A Wise Investment in Everlasting Habitations
Is anything too difficult for Me? Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh! (Jer 32:27). Yahweh’s declaration to the prophet Jeremiah is worthy of our consideration in all matters, especially when we are surrounded by trouble and all hope for the future has waned.
Jerusalem was surrounded by the Babylonians in A.D. 586. The siege mound was inching closer by the day. The prophet Jeremiah was under arrest because Zedekiah, King of Judah had shut him up (Jer 32:3). Free speech was not in Israel’s constitution in those days. Jeremiah’s crime was to prophesy against the king. In those days, a prophet who spoke for God must be proved true. Unsavory prophecies were never welcome, but sometimes they were accurate, in the case of God’s judgment.
Israel’s kingdom began in 1050 B.C. with King Saul. After forty years of David’s reign, and another forty years of Solomon’s reign, the kingdom was divided between ten tribes in the north and two in the south. The northern kingdom was defeated by King Sennacherib in 722 B.C. The southern kingdom survived his siege of Jerusalem, under the leadership of King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah. Unlike that prophet and king combination, Zedekiah was evil and unwilling to heed the warnings of Jeremiah.
God’s judgment was pressing down on Judah and Jerusalem. Yahweh raised up the Babylonians under their King Nebudchadnezzar. Their intention was to destroy Jerusalem and take the loot, which included the wise men of the Jews (see Daniel, Ezekiel, etc.). Why was God being so harsh toward His people, Israel? The answer was idolatry. God’s Law warns against having other gods before Yahweh. Baal received incense and libations from Israel (Jer 32:29).
The whole time in the Promised Land was an act of rebellion by Israel and Judah (Jer 32:30). This included the whole host of people from the peasants to the prophets, priests, and kings (Jer 32:32). Repeatedly, God had sent Israel teachers and prophets, but the people would not listen and learn (Jer 32:33). Instead, they defiled God’s temple and built altars in high places to false gods (Jer 32:34–35). Israel followed the nations around them and offered their children in child sacrifice to Molech, a demon posing as a god (Jer 32:35). Israel was disobedient in every way, and they proved to be hypocrites for promising to obey all Yahweh had commanded them.
The king would not hear the dark prophecies, and he punished the free speech of the prophet of God. Jeremiah encouraged Zedekiah to surrender, for it would not go well if Israel fought against Babylon (Jer 32:5). No doubt a mawkish spirit of Israel’s glory days prohibited Zedekiah from obeying the Word of surrender. Then a strange thing happened.
The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and foretold of his cousin, Hanamel, coming to propose a real estate deal (Jer 32:6–7). Wisdom argues that buying real estate, during an invasion by a very hostile army, is not wise. Property rights and ownership would not likely stand such a deluge of chaos. The bottom had fallen out of the real estate market for Israel in the Promised Land, and there was no hope. Evil loomed all around. Bad fortune had visited Israel, by the work of their own hands. Illiquid assets were not the investment recommendation of the day. Shekels may not hold any value tomorrow, either.
Uncertainty is the order of the day in this world. Just the other day, Russia prophesied that America is about ready to explode like a bomb. On any given day, I would not put much clout in Russian prophecy; but who would have ever imagined that Israel would be overthrown by such wicked pagan neighbors as the Chaldeans. Surely, God would protect Israel, right?
No doubt Jeremiah thought maybe he had eaten some bad tabouli, or maybe it was just a bad dream; however, Hanamel, his cousin, showed up with a right of redemption real estate opportunity (Jer 32:8). Jeremiah’s imprisonment was peculiar. He was not in jail. He was under arrest in the midst of the king’s palace guard. Cousin Hanamel’s proposition probably brought some comic relief to the weary soldiers, who were most likely facing their own death, at the hands of the encroaching Babylonians.
“Take the swamp land in Florida, Jeremiah!” might have been a premature scorn, but my reader can understand how bad this real estate deal was in reality. The property was a field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. On a good day, this would have been excellent real estate. Benjamin sat directly north of Jerusalem at a distance of about six miles. It gave the only flat approach to the capitol city, and it offered a passage way through the eastern mountain ridge down toward the River Jordan Valley. It was an intersection that would be a great location for a truck stop. Still, in times like Jeremiah’s, it was worthless because the clientele at that particular truck stop worshiped the crescent moon.
No doubt laughter by Zedekiah’s guard filled the palace when Jeremiah said, “Deal!” What did Jeremiah know about real estate that his cousin Hanamel did not know? He tells us, “Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son… (Jer 328b-9a).“ The Word of the Lord is everything to the prophet of God.
Noah built an ark by the Word of God. David prepared and Solomon built the temple by the Word of God. The Word of God is the Law of God. God’s people were instructed to obey God’s Law/Word. Israel often disobeyed God, and they endured the curse of the Law as a result (Dt 27).
False prophets misrepresented Yahweh and led the people astray through syncretistic religion. False teachers and prophets were supposed to suffer the death penalty for their false teachings and prophecies, but the fact remains that Israel loved false prophets and prophecies. People, today, still love them.
Jeremiah’s real estate deal, in truth, was a message from God. Seventeen shekels of silver were weighed and a deed was drawn up for the land with a purchase agreement. It was signed and sealed in front of witnesses. Copies were made and delivered to Jeremiah’s buddy Baruch. It was a peculiar time and place for a real estate deal, but everything was done in a legal manner (Jer 32:9–12).
The field was bought by the imprisoned prophet. Then Jeremiah preached a peculiar sermon in front of the witnesses, “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase, and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time (Jer 32:13–14).’”
Jeremiah was one of the first real estate moguls, there in the early 6th century B.C. He bought low, investing against the market trends, for the Word of the Lord had come to Him with some inside information. According to Almighty God, the Promised Land real estate market would recover, “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in his land (Jer 32:15).” There are some lessons in this biblical and historical account of an unlikely real estate deal.
First, we always live, in uncertainty in this world. It is a world mired in sin and under the domain of the god of this world, Satan (2 Cor 4:4). He is the destroyer of kingdom of God investments. We must invest during seasons of uncertainty, against all odds.
Second, the Promised Land is a type for heaven. This means that Jeremiah’s investment was ridiculous from the world’s perspective. He was a fool real estate investor. The kingdom of God is an investment opportunity presented to us, today.
Eschatological investments, that is, investment in the kingdom to come is our proposed real estate deal from the Word of the Lord. We can seek first the kingdom of God, but we have to know it is a spiritual kingdom. This is intangible, but the promise from the inside information we have received is that it will manifest very tangibly on the last day. Thus, we invest in the kingdom of heaven by faith, not by sight. We are fool investors for Christ, like Jeremiah was a fool for the future of Israel. The people in those days referred to the land in this way, “It is a waste, without man and without beast (Jer 33:10).”
Third, evil encroaches on us from every direction. We are hard pressed most of the time in this world. We see the heathen building big houses and driving fancy cars, and we wonder if an investment, in the kingdom of this world, might not be a bad idea. Babylonian investments always seem more prudent than elusive milk and honey nonsense. This problem faces God’s people all the time. Will we invest in Babylon or Jerusalem? Athens or Jerusalem? Rome or Jerusalem?
The apostle Paul warned the Galatians not to confuse earthly Jerusalem with heavenly Jerusalem, which is above (Gal 4:26). Ours is a spiritual kingdom to invest in (Rom 14:17). Jesus taught, “Store up your treasures in heaven, not upon the earth where moth and rust do corrupt (Mt 6:19–21).” Jeremiah’s heart was for God and for Israel, so He followed the Lord’s command to invest in the future of Israel despite the almost impossible notion that there was a future. Nothing is too difficult for God, which makes all things possible with God (Mt 19:26).
Fourth, we must understand what God is doing. We learn from the Hebrew Scriptures much about God’s will and purpose for Israel. The Israel of God is Christ Jesus (Is 49:3), the perfect Son and keeper of the Law. Old Testament Israel was a type of Christ, and in the New Testament, those who are “in Christ” are the Israel of God, the church (Gal 6:16). God is setting heaven before us, and He is telling us to invest in what appears to be a foolish investment to those around us. Will we believe them or Him?
Fifth, we must learn that God’s Word of prophecy comes true. Seventy years after Jeremiah’s rogue real estate deal was signed, sealed, and delivered, the restoration began. The real estate market recovered, and the deed was well preserved. Jeremiah’s progeny were great beneficiaries of his acumen. We must heed God’s Word and invest in the kingdom of heaven. We must bear public witness to those who mock and scoff at our choice of investments.
Our progeny will inherit what Christ Jesus has secured for us (Rev 21–22). “I go to prepare a place for you with mansions of glory,” was Jesus’ inside information for His investment group (Jn 14:2–3). If Israel’s restoration to the Promised Land teaches us anything about prophecy fulfillment and good investments, it is that God keeps His Word of promise to His people. As the people of Israel returned to the land, the temple was rebuilt (516 B.C.), and the prophecies of restoration were fulfilled (Jer 33).
Sixth, we must know the prophecies concerning us. We are not interested in earthly Israel and Jerusalem, the city of no peace here on earth. We are interested in our restoration to heavenly Jerusalem (Gal 4:26). This is accomplished because Jesus Christ had the right of redemption for a restoration of His chosen people to heaven. His investment on the cross secured heaven for us.
Although we still occupy Babylon, today, our going home to His Promised Land is forthcoming. We must make our investments wisely. We came into Babylon with nothing, and we will leave Babylon with nothing. Therefore, let us seek wise investments in heaven above, “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Lk 12:33–34).”
Finally, we must know what an investment in heaven looks like. Jesus tells us, “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings (Lk 16:9).”
In summary, Jeremiah invested in the Promised Land at an inopportune time. He did not use human wisdom to make the decision, but He trusted the Word of God to invest in the field at Anathoth. We must learn the lesson of Jeremiah and Jesus. We must invest in the kingdom of God, by investing our earthly treasure in people, today (Lk 16:9; 1 Jn 3:16–17).
In conclusion, making an investment in an eternal kingdom is the wisdom of God given to us, today. Let us defy the motley fools, who call this a waste. By faith, we must trust the Word of God that has come to us, and be like Jeremiah, whose real estate deal paid many dividends, for others in a future generation. Therefore, let us make our investment in the kingdom of God with our time, talents, and treasure. These are real estate tips from the prophet Jeremiah and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Many happy returns!
David E. Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
December 19, 2020
