Someday, someone would be able to unseal this deed and restore the land to its rightful owner. Vulture capitalists might see his purchase as a shrewd investment. It was a good time to pick up real estate at bargain basement prices. Like Mr.
There is a entire title loan industry in the United States built on this very premise: make money by taking advantage of poor people in desperate circumstances. Like other Biblical prophets, Jeremiah denounced those who used their power to exploit the poor. If Jeremiah had been like the other prophets of his day, buying the field might have been a vote of confidence in king and country. Keep calm and carry on.
The Lord had spoken. Jeremiah was certain. He bought the field anyway. It was a profound hope for the people, a kind of life after death for the nation. The people of Judah would go into exile, but God would someday bring the nation back to its home. Houses and fields and vineyards would again be bought in this land. Tough times never last, but tough people do. When you are going through hell, keep going. The resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing.
To be hopeful for the future in the midst of difficult times and impossible circumstances is a wonderful thing. Studies show that it contributes to human flourishing. The land is not to be permanently sold because it is mine, and you are only aliens and temporary residents on my land. You are to allow the redemption of any land you occupy. If your brother becomes destitute and sells part of his property, his nearest relative may come and redeem what his brother has sold.
It was a statement of trust in God's future. He was saying that he believed God would keep his promises to Israel, and that one day the wanderers would come home. Jeremiah himself didn't live to see it. He died far away from his home, in exile in Egypt, and never saw the fulfillment of the promise. But his story is a lesson for us. As far as anyone else was concerned, he was a failure. His king didn't listen to his warnings, and was destroyed; his brave statement of faith looked absurd when the nation was defeated.
But in time to come he'd be remembered for his faithfulness. Romans says, 'Hope which is seen is not hope; how can we hope for what we see? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it in patience.
We are tested, often to breaking point, when our hopes aren't fulfilled. We may have all sorts of hopes and dreams, and have to live with their failure, one by one. The opened version functioned as a working document, which parties could reference to settle disputes. The closed document preserved a copy of the original to insure that nothing was changed.
The detail in verses 16—25 has a meaningful function in this text. It not only shows the complete extent to which Jeremiah has fulfilled the instruction of the LORD—a perfect obedience. This hope is as certain as the Babylonian armies that are at the gate. Thus, the observers of this transaction are not there simply to verify the purchase of land. Biblical hope, however, does not resort to despair in such times, nor does it try to cover up anxiety with mere words and false hope. Judah would certainly suffer the judgment that God had announced.
Babylon would destroy Jerusalem and Judah and carry off its inhabitants into exile. The prophet, however, activates the future in the present through a symbolic act of purchasing a field. Perilous times require the faithful to put into embodied action the hope that God has announced, which is already here, but not yet. Skip to content Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Hope often comes in the middle of judgment.
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