ROOTED - Monday, May 11, 2026

Jeremiah 32:6-10

6  Jeremiah
said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold,
Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my
field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is
yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me
in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord,
and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then
I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

9 “And I bought
the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the
money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I
signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money
on scales.

Reflection: Anathoth

Written By: Pastor Jesse
Caro

This
story of Jeremiah is a bit tricky to understand. Why does Jeremiah give us the
story of Anathoth, seemingly out of the blue? The story goes like this: Jeremiah
is given a dream from God to buy land in Anathoth, a Levitical city near Jerusalem.
Evidently one of his relatives owns the land and has been asked by God to sell
it to his closest relative… Jeremiah. Anathoth was the hometown of Jeremiah,
but Jeremiah was not really welcomed there. His prophetic words caused so many
of his kinsmen to reject him, so Jeremiah had no real ties in Anathoth.
Furthermore, Jeremiah had been prophesying the capture of Jerusalem and the
surrounding area, including Anathoth. So, the people there did not like him
very much. This all begs the question:  Why
would God ask Jeremiah to buy the field in Anathoth when its capture was
imminent, and Jeremiah had no ties to it?

Herein
lies the great story behind the story! This story instructs us (the reader)
about the nature of faith and hope. While, on the one hand, Jeremiah is
prophesying the capture and judgment of Anathoth by the Babylonians, on the
other hand, God is asking him to buy land he may never use! His obedience to
the call of God to buy the field, encourages us to live in faith, even when God
is asking us to do something counterproductive or silly. Jeremiah was living by
faith that he would one day be welcomed in the land and use it… that God’s
people would, by faith, be released from captivity despite all the evidence to
the contrary. This story is one of hope… that God will, in his time, will restore
the fortunes of his people. I am grateful Jeremiah bought the land, and that we
are able to read this story. It instructs us as to the nature of faith and
hope! May we now apply what we learn from the prophet’s example.

Prayer

Lord, may we be like your powerful prophet, Jeremiah, being
obedient to step out in faith to do things that seem unwise. May we have the
faith to obey you with whatever you ask us to do.