Well, welcome back to our series on Jeremiah, and I invite your attention to Jeremiah chapter 32. As we begin this morning, I'd like us to consider, first of all, that there is a divine intent always for Old Testament examples. We're taught in the Word. In Romans 15.4, the scriptures say, for whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning. A similar idea is found in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 11, where the apostle writes, now all these things happen unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition. And similarly, the writer of the Hebrews says in Hebrews 3, verse 7 and 8, quoting Psalm 95, As the Holy Ghost said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, referring to the time in the wilderness when the children of Israel hardened their hearts toward the Lord. Well, Jeremiah is intended to be an example to us from the Lord the whole of his life. He was called to the ministry when he was 20 years old in 627 BC, a man similar in age to many of you here this morning. He had a full lifetime of ministry, 40 plus years of it. During the reign of Josiah, beginning, followed by the reign of his son Jehoahaz, very briefly, and then Jehoiakim, another son of Josiah, and then Jehoiachin, a grandson of Josiah, and then Zedekiah, yet another son of Josiah. There are really two distinct periods in Jeremiah's ministry life. One was an 18-year period beginning in the 13th year of Jehoiah's reign who reigned for 31 years, a period of great revival, a period of great movement toward the Lord. The greatest Passover ever celebrated in Israel was celebrated during the reign of Josiah. But then, beginning with his death in 609 BC, there was a steady decline, again, a return to evil, tragically, sadly, for a period of 23 years until the fall of Jerusalem and the final deportation, which we find really beginning to be described for us right in this chapter, chapter 32. We are in the siege of Jerusalem. It's a two year period, 588 to 87 in the reign of Zedekiah. We're in the second year of it. And in 586, the general of Nebuchadnezzar essentially leveled Jerusalem, absolutely leveled the temple, and the final deportation was taken. The beginning of the 70 years in exile prophesied by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29 10 began. Jeremiah's message over and over during those declining years, during the reigns of Josiah's sons was There's going to be judgment. There's gonna be chastening for the people of God. Don't resist what's coming. Don't resist the Chaldeans, because they're an instrument in the hand of God to bring chastening. And there's going to be a deportation, and it's gonna last for an extensive period of time. God's justice, because of the constant rebellion of the people of God, was going to be shown. But there would come, after that, a restoration. When you look at all of Jeremiah, and if you want to call it the meta-narrative of Jeremiah, there are some great truths to keep in mind. One is the great truth of God's remarkable patience with his people. I mean, this is all a climax of a period of about 800 years of back and forth rebellion, obedience, rebellion, rebellion, rebellion, obedience, rebellion, mostly unfaithfulness and disobedience. God's remarkable patience. God's use of the wicked to chasten his people. And I think part of this meta-narrative, part of what we really need to see from Jeremiah is the picture of Jeremiah himself as a model for ministry. The Jeremiah model for ministry is really what we want to look at as we look at chapter 32 in Jeremiah. Now, there are 44 verses. It doesn't take a long time to read these 44 verses. And in fact, I think it'll be impossible for us not to come to an understanding. or for us too to come to an understanding of the model that Jeremiah provides for us without reading this narrative. And as we're exhorted by Paul and Timothy, we ought to give attention to the reading of scripture. And so we're going to do that together. I'm gonna read aloud, you'll read along, focus, follow the flow of the narrative, and be thinking the whole time, what is there here in this particular part of the entirety of the book that is revealing things to us about Jeremiah and the model that he is providing for us in ministry. And then we'll go ahead and see if we can draw out of what we read those ideas that are presented for us in Jeremiah 32. So looking at the very first verse, the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah. which was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house. For Zedekiah, king of Judah, had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy? And say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes. And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him, saith the Lord. Though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper." And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold Hanamael, the son of Shalem, thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is Anathoth, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanamael, mine uncle's son, came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field. I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin. For the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine. Buy it for thyself." Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field. of Hanamael, my uncle's son, that was Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even 17 shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open, and I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Messiah, in the sight of Hanumel, my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribe the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. I charged Baruch before them saying, 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. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Now, when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power, and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee. Thou showest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers unto the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is thy name, great in counsel and mighty in work, for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings, which has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men, thou hast made thee a name as at this day. And they came in, and possessed it, but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law. They have done nothing of all that thou commandest them to do. Therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them. Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it. And the city is given unto the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence. And what thou hast spoken is come to pass, and behold, thou seest it. And thou hast said unto me, O Lord God, buy thee the field of money, and take witnesses, for the city is given unto the hand of the Chaldeans. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me? Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And the Chaldeans that fight against this city shall come and set fire on the city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury unto the day that they build it, even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel, And of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, and the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they have turned unto me the back and not the face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not. Neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin. Now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, which I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them again into this place, and I will cause them to dwell in safety. and they shall be my people and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and of their children after them. And I will make them an everlasting covenant with them, but I will not turn away from them to do them good. But I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus saith the Lord, like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And the field shall be bought in this land, whereof he say, it is desolate without man or beast, it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Now, notice the flow of what's happening here in the chapter. First we find Jeremiah's imprisonment in verses one through five. This is followed by Jeremiah's purchase of the property and Anathoth at the command of the Lord in verses six through 15. And then Jeremiah's prayer for clarity about this purchase in verses 16 to 25 and God's answer to him. about Israel's future and the reason for this purchase in verses 26 to 44. That's the flow of the narrative in the chapter. And this all raises this question. What are the elements of the Jeremiah model for ministry that rise out of this striking narrative? which has a very positive ending concerning the nation of Israel. Well, I think if you look with me carefully at the passage, you'll notice, first, the remarkable courage that Jeremiah demonstrated when facing serious opposition. And this is the first element of the model of his ministry for us. We find this in verses one through five, as we just have read. I mean, right at this very moment, we're seeing, living right before our eyes, this kind of compelling courage. And it is compelling when someone like the president of Ukraine stands up in the face of overwhelming destruction and determines to fight and to stay. and to not give in, to be bold in the face of opposition. Now imagine if at the same time there was a prophet of God in the city who was saying, it's not gonna work, you're gonna be taking captivity, you're gonna be destroyed, and this was the position Jeremiah found himself in. He's not only facing the opposition of the enemies around that are attacking, he's facing opposition from within because of what he is saying. And it took the form of confinement. He was kept in a prison in the house of the king because of his public prophecies. His influence was limited. He was confined. As verse 2 says, Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, kind of a royal prison. Other officials were absolutely outraged at him. He would already be dead if it was up to all the rest. But Zedekiah was querying him, why are you saying these things? Why are you encouraging the people to be fainthearted and to give up? Well, he was doing it because God had told him to. You know, we see this kind of pattern of opposition in scripture where influence is confined by men of God. I mean, what happened to Joseph in the midst of his growing influence? He was thrown into prison. Or Daniel. who ended up in the lion's den. What of John the Baptist? Or Peter himself? And Paul? There's of course the famous story of Lutheran history who was really for benevolent purposes, but nonetheless he was confined for 13 months in Wartburg Castle during which he translated the Greek New Testament into German and standardized the German language. But there was a period of marked confinement. in the midst of opposition to him. Being alone, being in the minority, being in a small place is hard. But we're called upon by God to speak with courage, no matter facing that kind of opposition of confinement, that kind of limitation. And of course, there was not only confinement, but there was serious danger. I mean, his life was hanging in the balances constantly in this situation. He was under serious threat. Again, not an unfamiliar pattern in the Bible for men that are called upon by God to do a great work for him. What about Moses and facing Pharaoh? His life was threatened. Elijah, threatened by Jezebel. John the Baptist, again, as I mentioned, by Herod, and he ended up losing his head, literally, as a result of it. And the Lord Jesus himself, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, and the political authorities of the time in Pontius Pilate and Herod as well. Great danger. But great courage in every one of the cases I just cited and as manifested in this case by Jeremiah, remarkable courage, knowing that his life could be lost. He could lose everything at any moment as a result of his great courage. And what are the Lord's words in his exhortation to us? Well, they're found in Joshua 1, verse 6 and 7 and 9. Be strong and of good courage. They're found in Proverbs 28, 1. The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. They're found in 2 Timothy 1, 7, that God hath not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and of discipline. We're actually commanded to be courageous people, to speak the truth in a canceled culture, in the midst and in the face of danger. This is our calling, just like it was Jeremiah's calling. But here's something that's quite remarkable next when we consider this chapter, what it teaches us about the model of Jeremiah's ministry. It's the answer to the question, why was he courageous? What caused him to do this? Well, he had really made a prior commitment to immediate and complete obedience. There's no hesitancy here. That is a decision, a choice that had been made by this man long before he was in prison. And verses six through 15 really bring this home to us. Why would God ask him to buy this property in Anathoth? That part of Judah was already taken, okay? It was gone. It was captured. The city was under siege. What sense does it make? So there was a commitment to complete obedience even when he didn't understand. why he was being asked to do what he was being asked to do. He was receptive to the command from God. He had ears to hear rather than dull hearing. And of course, that command of God was confirmed by Providence because sure enough, his cousin showed up and offered him the property which underscored the command that he had received directly from God. And then he took irrevocable action, verse 12 tells us. He signed the deeds, there was before witnesses, and then those things were put in clay pots, earthen pots to preserve them. And then he thirdly proclaimed the prophecy to the people of God that God had given him that land would be purchased again. And certainly that must have left people befuddled, baffled. Why is he saying this? We're under siege, it's the end. And yet he faithfully, publicly announced and gave testimony of the word of God. Amazing that this commitment to complete and full obedience, even though he didn't understand at this point, was so profound in his life. But what was his reaction to his lack of understanding? It tells us something else about the model of Jeremiah's ministry for us. His reaction was to actually fervently pray. to understand the actions of God. And I see this in verses 16 to 25, where Jeremiah is saying, Lord, I don't understand why you're asking me to do what you've asked me to do, but how does it begin? This fervent prayer begins and is characterized by his great confidence in the character of God. There are few places in the Old Testament where this kind of list of laudatory descriptors of God find themselves all together in one place. It is remarkable. You're great. You're mighty. You're powerful. There is nothing that you cannot do, God. I know you. I believe in you. And so it's fervent prayer based on the character of God. He knows God, as verses 16 through 19 describe. And yet, even though he says, there's nothing too difficult for you, God. We see that kind of statement appearing, by the way, I might mention often in the ministry of the Lord Jesus, and even before it. In the prophecy concerning the birth of John the Baptist, nothing is impossible with God. In the conversion of the rich, with God all things are possible. In the healing of the demonized son of the desperate father, Jesus taught his disciples that all things are possible by prayer, by calling out to me. So here's a fervent prayer based on the character of God, and really kind of the centerpiece of that description, in my view, is nothing's too difficult for you, God, I know this. But then he further does fervent prayer on the basis of previous revelation. God, you did marvelous things for your people. They're all recorded, we know about them. They've been handed down to us. And you, Lord, have intervened before for your people, leading them out of Egypt and delivering the nations into their hand and planting them in the land. And Lord, now again, the Chaldeans are surrounding us and you're judging your people, you're punishing your people, Lord. You've revealed yourself and I believe in what you have revealed. So here's a dear man in real confusion and yet confident about the character of God and rehearsing the revelation of God back to him about what was going on. And that tells us something about the nature of our praying and how we ought to pray when we seek God. It should be our reflex when we don't understand the actions of God to pray in order to have understanding and clarity. So he had tremendous courage in the face of serious opposition. He fervently prayed, even though he didn't understand. And when he did pray, God answered or responded to him. And the outcome was, I think, as I look at this last part of the narrative here, Jeremiah came to understand his own need for growth in faith. Now, where do we see that? Well, in verse 17, Jeremiah said, nothing is too difficult for you. He's speaking to God in prayer. And immediately upon God's response, when he responded, what did he say in verse 27 to Jeremiah? He said, behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me, Jeremiah? Do you really believe what you said when you prayed before? Well, I think Jeremiah did believe it, but obviously he didn't believe it enough. He had a weak faith that really could not grasp God's power and ability to do what he was going to do. How often the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, you know, you have little faith. How often we find in the New Testament the idea of the glory of our faith increasing or growing, as in the case of the Thessalonian believers. We must have a strong, growing faith that believes God can do the unexplainable, the impossible. This is Mosaic faith. This is Abrahamic faith. This is not saying, you know, I don't really see how this could ever happen or how this could ever work out. Whenever that rises in our minds, our hearts, men and women, that is an invitation to us to say to God, now is the time for me to believe that you can do the impossible, you can do the unexplainable, and I'm going to trust you. And they could have done the right thing right then and there on the spot, and Jeremiah, of course, did, was to submit, to wait, to serve the 70 years in captivity, expecting the ultimate restoration. This was a faith that Jeremiah needed and we need, and I think God was instructing him in, to see through the lens of God's view of time. 2 Peter 3 says, but not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. We need to view the past with the eyes of faith. We need to view the present with the eyes of faith. But we also need to view the future with the eyes of faith. And when we do that, it brings light into present darkness. It brings joy into present sadness. Listen to Jeremiah 32, 42. For thus saith the Lord, just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I'm going to bring on them all the good I am promising them. I'm going to bring them back. I'm gonna give them one heart of obedience. I'm forming an everlasting covenant with them. And this isn't just referring to the return after 70 years or even the first century in part when the church is born among the Jews and the Jews and Gentiles are saved, but refers ultimately to the millennium and God's rule and reign over them as king and the person of the Davidic heir, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a question for you. In the midst of darkness, your darkness, your challenge, is there future mercy? Yes. Is there future grace? If you believe the New Testament, yes. Is there the opportunity for future service? Yes. Is there future peace aside from this turmoil? Yes. Is there a future heaven? Is there a future before the throne of God and the new heaven and the new earth? Yes, yes, yes. And men and women, it may be today that future. Hope and rejoice in his promises, these promises from God. Embrace these elements of the model of Jeremiah's ministry. Show remarkable courage when you face opposition, serious opposition. Commit to immediate and complete obedience even when you don't understand why God is asking you to do what he's asking you to do. Engage in fervent prayer to understand the actions of God. and see the need to grow in faith. Remember these words from the commission of Jeremiah in chapter one, verse six and seven, when he was just 20 years old. God said, or he said to God, alas, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak because I'm a youth. But the Lord said to me, do not say I'm but a youth. Because everywhere I send you, ye shall go. And all that I command you, ye shall speak." Follow the Jeremiah model for ministry. Father, bless these words. I pray, O Lord, to the hearts of thy people, to these men, to these women, and help the model of Jeremiah's ministry be seared into their hearts. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.