buy the field of Hanameel, for "the right of redemption" belonged to Jeremiah. Just so it is with God — the right of redemption is His... He promises that houses and fields and vineyards will be owned again in this land (v. 15), and that in the right of redemption and according to "an everlasting covenant" (v. 40). "Man's extremity is God's opportunity!"
Buying land in a doomed country made no business sense.
The capture of the city was imminent. Yet the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, telling him that his uncle's son would come and say, "Buy my field that is at 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 hostile power of those who ruled in Jerusalem, for his testimony was dead against their pride and their false patriotism.
The order of events is what settled the matter for Jeremiah.
"So Hanameel, my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard, according to the word of the LORD... Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD" (verse 8). The LORD had first told the prophet to buy the field, and then Hanameel came to offer his field for sale.
The right of redemption was not invented for this moment. It came from Israel's law on family land.
God announced beforehand that his cousin would come and ask him to buy his field in Anathoth. The right of redemption was Jeremiah's. (See Leviticus 25:25.) Hanameel came, and Jeremiah, realizing that it was of the Lord, bought the field, paying seventeen shekels of silver for it.
The law also set a limit on how long the buyer kept the land:
The rule in Leviticus 25 teaches us that an Israelite could redeem or buy back the inheritance of a poor relative from whoever had bought it. He could then hold it until the year of Jubilee. At that point, as we further learn, it was to return to the original owner.
The same crisis pulled cousin and prophet in opposite directions.
It seems Hanameel thought it was better to sell his inheritance and have money instead. Captivity was near. It showed that he valued money rather than the inheritance God had given him. Is there not a similar spirit in the Christian world today, when men are lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God? (2 Tim. 3:1-4).
Buying the field made Jeremiah's own preaching cost him something.
If Jeremiah believed his own prophecy he should act on it and "put his money where his mouth was," and he did.
The purchase also carried a message for everyone watching:
But it was the LORD who told him to do it. Buying the field was a testimony of the greatest value. Despite the desolation, despite the destruction of the city, Jeremiah believed the Jews would return to their possessions. He believed people would still farm that land and build houses there.
Writers link this purchase with Boaz in the book of Ruth. Both acted as a kinsman — a close relative — and both point to someone greater.
But there is more than this. These actions of Boaz and of Jeremiah look ahead, as pictures and patterns, to the ways of our Lord Jesus. He made Himself our Kinsman, and He has done a Kinsman's part in ways that outshine all comparisons... And like a better Jeremiah, He has waited a long season, through an age of deep rejection, for the inheritance He bought with His own blood on the day of Calvary.
- Right — by law the nearest relative could buy back family land. Jeremiah was not grabbing a bargain. He was using a claim that was already his.
- Word — God named the visitor and the offer before Hanameel arrived. That is how the prophet knew this was the Lord speaking.
- Price — seventeen shekels, paid in prison while the enemy held the land. It bought a field he could not yet enter.
- Contrast — Hanameel sold the inheritance for money; Jeremiah bought it for the promise. The same pressure shows what each man values most.
- Pattern — a relative with the right, paying the price, then waiting long to take possession. Writers see in it the outline of Christ's own redemption.
And Hanameel, mine uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Jehovah, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine buy [it] for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah.
Babylon's army surrounds Jerusalem, and Jeremiah sits under arrest in the prison yard. There his cousin offers to sell him farmland, and Jeremiah knows at once that God had named this visit in advance.
God spoke first. The visitor came second. That order let Jeremiah hear God behind a family business deal.
The Lord had first told the prophet to buy the field, and then Hanameel came to offer his field for sale.
King Zedekiah had locked Jeremiah up to stop him prophesying.
As an old writer remarks, if the prophet was bound, the word of God was not bound.
Hanamel came to Jeremiah because of who he was in the family.
God announced ahead of time that his cousin would come and ask him to buy his field in Anathoth. The right of redemption was Jeremiah's. (See Leviticus 25:25.) Hanameel came, and Jeremiah, seeing that it was from the Lord, bought the field.
Everything about the timing was wrong: the prophet in prison, the enemy at the gate, the land as good as lost.
He is in prison, as he was in King Zedekiah's reign, for the truth's sake. The Chaldean army camps before Jerusalem, threatening its doom and the captivity of its people. Then Hananeel, his uncle's son, comes to him. He tells Jeremiah, as his kinsman, to buy his field in Anathoth, the city of their fathers. This was a strange request to make at such a time to such a man. But Jeremiah does not hesitate. He knew it was the Lord's will. So he pays down his money and buys, or redeems, the field of Hananeel his uncle's son. Yet he knew that, left to circumstances, it might prove a worthless bargain. At the very least, a very distant day must come before he could take possession of what he had bought. This was a great act of faith, and another fine and noble example of a kinsman doing his part.
Jeremiah had announced the desolation of this land and the destruction of this city. Then he signed a deed for a field in it.
But 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, it showed that Jeremiah believed the Jews would return to their possessions. He believed the land would still be farmed and houses built there.
His confidence looked to two different points in the future:
He bought it because he had confidence in the restoration of Israel. He looked for the final restoration, and also for the partial one after the seventy years had passed.
One writer takes the verse's phrase about the right of redemption past Jeremiah's family.
Jerusalem was then under siege from the king of Babylon's army. Zedekiah tried to stop the prophet 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, for "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.
- Word first. God named the visitor and the errand before Hanamel reached the prison yard. The match is why Jeremiah knew the Lord had spoken.
- Prison second. Zedekiah shut the prophet up to stop the message, yet the message kept arriving — the man was bound, the word was not.
- Right third. The law of redemption gave the nearest relative the claim to buy family land back. That claim rested on Jeremiah, so the offer came to him.
- Money fourth. He knew it was the Lord's will, so he paid for ground the invading army was about to take. Without God's promise, the money was thrown away.
- Land last. The deed was public testimony that the people would come back and farm this soil. Behind it stands the God who holds the right of redemption.
And I bought of Hanameel, mine uncle's son, the field which is in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, seventeen shekels of silver.
Babylon's army surrounds Jerusalem, and the prophet sits in the palace prison. There he counts out silver for a field in a land about to fall — the worst-looking buy in the Bible, and God told him to make it.
Everything about the timing argued against the sale. Jeremiah had no way out of the city and no friends among its rulers.
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 certain to be taken, the prophet himself in prison! By his own word, there was no escape from the Babylonian army. There was no escape either from the hostile power of those who ruled in Jerusalem, for his testimony was completely against their pride and their false patriotism.
The order of events is the point. God named the visitor and the errand before the visitor arrived.
"So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard, according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD" (verse 8). The LORD had first told the prophet to buy the field, and then Hanamel came to offer his field for sale.
Jeremiah was not a speculator picking up cheap land. He was the family member with the legal first claim, acting under an old provision of the law.
God announced ahead of time that his cousin would come and ask him to buy his field in Anathoth. The right of redemption was Jeremiah's. (See Leviticus 25:25.) Hanamel came, and Jeremiah realised that this was of the Lord. So he bought the field and paid seventeen shekels of silver for it.
He weighed out the money, but the sale did not stop there. It followed a legal custom that called for two copies of the deed, each with its own use.
All was done according to the custom of the law. The open document was for consultation. The sealed one was that on which everything depended; it was the proof that could not be contested. Something similar often happens in a family today. The family lodges a will in the public registry, and there it always stays. No one can touch it. No one may remove it. It is the legal evidence on which everything turns. Besides that, the family keep a copy made by their lawyer, so they can check it if any question comes up about how the property is divided.
Jeremiah had promised that land would be bought and sold in that country again. Paying for the field tested whether he believed his own preaching.
Land should be bought and sold again. Jeremiah had spoken about the new covenant (31:31–40). He had spoken of how God would act in grace with His people 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.
That courage rested on nothing in himself or in his nation.
His own people made him suffer, and he himself admitted that God had stretched out His hand against Jerusalem. Even so, he acted in this calm and striking way on the simple faith of God's word. He had not the smallest confidence in his own power, and he made no show of confidence in Zedekiah or in the people of the Jews. He faced the crushing weight of the Chaldean power that God had raised up to trample down the proud and rebellious city.
The seller and the buyer looked at the same field and wanted opposite things.
Hanamel seems to have thought it 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 the same spirit not at work among those who call themselves Christians today, when people love themselves, love money, and love pleasure more than they love God? (2 Tim. 3:1–4).
One writer carries the sealed and open documents forward to a greater evidence of purchase — the sealed scroll of Revelation 5.
But His title deeds, His evidence of purchase — yes, of redemption — could not be in better keeping. And so we read in Revelation 5:1, "I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals." This is surely the evidence, both sealed and open, which He alone is worthy to come and take out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
- Word first. God announced the visit and the offer before Hanamel arrived. So Jeremiah knew the offer came from the Lord.
- Right next. As the near relative, Jeremiah held the right of redemption (Leviticus 25:25). He was buying back family land.
- Price then. He weighed out seventeen shekels with the city about to fall. He paid on the strength of God's word alone.
- Deed after. The sealed copy was the proof no one could contest. The open copy was there for consulting.
- Land at last. Hanamel sold his inheritance for money. Jeremiah bought it, because God had said land would be bought and sold in that country again.
And I subscribed the writing, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances.
Jeremiah signs and seals a title deed inside a prison yard, with Babylon's army camped outside a city God has already said will fall. Why buy a field you may never walk on, and why record the sale so carefully?
The moment could hardly have been worse for signing contracts. One writer reads the deal as a test of Jeremiah's confidence in what he preached.
You would suppose such a time was most unsuitable for doing business. But the transaction he then made was above all one of faith. It demanded the prophet's utmost confidence in the testimony God had raised him up to bear. And so he purchased the field of Hanameel.
Why seal a deed at all? A sale in that day produced two documents, and each had a different job.
They did everything according to the custom of the law. The open document was for consultation. The sealed one was the document on which everything depended; it was the proof no one could dispute. A family today often does something similar. They deposit a will in a legal registry, and there it stays. No one can touch it or remove it. It is the legal evidence on which everything turns. Besides that, the family keep a copy made by their lawyer, in case any question comes up about dividing the property. Then, following the word of the Lord, Jeremiah handed the deed of purchase to Baruch to keep. It was a witness that property would be owned again in the land.
The account of this sale mentions the money twice. One writer draws attention to how exact the record is.
Jehovah told Jeremiah to buy the field in Anathoth from Hanameel his cousin, and he carried it out, weighing out seventeen shekels of silver for it. We may notice that the payment is recorded twice. It is worth noting the care shown over the title deeds.
Why hand over real silver for land about to be overrun? Because the receipt itself was a sermon about the future.
What? When they were about to be 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. It showed his faith. Despite the desolation, despite the destruction of the city, Jeremiah believed the Jews would return to their possessions. He believed the land would still be farmed and houses built there.
Why could Jeremiah buy this field at all? One writer answers that a redeemer needs two things at once.
Redemption is the exercise of a prior right, a claim that already exists, on the object redeemed or to be redeemed. Exercising that right puts authority in the redeemer's hands, whether the redeemer is God or man. The principle of this can be seen beautifully worked out in the book of Ruth, and in Jeremiah 32:6-15. In each case there was someone with a right to redeem... One person might have the right to redeem and not the power. Another might have the wealth or power to redeem, but not the right or claim on the inheritance.
The seller and the buyer made opposite judgments about the same field. One commentator reads Hanameel's decision as a warning.
Captivity was near, so Hanameel thought it better to sell his inheritance and have money instead. It showed that he valued money rather than the inheritance God had given him. Is there not a similar spirit in the Christian profession today? Men are lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
The two-document custom in this verse points beyond Jeremiah's field. One writer follows the sealed book to a far greater inheritance.
Jeremiah, in chapter 32, tells us that a purchase of an inheritance was written on two books. One was sealed and the other open. The sealed book is the contract of the inheritance that is to be given to the Son. Who can unroll the events that will put Christ in possession of the earth? No one but Christ Himself. Who has a right to do it? He alone — the Redeemer, who has bought it. By His blood and by His power He can claim and deliver everything as His own.
- Right — Jeremiah could buy because the claim was already his. Redemption exercises a right that exists before the price is paid.
- Price — he weighed out the silver in full, and the record notes the payment twice, in the worst market imaginable.
- Proof — the sealed deed was the evidence no one could dispute; the open copy was there for consultation.
- Promise — the deed preached: the people would come back, land would be farmed and houses built again.
- Person — the same two-document sale points to the One who alone has both the right and the power to take His inheritance.
And I took the writing of the purchase, that which was sealed [according to] the law and the statutes, and that which was open;
Jeremiah buys a field. The Babylonian army is at the gates of Jerusalem, and the prophet himself is in prison. Verse 11 stops to record the paperwork: a sealed deed and an open copy. Why would God want that legal detail kept, for a land about to lose its people?
Two copies of one deed were made. One could be consulted at any time. The other was sealed shut.
Everything was done according to the custom of the law. The open document was there to be consulted. The sealed one was the one everything depended on. It was the proof no one could argue with. Families often do something like this today. A will is lodged with the public registry, and there it stays. No one can touch it. No one may remove it. It is the legal evidence on which everything turns. But the family also have a copy made by their lawyer, to check if any question comes up about how the property is divided.
Scripture uses sealing in more than one sense. Jeremiah's deed shows one of them:
A second idea tied to sealing is closing something important and vital up for safety, as in Jeremiah 32:10-11 and Revelation 20:3.
The timing was absurd. No sane buyer signs for farmland an invading army is about to seize.
The capture of the city was close at hand. What a time to buy a field! The city certain to be taken, the prophet himself in prison! By his own word there was no escape from the Babylonian army. There was no escape either from the hostile power of the men who ruled in Jerusalem, for his testimony was dead against their pride and their false patriotism.
Jeremiah did not first ask for an explanation. He completed every legal step, and only afterwards asked God what it all meant.
He does not stop to question the Lord's way in this strange business. He does not pause for a moment to weigh it up in his own heart. The Lord had commanded it, so he weighs out the money, signs the deed, seals it, and takes witnesses, so that he may buy the field in Anathoth. Trusting that the Lord's purpose would prove to be all truth and mercy, he takes care to secure the evidence of the purchase according to the law and the customs.
Jeremiah was not just a buyer. He was the relative who already had a claim on that land.
Redemption is the use of a prior right, a claim that already exists, over the thing redeemed or to be redeemed... In each case there was a man with a right to redeem. He had a built-in claim on the inheritance. If that inheritance ever came under a debt or claim of any kind, and redeeming it lay within his power, then the right was his as well.
Writers see this pattern reaching forward to Christ, who bought an inheritance He does not yet visibly hold:
He, like a better Jeremiah, has waited now for a long season and through an age of bitter rejection for the inheritance He bought with His own blood on the day of Calvary.
Writers have long linked this custom with the sealed book in Revelation 5:
When property changed hands, the Jews had a custom (Jer. 32:11) of keeping two books. One was open and held the title deeds. The other was sealed and put away, so that no mistake could be made. And this book, which God put into the hands of the Lamb, was a sealed one, sealed with seven seals.
Commentators differ here. Another writer says that book is not a title deed at all. Opening the seals proves no title and declares none; instead "the redemption itself proceeds by orderly steps to its completion" (Numerical Bible Notes).
The seller and the buyer valued the same field differently.
Hanameel clearly thought it was better to sell his inheritance and hold money instead, since captivity was near. It showed that he valued money more than the inheritance God had given him. Is not the same spirit at work among those who claim the name of Christ today, when people love themselves, love money, and love pleasure more than they love God?
- Sealed. The sealed deed settled everything. The open copy was there to be consulted. Two documents, one title.
- Signed. Jeremiah signed in prison, with the enemy at the gates. He obeyed first and asked God for the meaning afterwards.
- Claimed. He bought as the relative whose claim came first — a picture of Christ, who bought His inheritance with His own blood and still waits for it.
- Opened. The same two-document custom stands behind the sealed book God put into the hands of the Lamb in Revelation 5 — though commentators differ over whether that book is a title deed.
- Sold. Hanameel took the cash and lost the inheritance. Jeremiah took the inheritance and lost the cash. Only one of them believed God's word about the future.
and I gave the writing of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Nerijah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's [son], and in the presence of the witnesses that had subscribed the writing of purchase, before all the Jews that were sitting in the court of the guard.
Jeremiah has just bought a field, and here he hands the deed to Baruch in front of witnesses and a watching crowd. The city was about to fall, so why buy a field he was about to lose — and why record the sale so carefully?
Buying land at that moment only made sense as an act of faith. The offer came from Hanamel — his uncle's son, the cousin named in the verse:
Yet, at such a moment Jeremiah's uncle asked him to buy a field. What! when they were about to be 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 the Jews would return to their possessions. He believed that land would still be farmed there and houses built.
The verse names Baruch for the first time in the book. He becomes the keeper of the deed:
The sale was carried out according to law, with two scrolls, one sealed and the other open. All of it went to Baruch, the prophet's faithful secretary, mentioned here for the first time. He was to put it all in a clay jar. By his action the prophet proved his simple faith in the promised return.
The verse traces Baruch's family back two generations, and that detail connects him to another man in Jeremiah's story:
Seraiah, if not the same person under another or secondary name, was at any rate brother to Baruch, as Jeremiah 32:12 clearly indicates ("Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah").
The deed came in two parts, one sealed and one open. Each had its own job:
All was done according to the custom of the law. The open document was for consultation. The sealed one was the one everything depended on. It was proof no one could dispute. There is often a similar practice in a family now. A family lodges a will in a public registry, and there it always stays. No one may touch it. No one may remove it. It is the legal evidence on which all turns. Besides that, the family have a copy made by their lawyer. They use it if any question comes up about how the property is divided. Then, as the Lord told him, Jeremiah gave the deed of purchase to Baruch to keep as a witness that property would be owned again in the land.
Jeremiah finished every step of the purchase before he asked God what it meant:
He does not stand and question the Lord's way in this strange business. He does not pause for a moment to talk it over in his own heart. The Lord had commanded him, so he weighs the money, signs the deed, seals it, and takes witnesses, to buy the field in Anathoth… He hands the papers to the faithful Baruch, who is to store them somewhere safe, there to "continue many days". Then, when his obedience was complete — but not till then — he asks the Lord, Why was all this?
The field could come to Jeremiah because, as a relative, he held the right to redeem it. Writers see something larger in that right:
At such a moment God shows His redemption and grace. He tells the prophet to buy the field of Hanameel, for "the right of redemption" belonged to Jeremiah. Just so it is with God — the right of redemption is His… "Man's extremity is God's opportunity!" Those who have experienced His redeeming love know this.
Jeremiah paid long before he could possess. One writer sets him beside Boaz, another relative who came to the rescue, and finds both outdone:
Boaz and Jeremiah show what a close relative will do for his own. Both are outdone and outshone by the bright and wonderful and perfect ways of the Son of Man. He is like a more self-sacrificing Boaz. At a price that cost Him everything, He has come to the aid not only of a childless, penniless relative, but of one guilty and ruined and sold into shameful captivity. And like a better Jeremiah, He has now waited a long season, through an age of deep rejection. He waits for the inheritance He bought with His own blood on the day of Calvary.
- Right. The field came to Jeremiah because the right of redemption was his. Commentators see in that right a picture of God's own right to redeem.
- Price. He paid in full for land he could not yet use. The price only makes sense if God's promise of return is sure.
- Proof. Two records: the open one to consult, the sealed one to settle every dispute.
- Custody. Baruch took the deed in front of witnesses and stored it in a clay jar, safe through the long wait between payment and possession.
- Pattern. Jeremiah obeyed first and asked why afterwards. Christ paid at Calvary and still waits for the inheritance He bought.
And I charged Baruch in their presence, saying,
Babylon's army surrounds Jerusalem, and Jeremiah — locked in the prison court — has just bought a field from his cousin. In verse 13 he gives the deeds to his secretary Baruch, in front of witnesses, with a command from God.
Everything about the sale ran against the facts on the ground. He paid silver for land nobody expected to keep.
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 land would still be farmed and houses built there.
The same writer connects the purchase to the promise of the new covenant made just before it.
In Jeremiah 32, a very striking incident follows this prophecy of the new covenant. It tests the prophet's faith in his own prediction. The Lord allows His servants to face testing constantly. If the Lord lets us testify to some great truth, we will have to prove our own faith in that truth.
Jeremiah hands the deed over on God's orders, not his own.
Then, at the word of the Lord, Jeremiah handed the deed of purchase to Baruch. Baruch was to keep it as a witness that property would be owned in the land again.
The prophet treated it as a normal sale, down to the storage jar.
Jeremiah completed the sale in proper legal form, with two rolls, one sealed and the other open. He gave it all to Baruch, his faithful secretary, mentioned here for the first time. Baruch was told to put everything in a clay jar. By his action the prophet proved his simple faith in the promised return.
Two rolls changed hands, not one, and each had its own use.
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. There is often a similar practice in a family now. A will is filed away, and there it always stays. It is the legal evidence on which all turns. Besides that, the family have their lawyer make a copy. They use it if any question comes up about how the property is divided.
Watch the order of events.
He does not stand and question the way of the Lord in this strange business. 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, to buy the field in Anathoth... He gives them into the hand of the faithful Baruch, to be kept safe and to "continue many days." Then, when his obedience was complete — but not till then — he asks the Lord, Why was all this?
One writer draws out what the purchase says about the prophet himself.
Jeremiah was of a different spirit. He valued the inheritance of God at a time when it seemed everyone would go into captivity, and no one would be left holding what God had given their fathers.
One writer carries the picture forward to a greater purchase, with its evidence kept in heaven.
But His title deeds, His evidence of purchase, yes, of redemption, could not be in better custody. And so we read in Revelation 5:1, "I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals." This is the evidence, both sealed and opened. He alone is worthy to come and take it out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
- Tested. God gave Jeremiah a promise, then asked him to spend his own silver on it. A servant must prove the truth he preaches.
- Bought. The field looked worthless, and that is why the sale spoke: houses and fields would be owned in that land again.
- Charged. Baruch takes the deeds in front of witnesses and keeps them as evidence meant to outlast the captivity.
- Sealed. Two rolls — one open for reference, one sealed as the proof that settles every claim.
- Kept. Deeds in a clay jar for many days point on to a sealed scroll in heaven, which He alone is worthy to take.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel Take these writings, this writing of the purchase, both that which is sealed and this writing which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may remain many days.
Jeremiah has just bought a field in Anathoth while locked up in prison, with Babylon's army camped around Jerusalem. Now God tells him to seal the deeds in a clay jar so they will last for years — an odd order for land about to be overrun.
The deeds came in a pair, and each had its own job:
Everything was done according to the custom of the law. The open document was for consulting. The sealed one was what everything depended on; it was the proof no one could dispute. Families often do the same thing today. A will is lodged with the public registry, and it stays there. No one may touch it. No one may remove it. It is the legal evidence on which everything turns. But besides that, the family has a copy made by their lawyer, to check if any question comes up about how the property is divided.
Jeremiah's cousin Hanameel brought the offer, and the prophet paid for the field before the deeds went into the jar:
The right of redemption was Jeremiah's. (See Leviticus 25:25.) Hanameel came, and Jeremiah, realizing that it was of the Lord, bought the field, paying for it seventeen shekels of silver. Jeremiah gave everything to Baruch, the prophet's faithful secretary, who is mentioned here for the first time. Baruch was to put it all in an earthen jar. By his action the prophet proved his simple faith in the promised return.
Jeremiah was not making a shrewd investment. He knew what was coming, and he bought anyway:
He knew that Nebuchadnezzar would besiege the city and carry the people away, and that they would be captives in Babylon for seventy years. He also knew from God that at the end of that time the people would return to their own land, and again have the LORD's blessing with them in it. But did Jeremiah believe this? Was the future blessing of the Jews a certain reality to him? Did God mean what He said about this coming blessing? He certainly did. Jeremiah believed it because God had said it, and he showed his faith and hope were real by spending his money now, with no hope of benefit from it until then.
Jeremiah does not ask what the purchase means until the deeds are safe in the jar:
He does not stop to question the Lord's way in this strange business. He does not pause for a moment to think it over in his own heart. The Lord has commanded him, so he weighs out the money, signs the deed, seals it, and takes witnesses, to buy the field in Anathoth… He puts the deeds into the hand of the faithful Baruch, to be kept safe and to "continue many days." Then, when his obedience was complete, but not till then, he asks the Lord: Why was all this?
The same field meant opposite things to the two cousins:
Hanameel clearly thought it was better to sell his inheritance and have the money instead, since captivity was near. It showed that he valued money more than the inheritance God had given him. Is not the same spirit at work among Christians today, when people are "lovers of self, lovers of money," and "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God"? (2 Tim. 3:1-4).
Jeremiah bought the field as the nearest relative, the one with the right of redemption. Commentators read the whole transaction as a picture of Christ. The lines below quote Hebrews 2 in an older translation:
He has already paid the price of redemption. He weighed it out in the balances when "He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." The Lord has been well pleased, and has "crowned Him with glory and honour," so sealing His title to the inheritance. And He, the blessed Kinsman, "continues for many days," waiting until He sees, in "the world to come," "all things put under Him" (see Heb. 2:5-9).
Another writer follows the same line to the sealed scroll in Revelation:
But His title deeds, His evidence of purchase — indeed, of redemption — could not be in safer keeping. So we read in Revelation 5:1, "Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals." That is the evidence, both sealed and open, which He alone is worthy to come and take out of the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.
- Deed — Jeremiah made two copies: one open to consult, one sealed as the proof everything rested on.
- Jar — The clay jar kept the deed safe past the exile. God files His promises for the long term.
- Price — He paid real silver for land he would never farm. God's word weighed more with him than the army outside.
- Order — He obeyed first and asked why afterwards. God explained Himself to a man already doing what He said.
- Kinsman — Christ has paid the redemption price and sealed His title. He waits "many days," then takes possession.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land.
Babylon's army surrounds Jerusalem. The prophet sits under arrest. And there God tells Jeremiah to buy a field — an ordinary property deal that becomes God's sign for the whole land. Why does God attach so large a promise to so small a purchase, and what does it cost the man who has to believe it first?
The timing is the whole point. Everything the prophet had preached made the land look worthless.
The fall of the city was close at hand. But Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me: Hanameel, the son of Shallum your uncle, will come to you and say, Buy my field that is in Anathoth." What a time to buy a field! The city sure to fall, the prophet himself in prison! By his own word, there was no escape from the Babylonian army. He could not escape the hostile power of those who ruled in Jerusalem either, because his testimony stood flatly against their pride and their false patriotism.
The field was not only a sign to the nation. It also made a demand on the man who had announced the ruin.
In Jeremiah 32, a very striking incident follows the prophecy of the new covenant. It tests the prophet's faith in his own prediction. The Lord lets testing come on His servants all the time. If the Lord calls us to testify to some great truth, we shall have to prove our own faith in that truth.
Hanameel came to Jeremiah because a relative had first claim to buy family land back. One writer sees God's own right pictured in that claim.
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. "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 the 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.
The sale produced two copies of the deed, and the difference between them mattered.
Every step followed the custom of the law. The open document was there for people to consult. The sealed one was the document on which everything depended. It was proof no one could dispute.
One writer follows the picture of title deeds, sealed and opened, into the scroll held in God's right hand in Revelation:
But His title deeds, His proof of purchase — yes, of redemption — could not be in safer keeping. So we read in Revelation 5:1, "I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals" — the evidence, surely, both sealed and opened, which He is worthy to come and take out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, and He alone.
The prophet who announced the ruin had to act out the recovery. The same God stands behind both.
Jeremiah 32 applies Israel's restoration to the circumstances of the Jews besieged in Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar's presence clearly threatened them with ruin. God takes that very moment to announce His unfailing purposes of grace towards them. Jeremiah had declared that the city would fall and Zedekiah would go into captivity. But the LORD had made him buy a field, as proof that the people would certainly return… He Himself had brought all this evil in judgment, and He Himself would bring all the good He had promised.
Hanameel sold. Jeremiah bought. The same field looked different to each man.
Hanameel clearly thought it was better to sell his inheritance and hold money instead, since captivity was near. It showed that he valued money more than the inheritance God had given him.
Faith spends in the present on what it will only receive later:
Jeremiah believed it because God had said it. He showed how real his faith and hope were: he laid out his money now, with no hope of any benefit from it until that day came.
- Ruin — God gives the sign at the point of collapse: Babylon surrounds the city, the prophet sits in prison, and "man's extremity is God's opportunity."
- Redemption — The field comes to Jeremiah because a relative held the right to redeem it. That right, one writer notes, belongs supremely to God.
- Receipt — One deed sealed, one deed open: the promise rests on proof no one can dispute, not on a wish.
- Reach — The bought field proves the people will return to houses, fields and vineyards in the same land, and God backs it with an everlasting covenant.
- Response — Hanameel took the money; Jeremiah bought land he might never walk on. Faith pays now for what God has promised later.