Jeremiah’s Public Act of Faith

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Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’

“Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’ 

“I knew that this was the word of the LORD; so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver.” (Jeremiah 32:6-9)

In Jeremiah 32 we find that Jeremiah the prophet is in captivity within the royal palace of Judah. In his imprisonment he continues to prophecy dire consequences for the nation of Judah and its leaders as the result of their rebellion against God.

Outside of the palace the city was besieged at this time by the Babylonian army of King Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 32:1-2). Much to Zedekiah the king of Judah’s dismay Jeremiah was insistent that the conflict with the Babylonians would not end well for the people of Judah if Zedekiah continued to hold out against the invaders. The prophet even foretells Zedekiah’s own captivity at the hands of the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 32:3-5).

These foreboding prophecies are interrupted in verse 6 though as Jeremiah tells of something else the Lord has said to him. The Lord God has told Jeremiah that he will have the chance to purchase a field in his home region of Anathoth (Jeremiah 32:6-7). Although verses 6 and 7 do not say the Lord specifically told Jeremiah that he should purchase the land from his kinsperson, we see in verse 8 that this is how Jeremiah interprets the Lord’s revelation to him of this event.

Sure enough, Jeremiah’s kinsperson comes to Jeremiah and lays out the case for Jeremiah to buy the land. This is important to the kinsperson because Jeremiah’s purchase would effectively “redeem” the land, by allowing the family to keep it within the extended family (Jeremiah 32:8). Redemption in this form kept the source of income within the family, both staving off potential poverty for the wider family group and allowing the family to keep their traditions as laid down by the law of Moses and subsequent traditional rites and systems which had grown up around the law.

At this point in the text we have some underlying sub-themes of theological and sociological import to discuss. Firstly, Jeremiah had been previously troubled by people from his own village of Anathoth and, because there was likely only a small population in the area, the group of people troubling him may reasonably be believed to have included his own relatives. So for Jeremiah to become their “kinsman redeemer” presents some interesting relational dynamics. Secondly, Jeremiah makes this purchase while prophesying that the Judaites were about to be driven from their native land. The prophet is effectively publicly investing in the future promises of God, against a backdrop of national loss and failure. In doing this Jeremiah is very much making himself a Noah of his time.

The opening of the book of Jeremiah tells us that the prophet was a priest at Anathoth, which was located approximately 5 kilometres from Jerusalem. So for Jeremiah Anathoth was his home village and we see from the approach of his cousin to Jeremiah that his relatives lived there also.

Earlier in the book we have seen in Jeremiah 11:21-23 that people from Anathoth had been threatening to kill the prophet because of his prophecies, which were seemingly not very popular! At this point the Lord intervenes and speaks to Jeremiah, telling him that these people will be punished and that, “Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine” (Jeremiah 11:22). So Jeremiah is alienated from his own people, at this point.

Now back in the present of chapter 32, after Jeremiah has continued to prophesy, despite multiple threats from many corners, but including, perhaps most hurtfully from his own village, Jeremiah’s relatives are forced to seek out Jeremiah to redeem their land and save them from falling into a poverty that was life threatening. In his captivity Jeremiah is proved correct regarding his prophecies and Jeremiah’s supposed public disgrace is turned around as people come to him publicly asking him to save them. Even in his captivity Jeremiah is able to be used by God to bring hope to his people.

Buying the land from his relative is both an act of obedience and an act of reconciliation for Jeremiah with his family and community. He is publicly seen as the kinsman redeemer for a group of people that have been strongly and publicly opposed to him in the recent past. Vindication, forgiveness and restoration are all wrapped up in this single act of obedience to God.

It is amazing that Jeremiah’s captivity and indeed his own prophecies about disaster for the nation do not stop Jeremiah investing in the future of his country. Jeremiah fervently believed that punishment will befall the nation of Judah, so much so that he is enduring captivity for this belief rather than change his public message. His belief in his God is so strong in fact that he sees no contradiction in believing that while God will allow Judah to be captured, God will also allow his people to return to the land and see the fulfilment of God’s promise of blessing and restoration. Jeremiah is able to look beyond his circumstances to hope and trust in the Lord for the long term future.

Just as with his public prophecies, this purchase publicly of the land in Anathoth is Jeremiah declaring his faith in God by his actions. The guards, palace staff and visitors all now see the same person who has prophesied their ruin prove how much he believes in God’s merciful redemption by investing in land in a seemingly hopeless situation. The Babylonian army has the city surrounded and is literally forcing their way in, but the prophet of God sees hope and he makes a public declaration of that hope:

“In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land’” (Jeremiah 32:13-15).

Perhaps it is best to end here with Jeremiah’s statement about the power of God found just shortly after this is verse 17:

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).

References:

Bartlett, David L., and Taylor, Barbara Brown, eds. Feasting on the Word, Year C,4. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.

Diamond, A.R. Pete. “Jeremiah,” in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Edited by James D.G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.

Keown, Gerald L., Scalise, Pamela J., and Smothers, Thomas G. Jeremiah 26–52, WBC 27. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

Harrison, R. K. Jeremiah and Lamentations: An Introduction and Commentary, TOTC 21. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1973.

Thompson, J. A. The Book of Jeremiah. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980.