32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, 3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him [a]face to face and see him eye to eye; 5 and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”’?”
6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.”’ 8 Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I [b]signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may [c]last a long time.” 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’
We find Jeremiah confined to the court of the guard, because the king didn’t like what Jeremiah said–though it was only what God had told him to say. Then another word comes to Jeremiah, that seems a bit weird. Here he is, stuck in the court of the guard, and God says his cousin is going to come and ask him to buy/redeem his field. Sure enough, Hanamel, his uncle’s son, shows up and asks that very thing.
Now, this is a bit strange, for land was often handed down generation by generation, and though you might sell a piece of property now and then, as a rule it simple stayed in the family. Thus we have this idea of redemption, similar to what Boaz does for Ruth and Naomi (in the book of Ruth). However, Jeremiah would likely never be able to do anything with this field, for the Babylonian army was camped on or near it–Anathoth was just a few miles away from Jerusalem.
Either way, Babylon would control it in short order, for they had conquered the land, and were about to finish the job with Jerusalem. Jeremiah was in prison exactly because he had spoken God’s word confirming this. So why buy the land at all? Because Jeremiah not only believed God’s message about Babylon, but also God’s message that Israel would return to their land and that, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
This was where the rubber meets the road–it was one thing for Jeremiah to speak God’s word. It was quite another for him to spend seventeen shekels of silver for a field he would never plant (not cheap). We may not find ourselves surrounded by foreign armies, or in prison, but God isn’t done asking us to trust and follow Him. What that looks like may be different for each of us, though it very likely involves Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples”.
Whatever God is asking of us, we need to be reminded that He is trustworthy. Whatever God has spoken, it will come to pass. There’s no if’s or maybe’s, and we need to remember that God is faithful. He has promised to meet our needs (Matt. 10), and He has promised that the work He began in us, He will be faithful to complete (Phil. 1:6). So keep following God’s plan and know that He has it all worked out, no matter how possible it seems.