THE reader will here again observe how many of Jeremiah’s prophecies are not given in the Scriptures in the order in which they were uttered. The prophecies being grouped according to their subjects, what is before the mind of the Holy Spirit in these chapters, is clearly the unalterable purpose of God to bless His people, though punishment of their sins must precede blessing.
Chapter 32 shows us God’s servant in prison; already there for some time, he was to remain until the city was taken by Nebuchadnezzar’s army (See chapters 37, 38, 39). Jeremiah was a prisoner because of his service to God. We are thus reminded of the words of the martyr Stephen (Acts 7:51, 5251Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: (Acts 7:51‑52)) before the Jewish council: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?” Jeremiah, who had been a prophet for 40 years, was sharing what earlier and later servants of God, and above all, their blessed Master, have endured because of faithful testimony given.
The last year of Judah’s existence as a kingdom was now passing; the Babyloan army was again besieging Jerusalem, and the total destruction of the city was to follow its capture. The word of Jehovah at this time came to Jeremiah, directing him to buy his uncle’s field in Anathoth, the prophet’s birth-place, northeast of Jerusalem. To Jeremiah there could be no less purpose in this than to assure him again that God, though bringing His people into captivity to the great Gentile power, would certainly restore them to their land. The break-up of everything might seem—and it surely was—at hand, but faith’s resources are in God and His Word, which He will never allow to fail.
It is often the case that the exercise of faith in a saint of God is designed for the strengthening of others equally weak, and even for the awakening of the lost to a realization of their need of salvation,—to the reality of having to do with God. Thus the circumstances connected with Jeremiah’s purchase of the parcel of land, while outside the city walls lay a powerful army that was soon to secure an entrance and carry away the inhabitants to a far off land, have been chosen by the Holy Spirit for inclusion in the written Word of God.
Faith shines brighter in dark days; by it the elders obtained a good report, and Jeremiah did not lose by reposing his trust in the word of the living God. Nor can the testing of his faith have been without effect on the Jews who were sitting in the court of the prison, and others who heard through them.
Jeremiah’s prayer (verses 16-25) shows the state of his mind; he was realizing, perhaps more deeply than ever bore, his entire dependence upon God. His faithfulness had issued in the king’s severe displeasure, so that his voice was no longer heard in the broad ways in testimony for his Master; he was practically friendless and alone, and the end of all naturally dear to him was near. But God was his resource, and to Him he turns, pouring out the burden of his heart to an attentive Ear.
No word of immediate comfort came to the lonely prisoner in answer to his prayer (for it was too late for any improvement in Judah), but it became his happy portion to learn that “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him” (Psa. 25:1414The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14)), and Jeremiah was given, as God’s friend, to know more of what lay in His mind than he had ever known before. He was in communion with God over the state of Judah, and we find the divine mind being unburdened (we desire to say it with the utmost reverence) to Jeremiah as he awaited the assured end of everything to which an Israelite rightly clung.
ML-02/03/1935