Jer 32:1-22  Houses and Fields and Vineyards Shall be Possessed Again in this Land.

[Study Aired February 27, 2022]

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 Nebuchadrezzar.
Jer 32:2  For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.
Jer 32:3  For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
Jer 32:4  And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
Jer 32:5  And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
Jer 32:6  And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 32:7  Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
Jer 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.
Jer 32:9  And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
Jer 32:10  And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
Jer 32:11  So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
Jer 32:12  And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
Jer 32:13  And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
Jer 32:14  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
Jer 32:15  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
Jer 32:16  Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
Jer 32:17  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:
Jer 32:18  Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
Jer 32:19  Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
Jer 32:20  Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
Jer 32:21  And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
Jer 32:22  And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

The Lord knows our frame because He is our framer and Maker. He knows that we are mere frail clay which requires encouragement to endure the trials He has written in our books. That is why all through this prophecy of Jeremiah He is constantly reminding us that even though His plan for us includes the process of being dragged to Him as a spiritual infant then falling away because of the trials of life, it also includes repenting of our apostate days in Babylonian captivity and being dragged back to Him and enduring to the end the many fiery trials of that process.

There is not one person anywhere in scripture who has not betrayed their Lord.

Psa 53:3  Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

From “the first man”, Adam, to the first resurrection, every single human being, including all the apostles and followers of Christ then and now, will all be made ashamed of the frailty of their own strength, and made to acknowledge that it is Christ who works in them, both to will and to do of His good pleasure, and that part of “His… pleasure” is for every man to first be made wicked before being purified with fire and being made righteous in Christ, Who is that ‘fire”.

1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Our hearts are just naturally hardened against the Lord and His ways because we are, by His design, “first… of the earth, earthy. We default to making idols of our own imaginations, and it is by the Lord’s design. Graven images and idols symbolize the false doctrines with their “strong delusion” which gives them their undeserved, lying credibility, which causes us to “believe a lie”:

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This is the extent of the pleasure we have in unrighteousness when we are in that phase of the process the Lord is working in us:

Isa 44:9  They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
Isa 44:10  Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
Isa 44:11  Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.
Isa 44:12  The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
Isa 44:13  The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

When we are under the Lord’s “strong delusion” we are our ‘own witness’. We reject the counsel of our leaders who have proven their dedication to the Lord and His Word, and we establish all of our lies by telling even more lies and establishing even more false doctrines. We work very hard “in the coals”, and we sacrifice our time and our energies to establish the delusions to which the Lord has given us.

Doing “many wonderful works in [the Lord’s name] and sacrificing our time and energies to be seen of men does not please the Lord at all. What does please Him is when we “tremble at His Word” and do the things He says for us to do:

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Isa 66:3  He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
Isa 66:4  I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

When we “choose our own ways” and delight in our own false doctrines, all our sacrifices to the Lord become nothing short of blaspheming His name.

Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Christ is indeed “working all things after the counsel of His own will”, but it is His will to destroy our old man and his kingdom and all of his ways. Therefore, the Lord poses this question to us at that stage of our judgment:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

The Lord always answers His own questions for us:

Psa 90:3  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

That is the message the Lord gives us in this chapter of Jeremiah. It is a continuation of the very same message which permeates the prophecy of Isaiah:

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

To make this point, the Lord had Jeremiah purchase a field from his first cousin, Hanameel. It all happened just so He could demonstrate for us that after He puts us through the process of “making us to err from His ways, and hardening our hearts from His fear” then He will also proceed to drag us out of Babylon and back to Himself:

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 Nebuchadrezzar.

Jerusalem withstood the siege of Babylon for a year and a half.  So “the tenth year of Zedekiah” is one year into and during the middle of the siege of Jerusalem:

Jer 39:1  In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

So the town of Anathoth was in the hand of the Babylonians at that time.

Jer 32:2  For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.
Jer 32:3  For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

Recall that it was six years earlier, “in the fourth year… of the reign of Zedekiah”, that Hananiah the false prophet had gotten the ear of King Zedekiah with his false prophecy of a short time of captivity for the Lord’s people:

Jer 28:1  And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Jer 28:2  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Jer 28:3  Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:

The spirit of Hananiah appeals to our flesh and tells us that Christ did everything for us, and we need not die daily or be crucified with Him. That is what King Zedekiah wanted to hear, and that is what he believed, preferring the smooth words of a lie over the Truth, as Jeremiah pointed out:

Jer 28:15  Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.

Jeremiah has been prophesying of Judah’s judgment since the days of King Josiah. He had accurately prophesied the fate of Josiah’s sons, Shallum, and Jehoiakim, and Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin. The prophecy of the yoke of Babylon had been given to Jeremiah six years earlier than the events of this 32^nd chapter “in the fourth year of Zedekiah”:

Jer 28:1  And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Jer 28:2  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

At that time, six years before the events of this 32^nd chapter, the Lord had even told Jeremiah that Hananiah the false prophet would die for leading Judah to believe a lie:

Jer 28:12  Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 28:13  Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
Jer 28:14  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
Jer 28:15  Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
Jer 28:16  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
Jer 28:17  So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

In this 32^nd chapter, six years after Hananiah’s failed prophecy and resulting death, Jeremiah is speaking the same truthful words. The lying prophecy of Hananiah were proven to be lies, but that lie was still ringing in the ears of King Zedekiah who still refused to listen to the words of the Lord from Jeremiah, the Lord’s proven prophet. Hananiah had prophesied that the Lord would break the yoke of Babylon and that Jehoiachin and all the vessels of the temple would be returned to Jerusalem within two years. Jeremiah had been told to tell Hananiah that he would die that same year, and that was exactly what happened. Jeremiah continued to remain faithful to the word of the Lord. The Lord had not only proven that Hananiah was a false prophet, but Hananiah’s death that same year proved that Jeremiah was a true prophet of God, and Zedekiah knew that Jeremiah’s prophecies were the words of God Himself. However, like King Saul many years earlier, Zedekiah feared the people more than he feared God or God’s prophet.

Nevertheless, Jeremiah, like all true prophets of God, remained faithful to and repeated the words of the Lord, and they definitely were not “smooth words”:

Jer 32:4  And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
Jer 32:5  And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.

In this story Judah and Jerusalem, with their King Zedekiah, symbolize the great whore who has turned her back on her husband, Christ, and this unfaithful wife is fighting against wicked men who are the Lord’s own sword:

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 17:14  From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure:  they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

Here is the Lord Himself telling us from His perspective who the great whore is:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Isa 1:7  Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

It is the Lord’s own apostate people who are the great whore of scripture, and those are the Lord’s own words He uses to describe His apostate, unfaithful wife:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

In actual practice, it is Judah and Jerusalem and their King Zedekiah who are “Babylon the great… harlot”, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is the secular king who is called ‘the beast’ who will “burn her with fire”, which is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar actually did:

Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

There is a sense in which the beast within each of us will “burn her with fire”. As we come to see the Truth, that Truth becomes ‘fire’ in the mouths of the Lord’s true prophets:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Being burned up with fire is very painful indeed, but it is the best thing that will ever happen to us because it is what the Lord requires to turn the curse of our naturally self-righteous, rebellious, “earthen” flesh into a temporary tabernacle of compliant clay as a home for the throne of our Lord:

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Our study today assures and encourages us of the certainty of that promised outcome simply because it is “of God and not of us”:

Jer 32:6  And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 32:7  Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
Jer 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.
Jer 32:9  And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
Jer 32:10  And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
Jer 32:11  So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
Jer 32:12  And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
Jer 32:13  And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
Jer 32:14  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
Jer 32:15  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

Here is the spiritual significance of this entire transaction “in demonstration of the spirit and of power” (1Co 2:4):

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance [“evidence of the purchase” (Jer 32:14)] until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Anathoth was in the hands of the Babylonians at the time of this transaction, but Jeremiah had faith it would not always be so.

Jer 32:16  Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
Jer 32:17  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:
Jer 32:18  Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
Jer 32:19  Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
Jer 32:20  Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
Jer 32:21  And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
Jer 32:22  And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; [“The purchased possession… the praise of His glory” (Eph 1:14)]

The name ‘Hanameel’ means “God is gracious”, and the Lord certainly is gracious to His elect, typified here by Jeremiah who, like Jacob, is buying his cousin’s birthright, who in type is being sacrificed for Jeremiah and for our sakes. His “uncle’s son” is his own flesh and his own family who we all must be willing to forsake for Christ’s sake:

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

The name ‘Ishmael’ means “God will hear”, and the Lord does indeed hear the prayers of His elect when they cry out to Him for His deliverance from their iniquities and sins. Like the name ‘Hanameel’, it has a positive meaning even though both are attached to the symbols of our own dying flesh.

In conclusion:

There are three messages being revealed in this story of Jeremiah redeeming the field of his “uncle’s son”, his ‘first cousin’ as we would express this relationship in modern terms. The first message in this story is that Jeremiah tried the spirits to see if they were of God:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Jeremiah applied this principle just as we must:

Jer 32:6  And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 32:7  Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
Jer 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.

How did the Lord normally speak to His prophets? Let’s let Him answer that question:

Num 12:6  And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

Hanameel appearing and asking Jeremiah to buy his field was a ‘second witness’. It was the Lord confirming to Jeremiah that what he had heard “was [indeed] the word of the Lord”.

The second and most encouraging message for us is that the purchase of Hanameel’s field assures us, in type, that after the Lord “makes us to err from His ways, and hardens our hearts from his fear”, He will then “return… the tribes of His inheritance”, meaning He will raise up His elect first and give to them “the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory” (Eph 1:14):

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Jer 32:21  And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
Jer 32:22  And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance [“evidence of the purchase” (Jer 32:14)] until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The third and more sobering message in this story is that the Lord is sacrificing “[our] own household” for our sakes. That is the meaning of Jeremiah’s “uncle’s son”, his first cousin, selling his field, his own birthright, his inheritance, to Jeremiah for very little, just as Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of pottage:

“…even seventeen shekels of silver; which, reckoning a shekel at half a crown, were no more than two pounds, two shillings, and sixpence; a small sum of money to make a purchase of a field with;” (End Quote, John Gill Commentary)

We are not told why he felt that he needed to sell his inheritance. We are simply informed that he was brought to the point he felt that he had to do so. This “tenth year” is at the mid-point of the siege of Jerusalem so it isn’t something Jeremiah particularly needed. What it is though is a symbol of the certainty of our deliverance out of Babylonian captivity.

Jer 32:6  And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 32:7  Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
Jer 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.

It may seem strange to us today, but this was the law in ancient Israel:

Num 36:9  Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.

The command to raise up seed to a dead brother by marrying your brother’s widow had been a law since the days of the patriarchs, and long before Moses, as the story of Judah and Tamar demonstrates:

Gen 38:6  And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
Gen 38:7  And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
Gen 38:8  And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
Gen 38:9  And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

In the book of Ruth, the kinsmen redeemer of Elimelech’s widow, Naomi, did not want to marry Ruth and raise up seed to Ruth’s dead husband, Mahlon, the son of Elimelech. The reason he gave was “Lest I mar my own inheritance”. Boaz, as a type of Christ, was more than willing to do so:

Rth 4:1  Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.
Rth 4:2  And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
Rth 4:3  And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:
Rth 4:4  And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
Rth 4:5  Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
Rth 4:6  And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.
Rth 4:7  Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.
Rth 4:8  Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.

By contrast, Boaz had no problem at all with raising up seed to his brother, Elimelech:

Rth 4:9  And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.
Rth 4:10  Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

The mindset and spirit of Boaz in this matter typifies the selfless mind of Christ who is our ‘kinsman… redeemer’. He has purchased for us a possession in His kingdom where we will sit with Him on His throne and rule the kingdoms of this world, and He has given us the evidence of “the redemption of the purchased possession”:

Jer 32:14  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
Jer 32:15  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

In buying his cousin’s field amid being besieged by Babylon, Jeremiah is typically purchasing salvation for the Lord’s elect who are also besieged by spiritual Babylon. The fact that this evidence is both sealed and open signifies how our own inheritance is sealed until the Lord opens our eyes to see and our ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of our inheritance:

Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

“Shut up the words” is in the Qal stem, and “seal the book” is also in the Qal stem. Both are always in the process of being fulfilled. “Are written” and “are come” are both in the Greek aorist tense and are a process that is always taking place. See what is also now taking place within those who are “in Christ”:

Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

“Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book” is in the Greek aorist tense, and the phrase “for the time is at hand” is in the Greek present tense. What this tells us is that the mysteries of the kingdom of God were simply not being revealed before the days of Christ on this earth, and since that time those mysteries are being unsealed and revealed to all to whom the Lord is revealing Himself:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Here in Ephesians 1 is the spiritual significance of this entire story:

Eph 1:11  In whom also [Christ, our ‘kinsmen redeemer’] we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed [ín an earthen vessel” (Jer 32:14)] with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The name ‘Hanameel’ means “God is gracious”, and the Lord certainly is gracious to His elect, typified here by Jeremiah who, like Jacob with Esau, is buying his cousin’s birthright, who in type is being sacrificed for Jeremiah and for our sakes because spiritual Israel is a special people to whom it is given to be the first to trust in Him to the praise of His glory:

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GW)

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

That concludes our study, and these are the verses for our next study:

Jer 32:23  They entered and took possession of it. However, they refused to obey you or to follow your teachings. They didn’t do anything you commanded them to do, so you brought all this disaster on them.
Jer 32:24  “‘See how the dirt ramps have been built up around the city to capture it! Because of wars, famines, and plagues, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you have threatened to do has happened, as you can see.
Jer 32:25  Yet you, Almighty LORD, told me to buy a field with money and get witnesses to confirm it, although the city was handed over to the Babylonians.'”
Jer 32:26  The LORD spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said,
Jer 32:27  “I am the LORD God of all humanity. Nothing is too hard for me.
Jer 32:28  This is what the LORD says: I’m going to hand this city over to the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They will capture it.
Jer 32:29  “The Babylonians who are attacking this city will break in, set this city on fire, and burn it down. They will burn down the houses of people who made me furious by going up to the roofs to burn incense to Baal and to pour out wine offerings to other gods.
Jer 32:30  Ever since they were young, the people of Israel and Judah have done what I consider evil. The people of Israel have made me furious by what they’ve done,” declares the LORD.
Jer 32:31  “The people in this city have made me so angry and furious from the day they built it to this day. So now I must remove this city from my presence.
Jer 32:32  “The people of Israel and Judah have made me furious because they are evil. The people, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, and the Judeans and those who live in Jerusalem
Jer 32:33  have turned their backs, not their faces to me. I taught them again and again, but they refused to listen and learn.
Jer 32:34  They set up their detestable idols in the temple that is called by my name, and they dishonored it.
Jer 32:36  “You have said this about the city, ‘Because of wars, famines, and plagues it will be handed over to the king of Babylon.’ Now this is what the LORD God of Israel says:
Jer 32:37  I am going to gather the people from all the lands where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and terrifying wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them live here securely.
Jer 32:38  They will be my people, and I will be their God.
Jer 32:39  I will give them the same attitude and the same purpose so that they will fear me as long as they live. This will be for their own good and for the good of their children.
Jer 32:40  I will make an eternal promise to them that I will never stop blessing them. I will make them fear me so that they will never turn away from me.
Jer 32:41  I will enjoy blessing them. With all my heart and soul I will faithfully plant them in this land.
Jer 32:42  “This is what the LORD says: As I brought all these disasters on these people, so I will bring on them all these blessings that I have promised them.
Jer 32:43  You have said that this land is a wasteland, without people or animals living in it. You have also said that it has been handed over to the Babylonians. But people will once again buy fields in this land.
Jer 32:44  They will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and have people witness the signing of the deeds. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, in the region of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities on the mountains, in the hill country, and in the Negev because I will bring them back from their captivity,” declares the LORD.