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8/4 Reading Portions: Judges 18; Acts 22; Jeremiah 32; Psalms 1-2
Jeremiah 32:8
Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
KNEW
As a prophet of YHVH God, Jeremiah had heard from the word of the LORD enough to surely recognize it. Yet while Jeremiah was imprisoned by Zedekiah for telling that that they would be taken captive to Babylon by the hand of the Chaldeans (Jer 32:2-5), and moreover, having prophesied that the people of Judah would be in Babylonian captivity for seventy years (Jer 25:12), the prophet is told by the LORD that his cousin, Hanamel, would come to request that he redeem his Uncle Shallum’s land. The incarcerated prophet no doubt thought, “That couldn’t have been the LORD. What a senseless act, seeing as how the land will be taken captive for an entire generation.” When Hanamel showed up and made his request, Jeremiah knew that this was the word of the LORD. The deed was purchased, signed, sealed, witnessed, and placed in an earthenware jar (Jer 32:9-14). While the act was prophetic of God’s faithfulness to bring the people back from captivity after seventy years (Jer 32:15), it was also prophetic of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has purchased us through His death on the cross (Rom 5:10; 1 Cor 6:20), signed our redemption with His own blood (Heb 9:12), sealed us with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14), given us the two witnesses of His resurrection and the sanctified Word of truth from the Scriptures (2 Cor 13:1), and placed this deed of His— this eternal treasure— in the earthen vessels of our lives (2 Cor 4:7), which gives us a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek 36:26; 2 Cor 5:17). This is the promise that the Lord Jesus will surely come again. Sometimes, we read God’s Word, and we don’t see Christ and His gospel in it. Sometimes, we don’t see an application for our lives. Sometimes, as it was with Jeremiah, the Word just doesn’t make sense. Yet as we grow in grace, as we are strengthened in faith, and after troubles and experience have worked patience in us (Rom 5:3-4; Jas 1:2-3), the Holy Spirit sheds the love of His light abroad in our hearts and we get it (Rom 5:5). “Yes,” we exclaim, “this is the Word of the Lord!” Hallelujah! What a Savior!