Jeremiah obeyed God and acted precisely as he was instructed.
Though he prayed he still needed to understand what seem to him illogical. At
this point, Judah and Jerusalem were teetering. The Babylonians had surrounded
the city and the siege ramps surrounding Jerusalem were obvious. Jeremiah was held
in custody, yet God's instruction was to buy the land his cousin had offered
him. Puzzled, Jeremiah 32:24-25 wondered. He said to God, “Behold,
the siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city
is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of
the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; and what You have spoken
has come to pass; and behold, You see it. You have
said to me, O Lord God, ‘Buy for yourself the field with money and call in
witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’” Here is
Jeremiah’s implication: It sounds like a bad time to invest in a land, are you
sure this is a good move, Lord?
It is critical for us to accept that God knows best whatever He
instructs us to do. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts than our
thoughts. As Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:25, gave us the perfect reason why we
should always trust God. It is “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” And
God does have reasons for what he has instructed us to do, and He will provide
the answer. This was what He did in Jeremiah 32:26-35.
God’s answer to Jeremiah was in
the form of a question. In verse 27, He rhetorically asked the prophet, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
Truly is anything too hard for God. This was the same response God gave to
Sarah when the latter doubted her capacity to conceive at 90. “Is anything too
hard for the Lord?” The crux of what God was
saying to Jeremiah as well as to us is this: Nothing is impossible with Him,
and all things are possible to him who believes.
God’s answer to Jeremiah in these verses tells us that He had to
deal with His people's sins before He could bless them. Sin has always been an
affront to Him. From Israel's inception as a nation and at this point Judah,
the nation had chosen to disregard Him and His Word repeatedly. Sin was found
at every level and in every generation. From kings to commoners, from priests
to prophets, and from leaders to followers, all have turned their back on God.
Their involvement with Baal and the pagan idols had reached epic proportions
and the point of intolerance. Time and again, they were disciplined but they
would not change. The people had refused to heed the warning of God. And
nothing is too hard for God to do, even initiating a foreign nation to punish
His people.
Another key lesson to take away: don’t turn our backs on God
instead turn our faces toward Him. When circumstances are hard and
chips are down, it is time to seek the Lord
and not harden our hearts. Psalm 14:2 says that “The Lord has looked down
from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who
understand, who seek after God.” God is
seeking for us all the time will we seek Him? Let’s act on the
admonition of Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him
while He is near.” Act now!
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