‘Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it’ ” ’Jer 32:6-7).
Depressing times in Jeremiah’s time and ours
At times the world can bring us down. We see the doom and gloom on the news, the failing economy, the increasingly prevalent immorality, or our own sinful nature, and it can simply depress us. When this happens, and inevitably it will when we consider the magnitude of the world’s problems, we need a spiritual refresher. We need something that gives us renewed hope and comfort to see beyond current troubles. The account of Jeremiah’s purchase of the plot of land in Jerusalem is an excellent example of a spiritual refresher. As we will see, it gave Jeremiah and all the Israelite who witnessed it hope in the midst of a dire circumstance, as it does for us now. Let’s start out by going through the process that should be undertaken with every Bible passage: backing up and looking at context.
The events preceding Jeremiah 32 give us an understanding about why this chapter is here. The book of Jeremiah can definitely be considered one of the most ‘gloomy’ books in the Bible; much of the writing focuses on such topics as the idolatry and sinfulness of the tribe of Judah and the impending captivity of the people at the hand of the Babylonians. Apart from the first 12 verses of the book, the first 29 chapters are almost entirely about the failings of the people of Judah and God’s judgment on all the nations, Judah included. It would weigh heavily on the hearts of those living in the time period described in these chapters, to see God explaining through His prophet Jeremiah the way in which the nation of Babylon was to completely take over Judah. But in His infinite wisdom, God set up the book of Jeremiah in the most extraordinary way. After all the doom and gloom of chapters 1-29, the next section of Jeremiah, chapters 30-33, has a completely opposite tone. These four chapters provide reassurance from God of His wonderful plan for the faithful remnant. God telling Jeremiah: “Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. ‘For behold, days are coming’, declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah’ ” (Jer 30:2-3; all quotations are from the NIV). The next two chapters further expound upon this statement, offering a message of hope. All this sets us up for chapter 32, where Jeremiah purchases the plot of land.
The purchase of a field
By this time, it’s quite clear that Judah would be taken into captivity; in fact, it says: “Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem…” (Jer 32:2). Despite all the despair, God spoke to Jeremiah and told him that his cousin Hanamel would approach him and ask him to purchase his field, and God commanded Jeremiah to accept this offer and purchase the field! This seems very bizarre since the desolation to be caused by Babylon didn’t exactly make this prime real estate buying season. Of all the times to buy a field, this would appear to be the worst. Buying land is usually associated with times of prosperity, or at least some stability; certainly not when nationwide captivity is on the horizon! From a human perspective, it would make no sense to buy a field at this time, knowing that king Nebuchadnezzar was in the midst of ransacking Jerusalem and taking captives by the masses to Babylon, and even if one were to be left in the land, it is doubtful that the Babylonians would honor any title deeds of the people of the land. Nevertheless, Jeremiah follows through with God’s instruction and buys his cousin’s field for seventeen shekels of silver. It is also recorded that there was an official ceremony, with witnesses observing the transaction. For these witnesses, it doubtless seemed like complete foolishness for Jeremiah to buy this field; perhaps they looked at him in the same way the people of the world looked at Noah when he built his ark on dry ground.
We know God has a purpose in all that He does, and so we can draw through deductive reasoning that God had a plan when He told Jeremiah to buy this field, and we can also assume His plan was not to see Jeremiah make a useless purchase. Why then, we should ask, would God want His faithful prophet to buy this plot of land in this most peculiar of times? Let’s delve into this further, because the language used in this passage, as well as context, will reveal the picture God was painting for Jeremiah. Jeremiah declares that he took the deeds of purchase and made sure there was a crowd to see: “…In the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard” (Jer 32:12). Jeremiah wants people to witness this property purchase. Verse 14 gives us the best clue of what is really going on: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time’ ”. The Lord instructs Jeremiah to make certain that these deeds are to be preserved ‘for a long time.’ This makes sense when we read the next verse: “…Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” This would occur; after 70 years of captivity, the nation was reestablished. This is irrelevant for Jeremiah, though, because he was not a young man when this happened and wouldn’t outlive the period of captivity. By the time Judah returned from captivity, Jeremiah would have long been dead. But this wasn’t an ordinary land purchase and God wasn’t interested in having Jeremiah inherit this property while a mortal man; He wanted Jeremiah to invest in eternity! It is my belief that Jeremiah bought this plot of land because he will one day inherit it, forever in the most holy city in the world: Jerusalem!
The reason for the purchase
There is a reason that Jeremiah purchases this land under such difficult circumstances. The realization of what was to come had to be upsetting for Jeremiah; he was only human after all, and to see utter destruction to his fellow people would not have been an easy thing to experience. We don’t know exactly what was going on in Jeremiah’s head when this happened, but we do know what was happening in his country, and it very well may have become too much for him to handle. God chooses this moment, when perhaps Jeremiah was at his lowest, when he was struggling to stay strong, to present to Jeremiah a promise. This promise was that one day, Judah would be restored. This passage in the Bible has always been so uplifting to me, as it should be for you too; it is an amazing reminder that even in the most difficult of circumstances, God has a plan for us. How inspiring it must have been for Jeremiah, who, after giving prophecies of destruction and captivity for some time, surely needed this enlightenment from Yahweh. This verse would have resounded clearly with Jeremiah after this purchase: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer 29:11). God knew Jeremiah needed reassurance in times like these, and this was His way of comforting His servant.
How incredible it is when we consider the fact that God did this just to bring comfort to Jeremiah! We may think that one man would be insignificant in the eyes of the Creator of all things. Not true at all, for one person who cares means everything to Yahweh. In order to comfort this one man, the Lord planned this eternally significant land purchase. It shows the ends to which God will go to help any one of us if we only seek His help!
The significance of the purchase
The question could be posed: how did Jeremiah know what was really happening? Perhaps he was simply blindly following God’s decrees with no knowledge that he was investing in eternity? We may also ask: how do we even know this was an eternal investment and not just an ordinary purchase of land? Firstly, the fact that it is recorded in Scripture shows it’s not something completely ordinary that’s happening; that much we know. The true answer to this lies in the way in which Jeremiah responds to God after the purchase of the field: he praises God! Jeremiah offers a heartfelt prayer to God:
“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you…” He goes on to say: “See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see. And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed’ ” (Jer 32:17, 24-25).
These verses show not only the significance of the transaction, but additionally his praise of God demonstrates Jeremiah’s understanding of the significance of the purchase; this was a prayer showing gratitude to the Maker for extending His mercy to His faithful servant. Jeremiah sees God’s grace, and is abounding with joy because of it; it does not matter that Jerusalem is about to be besieged by the Babylonians, for he has been given a powerful picture showing that, many years from the day of his purchase, God will reign supreme over all the nations. In that day, Jerusalem will no longer be besieged, no longer be subject to human rule, but eternally be filled with faithful believers joyously giving praise to Yahweh
Almighty and His son Jesus Christ. It is quite clear from his prayer in Jer 32: 17 25 that Jeremiah was fully aware of God’s eternal gift being demonstrated in the purchase of his cousin Hanamel’s field.
Faithless Hanamel
Like many Biblical accounts, Yahweh, in mindfulness of the readers, presents not only the example we should emulate of a faithful servant in Jeremiah, but also the example not to be emulated in the faithless Hanamel. Jewish custom maintained that owning land had great significance. Amongst families, land was usually passed down from generation to generation. Similar to having children, owning land was a way of preserving one’s lineage, and furthering the success of future generations. In selling his field, Hanamel was giving up hope. Perhaps Hanamel didn’t think about the long-term consequences of his actions, that there was eternal significance in this transaction, but by going through with it he was showing faithlessness and short-sightedness. Difficult times call for us to look beyond the current situation and have faith in God’s greater picture. If not, we show ourselves to not be pleasing in God’s sight, as Prov 24:10 hints at: “If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!” It is not the moments when life is great and everything seemingly is going our way that define us (although I’m not downplaying the significance of our choices in ‘prosperous times’), but when we have our backs against the wall and keeping on the right path becomes difficult, that is when our true characters come out. The encounter between cousins Jeremiah and Hanamel rings similar to that of brothers Jacob and Esau when Esau sells Jacob his birthright. The account is found in Gen 25:29-34. Hunger caused Esau to despise a long-term investment. In the story, Esau declares to Jacob: “Look, I am about to die…what good is the birthright to me?” (Gen. 25:32) We can imagine Hanamel looking around at the dire situation and declaring something very similar as he sold his inheritance. Both Esau and Hanamel were short-sighted and not spiritually minded enough to consider the future consequences of their birthright and land, respectively. When we face times when we must choose between God’s way or man’s way, either to temporarily please the flesh or permanently please God, we must remember to avoid making the same mistakes Esau and Hanamel made.
The significance for us
This story has great significance not only to Jeremiah but to us likewise. We see from this how deeply God cares about His believers. He will never abandon us if only we seek Him wholeheartedly. Jeremiah was just one man, but the LORD loved him enough that He went through this process of arranging the purchase of his cousin’s field so Jeremiah would feel comforted in a dark and disturbing time for the nation of Judah and all its inhabitants. When the world brings us down, God will lift us up if we seek Him. He cares about each and every one of us, so much that, in the words of Christ, “…the very hairs on (our) head are numbered…” (Luke 12:7). At times, in God’s omnipresence and vastness, it is difficult to see that He is a very personal God and loves us individually. But despite His power, there is a completely personal connection between Yahweh and every single one of His creation. The lesson we can most certainly take from this story is that even when our world seems to be crashing down, God is there, and He has a plan for you and me. On a very personal level, God is not just the omnipotent Creator of everything; He is our God, and He never will forget His children. Never, ever, let the thought cross your mind that the future is hopeless, or worse yet, never think that God doesn’t care. The only way we can believe that the future is hopeless is if we become short-sighted and lose faith in the big picture, unable to see past our current trials. If we have that vision of the glorious future that lies ahead, then no current circumstance can ever have us beat, regardless of how much the pain is. The story of Jeremiah’s purchase provides us with a refreshing reminder of God’s future plans with the nation of Israel, a nation we all strive to be part of.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One