Jer 32 | TNotes

32:2 ^a Jerusalem had been under siege since January 588 BC (2 Kgs 25:1 ^b).

• Jeremiah favored surrender to the Babylonians, but the thought angered many who believed that they could successfully defy the foreign army. To protect Jeremiah, Zedekiah imprisoned him in the courtyard of the guard (Jer 37:21 ^c).
Summary for Jer 32:4-5: 32:4-5 ^d Continuing to resist the Babylonians was hopeless; it would result in disaster for the city and for Zedekiah.
Summary for Jer 32:6-8: 32:6-8 ^e Anathoth was Jeremiah’s hometown (1:1 ^f).

• By law you have the right: Hebrew custom required Jeremiah’s cousin to offer the land first to his nearest relative (see Lev 25:25 ^g, 32 ^h; Ruth 4:1-4 ⁱ).
Summary for Jer 32:9-12: 32:9-12 ^j Many people might have thought that Jeremiah did a foolish thing when he agreed to buy the land. After the fall of Jerusalem and the exile of many people, the value of the land would drop to almost nothing. Still, Jeremiah immediately bought the field.

• Matthew 27:9-10 ^k refers to the “prophecy of Jeremiah,” which might be an allusion to this event.
32:10 ^l Jeremiah carefully followed the proper legal procedures for buying property. The deed of purchase was a sheet of papyrus that listed the terms of the purchase in Hebrew. Jeremiah signed and sealed the deed and paid the purchase price in the presence of witnesses (Gen 23:3-18 ^m; 2 Sam 24:20-24 ⁿ).
Summary for Jer 32:11-12: 32:11-12 ^o According to custom, a copy of the deed was made. The two documents were entrusted to the care of Jeremiah’s secretary, Baruch. This was done publicly, in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
Summary for Jer 32:13-14: 32:13-14 ^p According to custom, the two copies of the deed were placed in a pottery jar so that they would be preserved for a long time.
32:15 ^q Jeremiah explained the reason for his purchase: He was making an investment in the future that God had promised. Someday exiled survivors of the destruction of Judah would return, and worthless land would again become productive and valuable. Jeremiah had already predicted that the exile would last for seventy years (25:11-12 ^r; 29:10 ^s). Jeremiah’s purchase was a declaration of faith in the Lord’s plan for restoring his people.
Summary for Jer 32:16-25: 32:16-25 ^t This prayer of Jeremiah differed from his previous prayers, which expressed strong emotions of anguish and despair and even sharp criticism of the Lord’s treatment of the people of Judah. This prayer was calm, affirming, and worshipful. 32:16 ^u Jeremiah prayed in response to his purchase of land.
32:17 ^v As the all-powerful Creator of all things, the Sovereign Lord could do what he had promised for his people.
32:18 ^w The Lord consistently showed his unfailing love, but he also held generations accountable for their sins, and their children harvested the consequences. Through his mercy and his judgment, the Lord demonstrated his unlimited power. Jeremiah was confident that the Lord would show his love to his people as he had promised.
32:19 ^x The Lord knows what each person does, and he holds each one accountable as he judges their sins fairly.
32:20 ^y The Lord had done great miracles throughout the history of Israel, but he had also been active all around the world. As a result, everyone knew about Israel’s God.
32:21 ^z The first great miracle in Israel’s history was the exodus from Egypt, an act filled with mighty signs and wonders. These divine acts caused terror in Egypt and among the desert tribes.
32:22 ^aa God also gave the productive Promised Land to Israel.
32:23 ^ab After Israel entered the Promised Land, they quickly turned from faithfully obeying the Lord. Generation after generation up to Jeremiah’s day was guilty of rebellion. This long history of sin was the cause of the present terrible disaster. Previously, Jeremiah had trouble accepting that this act of God was just, but now he saw that the Lord’s word was true.
32:24 ^ac Jeremiah was amazed at the skill of the attacking Babylonians. They used ramps to lay siege to the walled city. Within Jerusalem, he saw the horrors of war, famine, and disease. It was obvious that the Babylonians would conquer the city. A sense of awe swept through Jeremiah as he realized that he was seeing the fulfillment of everything the Lord had said.
32:25 ^ad Jeremiah was still puzzled about the Lord’s command to buy the field (32:8 ^ae). That field would be under the control of the Babylonian army, and the purchase price drew on Jeremiah’s good money, his savings. Because the Lord had decreed that the city would be destroyed, the purchase appeared futile from a human perspective.
Summary for Jer 32:26-41: 32:26-41 ^af The Lord responded to Jeremiah’s concern (32:25 ^ag) with several affirmations. The Lord had decided on his course of action, the events of the immediate and long-range future had been established, and real doom was hanging over Jerusalem.
Summary for Jer 32:26-27: 32:26-27 ^ah The Lord affirmed that he is the sovereign God of all the peoples of the world.

• Using a rhetorical question, the Lord also affirmed that nothing is too hard for him.
Summary for Jer 32:28-29: 32:28-29 ^ai The Lord affirmed that the army of Nebuchadnezzar would soon crash through the walls, Jerusalem would be captured, and fire would consume everything that could burn.

• Baal worship was both a family affair and a national commitment (see 7:17-18 ^aj). All the places used for idol worship, including individual houses, would be destroyed.
Summary for Jer 32:30-35: 32:30-35 ^ak The Lord continued to affirm his plans, recounting that Israel and Judah had done evil, had turned their backs on the Lord, and had stirred up his anger against their sin. 32:30 ^al The people of Israel (the northern tribes) and Judah (the southern tribes) had worshiped idols for centuries, since their earliest days, contrary to God’s ancient covenant with them. The Lord was infuriated by these evil deeds.
32:31 ^am The time this city was built refers to the reigns of David and Solomon, when Jerusalem became the capital city of Israel. During the history of the northern kingdom of Israel, every king promoted worship of false gods. In the kingdom of Judah, only a few kings encouraged worship of the Lord, usually without lasting success (e.g., 2 Chr 14:3 ^an; 17:6 ^ao; 29:5 ^ap; 33:15-16 ^aq; 34:3 ^ar, 31-32 ^as). The northern kingdom had already been destroyed (2 Kgs 17:5-12 ^at), and now the Lord had decided to get rid of the southern kingdom of Judah (see Deut 8:19-20 ^au).
Summary for Jer 32:34-35: 32:34-35 ^av The people had sinned by defiling God’s own Temple with abominable idols (Ezek 8:3 ^aw). The leaders of Judah were also known to sacrifice their own children to an Ammonite deity named Molech (cp. Jer 7:30-34 ^ax).
Summary for Jer 32:36-44: 32:36-44 ^ay The Lord affirmed that the destruction of Jerusalem would not bring an end to his plans. Beyond the immediate doom, the Lord planned a future of salvation and restoration for his people.
Summary for Jer 32:36-37: 32:36-37 ^az Jeremiah was responsible for repeating whatever the Lord told him, even if the messages seemed contradictory on the surface. Jeremiah had been saying for years that God was going to destroy the city. Now he was saying that God would rebuild the city. Cp. Isa 38:1-6 ^ba.
32:37 ^bb God would certainly bring his people back again to Jerusalem, where they would live in peace and safety.
Summary for Jer 32:38-40: 32:38-40 ^bc The new covenant (31:31-34 ^bd) would take root deep within the spiritual being of the people, both as individuals and in the community.

• They will be my people, and I will be their God: A deep relationship between God and his people would finally be realized, as had been the intent of the covenant all along (7:23 ^be; Lev 26:12 ^bf; Ezek 11:20 ^bg; 37:23 ^bh; Zech 8:8 ^bi).
32:39 ^bj Under the new covenant, the people would worship the one true God rather than idols.
32:41 ^bk find joy: The Lord’s anger at seeing his people worship sex-idols and his grief in punishing them for breaching the old covenant would be gone. No longer would he uproot them (1:10 ^bl); instead, it would be his delight to replant them.
Summary for Jer 32:42-43: 32:42-43 ^bm God’s promises for good were just as certain as the judgments that were being carried out as the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem.
32:44 ^bn fields will once again be bought and sold: The Lord directly answered Jeremiah’s query (32:25 ^bo). Jeremiah had signed and sealed and witnessed a deed for his inherited property (32:9-11 ^bp), and people would do the same throughout the land of Judah.