God’s Unlikely Word

The Plans I Have for You • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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God’s commands are clear. They are simple; God always speaks simply. You cannot find in Scripture a time when God speaks but the person has to “figure it out.” God is always clear. His commands are not always easy, mind you, but they are always simple.

But sometimes God’s word is difficult. Sometimes his word is unlikely. When God speaks an unlikely word, we question ourselves - “did we hear him right?” We question his choice of speaking to us - “does he really mean me?” We question the statement - “is that what he really said?”

When God’s word is an unlikely word, we have trouble believing it. We have trouble acting upon it.

I believe that God spoke an unlikely word to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 32. Stand with me as I read just verses 6-7:

Jeremiah 32:6–7 ESV

6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’

Pray: Father, speak to us this morning. And may we hear your voice and follow your commands no matter how unlikely they may be. Amen.

Let’s set the scene. Jeremiah has had a long ministry by the time chapter 32 happens: he is close to if not fulfilled a full four decades as God’s prophet. When he started, Josiah was instituting his religious reforms: reinstating the Passover, rebuilding the Temple, and removing the high places. There was an air of patriotism among Israelites - and a growing hope of bringing north and south back together again. Now, some 40 years later, the situation is dire. Verse 2 of this chapter tells us that Jerusalem is under siege. Within one year, the city would be nothing but rubble and ashes.

What’s more, Jeremiah himself is imprisoned. Verses 3-5 tell us why: he prophesied against the king and the royal city. He declared God’s words of destruction, calling people to surrender to the Babylonians rather than fight God’s will. He even said that the king would be exiled into Babylon.

Needless to say, Jeremiah was not very popular among the elite of his day! That’s why he is in the court of the guard - he is locked up so that he can’t speak out among the masses in the city. Jeremiah is in a difficult place to carry on God’s work!

We don’t know the full extent of this imprisonment, but we do know that Jeremiah would have a visitor. And God’s unlikely word would prepare the prophet for the occasion.

This might be a good place to note something: no matter where you are, God always has a word for you. It may seem like you are too far away but that is not true. God always has a word for you. It might be a call to repentance, it might be a hope for salvation, it might be an encouragement to persevere. It might even be a command to obey. Whatever his word is in that moment, know with certainty that God always has a word for you.

And sometimes, that word is unlikely. For Jeremiah it was. Look again at God’s unlikely word:

Jeremiah 32:6–7 ESV

God tells the prophet, “you’re going to have a visitor - your own family in fact. He’s going to try to sell you his land.” But Jeremiah is in chains. How can he buy land while in custody? This is a strange word from God indeed! Rather than a message like, “I’m going to see you through this” or “The people who have done this to you will be punished,” God says, “I’m sending you a cousin to do a real estate deal.” Talk about an unlikely word!

But this is God’s word. No matter how unlikely it seems, God’s word is true.

Jeremiah 32:8 ESV

8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

Look at how it happens: God declares it, then it comes to pass! (This seems to be a pattern with God, doesn’t it?)

So what is he to do? He does what God commands. He obeys God. Verses 9-11 lay out all the legal hoops Jeremiah jumps through to seal the deal. He buys the field, weighs the money, signs the paperwork, gets witnesses, and gets multiple copies all according to the legal customs. He is careful to follow the letter of the law. Then, he gives a copy of the deed to Baruch for safe keeping.

Now think about what is transpiring here. Jeremiah has prophesied that Judah will be overrun by Babylon and that the people will be killed or exiled in the process. The land will be either razed by a foreign army or grazed by foreign animals. But now this same prophet is buying that same land that is doomed to fall into foreign hands. What sense does this make?

God’s unlikely word often doesn’t make sense - at least on the front end. But I believe that God is doing a work of grace.

Grace toward Hanamel

The whole reason Hanamel is selling his land is that he is in deep financial trouble. During the days of siege, the Babylonians cut off all food and water from entering the city. There was devastating starvation because of the siege, and likely Hanamel is himself starving. His only hope is to sell his land for money to buy food.

But God promised his people would always have an inheritance in his promised land. If they sell the land to others, then what inheritance would they have? So God came up with a plan:

Leviticus 25:23–28 ESV

23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land. 25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

By having a kinsman redeemer buy the land (just like Boaz in the story of Ruth), the land would stay in the family. Thus, the inheritance remains, and the person having hard times gets the help they need.

Now back to Jeremiah. By sending this cousin to the prophet, God is working his grace in the life of Hanamel. His need is real, and through the prophet God gives the grace to meet Hanamel’s need. But the grace is not just for Hanamel.

Grace for Jeremiah

Let’s go back to verse 8:

Jeremiah 32:8 ESV

No matter how implausible or how strange or how odd God’s word may sound, his word is true. Notice Jeremiah’s attitude. At first, he says that his cousin came “in accordance with the word of the LORD,” but then he says, “Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.”

You ever say something you believe, but then only later do you really start to believe it? That’s what’s happening. Jeremiah recognizes God talking to him, at least in his brain. But his heart needs confirmation. That word for knowing at the end of the verse means to know by experience, not just with the brain. We memorize facts with our brains, but we know much more when we live through it. Jeremiah’s experience assures him that God is truly speaking to him. God is giving his own prophet grace by allowing him to experience God’s trustworthiness first hand.

I don’t know if Jeremiah was struggling with faith at that point. I don’t know if he was doubting or questioning or if he was just depressed. I don’t know where he was emotionally. But I do know that Jeremiah needed grace, and God provided it. But that grace was not meant only for Hanamel and Jeremiah.

Grace for Israel

God’s grace would extend out to the entirety of God’s people, and God would do that through his prophet. After going through the legal steps, Jeremiah takes a copy of the deed and gives it to his scribe. Verse 13 picks up the action:

Jeremiah 32:13–15 ESV

13 I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’

Now that Jeremiah has the confirmation he needs, he can declare God’s Word with confidence. God says to save the deed in a safe place so it will last, because God’s word will also last: Israel will not be forsaken forever. They will buy and sell land again. This is a promise of a future beyond the exile. Just as God’s punishment is sure, his restoration is also sure. Though sorrow may endure through the night, joy comes in the morning.

What a word of grace! God will not utterly abandon his people!

Now, I think we’re ready for the main point of this passage:

God’s Unlikely Word Is Always a Means of God’s Unlikely Grace

Just as unlikely as a prisoner buying land from his cousin, God giving grace to sinners who deserve his wrath is un-heard-of. But he does it all the same. God is an unlikely kind of God - one who gives an unlikely grace to the most unlikely of people. And often he uses some of those unlikely recipients of grace to give his grace to others by their obedience to his most unlikely commands.

So when God speaks an unlikely word to you, what will you do? Will you follow his clear commands, no matter how unlikely they seem to be? When you do, his unlikely grace will touch so many lives - including, very likely, yours.