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Jeremiah 32 — The most unhinged real estate deal in scripture history
10 min read
nocap.bible editorialThe year is roughly 587 BC. is at the gates — literally. The Babylonian army has surrounded, siege ramps are going up, and everyone inside the walls knows it's only a matter of time. , disease, and the constant threat of violence are the new normal.
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And in the middle of all this, — the who's been warning for decades that this exact moment was coming — is sitting in prison. Not because he committed a crime, but because King didn't like what he had to say. This is where God asks Jeremiah to do something that makes absolutely zero sense on the surface: buy a piece of land in a country that's about to be conquered.
It was the tenth year of King reign — the eighteenth year of empire — and was locked up in the court of the guard inside the royal palace. The Babylonian army was actively besieging . Zedekiah had thrown Jeremiah in prison because the kept saying the same thing over and over:
"God says He's handing this city over to the king of Babylon. It's happening. Zedekiah, you personally will not escape. You'll be taken to Babylon, you'll stand face to face with Nebuchadnezzar, and that's where you'll stay until God deals with you. Fighting the Chaldeans is pointless — you will not win."
Imagine being the guy who keeps telling the truth and getting locked up for it. Jeremiah didn't have a popularity problem — he had a truth problem. The message was accurate. Nobody wanted to hear it. 💀
While was still in prison, God spoke to him and said: "Heads up — your cousin Hanamel is about to show up and ask you to buy his field in Anathoth. You have the right of as next of kin. Buy it."
And then — exactly as God said — Hanamel walked right into the prison courtyard.
"Buy my field in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. The right of possession and redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself."
Jeremiah knew immediately. This was the word of the Lord. So he did it. Seventeen of silver. He signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, weighed the money out on actual scales — the whole formal process. He handed both copies of the deed to , his assistant, right there in front of Hanamel and all the people sitting in the courtyard.
Then Jeremiah told Baruch:
"This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take both deeds — the sealed one and the open copy — and store them in a clay jar so they'll last. Because the Lord says: Houses and fields and vineyards will be bought in this land again."
Let that sink in. The city is falling. The enemy is at the gates. And God's is signing a property deed and telling people to preserve the paperwork. This isn't — this is faith operating on a completely different timeline than everyone else. 🏗️
After the transaction was done, prayed. And this is one of the rawest, most honest conversations with God in the entire Bible. He starts with , moves through history, and ends with a question that basically amounts to: "God, I trust you — but this doesn't make sense right now."
"Lord God, You made the heavens and the earth by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you also hold people accountable for their Sin — even the consequences that ripple through generations. You are great in wisdom and mighty in what you do. Your eyes see everything — every person, every choice — and you give to each one according to what they've done."
"You showed signs and wonders in Egypt. You brought your people Israel out with a strong hand, with power, with awe-inspiring acts. You gave them this land — the one you promised their ancestors — a land flowing with milk and honey."
"They came in. They took possession. But they didn't listen to you. They didn't follow your law. They did none of what you commanded. And that's why all of this disaster has come on them."
"Look — the siege ramps are rising against the city. Sword, famine, disease. The city is being handed over to the Babylonians, just like you said it would be. Everything you spoke has come true, and you see it happening."
"And yet — you, Lord God, told me to buy a field and get witnesses — while the city is falling to the enemy."
That last line. Jeremiah isn't doubting God. He's being honest about the tension. He's saying: "I obeyed, but I'm still trying to understand." That's what real looks like — not pretending everything makes sense, but moving forward anyway. 💯
God responds to prayer directly. And He doesn't soften it.
"I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?"
That one line echoes exactly what Jeremiah said in his prayer — "Nothing is too hard for you." God throws it right back. Yes, the situation looks impossible. No, that doesn't change who God is.
But first, God confirms the . The hard truth comes before the :
"I am giving this city to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar. They will set it on fire and burn it — including the houses where people made offerings to Baal on the rooftops and poured out drink offerings to other gods, deliberately provoking me."
"The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but Evil in my sight since they were young. They have done nothing but provoke me to anger with the work of their hands. This city has stirred my anger and wrath from the day it was built until now — so I will remove it from my sight."
"All of them — their kings, officials, priests, prophets, the people of Judah and Jerusalem — they turned their backs to me, not their faces. I taught them over and over. They would not listen."
"They put their disgusting idols in the house that bears my name and defiled it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom and sacrificed their own sons and daughters to Molech — something I never commanded, something that never even entered my mind."
This is one of the heaviest passages in the . God is not just angry — He is grieved. The people He chose, loved, rescued, and gave everything to turned their backs on Him. They didn't just drift away — they ran the other direction and took their children with them. There is no slang that can soften what child means. God calls it what it is: an .
And then — right after the heaviest language — God pivots. This is what makes the Bible the Bible. Judgment is never God's last word.
"Now — about this city you say is being given over to Babylon by sword, famine, and disease — hear this: I will gather them from every country where I scattered them in my anger and fury. I will bring them back to this place. I will make them live in safety."
"They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, so they will honor me forever — for their own good and the good of their children after them."
"I will make an everlasting Covenant with them. I will never stop doing good to them. I will put reverence for me in their hearts so they will never turn away from me again."
"I will rejoice in doing them good. I will plant them in this land in faithfulness — with all my heart and all my soul."
Read that last line again. God doesn't just tolerate His people. He doesn't reluctantly take them back. He rejoices in doing them good. With all His Heart. With all His Soul. The same language we use for total devotion — God uses it for . ✨
God brings it full circle. Back to the field. Back to the deed just signed in a prison courtyard while the city burned around him.
"Just as I brought all this disaster on this people, I will bring every good thing I've promised them. Fields will be bought in this land — the same land you're calling a wasteland, empty of people and animals, handed over to the Babylonians."
"Fields will be bought for money. Deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed — in Benjamin, around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the hill country, in the lowlands, and in the Negev. For I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord."
And there it is. The field wasn't a bad investment. It was a acted out in real time. Every signature on that deed, every weighed on those scales, every clay jar storing those documents — it was all a declaration that God keeps His , even when everything around you says otherwise.
Jeremiah bought a field during a siege because the God who made and earth told him the future was worth investing in. That's not blind optimism. That's faith with receipts. 🔥