Jeremiah 32:42-44

4. The assurance of God's plan (Jeremiah 32:42-44)

TRANSLATION

(42) For thus says the LORD: As I have brought against this people all this great trouble, so I will bring upon them all the good which I have been speaking concerning them. (43) Fields shall be purchased in this land of which you are saying, It is a waste without man or beast, it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans. (44) They shall purchase fields for silver and write the deed, seal it, have it witnessed in the land of Benjamin, and the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and the cities of the Negev; for I will reverse their fortunes (oracle of the LORD).

COMMENTS

Up to this point two deductions have been made from The basic proposition that with God nothing is too hard. The argument takes a new direction in Jeremiah 32:42. Here God argues that the same degree of certainty which attends the threats of divine judgment also attends the promises of divine favor. The thought is the same as that in Jeremiah 31:28.

In view of the certainty of God's promises of restoration the action of Jeremiah in purchasing the field in Anathoth was altogether fitting and proper. Normal business transactions would indeed again take place in the land (Jeremiah 32:43-44). The enumeration of the several regions of the kingdom is, according to Keil, rhetorical individualization for strengthening the thought.[288] God would reverse the fortunes of His people. He would bring them out of the shame and degradation of captivity and lead them home. This was the oracle of God!

[288] Keil, op. cit., II, 60. This same rhetorical device is used in Jeremiah 17:26.