Jeremiah 32-33 Doing The Illogical Because God Said To

With the invading Babylonian army outside the gates of Jerusalem, Jeremiah (now under arrest in the courtyard of the guard for his God-given prophesies about the fall of Jerusalem) is given another action sermon, and it would appear to all to be the most illogical thing he could do.  His relative came to him wanting to sell him a field that was already in Babylonian hands outside of the city.  To others, it appeared that everything was lost.  But God knew His plans for them, and Jeremiah knew God, so he completed the transaction.  While others laughed at the impossibility of Jeremiah ever living long enough to enjoy the land (if his prophesy of 70 years of captivity proved correct), God was saying, “In the future My people will once again buy houses and fields …”  Jeremiah sounded a little doubtful again in verses 24-26, but God answered, “I am the Lord, the God of every person on the earth.  Nothing is impossible for Me.”

 

God said of the people still living there, “They turned their backs to Me, not their faces.  I tried to teach them again and again, but they wouldn’t listen or learn.”  He was going to change all that in the future, though.  “The people of Israel and Judah will be My people, and I will be their God … They will truly want to worship Me all their lives …”  He would definitely be God of the impossible to accomplish that!

 

How serious was He?  “With My whole being I will surely plant them in this land and make them grow.”  Who knows if He’d ever used His whole being to get anything done before!  Even the creation of the world had been just a thought!

 

He then spoke of The Good Branch coming from the stump of what was once David’s royal family – Jesus – who would always sit on the throne.  With the Babylonian army about to enter the city and burn it to the ground, God is promising Messiah!  How much better to listen to Him than to the world.

 

Father, the news out of Israel right now is beginning to sound like this chapter could play out again.  Yet You promised that with Your whole being You would plant them there and make them grow.  I know which side I’d support!  So in the midst of all the frightening news in the world, I turn my ear to you.  Tell me as You did Jeremiah that it will all be all right – that You are still God and You reign in power, for You will always be on Your throne.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford