Jeremiah 32:26-44
26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? 28 Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 29 And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; 30 because the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,' says the LORD. 31 'For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; so I will remove it from before My face 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 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 to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'
36 "Now therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, 'It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: 37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. 38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. 41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.'
42 "For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. 43 And fields will be bought in this land of which you say, "It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans." 44 Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,' says the LORD."
The LORD gave assurance according to His word through Jeremiah to His people that though they earned His wrath, they would be shown mercy and be brought back to the city consumed by their idolatry and sinful disobedience. He spelled out their abomination of putting dead gods in the house of the LORD who alone was to be worshiped, a sin breaking the very first commandment written in stone for them to be able to be constantly reminded of throughout all their generations. They had not only desecrated the house of God, but also their own dwellings by burning incense to Baal and made offerings to other nonexistent lifeless things they made offerings to as replacements for the living God who delivered them from bondage. Yes, the city meant to be a place of the house of His worship was made so filthy that God had it burned and razed to the ground that He might begin all over again with them. He had taught them from the rising of each day’s sun, yet still they turned their back to Him in defiance instead of their faces in worship which we are to do as living sacrifices and offerings (Romans 12:1) to honor and glorify the only God who created us and all the heavens (Genesis 2:1, 1 Chronicles 16:26). God’s house was made into the likeness of their own houses, an abomination full of sin and idolatry in their covetousness (Colossians 3:5). They caused each other to sin throughout their generations by these acts of rebellious sin against Him. Therefore, God handed over that city meant to be a center of worship into the hands of the enemy, Babylon. But hope was given along with that sentence, a hope that He would bring back a remnant to Jerusalem after their humbling discipline was complete. They would then be safe from judgment as His people and as their God He would give them one way of unity in Union with Him, a foreshadowing of our Union with Christ as a united people from both Jew and Gentile. The promise was to be an everlasting one, which is only In Christ, with the fear and awe of Him engraved on our hearts. He would do all for His people’s good (Romans 8:28) and for His glory. He promised this with all His heart and soul! The contrast of the enormity of their punishment would be the infinite grace showered on them in this new covenant. That was written for our warning and example, and for our future and hope.
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