Land of Redemption

Related Articles

Wine Cup of Fury and the Prophecy of Seventy Years

May 26, 2017

The Root of Corruption

May 26, 2017

Balance Between Justice and Mercy

May 24, 2017

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

JEREMIAH 32
Lesson #32
THE LAND OF REDEMPTION

• Memory Verse: Jer 32:27
• The timing of this chapter is during the reign of the last king of Judah, King Zedekiah.
  • In fact it is in the last year of Judah’s existence…586 BC.
  • Nebuchadnezzar’s army already was surrounding the city of Jerusalem. They had already breached the wall of the city.
• Read Jer 32:1-5 Imprisoned for speaking the truth
  • Jeremiah is a prisoner in the courtyard of the king’s palace.
  • The reason for Jeremiah’s imprisonment is because he spoke God’s truth:
    • The Babylonians will take the city of Jerusalem. (3)
    • King Zedekiah will not escape but be taken prisoner to Babylon. (4-5)
• Read Jer 32:6-12 The redemptive purchase of land
  • Usually during times of great uncertainty and political upheaval, the best financial advice is to hold on to your money and wait until you can determine in which direction the financial markets are headed.
  • God’s wisdom is not based on what man determines the future will be.
    • Read Pro 16:25
    • God tells Jeremiah to buy a piece of land when his cousin approaches him with the opportunity.
      • In human thinking this seems to be a foolish thing to do; to buy land that is about to be seized by a foreign dictator.
      • I am sure some of Jeremiah’s neighbors would say, “See, Jeremiah does not believe his own prophecies that the Babylonians will take this nation and destroy it. He is buying land.”
      • But God has a divine purpose beyond man’s understanding.
      • Even Jeremiah did not understand God’s reason for this purchase. However, he obeyed God and prayed for an answer.
    • How did Jeremiah know this was God’s perfect will for him?
      • God told him ahead of time that his cousin would approach him with this opportunity.
        • His cousin’s name was Hanameel. Names in the Bible often have a particular meaning that helps us understand God’s message.
        • The name Hanameel means = the gift of the grace of God. We will look at the significance of this man’s name later in our lesson.
      • God told him to buy it.
  • What is the significance of this piece of land?
    • Notice that Jeremiah is told that he has the right of redemption. (7-8) What does that mean?
      • In the Jewish financial system, God had established the concept of the Kinsmen Redeemer.
      • What was the Law of the kinsman-redeemer?
    • Read Lev 25:23-25, 47-48
      • The Hebrew word for kinsman-redeemer is “goel”. It is a unique part of Jewish culture established by God earlier in the Old Testament (Lev 25:25-55). It is a strange custom to us today because we do not have anything like it. It was God’s way of taking care of his people in that day and that time.
      • The three aspects of the law of the kinsman-redeemer (Lev 25:25-55)
        • =1= It operates in connection with redeeming land (Lev 25:25-34 that we see in the book of Ruth and here in Jeremiah).
        • =2= It operates in connection with redeeming poor people. (Lev 25:35-55)
        • =3= It operates in connection with redeeming widows. (Deu 25:5-10 fulfilling the Levirate marriage law that we see in the book of Ruth)
      • The meaning of the words:
        • The word “redemption” = the deliverance or freedom from some evil by the payment of a price.
        • The word “kinsman” = the closest male relative by blood relationship was to be the protector.
        • The “kinsman-redeemer” (goel) = Any close male relative could bring deliverance or freedom to a person or to property by paying the appropriate price.
      • The requirements of a kinsman-redeemer:
        • =1= He must be the nearest male relative.
        • =2= He must be able to perform the obligations.
        • =3= He must be willing to perform the obligations.
        • =4= He must fulfill all the obligations.
      • The obligations of a kinsman-redeemer:
        • =1= If a close relative was murdered, the kinsman must be the “avenger of blood” who would catch the murderer and kill him. (Num 35:6-34)
        • =2= If a close relative lost his land through poverty, the kinsman redeemer must pay to buy it back for him. (This is what is occurring here in chapter 32 of Jeremiah.)
        • =3= If a close relative died and left a widow without children, he must marry the widow. The first child would be considered the child of the dead man. (Levirate marriage law)
      • What happened if a close relative refused to perform his duty as kinsman-redeemer? In other words, if he was able to perform, but was unwilling.
        • If the man was a near relative and was able to perform his duty, but he was not willing to do so, he must remove one shoe from his foot in front of the elders of the city and give it to the person he was unwilling to redeem. The unredeemed person would spit in his face. Then the unwilling relative must walk without one shoe for a period of time so that all his neighbors would know he was unwilling to perform his duty.
        • It was a social disgrace to be able to perform the duty but to be unwilling to do so.
        • After that, another near relative could decide to fulfill the obligation of kinsman-redeemer.
    • The significance of the purchase of this piece of land in Jeremiah is to tell the people that God will be their kinsman-redeemer and buy the Promised Land back from Babylon in order to give it again to the Jews. (44)
  • Why is the concept of the kinsman-redeemer important here in the book of Jeremiah?
    • Through the actions of the prophet Jeremiah, God is demonstrating that He is the kinsman-redeemer.
    • In other words, the whole system of the kinsman-redeemer in the Old Testament was to point to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Kinsman-Redeemer.
      • Jeremiah is a prefigure of Jesus Christ.
        • He is acting out Jesus’ role of the kinsman-redeemer when he buys this land.
        • Remember that God told the people He would restore them to the land.

But the land was lost to the Babylonians.

The restoration of land to the poor was the job of the kinsman-redeemer.

• • • • A price must be paid for the land. Jeremiah paid the price pointing to the price that Jesus Christ paid on the cross to redeem us, the poor and the needy of this world.
        • Jeremiah paid 16 pieces of silver for the land.
        • Judas received 30 pieces of silver for the betrayal of Jesus (a month’s salary).
    • Remember that the name Hanameel means the gift of the grace of God.
      • God is giving His people the hope of the redemption of the land not because they deserved it, but because of God’s grace.
      • God will buy back the land from the Babylonians to give it to His people, the Jews.
• Read Jer 32:13-16
  • Baruch
  • Who was Baruch, and what do we know about him?
    • The name Baruch means = blessed.
      • He was a friend to Jeremiah during the time when everyone else was against him.
      • God blessed Jeremiah with this friend when he needed a friend. God does the same for us.
    • He was a scribe by trade. He took care of the legal documents and payment for this piece of land.
• Read Jer 32:17-25 Prayer and praise to God
  • Jeremiah did not initially understand the reason for the purchase of the land so he prays for understanding. It is then that he comes to understand the significance of the purchase of this piece of land.
    • It is a token of God’s mercy and grace to restore the land to His people.
    • God will pay the redemption price in His Son, Jesus Christ, the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer.
  • This understanding prompts Jeremiah to give praise and worship to God. Jeremiah mentions God’s attributes of love, power, and justice, and His miraculous deeds that prove His power to fulfill His promises.
    • Worship God for who He is:
      • God is the creator. (17)
      • Nothing is too hard for God. (17)
      • God exhibits love and justice. (18)
      • He is a great God, a mighty God, and the Lord of hosts. (18)
      • His counsel is powerful to discern perfect justice. (19)
    • Worship God for what He has done for you:
      • God did marvelous miracles for His people in Egypt. (20)
      • God delivered His people from Egypt miraculously in power and authority. (21)
      • God gave His people the Promised Land to fulfill his covenant promises. (22)
    • Worship God by faith for what He will do:
      • God has caused evil to come upon His people because of their disobedience and unbelief. (23)
      • But God will restore His people eventually, and He will bless them.
• Jer 32:26-35 A review and God’s answer to why buy the land:
  • This passage is a review of Israel’s sin of idolatry and of offering their children as a sacrifice to the god Molech.
  • This passage is also a review of the prophecies that specify Babylon as the conqueror with great power and destruction.
  • In other words, God is explaining to Jeremiah that His declaration of destruction of Jerusalem is just.
• Read Jer 32:36-44 Promise for the distant future is prefigured in the purchase of the land:
  • After the Babylonian captivity, God will bring them back into the Promised Land. (37)
  • When the Jews are back in the Promised Land, they will be obedient to God in the way that God always planned from the very beginning.
    • Because this prophecy has never been fulfilled, it cannot refer to their return to the Promised Land after the Babylonian captivity.
      • The Jews did not acknowledge God’s sovereignty over them as His people when they first returned to the Promised Land
      • Therefore, they did not recognize and receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah when He came the first time.
    • This prophecy will not be fulfilled until the event of the second coming of Christ when they will receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
      • In the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth for 1000 years, the Jews will finally be God’s people and He will be their God.
      • Then God will make an everlasting covenant with them. (40) What is the everlasting covenant?
        • This is the new covenant that God introduced to us in Jer 31 based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
        • This is the covenant we live under today in this New Testament age of grace.
      • How do we know this is the same new covenant mentioned in Jer 31?
        • When we studied the New Covenant in Jer 31, we saw that it is to be in force forever.
        • The characteristics of the New Covenant of Jer 31 match the description here in Jer 32:

God will give them one heart and one way. (39)

God will put in their hearts a fear of God. (40)

God will turn all the evil to good. (41-42)

• • • • • While this covenant is not new to us today in this age of grace for we have lived under it for about 2000 years, it will be new to the Jews when they first receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah at the second coming of Christ.
        • Because the blood of Jesus Christ paid for all the sins of mankind past, present, and future, there is no need for another redemption payment. Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.”
  • The purchase of the piece of land in Jer 32 was to be a small token to prefigure the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ when He will reign on earth for 1000 years and give to the Jews the fulfillment of all the blessings He promised to Abraham and David.
    • Read Heb 11:13-16
    • Part of that fulfilled blessing is the Promised Land.
    • God kept giving the Jews the Promised Land but because of their lack of faith and obedience to God they kept losing it.
    • In the Millennial Kingdom, they will possess it and not lose it.
• Application:
  • God expects faith and obedience from us today.
  • Even though we often fall short and do not see the blessings of God today, the promise for the future is still intact. God is faithful.

HOMEWORK
Jeremiah 33

• Application of Jer 32
  • What specific things did Jesus do for you to prove that he is your redeemer? List them.
• Preparation for Jer 33
  • Read Jer 33:1-26
    • What is the Branch of righteousness in verse 15?
    • Who is the Lord our righteousness? (16) What does this name mean to you?
    • Who are the two families the Lord has chosen? (24)
• Memory Verse: Rom 5:21