JEREMIAH
32
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2003 James Melough
32:1. “The word
that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of
Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.”
It has been calculated on
the basis of this information that the prophecy was given between April 23 and
October 17, 587 BC.
32:2. “For then
the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was
shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.”
32:3. “For
Zedekiah King of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy,
and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of
the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.”
The Babylonians had laid
siege to Jerusalem, and Jeremiah had been imprisoned by Zedekiah in what is
believed to have been the guard house of the royal palace, because he had
prophesied that God would deliver the city into the hands of the Babylonians.
32:4. “And
Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but
shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall
speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;”
God had revealed to Jeremiah
that Zedekiah would be captured and would be brought before Nebuchadnezzar for
trial and sentencing.
32:5. “And he
shall lead Zedekiah to
Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the
Lord: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.”
“... visit” is used here in
the sense of punishing. Zedekiah would be executed.
32:6. “And
Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying,”
32:7. “Behold,
Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee
my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.”
God had advised Jeremiah
that his cousin Hanameel would come to him asking him to buy his land in
Anathoth, Jeremiah’s birthplace. Hanameel’s reason for wishing to sell the
land isn’t revealed, but it is generally conjectured that it was to raise
money to buy food in the now famine-stricken city. It is to be remembered,
however, that Anathoth, just a few miles northeast of Jerusalem, was already
in the possession of the Babylonians, so that from a human viewpoint it would
be the height of folly to buy such property, hence God’s command to Jeremiah
to buy the field no matter how foolish the purchase might seem.
Relative to the right of
redemption, in Le 25:23-28 God had commanded that the land He had given each
Israelite was not to be sold permanently, but was to be bought by the seller’s
nearest relative, and was to revert to the possession of the original owner in
the year of jubilee, the price being adjusted in proportion to the number of
years remaining between the time of sale and the year of jubilee. For an
example of such a redemption purchase see Ruth 4:1-10
32:8. “So
Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to
the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in
Anathoth, which is in the country 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 the Lord.”
Hanameel’s coming as
foretold by God was proof to Jeremiah that in spite of its seeming folly, he
was to buy the field in Anathoth.
32:9. “And I
bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed
him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver (about seven ounces).”
32:10. “And I
subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him
the money in the balances.”
32:11. “So I
took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the
law and custom, and that which was open:”
His subscribing the evidence
means that he put everything in writing, the details being written on two
documents, one being unsealed or open, the other sealed, i.e., rolled up and
tied with a cord over which was placed clay or wax upon which was impressed
Jeremiah’s personal seal.
32:12. “And I
gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of
Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of
the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews
that sat in the court of the prison.”
32:13. “And I
charged Baruch before them, saying,”
32:14. “Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this
evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is
open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.”
32:15. “For thus
saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards
shall be possessed again in this land.”
Baruch, a scribe and
official in the court of king Zedekiah, is believed to have been the prophet’s
amanuensis
What was declared
symbolically in all of this was the truth that after the seventy years of
Babylon captivity a remnant would return to Canaan and resume their lives
there as a nation; but above and beyond this is a much larger picture: the
redemption of men’s souls, and of the world itself, by the Lord’s atoning
death.
Anathoth meaning
affliction: answers is a picture of this world, see Mt 13:38, which is
also a place of affliction, but also of God’s answers.
While in the dungeon, place
of death, Jeremiah, at God's bidding, bought the field of Anathoth, the type
being fulfilled at Calvary, for there the Lord bought or redeemed the world,
and the men in it, and the price He paid was His own precious blood.
Jeremiah paid “seventeen
shekels of silver,” literally "seven shekels, and ten pieces of silver," the
seven pointing to the perfection of Christ's work; and ten,
(number of God in government), to the truth that what occurred at Calvary was
the outworking of God's decree for the redemption of the world and of men's
souls. The silver, emblem of redemption, declares symbolically that
Calvary's work was that of redemption of the world and of the souls of the men
in it.
Its being done in the
presence of witnesses points also to Calvary: the multitude around the cross
were the witnesses, though they themselves were ignorant of that fact. The
reference to the balances declares the truth that what the Lord Jesus Christ
did at Calvary balanced the scales of justice. His blood made full atonement
for man’s sin. It met all of God's claims, and all of man's desperate need.
The life forfeited by Adam's rebellion was given up by the last Adam. The
full redemption price was paid.
The two documents of
evidence, the one open, the other sealed, represent the Old and the New
Testament, the former with its enigmatic signs and symbols, types and shadows,
representing the sealed evidence; the plain language of the NT representing
that which was open.
Its being given to Baruch
blessed, son of Neriah my lamp is Jehovah, son of Maaseiah
Jehovah is a refuge, is the symbolic declaration of the truth that the
Scriptures have been given to us, for we are blessed; Jehovah is our light and
our refuge.
The placing of the evidence
in an earthen vessel to preserve it "for many days" continues to emphasize
that the "evidence" has been given to us (the earthen vessels) for the "many
days" until the Lord comes back to take possession of what He has redeemed at
such cost: first rapturing His Church home to heaven, and then returning seven
years later with her to take possession of the earth and inaugurate His
millennial kingdom.
The promise that houses and
fields and vineyards would be possessed again in that land, was fulfilled
after the "many years" of the Babylonian captivity, when the remnant left
Babylon, and returned to the land in obedience to God's word.
The type will be fulfilled
in the Millennium when the repentant, believing Israel yet to emerge from the
Great Tribulation, will be established again in Canaan.
32:16. “Now when
I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I
prayed unto the Lord, saying,”
32:17. “Ah Lord
God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and
stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”
It isn’t readily apparent
why Jeremiah offered this prayer of praise and worship, unless it is that he
was overwhelmed by the far-reaching extent of what had been revealed to him.
He began by declaring his assurance of God’s omnipotence as displayed in
creation, that display convincing him that nothing was impossible to such a
God. We would enjoy a greater measure of peace if we ourselves stopped more
frequently to consider that He Who has created all things simply by a word, is
the same One Who loves us, and desires only to bless us, and to remember that
nothing except our disobedience can frustrate that desire.
32:18. “Thou
shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the
fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God
the Lord of hosts (armies), is his name,”
He next considers God’s
lovingkindness, which is matched by His ability to punish wrongdoing, but we
are to remember that His recompensing “the iniquity of the fathers into the
bosom of their children after them” is not prompted by vindictive caprice. It
is according to the unchangeable principle that obedience commands His
blessing; disobedience, His chastisement. The children obviously are those
who ape the disobedience of their fathers. And again, the prophet emphasizes
the might and power of Jehovah. He is the One Who controls the activity, not
only of earth’s multitudes, but of the angelic and demonic legions also.
32:19. “Great in
counsel (advice, plan, prudence, purpose), and mighty in work: for thine eyes
are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to
his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:”
The Jerusalem Bible
renders the first part of this verse, “Great in purpose, mighty in
execution.” Not even men’s thoughts are hidden from this omniscient,
omnipresent God Who requites each man, not only according to his deeds, but
according to the motive behind them.
32:20. “Which
hast set (performed) signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this
day, and in Israel, and among other men: and hast made thee a name, as at this
day.”
32:21. “And has
brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with
wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great
terror;”
The “signs and wonders” are
generally taken to be the miracles God performed in Egypt in connection with
the deliverance of Israel, and which are still remembered. But that same
miraculous power was also exercised on behalf of Israel in dividing the Red
Sea, feeding them with manna for forty years in the desert, and in His
division of Jordan to bring them into Canaan, to cite just a few. And there
had been other miracles, e.g., the preservation of Daniel’s three friends in
the fiery furnace, and the preservation of Daniel in the lions’ den, and many
others.
The remembrance of these and
other miracles had caused God’s name to be feared amongst the nations. It is
a sorry reflection on today’s world, however, and particularly apostate
Christendom, that God’s miracles for the most part are scornfully relegated to
the realm of mythology, while His greatest miracle, the death and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, has become little more than the basis for
moneymaking and revelry at Christmas and Easter.
32:22. “And hast
given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a
land flowing with milk and honey;”
32:23. “And they
came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in
thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do;
therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:”
A further cause for Israel
to praise and worship God was His giving them the land of Canaan with all its
abundance; but sinful Israel had quickly forgotten, and had worshiped idols as
their benefactors. Apostate Christendom has likewise forgotten her
indebtedness to God’s love, mercy, and grace; and also worships the
counterparts of Israel’s idols: money, pleasure, education, and a host of
lesser “gods.” And she too is about to experience the judgment of the God
Whose patience she has long since exhausted, for everything in the world
points to the imminence of the Tribulation judgments that will leave the world
in the ruined state typified by desolated Canaan as a result of the Babylonian
invasion.
32:24. “Behold
the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into
the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of
the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass;
and, behold, thou seest it.”
“... the mounts” were the
siege ramps or mounds that had been built against the city walls by the
attackers. By the sword, famine, and disease, God was about to deliver
Jerusalem into the hand of the Chaldeans, the name of a people from the region
of Ur, and which eventually came to be used as a synonym for all of Babylon.
God had foretold all this through His prophets, and now His word was being
fulfilled, as will every word He has ever spoken.
32:25. “And thou
hast said unto me, O Lord God, Buy thee the field for money, and take
witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”
The prophet thus expressed
his incredulity at God’s having commanded him to buy the field in Anathoth,
when the whole land was about to become the possession of the Babylonians. He
obviously didn’t see that that purchase was the symbolic assurance from God
that Babylon’s dominion would be temporary, and that He, the God of eternity,
would ultimately destroy Babylon, and deliver His people, restoring them again
to the land He had given their fathers and them.
32:26. “Then
came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,”
32:27. “Behold,
I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”
Jeremiah’s doubts were
answered by God’s question as to whether anything was impossible to the
Creator of all things, the answer, of course, being No. That same assurance
is given to God’s people in every age to comfort them in every adversity.
Nothing is impossible to Him. Everything that happens is by His permission or
direction, and is used for the ultimate blessing of those who belong to Him.
32:28.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of
the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadressar king of Babylon, and he
shall take it:”
Nebuchadressar is an
alternate form of the better known name Nebuchadnezzar, and it was not by his
might that Jerusalem would fall, but by God’s.
32:29. “And the
Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city,
and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto
Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.”
After describing what the
Chaldeans (Babylonians) would do to the city as His agents, God went on to
explain why He was having them work this destruction: Israel’s idolatry had
provoked His anger; and we are missing the point if we fail to see in this the
explanation for the coming Tribulation judgments which are about to devastate
today’s equally idolatrous world. It too has provoked His wrath by worshiping
money, power, pleasure, sports, education, and a host of other “gods.”
32:30. “For the
children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me
from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger
with the work of their hands, saith the Lord”
Judah, the two southern
tribes, had failed to heed the warning given them by God’s having had Israel,
the ten northern tribes, carried captive into Assyria c.720 BC, and had
repeated Israel’s sins, hence their being delivered into the hand of the
Babylonians, who in 605 and 597 BC had subdued Israel, but who in 586 BC
finally destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the bulk of the people into
captivity, that captivity lasting for seventy years.
32:31. “For this
city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the
day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before
my face.”
“... this city (Jerusalem)”
is used as a synonym for the southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin, the people
having provoked God’s anger by their sinful living since the day He had
brought them into Canaan. Now, having exhausted His patience, they were about
to be cast out of it.
As Judah had had the example
of Israel’s destruction by Assyria, to warn them against repeating her sins,
so has Christendom had the example of both to similarly warn her, but she too
has ignored the warning, and is now about to suffer God’s wrath in the form of
the impending Tribulation judgments that will leave the world as devastated as
those past judgments had left Israel and Judah.
32:32. “Because
of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which
they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their
priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem.”
The evil was systemic: every
section of society was infected: from the king to the priests and prophets, to
the common man, righteousness was not to be found within the nation; nor is it
to be found today within all the borders of apostate Christendom, which is
also about suffer God’s wrath in the coming Tribulation.
32:33. “And they
have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising
up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive
instruction..”
In stubborn rebellion they
had turned their backs on God, refusing to listen, ignoring His teaching; and
again, their evil conduct is replicated by apostate Christendom.
32:34. “But they
set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile
it.”
They had actually set up
idols in the Temple, other translations of “abominations” being detestable:
disgusting: horrid: loathsome; and anyone who thinks that their sin isn’t
duplicated in apostate Christendom today, has but to look at the pictures and
statutes of Mary found in every Roman Catholic church building, and before
which the “worshipers” kneel while making the sign of the cross. This is
nothing less than a part of the old Babylonian system dressed up in Christian
garb, and is no less an abomination in God’s sight.
32:35. “And they
built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech;
which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do
this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”
Since what is written in
this verse has already been discussed in our study of 7:31, it is suggested
that the reader consult the comments on that verse.
32:36. “And now
therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city,
whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by
the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;”
The Babylon destruction of
Jerusalem wasn’t to be the end of the story, however, for this verse is the
introduction to a further revelation God was about to give to Jeremiah
concerning it.
32:37. “Behold,
I will gather them out of all 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:”
Each generation reflected a
phase in the total history of Israel, but the Babylonian captivity was the
punishment meted out only to the evil generation of that particular day.
Another generation would follow, with whom God’s dealings would be very
different. As the one addressed was to be scattered, the succeeding one would
be gathered back from all the lands of their dispersion; and as the one had
been punished for its wickedness, so would the next one be blessed for its
obedience. Both, however, are but prototypes of a generation still future:
the one that will experience the terrible Tribulation judgments, but out of
which will come a repentant believing remnant that will be the Israel which
will inherit the millennial blessings forfeited by the disobedience of its
predecessors.
Relative to the words used
here to describe God’s displeasure: anger is related to the rapid
breathing associated with passion; fury, with the heat or fervor of
great anger; and wrath, with the rage, strife, or indignation of
anger. They combine to paint a picture of anger so great that it embodies all
the degrees described here.
32:38. “And they
shall be my people, and I will be their God:”
There have been partial
fulfillments of this in the past, e.g., the remnant that returned from Babylon
at the end of the seventy years, but complete fulfillment awaits the
Millennium.
32:39. “And I
will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the
good of them, and of their children after them:”
This will be fulfilled in
the repentant, believing remnant that will emerge from the Great Tribulation,
for as discussed already, millennial conditions will be more conducive to
godly living than those of any other age, since Satan and his angels will be
imprisoned in the bottomless pit, and overt sin will be punished with death.
“... one heart, and one way”
means simply that their purified hearts will produce a purified walk or manner
of life, a reminder to us that profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
ought to be confirmed by righteous living.
“... and their children
after them” is not to be understood as implying that in the Millennium one
generation will die and be replaced with their children, for as noted already,
no believer will die in that halcyon age. It means that each generation born
in the Millennium will be born into a world where everything will be conducive
to righteousness, rather than to the evil that has marked the world in the
preceding six thousand years.
32:40. “And I
will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from
them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me.”
This will apply to everyone
who passes out of the Great Tribulation into the Millennium. God will never
cease to do them good; and He will never permit anything to entice them from
walking before Him in willing reverential obedience. The same covenant will
also govern relations between Him and each new generation of believers during
those thousand years.
Relative, however, to those
who refuse to be born again during that age, the very fact that there will be
rebellion in their hearts appears to preclude God’s implanting the same
reverential
fear in those hearts, for in
that age as in every other, the natural heart will be at enmity with God. The
only fear that will hinder the expression of that hatred will be the fear of
being instantly struck dead.
32:41. “Yea, I
will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land
assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”
God will then rejoice in
being able to bless them unreservedly, their past incomplete obedience having
made His full blessing impossible.
32:42. “For thus
saith the Lord; Like 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.”
It is to be remembered that
the people had left Him no alternative but to punish them, their disobedience
consisting not simply of sins of omission, but of deliberate commission, and
that of the most heinous character: idolatry, in addition to a deliberate
commission of everything else He had forbidden, and failure to do any of the
good He had enjoined.
In the Millennium there will
be no such hindrances to His bestowing fulness of blessing.
32:43. “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.”
This explains God’s purpose
in having commanded His servant to buy the field in Anathoth when everything
seemed to declare the utter absurdity of such a thing. That command had been
given, as is every other, by Him Who knows the end from the beginning, and Who
works all things together for good to those whose love for Him is manifested
in obedience.
32:44. “Men
shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take
witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in
the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of
the valley, and in the cities of the south: For I will cause their captivity
to return, saith the Lord.”
“I will cause their
captivity to return,” means that God would cause them to return again from
captivity. All of this had a partial fulfillment when the remnant returned at
the end of the seventy-year Babylonian captivity, but very clearly complete
fulfillment awaits the Millennium, for the descendants of that remnant were
again expelled from the land in AD 70, and apart from the few who have been
returning since the restoration of Jewish autonomy in 1948, still remain
dispersed amongst the nations. That restoration of Jewish autonomy in 1948,
however, is the clear warning that the terrible Tribulation judgments are
about to break, for Christ’s assurance was that the generation witnessing that
return would not have passed from the earth until all is fulfilled relative to
those judgments that are to precede Israel’s permanent settlement in Canaan in
the Millennium, see Mt 24:34; Mk 13:30; Lk 21:32.
WE ARE THAT GENERATION! THE
END IS NEAR!
[Jeremiah
33]