- In the tenth year of Zedekiah's reign, a message reaches Jeremiah from God.
- This is in the middle of the Babylonian invasion, and Zedekiah asks Jeremiah why he keeps prophesying about how Judah will be defeated.
- Jeremiah's been saying that Zedekiah will be taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar.
- God tells Jeremiah that his cousin Hanamel is going to ask him to buy a field he owns in Anathoth.
- So Jeremiah buys the field. He takes the deed and gives it to his good buddy and scribe, Baruch, in front of Hanamel and a bunch of officials.
- Jeremiah tells Baruch to put the deed in a clay jar and save it, because someday their family members' descendants (or whoever) will be able to return to Judah after the exile ends and show that they own the field.
- This is a kind of vote of confidence in God's promise that the people will get back to Judah. Not to mention Jeremiah's real-estate savvy. Can you imagine how much that land will be worth in 70 years?
- After doing this, Jeremiah prays. He praises God for his power and might and justice, but also for his mercy. He praises him for bringing them out of Egypt in the past.
- But Jeremiah notes that they didn't obey the covenant they made with God coming out of Egypt, so that's why the Babylonians are besieging them. He marvels at how God still instructed him to buy that field anyway.
- God says yeah—it's a piece of cake for him to pull these things off.
- But the Babylonians are still going to capture Jerusalem, burn it down, and punish the people for their various sins and for worshipping Baal. It's all been set in motion.
- Everyone in Israel has provoked God to anger and they're all guilty, from the kings and priests to the rest of the populace.
- He's mad at them (in case you didn't know yet) for building altars to Baal, sacrificing their kids to Moloch, etc. That's why he's let them fall into the hands of the Babylonians and suffer war, famine, and disease.
- But he'll bring them back because he has everlasting love for them despite their flaws.
- God tells Jeremiah he'll restore the people's fortune, and fields will be sold and deeds will be signed and sealed once again. Finally—the real estate market rebounds.