Truth and Consequences:
Lesson Thirty-two: Jailhouse Rock
To watch this as a video: use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJYBMJa2zBQ
INTRODUCTION
Generally speaking jail and Jewish people, well it’s a recipe for problems. In fact, jail for everyone is problematic, isn’t it? I’ve spent time in jail in Washington, DC and again in Florida, and it’s no picnic, I’ll confirm that. We are now 32 chapters into the story of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet and his pronouncements of woe and starting a couple of chapters ago, his pronouncement of hope for the Jewish people.
And when you think of prophets and hopefulness, you would not usually include a jail sentence, would you? Probably a sunshine coast holiday with a lovely beach scene, but a prison? Not a chance.
Even so, today’s chapter begins with such incarceration and yet…there it is again, the words of hope that we keep finding throughout this book, the book of Truth and Consequences, but even so, there is a “And Yet…” when God himself intervenes to make his name known and his glory shown even in the midst of judgment on his Jewish people.
The chapter divides into two major sections: Jeremiah in jail and Jeremiah’s prayer with God’s answer. Let’s dig in.
1. Jeremiah incarcerated
At a specific time, again, Jeremiah is put in jail. He’s been in stocks before and now it’s another visit to the pen. The king is in his last days and wants to get things in order. But do you remember what God had told him some 11 chapters earlier?
4 ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will gather them into the center of this city. 5 “I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation. 6 “I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence. 7 “Then afterwards,” declares the LORD, “I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who survive in this city from the pestilence, the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their foes and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.”’ (Jer. 21.4-7)
Zedekiah had been forewarned and knew full well what Jeremiah had predicted. Yet he disregarded the entire scenario. Kings and military men have a hard time admitting defeat even before the battles have begun. But a wise king listens to the voices of his advisors and when they are right, and he knows they are right, he has little choice. He needed to agree, but he didn’t. He lost as a result. What a sad figure he remains in Jewish history.
Look at verses 3-5. “Why do you prophesy, saying…” What’s ironic and painful about this is that Zedekiah well knew why Jeremiah predicted and announced the way to go. And he knew the sins of the Jewish people. And he knew what he needed to do, but he refused. And it’s that refusal which brings the question of “Why?” into such a ridiculous light.
You know people today ask that same question of God, and if there is a God, why is there evil? If there is a loving God, why is there suffering? And similar questioning. But the answer often points us back to our own failings, our own sins, our own disregard and rejection of God’s ways.
Psalm 50 says,
“To the wicked God says, “What right do you have to tell of my laws and to take my covenant in your mouth? You hate discipline and you cast my words behind you. You associate with adulterers and you let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.” (Psalm 50.16-21)
God is saying that all your religion is a self-contained mockery. If you don’t live like God tells you to live, why should you expect anything to happen for your good. Yes, God is good; but your behaviour is telling him that you don’t want his goodness. You get what you put in.
Zedekiah (which means God is righteous) even had the prophecy of Jeremiah in hand. He quotes it extensively. He well knew what was spoken and what was expected, and yet, he refused. Shame. What a mistake.
Six passages in the book of Jeremiah report a word from the LORD given through Jeremiah to Zedekiah (21:1–7; 32:1–5; 34:1–7; 37:1–10, 17; 38:14–28). The other passages all announce the certain conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and Zedekiah’s capture.
Even so, Jeremiah answers, from jail! (Ok, maybe it was little more than house arrest, but still he was prevented from living freely in his day)
Verse 6, Jeremiah recounts the story of his first cousin coming and offering to sell some property. Now remember this is not the 21st century with LJ Hooker and Richardson and Wrench selling real estate freely. Making commissions and gaining from all things property. Jews were not to sell property; it was to stay within the tribal units and certainly re-configured appropriately every 50 years on the Year of Jubilee.
What might help us understand this is the reading from Leviticus 25. ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 24 ‘Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.
‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. 26 ‘Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption, 27 then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property. 28 ‘But if 1he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee, it shall revert, that he may return to his property.” (25.23-28)
We don’t see anything particularly fulfilling of the Torah rulings in this Jeremiah and his cousin transaction. And what we know about the timing makes this ridiculous.
1) Jeremiah had no wife and kids, so no one to pass the land onto
2) The war was already in full and thus Anathoth was probably already under siege
3) No one would be back to fulfil its purposes until 70 more years; what a waste to buy it now
4) Jeremiah was in jail and he had no assurance he could even get to the field in question, which was being trampled by soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar
And yet…there it is…and yet, Jeremiah took all his funds on hand, 17 shekels and a ceremony ensued. Deed signed. Transaction completed in verses 9-15. Some say he put his money where his mouth had been. Jeremiah predicted that we would return to the land. It would again be on loan from heaven to the Jewish people. We would again have a chance to live right and to represent him. Jeremiah buying that property was a statement of faith, wasn’t it? Verse 15 says, “God says, “houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
2. Jeremiah’s prayer and God’s answer
Verse 16 gives us a wonderful song from the 1980s or so. “Ah Lord God, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power. Nothing is too difficult for you!” That reminds itself to me but listen to the linkages the people would have heard as Jeremiah prayed this awesome prayer. Verse 17: God made the heavens and the earth. He is the creator. Verse 17: Great power and outstretched arm. Verse 18: lovingkindness to thousands. Repays iniquity. That’s straight out of God’s self-revelation in Exodus. (34.6-7) Right?
Verse 19: rewards and punishes. More Exodus language. Verse 20: The mention of Egypt underscores on what Jeremiah’s prayer is based. He is the God who saw us in our misery in those days about 1500 BCE (remember we are reading about 600 BCE or so, in other words, 900 years later). Verse 20: signs and wonders—that’s how he caused Israel to escape the exile in which we were, as jailed or incarcerated people in the detention centre known as the Land of Goshen.[1] Verse 21: You did it in Egypt, with signs and wonders, strong hand and outstretched arm, with great terror and gave us the land. God is the God of deliverance and promise-keeping. He not only makes promises, he fulfils them, amen?
The prayer continues, with more history. To God and to himself. Verse 22: land flowing with milk and honey. This phrase is used 20 times in the Tenach! Promises, promises! Verse 23: God gave us the land. So far, so good. All about God. He said; he did; he will do it again. It’s a prayer of hope, and then… it all changes.
Verse 23: they did not obey or walk in your Torah. We did nothing to earn or merit your love. So you were forced to act. You are faithful both to your promises and to your nature of holiness. Thus ‘all this calamity has come upon them.”
Jeremiah’s prayer continues with updating history, so as to get a good perspective of the situation. He reports the sale of property and the yielding of the land to the Babylonians (Chaldeans). Listen to verse 24: “what you have spoken has come to pass…and you see it.” Jeremiah is wrapping his prayer in the words, in the faith-filled words of God to and through him. That’s prayer. That’s faith. That’s how this works.
God then answers the prayer. Verse 26 and following. He self-introduces. I’m the Lord, the God of all flesh. That’s an odd phrase. The short form, כָּל־בָּשָׂר, “all flesh,” parallels and even rhymes with כָּל־דָּבָר, “anything,” at the end of the verse.
I wonder if God isn’t saying this: I know the peoples of the earth. I love everyone. I can use everyone to make my world mine. Babylonians and Egyptians and Jews and Kiwis and Americans and you and I are able to be part of God’s work and world. That, my friends, ought to encourage you. He’s the God of all flesh!
God repeats from Jeremiah’s prayer… is anything too difficult for me? The word for ‘difficult’ here and in verse 17 is PELA, a word you ought to remember from Isaiah’s prophecy, chapter 9, about a child who would be born to us. Nothing is too difficult for him; he will make his world his; he will accomplish his intention. Isaiah said in chapter 14, God wills and who can frustrate it? (14.27) The answer is loud—nothing is too difficult or wonderful. He runs the wonders. He is sovereign. THUS… don’t miss this—you can trust him!
Verse 30… the people of Israel and Judah, both…have bothered him. He is highlighting a 150-year-old problem and it’s not getting better. You guys are doing the same wrongs the Northern Tribes did in 725 BCE. You are verse 32, “provoking’ me to anger. Everyone…kings and leaders, priests and prophets, men and inhabitants… everyone! No one is helping the situation.
Listen to verse 33 and see the action required to fix this. “They turned their back to me and not their face.” Though I taught them, again and again… they would not listen and receive instruction.” That’s how to fix this. Turn to him. Turn to God. Don’t turn to religion. Turning to self-advisement and self-satisfaction is what got you into trouble. You want this fixed? Turn to God.
See that in verse 36 and following. Yes, it’s given to the Babylonians, BUT… and yet… verse 37, God will gather them, he will bring them back…he will make us dwell in safety…we will be his people (verse 38)
Verse 39 may be my favourite verse in all of this entire book:
“I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.”
If you haven’t heard anything else this morning, hear this. God wants you to know him and he will put a new heart in you to love him, to obey him, to fear him, and it’s FOR YOUR GOOD.
Verse 44 “I will restore them. That’s it; God wants us to be his and to make his name known in our world. Are you ready for that? Are you turning your face to him and not your back? Nothing is too difficult for God. Nothing. Nothing!
CONCLUSION
God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life.
PRAYER
Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up.
We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 33. Until then, Shabbat shalom!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnes, Albert, Commentary on the Old Testament. (Published by many, from 1880 on)
Henry, Matthew, Commentary.
Keown, Gerald, Scalise, Pamela, Smothers, Thomas, Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah (Part 2). 1995.
McConnville, Gordon, Jeremiah, New Bible Commentary.
Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.
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ACTUAL TEXT
Jeremiah Imprisoned
Jer. 32:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, 3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; 5 and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the LORD. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”’?”
Jer. 32:6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.”’ 8 “Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
Jer. 32:9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 “I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.” 15 ‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’
Jeremiah Prays and God Explains
Jer. 32:16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the LORD, saying, 17 ‘Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The LORD of hosts is His name; 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; 20 who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day. 21 ‘You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror; 22 and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 ‘They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this calamity come upon them. 24 ‘Behold, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see it. 25 ‘You have said to me, O Lord GOD, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses” — although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”
Jer. 32:26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” 28 Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 “The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. 30 “Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the LORD. 31 “Indeed this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from before My face, 32 because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger — they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 “They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction. 34 “But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Jer. 32:36 “Now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.’ 37 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. 38 “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. 40 “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 “I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. 42 “For thus says the LORD, ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43 ‘Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44 ‘Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD.”
[1] 20 “The hymnic style continues, using the language of Pss 78:43; 105:27 to describe the LORD’s acts of deliverance, beginning in Egypt. “Make a name for yourself” is an expression rarely used of God. In Isa 63:12, 14 it is also associated with the Exodus. Neh 9:10 is a close counterpart of 32:20, mentioning “signs” and “wonders” in Egypt and repeating the final clause verbatim, “you made a name for yourself which continues today.” V 20 looks beyond Israel in Egypt, however, to include humankind “until this day.” The LORD’s renown among the nations because of Israel’s deliverance is a theme of the ancient victory song in Exod 15:14–16. It is also part of Moses’ intercession in Num 14:13–16. If the LORD destroys Israel, the nations will conclude that the LORD “was not able” to bring them into the land. This verse, 32:20, seems to imply that other peoples have been more than mere observers of God’s “signs and wonders” in Israel. The perspective of v 19 is reversed. God is known by God’s deeds, just as people are known to God by theirs.” (Keown)
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