Jeremiah asks God to explain himself (ch32)

In the first half of ch32, Jeremiah was invited to buy a cousin’s field in Anathoth. He accepted the invitation, recognising it as something which God wanted him to do. So the legal transfer was made in a formal ceremony carried out in the court of the guards, where Jeremiah was imprisoned, in front of a crowd of witnesses. The deed of purchase was handed over to Baruch for safe keeping.

Immediately afterwards, presumably in front of the same witnesses, Jeremiah made what must have been a public prayer (vv16-25) asking God to explain himself.

He begins by describing God’s nature and character. He is the one who made heaven and earth and nothing is too hard for him. Echoing the way that God proclaimed himself to Moses (Exodus ch34 vv6-7), he describes the Lord as showing love to thousands, but also requiting the guilt of fathers in the lives of their children. His eyes are open to all the ways of men. He bought up Israel out of Egypt, showing signs and wonders, and brought them into the land. Yet the sequel is that the people did not obey his commands. Jeremiah has made this complaint before, to explain his warnings of judgement, but the difference now is that the judgement has arrived. The siege mounds of the Babylonian army are already close to the walls of the city. The city is “given up” (that is, certain to fall) to the Babylonians,. It will be destroyed by the trio of “sword and famine and pestilence”, which have been mentioned in these prophecies before.

Given these circumstances, why has God ordered the events of the first half of the chapter; “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”?

The Lord’s response, from v26, will have been reported on the spot. This exchange turns the business meeting into a significant preaching opportunity.

The first point that the Lord makes is that, as the God of all flesh, nothing is too hard for him (picking up what Jeremiah said in v17). This will become relevant at the end of his reply. He re-iterates Jeremiah’s warning about the fate of Jerusalem; “I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans… They shall come and set this city on fire and burn it.” He then goes into much more detail about what both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, have been doing wrong. “Nothing but evil in my sight from their youth… This city has aroused my anger and my wrath from the day it was built to this day.” The whole people from top to bottom, from kings to ordinary inhabitants, have turned their backs on him, and refused to listen to instruction. They set up their abominations (that is, the idols representing other gods) in the house called by his name, and they also set up “high places of Baal” in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer their sons and daughters to Molech. This was the high point of their rebellion, something in particular which the Lord had not commanded them to do. In this case, as probably frequently, “Baal” is being used as a generic title for a god being put forward as an alternative “lord”.

Nevertheless, the response takes an unexpected turn, from v36, which will explain the necessity of saying “Nothing too hard for me”. You are saying “It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence”. This is quoting v24 in Jeremiah’s prayer. While the Lord does not deny this warning, he now promises that the people will be gathered again from all the countries where he has driven them, and he will bring them back to the land and make them dwell in safety. He repeats the promises which were being made at the end of ch31. That is;
“They shall be my people and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever… I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they will not turn from me… I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”

Again, you are saying “It is a desolation, without man or beast.” That sums up briefly what Jeremiah said in ch9 vv10-11. Yet now the Lord repeats and expands the word already given in v15. Fields will be bought in this land again, in proper legal form, with money being paid and deeds being signed and sealed and witnesses. This will be happening not just in Benjamin, as in the case of the ceremony just completed, but in Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah, covering the entire kingdom.

Just a quick fyi.

God does an excellent job explaining himself to man in the Bhagavad Gita.

a reply to: DISRAELI

but also requiting the guilt of fathers in the lives of their children.

That means the guilt gets passed on, right?

a reply to: 19Bones79
The exact meaning of this declaration isn't easy to understand. In the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, there seems to have been a popular opinion that the current generation were being punished instead of their ancestors. So both prophets make a point of saying that in future at least fathers and sons will be punished for their own personal sins.

My own take on it is that God is talking about punishing a people for their sin and continuing that punishment to later generations. With particluar reference, perhaps, to the sin of abandoning their God and falling into idolatry, something of which successive generations would be guilty. Certainly that is the sin which Jeremiah is talking about in these chapters.

a reply to: DISRAELI

That's a great explanation, thanks!