Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.
Men shall buy fields ... and subscribe evidences, and seal them - referring to the forms of contract (Jeremiah 32:10-12).
In ... Benjamin - specified as Anathoth: Jeremiah's place of residence, where the field lay (Jeremiah 32:8), was in it.
Remarks:
(1) The promises of God are as sure as if they were already performances. Jeremiah in a prison is told by God to buy a patrimonial field which was then in the possession of the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 32:6-7). He knew, moreover, from the Word of God, that the Chaldeans would take the city and carry away the citizens captives; yet at the command of God he did not hesitate a moment in doing what would seem, to carnal sense, an act of the grossest imprudence, to part with money for a field which he and his seemed never likely to possess. Our truest wisdom, as well as piety, when God orders, is not to confer with fleshly reason, but to obey in faith, and to wait until God in His own time reveals the reason of His commands.
(2) God gives to the obedient believer tokens to confirm his faith, just as after His command to Jeremiah respecting the field of Hanameel, his cousin, He caused Hanameel himself to come (Jeremiah 32:8), which showed that the communication to the prophet was of the Lord. The design of the symbolical purchase was to imply, that though Jerusalem was in a state of siege, and the whole country was soon about to be laid waste, yet that the time would come when houses, fields, and vineyards, should be again possessed. The purchase of the hereditary field by the prophet who foretold the future restoration would show that he believed his own prophecy, and that his acts accorded with his words. If ministers' preaching is to be effective, it must be confirmed by their practice: their acts must be the living comment on their words; and it must be evidenced to their hearers that they believe themselves what they teach to others.
(3) Having first obeyed without questioning God's will, Jeremiah, feeling in utter perplexity how to account for a command which seemed at variance with God's threats against Judah, ventures to interrogate God as to the reason. Prayer is the believer's grand resource in difficulties, outward and inward. Jeremiah prefaces his entreaty for an explanation of the command with an humble recognition of God's omnipotence as the Creator (Jeremiah 32:17), His "loving-kindness" to His people, and His righteous retributive justice to the ungodly and their seed (Jeremiah 32:18-19). He recalls God's wonderful interpositions in behalf of Israel of old, which prove that God is indeed "great in counsel and mighty in work" (Jeremiah 32:19), and that "there is nothing too hard for Him" (Jeremiah 32:17); and acknowledges that the "evil" which is come upon his countrymen is the just penalty of their "having done nothing of all that God commanded them to do" (Jeremiah 32:23).
(4) God explains the seeming difficulty by reference to His own character and power as they were recognized by the prophet. Thine own recognition of the fact that "nothing is too hard for ME" ought to convince thee that hard as it may seem to restore the Jews to the possession of their land, after it shall have been wasted by the Chaldeans, and the Jews carried away captives, yet when I say it, it shall be done (Jeremiah 32:27-44). Notwithstanding their perversity, which merits perpetual exclu sion from my favour; notwithstanding their turning unto me and to my prophets the back and not the face (Jeremiah 32:33) - of which thy imprisonment, now at the very time when they are experiencing the truth of thy words in the pressure of the siege, affords melancholy proof-yet will I magnify not only my power, but also the riches of my covenant mercy (Jeremiah 32:36-44); and, contrary to all that might have been expected, I will restore them to be "my people" in their own land, and "I will be their God" (Jeremiah 32:38). It shall be not merely an external and political restoration, but also a spiritual one. Not merely to individuals, but to all of them, "I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever for their good" (Jeremiah 32:39). And my covenant with them shall be "everlasting," by my "putting my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me" (Jeremiah 32:40).
(5) Let believers apply to themselves the spiritual truth to be learnt from this prophecy. When perplexed about the dealings of God's Providence, let us flee to Jeremiah's resource, prayer. Then let us go back to first principles, God's wisdom in framing His counsels, and His power in executing them. Let us consider that His covenant with believers is "an everlasting covenant" of love, and that no seeming obstacles can stand in the way of His fulfilling it. Let not unbelief lead us to despair (Jeremiah 32:36) because of present dark appearances. But, believing that "what God hath promised, He is able also to perform" (Romans 4:20-21), let us in faith toward our Lord gladly part with our present wealth, like Jeremiah, in order that we may obtain of grace an inheritance in the heavenly land of promise, wherein God will rejoice over us to do us good (Jeremiah 32:41), and we shall rejoice in Him as our portion forever (cf. Matthew 13:44-46; Luke 12:33; Luke 16:9).