November 11, 2011
"After hearing that, (God's promises of hope and restoration) I, Jeremiah, woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very pleasant." The peace that God gives, even in very troubled times, truly is a "peace that passeth all understanding."
Jeremiah 32 - I love this chapter. I love how God uses creative ways to get His message out. Zedekiah has put Jeremiah under arrest in the courtyard of the guard. Zedekiah decided to put Jeremiah in prison because he didn't like what Jeremiah was saying. "Why have you prophesied the things you have?" Zedekiah doesn't "get it" that Jeremiah's message was God's message and not Jeremiah's. Zedekiah had spent his years as king doing the things God said was wrong. (II Chronicles 36:11) He doesn't recognize God's voice. He doesn't realize that Jeremiah is relaying God's message and not his own. So Zedekiah blames the messenger instead of heeding the message. Jeremiah said, "This is what the LORD says." I will soon hand (you) over to the king of Babylon and he will capture (you)... (you) will be confronted face to face... (you) will see this with your own eyes (then you will know!)... if you fight against what I have decided will happen, "you will not succeed." So Zedekiah becomes angry with Jeremiah, and he puts him in prison.
Now comes the part I love. Jeremiah is stuck in prison; he has been telling everyone what God has said: the Babylonians are going to come; they are going to take over the land; and you will be taken away as captives. Not good news. And yet, while Jeremiah is in prison, God speaks to him and says—Jeremiah, your cousin is going to come and ask you to buy his field. And sure enough, his cousin comes to visit him in the prison and asks him to purchase his field, just as God said it would happen. In man's eyes this land was worthless! The Babylonians were already there. Jeremiah was saying they were all either going to be taken away captive or they were going to be destroyed. If that were true, who on earth would want to waste their money buying a piece of property that was either already captured or soon would be? But Jeremiah believed the message God gave him to tell. Not only were they going to be taken captive, they were going to be restored. Jeremiah had the opportunity to show them his walk matched his talk, and he bought the field.
You just gotta love the irony of it all.
I have no idea what his cousin's motive was in wanting to sell his field. I don't know if he wanted to make a quick profit off of worthless ground. I don't know if he wanted to put Jeremiah on the spot. Or maybe he was just following what the LORD wanted him to do. I don't know, and to me the motive doesn't matter. It is the result that matters. And Jeremiah, while he was stuck in prison, had the opportunity to step out on the edge of faith and proclaim the word of the LORD. "This is what the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: In the future my people will once again buy houses and fields for grain and vineyards in the land of Israel."
It took courage for Jeremiah to step out on the edge. He prayed to the LORD, "Oh Lord God, you made the skies and the earth with your very great power. There is nothing too hard for you to do." You show love and kindness, and you also punish. "Great and powerful God, your name is the LORD All-Powerful. You plan and do great things. You see everything that people do, and you reward people for the way they live and for what they do." You've done great things God. You brought them out of Egypt. You gave them the promised land, but they did not do the things you commanded. "So you made all these terrible things happen to them."
"Look! The enemy has surrounded the city and has built roads to the top of the walls to capture it." (Think about how long that took and the anxiety they would have felt watching it happen!) Jeremiah goes on, "Because of war, hunger, and terrible diseases, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. You said this would happen, and now you see it happening. But now, LORD God, you tell me 'Buy this field with silver and call in witnesses.' You tell me this while the Babylonian army is ready to capture the city." (You want me to do what?!?)
Then God responds. "I am the LORD, the God of every person on the earth. Nothing is impossible for me." I'm going to tell you what is going to happen Jeremiah.
Then He starts in...
Next Entry: Jeremiah 30:1 – 33:26 (Continued)
"After hearing that, (God's promises of hope and restoration) I, Jeremiah, woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very pleasant." The peace that God gives, even in very troubled times, truly is a "peace that passeth all understanding."
"Peace, Peace, wonderful peace. Coming down from the father above. Sweep over my spirit for ever I pray, in fathomless billows of love." (Wonderful Peace)There is nothing better than the peaceful sleep God gives—nothing. We are so grateful for the peace God has continually filled us with.
Jeremiah 32 - I love this chapter. I love how God uses creative ways to get His message out. Zedekiah has put Jeremiah under arrest in the courtyard of the guard. Zedekiah decided to put Jeremiah in prison because he didn't like what Jeremiah was saying. "Why have you prophesied the things you have?" Zedekiah doesn't "get it" that Jeremiah's message was God's message and not Jeremiah's. Zedekiah had spent his years as king doing the things God said was wrong. (II Chronicles 36:11) He doesn't recognize God's voice. He doesn't realize that Jeremiah is relaying God's message and not his own. So Zedekiah blames the messenger instead of heeding the message. Jeremiah said, "This is what the LORD says." I will soon hand (you) over to the king of Babylon and he will capture (you)... (you) will be confronted face to face... (you) will see this with your own eyes (then you will know!)... if you fight against what I have decided will happen, "you will not succeed." So Zedekiah becomes angry with Jeremiah, and he puts him in prison.
Now comes the part I love. Jeremiah is stuck in prison; he has been telling everyone what God has said: the Babylonians are going to come; they are going to take over the land; and you will be taken away as captives. Not good news. And yet, while Jeremiah is in prison, God speaks to him and says—Jeremiah, your cousin is going to come and ask you to buy his field. And sure enough, his cousin comes to visit him in the prison and asks him to purchase his field, just as God said it would happen. In man's eyes this land was worthless! The Babylonians were already there. Jeremiah was saying they were all either going to be taken away captive or they were going to be destroyed. If that were true, who on earth would want to waste their money buying a piece of property that was either already captured or soon would be? But Jeremiah believed the message God gave him to tell. Not only were they going to be taken captive, they were going to be restored. Jeremiah had the opportunity to show them his walk matched his talk, and he bought the field.
You just gotta love the irony of it all.
I have no idea what his cousin's motive was in wanting to sell his field. I don't know if he wanted to make a quick profit off of worthless ground. I don't know if he wanted to put Jeremiah on the spot. Or maybe he was just following what the LORD wanted him to do. I don't know, and to me the motive doesn't matter. It is the result that matters. And Jeremiah, while he was stuck in prison, had the opportunity to step out on the edge of faith and proclaim the word of the LORD. "This is what the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: In the future my people will once again buy houses and fields for grain and vineyards in the land of Israel."
It took courage for Jeremiah to step out on the edge. He prayed to the LORD, "Oh Lord God, you made the skies and the earth with your very great power. There is nothing too hard for you to do." You show love and kindness, and you also punish. "Great and powerful God, your name is the LORD All-Powerful. You plan and do great things. You see everything that people do, and you reward people for the way they live and for what they do." You've done great things God. You brought them out of Egypt. You gave them the promised land, but they did not do the things you commanded. "So you made all these terrible things happen to them."
"Look! The enemy has surrounded the city and has built roads to the top of the walls to capture it." (Think about how long that took and the anxiety they would have felt watching it happen!) Jeremiah goes on, "Because of war, hunger, and terrible diseases, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. You said this would happen, and now you see it happening. But now, LORD God, you tell me 'Buy this field with silver and call in witnesses.' You tell me this while the Babylonian army is ready to capture the city." (You want me to do what?!?)
Then God responds. "I am the LORD, the God of every person on the earth. Nothing is impossible for me." I'm going to tell you what is going to happen Jeremiah.
Then He starts in...
Next Entry: Jeremiah 30:1 – 33:26 (Continued)
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