FUTURE LAND

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.”

Jeremiah 32:1-16

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Chapter 32 of Jeremiah opens, we find God’s prophet in a bit of a predicament for the king of Judah at the time, Zedekiah, grew tired of the threats Jeremiah was levying against him, even those threats weren’t actually coming from the prophet buy God Himself.

What were those threats?

Zedekiah was not going to reign much longer because he was soon to be forced off of the throne of Judah and handed over to the attacking king of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar. That attack was in progress as the scene unfolds in our scripture passage for today and it wouldn’t be long before King Zedekiah was a king no more, becoming just another one of the countless exiles the Babylonians took

back to their homeland.

Zedekiah would never return to Judah and Jerusalem again. He would go away and die in Babylon without redemption. That wasn’t a threat by God but rather a promise, and God always keeps His promises.

Well, thrust into the midst of this scene is a second one, this one involving Jeremiah who the scriptures tell us received a word from the Lord with the following instruction:

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.’”  Jeremiah 32:6-16

Go back to the first verse in the Book of Jeremiah and you find this:

“The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.”

We know that Jeremiah was from Anathoth and while he was confined, he received a visit from his cousin, Hanamel, who requested Jeremiah buy his field for by law he was entitled to do so because he was “the nearest relative”. Jeremiah knew he was to do what his relative asked because the Lord had told him ahead of time what would transpire and things did occur just as the Lord said they would.

And so we read that Jeremiah honored the request and bought his cousin’s field for seventeen shekels of silver. Then a deed was signed and sealed, showing that Jeremiah was the rightful owner of the land. The scriptures tell us that Jeremiah gave two copies of the deed, one sealed and one unsealed, to his faithful secretary and friend, Baruch, in the presence of Hanamel, the witnesses who signed the deed, and all the Jews who were “sitting in the courtyard of the guard.” He offered his servant the following direction:

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.’” 

The Israelites were about to be taken away into a seventy year exile by the Babylonians but God had promised that they would be able to return to their homeland after they had paid the price for their sinful worship of false gods and idols. Jeremiah wanted to make sure that the deeds to the land he had purchased from his cousin were preserved until he was able to return with the rest of the Israelites. And so the sealed and unsealed copies were placed in a clay jar which would protect and safeguard them until he came back.

Now you may be thinking to yourself right about now, “Mark, what’s the point in all this? How does this apply to my life?”

Let me try and relate it.

First, note that God offers every person an opportunity to obtain a portion of a deed to land that will one day be occupied but not after a time of exile.

What is our exile period?

It’s from the moment we are born until the day that our life on this earth ends.

After that, if we have received Jesus as Savior, then our name will be on the deed that shows we have a rightful place in the new earth that God will put in place, a new earth where we will not live temporarily but rather forever more (Revelation 21:1-4).

Conversely, anyone who did not accept Jesus as Savior will not survive their exile and thus not experience life in a new location. Rather, they will die when the exile is over and life will be finished.

Question: Have you secured your part of the deed to everlasting life by receiving Jesus as Savior?

If so, your future is secured and glory awaits you when this life, exiled on an earth destined for destruction, is over. It’s a promise sealed in God’s word, a promise no one can take away from you.

Not now, not ever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com