Jeremiah 32:11 “So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:”

Jeremiah 32:12 “And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.”

Jeremiah 32:13 “And I charged Baruch before them, saying,”

Jeremiah 32:14 “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.”

In Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah makes an investment in the word of God… I hope you have! He buys a field from his uncle’s son, redeeming it for him in the process.

To truly understand the scope of the story, and what scope it is, you have to dive deep into Hebrew law, and a peculiar law for a peculiar people… the law of the kinsman redeemer.

The law of the kinsman redeemer is most beautiful, revealing the grace of God in the Old Testament, grace and redemption you perhaps didn’t know was there all along.

The law of the kinsman redeemer is made most famous in the book of Ruth, where Boaz redeems Naomi and Ruth and all that they have… but Jeremiah redeeming Hanameel’s field is no less wondrous.

Like Ruth gleaning barley in Boaz’s field, taking into the city and beating it out, so we can beat out many precious truths from Jeremiah buying Hanameel’s field, and so many I will have barely started by the time I finish writing. So many things to write about, God is good!

If you invest your time in God’s word, God will reward you with amazing truths not just for your knowledge, but that will transform the way you think, see the world, and live your life… the Spirit of God still moves upon the pages of his holy word.

… In Jeremiah 32, the Chaldeans surround the city of Jerusalem, destruction is in progress, and king Zedekiah has imprisoned Jeremiah for preaching truth that he does not want to hear nor have the heart to obey.

Imagine that, making the guy that has the answers the enemy!

In prison though, a guy called Hanameel, a near relative of Jeremiah, comes to Jeremiah offering him to buy his field that is in Anathoth. It doesn’t seem that timely all things considered, I mean Jeremiah is in prison and the Chaldeans have taken the land… but as it turns out, God’s timing is spot on. Redemption always occurs when things get desperate. And you will have to get desperate before you get delivered.

For background, Anathoth was the place where Jeremiah grew up, they were his people, but they’d turned on him when he had turned to preaching! While the going was good they had the luxury of calling Jeremiah a liar, but now Hanameel had seen everything that Jeremiah had said was true.

He broke rank here, and you’ll have to break rank from the worldly and even religious crowd to experience personal redemption.

… Because Hanameel needed redemption. He’s lost his field. He’s facing complete desolation. And so he went to Jeremiah, appealing to him as a redeemer. He lost faith in Zedekiah and put faith in Jeremiah’s God, where all misplaced faith that you have needs to find its home! Zedekiah, government, couldn’t save him or do a thing for him. Maybe it’ll take facing loss of everything you have and your own life even to finally break that iron will and heart of stone that resists God’s truth.

I don’t know how sorry the state is you may have gotten into, I have a number of times myself, only Jesus Christ can author redemption in the ashes of our broken lives… but which he will, and as sure as the signature that went onto the land purchase that Jeremiah made.

Jeremiah points us in so many ways to Jesus Christ, our salvation, we cannot save ourselves, he is our great and mighty Redeemer. If you didn’t know, the word “redemption” means “repurchase of captured goods or prisoners; the act of procuring the deliverance of persons or things from the possession and power of captors by the payment of an equivalent”

It might take a while for you to realize only Christ can get back what we as humans and ourselves personally have lost in sin. And to realize Christ has gotten an inheritance, he is the heir of all things after all, but that he is willing to share with us! is the best thing ever!

Only one person in existence is both willing and able to redeem you, the Lord Jesus Christ. Noone else has the power and ability to redeem your spirit, soul, body. And the fact that even after a life of sin, the men of Anathoth had been trying to kill Jeremiah! That God will still save us, is a tribute to his unsearchable grace and mercy.

Jeremiah tells Hanameel that he will buy the field. Jesus will save you, even now “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” Thank God that Father, Son and Spirit thought us worthy of saving.

And from that point on, though Hanameel completely unable to keep or save himself … through Jeremiah’s purchase he and his descendants would forever know that Jeremiah and Jeremiah’s God had saved his seed. I hope this is your legacy.

One of the things the kinsman redeemer had to have power to do was “raise up the name of the dead”. Only Jesus Christ can raise you from the dead, which he will, both now and in the last day.

Maybe you think you don’t need a redeemer, you haven’t lost enough yet. Maybe you’re bold and brass enough to think you can stand in the judgment, and stare death down and handle it… you are sorely mistaken.

Hanameel changed his mind about Jeremiah, he came to a realization of God’s truth as we all must personally, and he puts his faith in God’s word. And when it came down to it, he was happy God’s word was unchanging, incorruptible truth! Because if Jeremiah had not meant what he had been saying on behalf of God, Hanameel would’ve lost everything. It’s a luxury we have to call God a liar and not trust his word with our life. Even many Christians today have such a casual flippant attitude to God’s word… you haven’t gotten desperate enough yet.

Jeremiah makes the purchase. He “puts his money where his mouth is”. But do you? Does your life show the evidence of what you say? We have an evidence based and evidence producing salvation. What evidence is there of the salvation you may say or sincerely think you have? What evidence is there of the purchased possession? If you were redeemed, how could new ownership and possession not show?

In 2 Corinthians 4, the Bible says “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” You know where the evidence of Jeremiah’s purchase was placed? … in an earthen vessel. There are some earthly things you’ve got which are most valuable to you, why wouldn’t you give your salvation that someone else paid for with the same care?

Do you know that YOU, as a claiming Christian, are evidence of the purchase? Authored by God’s word, the evidence of the purchase like we see here in this story is both sealed and open.

The Bible says we are “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” when we get saved. What a wonderful truth that when God saves us, he seals us. And we become sealed to the truth of God’s word as John 3 says. If you get unsealed so easily, it’s because the king’s seal wasn’t ever upon you “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm”

But the evidence is also “open”. The Bible says “but we all, with open face…” You have a salvation that opens and is open. Jesus will open you, beginning with your heart, mind and understanding of him… and then he will open you to others. If you were saved, the gospel would flow out of you to others.

I hope the evidence of the purchase God made of you when his Son purchased you with his own blood is both sealed and open in your little earthen bottle. Because God did pay for your freedom, the scales of justice were balanced, the purchase was seen, signed, sealed, stamped and delivered… I hope this is the story of your redemption. There was a bright future for Hanameel’s field… glory awaits!

Blog Bible Christian Church Evidence Faith Field God Gospel Hanameel Holy Spirit Jeremiah Jesus Purchase Salvation