BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Today’s reading transports us into Jerusalem’s darkest hour. The puppet king, Zedekiah, has rebelled against his Babylonian overlords, bringing the full force of Nebuchadnezzar’s fury upon the Southern Kingdom. Just outside Jerusalem’s walls, the fields teem with Babylonian soldiers. Inside the city, long months of siege threaten to crush the people with hunger and despair. Jeremiah watches from behind bars as his city plunges into the very catastrophe he spent 20 years trying to prevent.

Yet, it’s in these dark days that we also find the book’s brightest moment. Israel’s rebellion will lead to destruction and exile, but Yahweh promises that this apparent end is not actually the end. Israel’s rebellion will end, and God will one day rescue them from Babylon. It will be like a new exodus, and it will come with a new covenant, one where Yahweh writes his law not on stone tablets but on the hearts of his people.

In the Hebrew mind, the heart was the seat of desire and knowledge. Jeremiah pictures a time when, at their core, people want to obey Yahweh and know how to. The messiah will rule with justice. Israelites will pick up their tambourines and dance through the streets of a rebuilt Jerusalem. Olives, barley, and grapes will burst forth from land ravaged by drought and war. The people will finally be able to love Yahweh with all of their healed hearts.

As the Babylonian army closes in on Jerusalem, Jeremiah trusts this message of hope. Before the exile, he buys a plot of land in the city. He knows the Babylonians will destroy the city, and the whole nation will live in exile for decades. It’s a terrible real estate investment. Unless, of course, Yahweh’s promises are as sure as the sun rising in the east.

It’s another prophetic sign act. Jeremiah purchases land sure to be “lost” because he knows it’s just as sure to be restored and made whole.

Reflection Questions

• Look back at Moses’ speech in Deuteronomy 30. What does Yahweh promise will happen after the exile? Where do you see Jeremiah reaffirming these promises in today’s reading?
• Compare Jeremiah 31:28 to Jeremiah 1:10. What parallels do you notice? How have you seen God’s words in these two passages come to pass in the book of Jeremiah so far?