TRUST AND OBEY

“Practice what you preach!”  Jeremiah would have his faith tested, as God would command him to buy a piece of property in his hometown.  He is “in jail,” so to speak, and his town has been taken by the Babylonians, who are currently besieging Jerusalem.  The prophet had been told by God that Judah would fall, with the survivors taken into captivity—not to return for seventy years.  Jeremiah would not live to see that day, and so it made no sense to buy land where you will never set foot, build on, or farm.

He was told by the Lord to purchase the field in Anathoth from his cousin, Hanamel for seventeen shekels of silver.  Hanamel must have walked out, with his bag of silver jingling, whistling, “Happy Days Are Here Again,” hardly containing his delight that he had made such a shrewd business deal!
It made no sense.  People must have scratched their heads in bewilderment.  Jeremiah was the talk of the town at supper that night.  “He’s nuts!” That must have been a repeated phrase.

What Jeremiah did was not folly, but faith.  He obeyed the Word of the Lord.  It cost him.  Living by faith can be very costly.  God told him to trust Him.  Jeremiah acknowledged that there was nothing too hard for the Lord!  God affirmed this to His man, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh.  Is there anything too hard for Me?” (v.27)

He needed that reassurance.  Jeremiah was getting old, and would never live to walk upon that ground he bought.  Or would he?

God went on to speak of a time that is yet to come—a time when Israel will be restored to the land, when they will do more than return to the land, they will return to God in repentance.  God will reign over them and restore them.  The promises made here exceed those experienced by the exiles when they returned in seventy years.  These blessings await the return of Christ and the redemption of Israel—a day that is coming, and maybe soon!

When that happens, there is a man who will have been raised from the dead, and in a glorified body, Jeremiah will walk into Anathoth, display his deed, and claim his land!  Can you imagine the smile on his face.  He had lost nothing.  He gained everything!  It was an investment in time which would pay dividends in eternity.

For us, let us be reminded of the truth proclaimed in the old hymn, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”