²⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? ²⁸ Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.²⁹ The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

³⁰ “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord.³¹ From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight. ³² The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. ³³ They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. ³⁴ They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. ³⁵ They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek,though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.

³⁶ “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ³⁷ I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. ³⁸ They will be my people, and I will be their God. ³⁹ I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. ⁴⁰ I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. ⁴¹ I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

⁴² “This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. ⁴³ Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’ ⁴⁴ Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”
(Jeremiah 32:26-44 NIV)

Yesterday we looked at Jeremiah’s prayer to the Lord; today we see God’s response.

In verse 27, the Lord begins by declaring His sovereignty over all humanity.  Jeremiah had stated that “nothing is too hard for You” (17b).  The Lord answers Jeremiah with a question:  “Is anything too hard for me?”  The implied response is “No, Lord, nothing is too hard for You.”

Verses 26 – 35 are a recap of the Lord’s claims against Israel and Judah found in chapters 2 through 29.  If Jeremiah still held out some small glimmer of hope that Jerusalem could repent and avoid impending doom, the Lord made it clear that was not going to happen.

In verses 36 – 41, the Lord restates His plan to gather those exiled back to Judah and Jerusalem.  Verse 37 is God’s promise of safety.  Verse 38 is God’s repeated promise to restore His relationship with them.  Verse 39 is God’s promise that His people will serve Him only, and will fear (respect, hold in high regard, reverence, be in awe of) Him.

In verses 42 – 44, the Lord reaffirms Jeremiah’s obedience in buying the field as a sign and promise of life to come.  Commerce will one again take place; people will once again buy and sell land across the kingdom of Judah.  This transfer of property between individuals would not be possible if the kingdom were under the control and servitude of another nation.

May we remember that the Lord often calls His faithful ones to go against the grain of society as a sign of trust in Him.  What other reason would prompt Jeremiah, who was in prison for speaking out against king and country, to buy a piece of land in a place where the entire nation was about to be overrun by the Babylonians?

How is the Lord calling you and I to live counter-culturally today, to trust Him even when it goes against the “common sense” of the day?

Blessings,
~kevin