Commentary - Jeremiah 32:16-44

Bird's-eye view

Here we have one of the great chapters of the Old Testament, a stunning display of God's sovereignty in the midst of apparent chaos. Jeremiah is in prison, the Babylonian army is at the gates, and the destruction of Jerusalem is a foregone conclusion. In the middle of all this, God gives Jeremiah a command that is, from a human point of view, utterly insane: buy a field. Invest in real estate in a nation that is about to be wiped off the map. This passage contains Jeremiah's prayer of faithful confusion, and God's two-part answer. First, God confirms that the judgment is as bad as it looks, and fully deserved. Second, He reveals that His intention is not ultimate destruction, but a glorious restoration, guaranteed by a new and everlasting covenant. This is not a story about blind optimism; it is a story about rock-solid faith in the promises of a God who brings life out of death.

Outline

Jeremiah's Prayer of Faithful Perplexity (16-25)

Jeremiah 32:16

After the paperwork is done and the deed is handed off, then Jeremiah prays. Notice the order. He obeys first, and then he wrestles with God. This is the pattern of true faith. We are often called to act on God's word before we have all our theological questions neatly sorted out. Jeremiah completed the transaction, a public act of obedience in a time of national crisis. Now, in private, he brings his confusion to the Lord. This is not doubt, but rather the kind of honest grappling that God invites from His people.

Jeremiah 32:17-19

Jeremiah begins his prayer where all true prayer must begin: with the character and nature of God. Before he gets to his problem, he magnifies the One to whom he is speaking. "Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth..." This is foundational. The God who can create the cosmos out of nothing is not going to be stymied by the Babylonian army. Jeremiah anchors his soul in the doctrine of creation and God's omnipotence. "Nothing is too difficult for You." He then moves to God's moral character. God shows lovingkindness (hesed), but He is also a God of perfect justice who repays iniquity. He is "great in counsel and abundant in deeds." This means God is not just raw power; He is infinitely wise power. He has a plan, and He has the might to bring it to pass. His eyes are open to all the ways of men. Nothing escapes His notice. God is sovereign, not just over the big picture, but over every detail, giving to every man according to his ways.

Jeremiah 32:20-23

Next, Jeremiah rehearses God's faithfulness in Israel's history. He calls to mind the signs and wonders of the Exodus, the strong hand and outstretched arm that brought Israel out of Egypt. He remembers the covenant promise of the land, a land flowing with milk and honey, which God faithfully gave to their fathers. This is what saints do in times of trouble. They look back at God's track record. But this remembrance has a sharp edge. God was faithful, but the people were not. "They came in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to Your voice and did not walk in Your law." Their sin was not a one-time slip-up; it was a comprehensive failure. "They have not done anything that You commanded them to do." The conclusion is inescapable: "therefore You have made all this harmful evil come upon them." The disaster at the gates is not a random tragedy. It is the righteous judgment of a holy God against covenant rebellion.

Jeremiah 32:24-25

Here we come to the heart of Jeremiah's perplexity. He looks out the window of his prison and sees the reality on the ground. "Behold, the siege ramps have come to the city to capture it." The judgment he just acknowledged is happening right now. The city is being given over to the Chaldeans. The situation is hopeless. And it is in this context that he presents the contradiction to God. "And You have said to me, O Lord Yahweh, 'Buy for yourself the field with money...'" He holds up God's command in one hand, and the grim reality in the other, and he cannot make them fit. This is the cry of a believer who trusts God's word but cannot reconcile it with his circumstances. He is not accusing God; he is asking for understanding.

Yahweh's Response: Judgment and Restoration (26-44)

Jeremiah 32:26-27

The word of the Lord comes, and God does not begin with a gentle reassurance. He begins with a thunderous affirmation of His own sovereignty. "Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh." He is not just the God of Israel. He is the God of the Chaldeans, the God of Nebuchadnezzar, the God of the whole earth. Then He takes the very words of Jeremiah's faith and turns them into a rhetorical question that ought to shake the heavens: "is anything too difficult for Me?" The question hangs in the air, demanding the obvious answer. This is the foundation for everything that follows. The judgment is His instrument, and the restoration is His promise, and both are equally within His power.

Jeremiah 32:28-35

Before God gives the promise, He underscores the righteousness of the judgment. He confirms Jeremiah's assessment completely. Yes, the city is being given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Yes, it will be burned. And God wants Jeremiah to be crystal clear as to why. This is not an arbitrary act. This is the culmination of centuries of high-handed rebellion. From their youth, they have done only evil. He details their idolatry, burning incense to Baal on their own rooftops. He points to the defilement of His own Temple. And He names the most horrific sin of all: building high places to Molech to cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire. This is an abomination that God says never even entered His heart to command. The judgment, severe as it is, is perfectly just. The grace that is coming is not cheap grace; it is grace that triumphs over the foulest of sins.

Jeremiah 32:36-41

And now, the glorious turn. "So now, therefore..." Based on the reality of this total depravity and this righteous judgment, God declares His intention to save. This is pure gospel. He promises to gather His people from all the lands where He scattered them in His righteous anger. And He will do more than just bring them back. He will fundamentally change them. "They shall be My people, and I will be their God." This is the covenant promise. But how? "I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always." This is the New Covenant. The problem was never with God's law; it was with man's heart of stone. God's solution is a divine heart transplant. He will give them a new heart, a heart that fears Him. He will cut an everlasting covenant with them, and the guarantee of this covenant is not their faithfulness, but His. "I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me." This is the promise of sovereign grace and the perseverance of the saints. And this is not a grim duty for God. He says, "I will rejoice over them to do them good and will truly plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." Our salvation is God's delight.

Jeremiah 32:42-44

Finally, God brings it all back to the field. He connects the certainty of the coming judgment to the certainty of the coming restoration. "Just as I brought all this great evil on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them." The reality of the siege ramps becomes the guarantee of the future blessing. The command to buy the field is no longer absurd; it is a prophetic sign, a down payment on God's sure and certain future. Fields will be bought again. Deeds will be signed and sealed. Normal life, covenant life, will be restored in the land. God's promise of restoration is not some ethereal, spiritual sentiment. It is a promise of real, historical, tangible blessing on earth, just as the judgment was real and historical.

Application

We are often called to be like Jeremiah, living in a world that appears to be collapsing. The siege ramps of a hostile secularism are at the walls of the church. We see sin and decay all around us, and at times, even within the church. And in the middle of this, God calls us to "buy the field." He calls us to build things for the future. He calls us to marry and have children, to start businesses, to plant churches, to found schools, all in the unshakable confidence that Jesus is Lord and that His kingdom will triumph in history. Our circumstances may scream that this is a fool's errand. But our faith is not in our circumstances; it is in the everlasting covenant, sealed by the blood of Christ. God has promised to give His people a new heart, to rejoice over them to do them good, and to bring about all the good that He has promised. Just as surely as judgment came upon sin at the cross, so surely will restoration and glory come to the whole earth through the gospel. Therefore, obey God. Buy the field.