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Teaching Text: ‭‭Jeremiah 32: 1–17

This is 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. The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.

Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”

Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’

“Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; 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. For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

Watching for the Light
Hope: Buy a Field - Holding Onto Promise Against Incredible Odds
Series Intro:
- God is near
- God is saving and rescuing
- God is filling and healing.
- But that can be confusing or disillusioning because life has quite a lot of waiting, some real season is difficultly, loss, grief. Life has what feels like delays. It has uncertainty, pain, and longing.
- And so we need the darkness of Advent also. We need the wilderness and waste places of Lent, we need the confused grief of Holy Saturday when Christ has died but we see no sign of resurrection.

Formation

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

Jeremiah
- God tells him to buy a field in the land that is falling. The place where the enemy is currently camped, besieging the city.
  - In the midst of the city falling.
  - In the middle of the death of a dream.
  - In the chaos of defeat.
  - God says houses, fields, and vineyards will be bought again in this land.
  - Judgement, death, and defeat will not have the last word.
    - Mercy will. Salvation will. Renewal will.

Hope-determined actions participate in the future God is bringing into being. These acts are rarely spectacular. Usually they take place outside sacred settings. Almost never are they perceived to be significant by bystanders. It is not easy to act in hope because most of the immediate evidence is against it.
– Eugene Peterson

And God invited him to a demonstration and participation in hope.
And he put the record of that absurd hope into jars of clay. I hope the bells are ringing in your heart.
- But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
- – 2 Corinthians 4: 7–10
  - You are the record of this hope.
  - You carry the deposit.