Day 228 (Jeremiah 32-34) - Year 4
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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

Jeremiah is in prison when we open today's reading. King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, didn't like some of Jeremiah's prophecies, so he's punishing him. This feels completely irrational to me. Imprisoning the prophet doesn't stop the prophecy from coming true. It's not like Jeremiah was saying he was going to personally overthrow Jerusalem. Anyway, while Jeremiah is there, God gives him a heads up that his cousin is going to try to sell him some land.

Then, just like that, his cousin shows up with a deed and Jeremiah follows through. What a boss move. Imagine buying real estate while you're in cell block A. The fact that Jeremiah had access to this kind of money while he was in prison seems to indicate that he was pretty wealthy. The reason that is noteworthy is because he's been coming down pretty hard on the rich in his prophecies. So is he a hypocrite? No. His problem with the rich isn't their bank accounts. Being wealthy isn't a sin.

The problem is that they're oppressing people in order to get and stay rich. Jeremiah buys the field and tells his scribe Baruch to put the paperwork in his safe deposit vase because he knows it's going to be 70 years before they're needed. Jeremiah's boldness indicates that he really believes God is going to bring the people back to the land to live on it. This wasn't a financial investment. This was an act of faith.

But even Jeremiah is still human because immediately after this, he's like, God, I know nothing is too hard for you. You've done everything you promised, but I'm struggling with this field purchase. The Babylonians are already in the land I just paid for. I love that Jeremiah takes his questions and his doubts to God. God knows anyway, and he can be trusted to speak truth to our fears and our questions. And here's what God speaks to Jeremiah's fears.

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? He patiently reminds Jeremiah that the presence of the Babylonians-Chaldeans is all part of his process. As if he hasn't said it a thousand times already. And as if Jeremiah hasn't said it himself. But we all need reminders. We all need to keep circling back to the truth over and over.

One of the big problems with Israel and Judah is that they didn't do that. They were like, yeah, yeah, we know. Now pass the chisel so I can finish whittling this idol. It's good for us to remember the truth of the gospel regularly, to speak it to others and have them speak it to us. So after Jeremiah tells God who God is, God tells Jeremiah who God is. He's the God who will gather his people back to this land and restore their fortunes.

And in 3240, God says he's not just sovereign over wars and lands. He's sovereign over hearts. He says, I will put the fear of me in their hearts. The good fear, the mix of awe and delight, the kind of thing that draws us to him. He grants that to us. Not only that, but he rejoices in doing good to his people.

After all, God's family are his people forever because he's established an everlasting covenant with us. So if you're going to be with someone forever, it's probably helpful if you actually love them and are kind to them. And he does and is.

In chapter 33, Jeremiah is still in prison, and God initiates a conversation by saying something that's kind of like, Hey, I have something to tell you. Ask me what it is because I can't wait to tell you. Then he just goes straight into telling him before Jeremiah even has a chance to speak. I love that God wants to talk to his people and invites us to talk to him and seems pretty excited about it.

He initiates this conversation with Jeremiah and reminds him again that there will be restoration of Jerusalem, a reversal of everything that's currently happening. It will be emptied out, then filled again. He says someday Jerusalem will have a righteous king and priests, things they haven't had in a long time. We already know Jesus is the king this passage refers to, but for those of us who are part of a faith tradition that doesn't have priests, this may feel a little odd.

Here's something that may make it less strange. According to 1 Peter 2, 5-9, you are a priest, if you're a child of God, that is. Part of what this passage says is, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. By the way, this doctrine is called the priesthood of believers. We'll link to two articles on this in the show notes in case you want to learn more.

In chapter 34, we read the conversation Jeremiah had with King Zedekiah that landed him in prison. So this is kind of a flashback to where Jeremiah pronounced judgment and death on him. Around that time, Zedekiah had also made an important declaration about Judah's slaves. But first, we need to remember the rules God established about slavery. They could only keep Israelites as indentured servants to pay off debt, and only for seven years, then they had to set them free.

But apparently that seven-year clause was being completely ignored. This is not surprising given all the injustice Jeremiah has been talking about. One day, when Babylon has the area under siege, Zedekiah makes a declaration that all the slaves should be set free. And apparently he and the people committed to this as a vow to God.

We don't know Hezekiah's motives behind freeing the slaves. Maybe he did it because he needed more free men to serve as warriors. Or maybe he did it to try to appease God. Who knows? Regardless, the slave owners set their slaves free. But then the minute the siege of the city was lifted, they enslaved them again. And God is not okay with that. He says this makes a mockery of his character. He's the God who set them free. And since they don't get it at all, he promises them judgment.

My God shot today was in 33, 14 through 16. Part of that section says, I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. And this is the name by which it will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. We've seen this phrase before on day 225. It was my God shot then, and it's my God shot here too. But here's what struck me about it in today's reading.

I think it's fairly common for people to feel like righteousness and good deeds are something they're bringing to God as a peace offering. Like, hey, look at all the good stuff I did. Or, I promise I'll do better next time, please don't be mad at me. Righteousness can feel like a promise we're making to God, but it's one we know we can never keep. It turns out righteousness isn't something we present to God. It's something He presents to us.

God says righteousness is his promise to us. What? I can't get over it. And I don't want to. He's our righteousness. He's granted to us for free. And he's where the joy is.

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