(This is an addendum to this morning’s post.)
I’m reading in the book of Jeremiah. In today’s reading chapter thirty-two, God tells Jeremiah to buy some worthless land.
Prior to this God told Jeremiah that the Jewish nation was about to be taken captive and transplanted to Babylon. So under these circumstances it really seems preposterous to Jeremiah. Who would be left to inhabit the land? Plus, the land is worthless. Jeremiah grouses and says to God in our present-day vernacular, “Are you kiddin’ me?”
To which God responds, “Is anything too hard for me?” (By the way, Jeremiah and God have wonderful two-way communication throughout the book.)
So the ever faithful Jeremiah goes ahead and buys the land. Then God tells him to do something even stranger.Read God’s instructions below.
“So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. I took the deed of purchase–the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy– and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard. “In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.” (Jeremiah 32:9-14 NIV)
The jar is never mentioned again in the Bible nor is it ever mentioned that the jar was found. There are those that believe the placement of the deeds in a jar, are symbolic of end-times developments, that when the Jews fully occupy Israel, the jars will be found. I don’t know enough about any of that to offer an opinion but I do find it interesting.
Why would God tell the prophet to preserve the deeds to “last a long time” unless they are meant to be discovered some day?
I blog because God made it very clear I should.
The blog land may feel desolate at times but the instructions were clear. If my posts end up “hidden”, it doesn’t matter in the scheme of things.God knows what He’s doing.
So that’s why I blog.
God bless and I hope you have a good day.
