Fields & Faith
Jeremiah 32:8 So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
Food was scarce; people were hungry and angry. The spirit of the people was down, and danger was outside the city gate. Jerusalem was under siege and God was using the Babylonian Empire to perform His will. Israel had long rejected the Word of the Lord. Jeremiah, the prophet of the day, was in prison because the King did not like his message. While in prison, an amazing transaction takes place. Jeremiahs’ cousin visits Jeremiah in prison and offers to sale a piece of land to him. This land was a field in Anathoth, near were Jeremiah was born. Anathoth was a city of refuge, a Levitical city in which Jeremiah grew up. Being a few miles north of Jerusalem, this land was already occupied by the Babylonians and would be for many more years. In the estimation of every Israelite, the field was worthless. It was controlled by a foreign empire and could not be offered for sale by the former Israelitish owner. Amazingly, Jeremiah agrees on a price and with an open deed, and a sealed deed for subsequent generations, he measures out the money and buys the land with many witnesses looking on. Here are a few truths we can apply in our lives…
Blessings Later: Jeremiah would never see the land. Either everyone in Jerusalem dies or is carried away captive to Babylon. His field would be occupied for the next 70 years. Jeremiah sees how someone in his family in the future would benefit from his purchase of the field today.
Believe God: Jeremiah believed God. He believed that God would bring his people out of captivity and back to their God-given land.
Big God: Jeremiah knew the land had no value at that moment. Jeremiah trusted that God was able to deliver on His Word and he acted accordingly by faith that it would be worth something one day. God is bigger than the land, enemy army, and the circumstances Jeremiah was in or that we are in.
Begin Praising: Jeremiah was praising the Lord. Verse 17 starts one of the longest sentences of praise in the Bible. Notice how it starts: “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”
What was this field in Anathoth ever used for? It is hard to say exactly. Anathoth was known for its’ stone quarries. Stones from there were used to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple when everyone came back after the captivity. I believe Jeremiah’s investment helped later generations build and rebuild their city and the Temple to God’s glory. Nehemiah, and others were blessed from the stone found in Jeremiah’s field.
Is there a field in your life that God wants you to buy? Follow the Lord by faith, believing that God can, and you will see His will come to pass to His glory… There is nothing too hard for God!
EDC Christian 