Jeremiah 32:1-29 tells the strange story of Jeremiah, a prophet who has been telling Israel that they are about to go into exile for 70 years, buying a field, even though he is not likely to get any use out of the field himself. This seems a bizarre thing to do, given that he knows he will not live to see the return of Israel from Babylon, but is a vivid living parable that in a life of faith, we have to take the long view.
God reminds Jeremiah through the question ‘Is anything too hard for me?’ (Jer 32:27) that even though life may look unrelentingly bleak at present, He is still working and has not abandoned Israel. Jeremiah’s apparently ludicrous act of purchasing a field is a visible testimony to Israel that ‘houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’ (Jer 32:15) God, the Sovereign Lord, has not abandoned His people forever; there will be a time when He acts decisively and the people will return. Jeremiah’s act of faith reminds us that we are called to see more than the visible: ‘We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ (2 Cor 4:18) Now, with all its humiliation and hurt, with all its persecution and pain, is not the final story. Now they may have to endure God’s furious anger and great wrath, but in the future, they will be gathered from all the lands and brought back to Jerusalem where they will live in safety. God’s covenant with His people will survive even punishment and exile, but they – like us – need eyes of faith to see the impossible become possible and to believe through the waiting period when nothing seems to be happening.
