Description
This chapter prophesies the end-time restoration of Judah and Jerusalem, which was only partially fulfilled after the Babylonian exile. God promises to make an everlasting covenant with Israel, and that they will never turn away from him again.
Commentary
Most of this chapter is a historical narrative of events in the year 587 BC, when Jerusalem was being besieged for the second time by Nebuchadnezzar. God told Jeremiah to buy a field at Anathoth that his nephew wanted to sell. It was his right to do so as the closest relative. Given Jeremiah's prophecies that Jerusalem was about to be destroyed, it might have seemed a waste of money to buy property at that time. Nevertheless, God told him to buy the field and have the purchase publicly witnessed, as a prophetic statement that Judah would one day be restored to the land.
Verses 36 to 44 affirm both the certainly of Jerusalem's imminent destruction, but also the certainly of Judah's eventual return to the land. Their return, as described in these verses, was partially fulfilled after Cyrus the Persian conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC, and allowed Jewish exiles to return and to rebuild the temple. However, the detail includes God's promise to establish an everlasting covenant with them, part of which is the promise to fill their hearts and minds with respect for God so they never again turn away from him (v40). This is clearly the same covenant described in 31:33, where God promises to write his law on their hearts and minds, a covenant that is interpreted in Hebrews 8:8-12 to be the New Covenant introduced by Jesus through his death and resurrection. Given that Judah did turn away from God again, and was again exiled from the land by the Romans, the ultimate fulfilment of this covenant must be in Israel's acceptance of it after their promised return to the land in the end times. Otherwise God's covenant failed.
The restoration depicted in this chapter relates specifically to the southern kingdom of Judah, and their associated territory (v44). The restoration of the nation as a whole, including the northern kingdom of Israel, is depicted in the previous chapter, and again in the next chapter.
Verses 36 to 44 affirm both the certainly of Jerusalem's imminent destruction, but also the certainly of Judah's eventual return to the land. Their return, as described in these verses, was partially fulfilled after Cyrus the Persian conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC, and allowed Jewish exiles to return and to rebuild the temple. However, the detail includes God's promise to establish an everlasting covenant with them, part of which is the promise to fill their hearts and minds with respect for God so they never again turn away from him (v40). This is clearly the same covenant described in 31:33, where God promises to write his law on their hearts and minds, a covenant that is interpreted in Hebrews 8:8-12 to be the New Covenant introduced by Jesus through his death and resurrection. Given that Judah did turn away from God again, and was again exiled from the land by the Romans, the ultimate fulfilment of this covenant must be in Israel's acceptance of it after their promised return to the land in the end times. Otherwise God's covenant failed.
The restoration depicted in this chapter relates specifically to the southern kingdom of Judah, and their associated territory (v44). The restoration of the nation as a whole, including the northern kingdom of Israel, is depicted in the previous chapter, and again in the next chapter.
Tags
Places: Jerusalem, Judah, Benjamin
Symbols:
Tags: Restoration of Judah, Restoration of Israel, Babylonian exile, New covenant
Symbols:
Tags: Restoration of Judah, Restoration of Israel, Babylonian exile, New covenant
36 “You and your people are right in saying, ‘War, starvation, and disease are sure to make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylon.’ But now I, the Lord God of Israel, have something further to say about this city:
37 ‘I will certainly regather my people from all the countries where I will have exiled them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here in safety.
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.
40 I will make a lasting covenant with them that I will never stop doing good to them. I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that they will never again turn away from me.
41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them firmly in the land.’
42 “For I, the Lord, say: ‘I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them.
43 You and your people are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians. But fields will again be bought in this land.
44 Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, the towns in Judah, the southern hill country, the foothills, and southern Judah. For I will restore them to their land. I, the Lord, affirm it!’”
37 ‘I will certainly regather my people from all the countries where I will have exiled them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here in safety.
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.
40 I will make a lasting covenant with them that I will never stop doing good to them. I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that they will never again turn away from me.
41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them firmly in the land.’
42 “For I, the Lord, say: ‘I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them.
43 You and your people are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians. But fields will again be bought in this land.
44 Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, the towns in Judah, the southern hill country, the foothills, and southern Judah. For I will restore them to their land. I, the Lord, affirm it!’”
(NET)
