Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20050713.htm

JEREMIAH: STAYING UPRIGHT AMIDST EVIL PRESSURES
Part IX: Prophecies Of Judah's Final Consolation
C. LIVING In The Hope God Will Keep His Word Though We Can Not Understand HOW
(Jeremiah 32:1-44)
  1. Introduction
    1. Identifying God's promises to us in Scripture is edifying, but living in FAITH that they will be fulfilled when we don't see HOW it can possibly happen due to CIRCUMSTANCES we FACE can be a trial!
    2. Jeremiah had a battle of faith when he could not understand HOW God would fulfill a personal promise to him when he was under trial, and we view his situation for insight and instruction in our walk with God:
  2. LIVING In The Hope God Will Keep His Word Though We Can Not Understand HOW, 32:1-44.
    1. When God told Jeremiah a relative would ask him to buy his field in Anathoth to keep it in the family (Jer. 32:7-8), a prediction meaning God wanted Jeremiah to buy it, heeding this command was hard as Jeremiah could not understand HOW God would fulfill His Word given the present circumstances:
      1. At the time, Jeremiah was in prison and unable to take possession of the land, for he had said Babylon would conquer Jerusalem and take king Zedekiah to Babylon until God freed him, Jer. 32:1a, 2b-5.
      2. By then, Jeremiah had also predicted Judah would be captive for the next 70 years, Jer. 25:1, 11-12.
      3. Also, Jeremiah's prediction had been partly fulfilled; Jerusalem was under Babylonian siege, 32:1b-2!
      4. That meant Jeremiah's hometown of Anathoth in Benjamin just 3 miles north of Jerusalem, was under Babylonian control; all these facts make Jeremiah's land purchase in his middle age a seemingly futile venture as there was no means for him to possess it! (Ryr. St. Bib., KJV, ftns. to Jer. 32:7 & Jer. 1:1).
    2. Yet, Jeremiah obeyed God and bought the land, 32:9-12. He did so in testimony that what he predicted in Jer. 31:27-40 was true, that the people would be restored to the land to give his purchase value, 32:13-15.
    3. Well, reflecting on the humanly impossible hurdles to TAKING POSSESSION of his plot, Jeremiah expressed to God in prayer his concern regarding HOW the land promise might be fulfilled, Jer. 32:16-25:
      1. Jeremiah prayed, respectfully acknowledging God was Almighty and could do anything, 32:16-17, 25.
      2. Jeremiah also admitted God was a gracious, faithful Lord Who had delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage and given her the land promised 400 years before to the fathers, 32:18-23a; Gen. 15:13-16.
      3. Jeremiah also acknowledged God was about to put His people under Babylonian rule for sin, 32:23b,c.
      4. On the other hand, Jeremiah voiced his concern that the Babylonians possessed the land around Jerusalem and had raised up mounds of earth to breach its walls, so it seemed futile to have spent his money for the land as he personally had no human means of possessing in his lifetime, 32:24-25! His concern was wondering HOW God would fulfill His promise to make his land purchase valuable so HE could POSSESS his recently purchased property! (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1174)
    4. Thus, God graciously repeated His resolve to fulfill His promise regarding his possession of the land even though Jeremiah did not understand HOW it would come to pass for him, Jeremiah 32:26-44 (as follows):
      1. The Lord repeated the cause for the current crisis that made Jeremiah's land purchase seem humanly worthless: God was not a capricious deity toward His people as were pagan deities; the current crisis was the product of much sin in Judah, sin that had inflamed God's anger for many years, 32:26, 28-35.
      2. Indeed, God was great over all, including the Babylonians, Jer. 32:27; accordingly, as God had sent the Babylonians in His wrath against Judah for her many sins, in mercy, He was just as assuredly going to restore the people to the land so that land purchases like Jeremiah's would be valuable, Jer. 32:36-44.
      3. Jeremiah died without possessing the plot, being forcibly taken into Egypt by sinful fellow countrymen, cf. Jer. 43:5-7. However, like fellow saints such Abraham and Daniel, in the resurrection , Jeremiah will personally take possession of this purchased plot of land in Anathoth of Benjamin, cf. Dan. 12:13.
Lesson: Though Jeremiah could not understand HOW God would EQUIP HIM [in HIS earthly life] to POSSESS his recent property purchase even though Babylon had invaded the land and would take Judah captive for the next seventy years (Jer. 25:11-12), and middle aged Jeremiah was also in prison unable to possess it any time soon, God assured Him He was NOT capricious as were pagan gods: He WOULD SURELY fulfill His Word as he had given it even if Jeremiah did NOT understand just HOW!

Application: Let us trust God's Word even though we do not understand HOW He will fulfill it for us!