Jeremiah 32:1-5

III. CONFIDENCE IN RESTORATION

Jeremiah 32:1 to Jeremiah 33:26

In chapter 32 God directs Jeremiah to demonstrate to his contemporaries in a most tangible way that the nation did have a future. Even though the Babylonian enemy was at the gates of Jerusalem God commanded Jeremiah to purchase a field. Jeremiah, quite perplexed, inquired as to the significance of this act. Why would God have him purchase a field when for years the word of the Lord had been that Judah would be overthrown? God explained to His prophet that there would be a national restoration to the land. Then, as if to settle the matter once and for all, God gave to Jeremiah a lengthy promise concerning the glorious future of Israel.

A. The Present Plight Jeremiah 32:1-5

TRANSLATION

(1) The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah. That was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. (2) At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, (3) Where Zedeki ah king of Judah had imprisoned him saying, Why do you prophesy the following things. Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it; (4) and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, for he has surely been given into the hand of the king of Babylon to whom he will speak face to face and eyeball to eyeball. (5) Zedekiah shall be brought to Babylon, and there shall he remain until I visit him (oracle of the LORD); for he shall fight against the Chaldeans but he shall not be successful?

COMMENTS

To set the stage for the dramatic action recorded in chapter 32 the author first spells out in detail the plight of the nation and the plight of Jeremiah. The time and circumstances of this particular narrative are particularly important and should be noted carefully.

1. The present plight of the nation (Jeremiah 32:1-2 a)

Late in the ninth year of the reign of king Zedekiah (January 588 B.C.) the Babylonian army began the siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52:4; 2 Kings 25:1 f.). According to the Jewish system of counting, the tenth year of Zedekiah would have begun in March/April of 588 B.C. In the summer of 588 the Babylonians were forced temporarily to lift the siege of Jerusalem. An Egyptian army was attacking from the south and Nebuchadnezzar felt that he must deal with that threat before effecting the capture of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:3-5). Shortly the Babylonian army returned just as Jeremiah had said it would (Jeremiah 37:8).

The chronological problem arises as to whether the events in chapter 32 should be assigned to phase one of the siege (before the lull in the summer of 588 B.C.) or to phase two (after the lull). Most commentators opt for the latter placement. For a discussion of the problem and presentation of an alternative view see the special note at the end of the present chapter. Though the precise placement of this material within the period of the siege operations must be left an open question this much is certain: At the time Jeremiah performed his symbolic act of purchasing a field the situation in Jerusalem was desperate and the prospects of deliverance nil. Many Judeans were now at long last able to interpret the handwriting on the wall. The overthrow of Jerusalem was certain to all those who were not completely blind. Jerusalem's doom was sealed.

2. The present plight of the prophet (Jeremiah 32:2-5)

At the time Jeremiah was commanded to purchase the field of his cousin he was confined in the court of the guard. Chapter 37 tells how Jeremiah was arrested and eventually put in the court of the guard for trying to leave Jerusalem during the lull in the siege. Most commentators view this as proof conclusive that chapter 32 chronologically follows chapter 37. It should be noted, however, that in chapter 32 Jeremiah is arrested because of his preaching not because of alleged treason as in chapter 37. This would suggest that Jeremiah was imprisoned more than once in the court of the guard during the siege of Jerusalem. Regardless of the chronological reconstruction of these events, the present chapter records one of the most remarkable examples of personal faith found in the Bible.