Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight will be study #10 of Genesis, chapter 23, and we are going to read Genesis 23:12-20:

And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city. And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

I will stop reading there. We have been spending a good deal of time here because this is a major Biblical teaching and a very important truth that the Bible presents concerning God’s purchase of the world and the treasure therein. In this case, Sarah was a picture of the treasure, as she is laid in the field, and the field is the world, and God will come to obtain His treasure and remove it – it belongs to Him. That is what will happen on the last day.

We have gone from Matthew 27 to Zechariah 11 and now to Jeremiah 32, regarding language dealing with the purchase of a field. We have seen that the historical context in Jeremiah 32 is the fall of Jerusalem and Judah. It was the tenth year of Zedekiah, and I believe he only reigned 11 years. It would be the year 588 B. C. and Jerusalem would be destroyed in 587 B. C., so it was very near that time when the city would finally fall after a 23-year (inclusive) period since the start of this overall 70-year tribulation against them, which points to the first part of the Great Tribulation period.

But we see that God wanted Jeremiah to purchase a field, so He moved in the son of Jeremiah’s uncle and he came (to Jeremiah) and requested that he buy his field in Jeremiah 32:7. Jeremiah saw the purpose and will of God and he bought the field for seventeen shekels of silver, and in the Bible the number “17” points to heaven. And this is an excellent place to show that because the purchase of this field has everything to do with the new creation of the new heaven and new earth that the people of God will receive after this present creation is destroyed. Actually, that is the main point of this; that is why God caused His prophet Jeremiah to buy this land in the midst of this ugly and awful historical siege by the Babylonians. Jeremiah had the right of redemption, and he exercised that right and bought the field. And then it belonged to him. You can see that God doing this at this time has to do with the fact that He is encouraging His true people, the “true Jews,” not the ones that were outwardly Jews and physical descendants from Abraham. No – He was encouraging men like Jeremiah and men like Ezekiel, men that were true men or true Jews that were circumcised in heart. They also were of the physical line of Abraham, but better than that, they were counted for the seed of Christ because they had been chosen by God. Their sins had been paid for by the Lord Jesus, making them “spiritual Jews,” because they had new born-again hearts, which the Bible identifies as being circumcised in heart.

So the purchase price is pointing to heaven. It is pointing to the fact that the promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be fulfilled. It had not been forgotten. We have to keep in mind that this was a shocking time because they had been dwelling in the Promised Land for centuries, and it was about to be overrun and taken over by an enemy army. The Jews were commanded by God to leave their land and to go into captivity to Babylon, so it could easily have come into a Jew’s mind at that time: “Has God forgotten us? Has He forgotten His promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all His people concerning this land of Canaan? Has God forgotten that He had given us this land for an everlasting possession?” You see, they would have been looking at the earthly, outward representation of the physical land. And this is the point that God wants to make: “When the outward representation of the land I had promised you is taken and destroyed and you are removed from it, do not worry, fear or fret because the promise will continue. It is steadfast and immovable. It is a promise that I will not go back from, and I have not forgotten. I will remember, and I will fulfill it as my Word has declared.” In other words, God was assuring the true Jews of that time, as well as us today, because we know that when Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed and the Babylonians won the war and the Jews had to go into captivity in Babylon, we know that it is a historical parable that was painting a picture of God’s judgment that began on the house of God when the corporate church was besieged round about by Gog and Magog (Satan and his forces).

The corporate church was another outward representation of the kingdom of God on earth and it was destroyed and obliterated, in a spiritual sense. When God commanded his “true Jews” or true elect children that were within the churches for almost two thousand years to leave the churches and go out into the world, His command to flee Judaea and go to Babylon spiritually pointed to our time. During our time, the 23-year judgment upon the churches has been completed and now we are in another period when the overall judgment is on the world and, yet, it is still pertinent. It is still important to us today to remember this solid and steadfast truth. It is a glorious and wonderful truth that God would not have us to forget at this time at the end of the world.

When these things are happening, like the churches being gone and that outer representation has been removed, do not fear. Do not fret. Do not worry. Do not be troubled of mind. Take comfort…take comfort because the field has been purchased. The world to come has been bought. “The right of redemption is mine,” the Lord says, and He has exercised that right. He has purchased the new earth and He has purchased us along with it, just like when He purchased the land in relationship to Ruth and Naomi. So we belong to Him. The new heaven and new earth, the new creation, belongs to Him and He will bring it to pass. He will fulfill every jot and every tittle of every letter in the Bible, especially concerning this promise and all the other promises. He will bring it to pass. He will accomplish the doing of it in its proper time and season, and we are coming quickly to that point!

So, here in Jeremiah, after we read that Jeremiah bought the field, it says in Jeremiah 32:11-15:

So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open: And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

That is God’s point. And what did that land represent? It is the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. What was that land called? It was the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. In the Promised Land, there would be houses and fields and vineyards possessed once again. But do not think historically of Israel coming out of Babylon and settling back in their land. That is true, but that is not what God is directing our attention to. He is directing us toward real and genuine possession, and not a possession for a generation or a few generations. It is not a temporal possession, but an eternal possession, because that is the promise, is it not? We have looked at this, but I will read it again, in Genesis 17:8:

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

That is the Lord is referring to by using this language: “…house and field and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.” Remember what it says in Isaiah, chapter 65. To set the context so we see exactly what is in view, it says in Isaiah 65:17-22:

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Here, we see in the context is language of the new heaven and new earth, God is speaking of building houses and inhabiting them and planting vineyards and eating the fruit of them, just as it said in Jeremiah 32: “…houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.” And, significantly, it adds in Isaiah 65:22: “They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat.” And what would happen to historical Jerusalem and Judah after the Babylonians conquered them and took them over? Who would inhabit their houses? Another would inhabit them. Who would eat the fruit of their vineyards? Another would eat it. But when God would restore them to the land and bring them again to the land, that will not be the case. Again, this is only fulfilled, ultimately, at the time of the end of the world at the time when God finally gives to His people that new dwelling place and eternal habitation of the new heaven and new earth.

Let us go back to Jeremiah 32 where God refers back to His promise to Israel concerning the land, and it says in Jeremiah 32:22-25:

And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them: Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it. And thou hast said unto me, O Lord JEHOVAH, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Again, Jeremiah was very much aware of the unusual nature of the command by God to buy this field at that particular point in time, but it was actually a very appropriate time, just as it is a very appropriate time for us to remember this truth: Yes- the churches are gone; they have been destroyed, and people going back into the churches is the most foolish and wrong thing that anyone could do at this time. Of course, it is just like Lot’s wife as she looked back to Sodom, which God explicitly and directly warned against: “No – that is not where you will have houses and fields and vineyards for your possession. You are not to dwell there any longer. Do not look back there, but look above.” Look ahead. Look to the faithful God, the trustworthy Lord. Look to the God who is faithful and true and cannot lie and the things He has said. And look at the situation that we are in right now. Yes – take a look at the desolation of the corporate church because that confirms the Word of God. It guarantees and confirms the truth of the Word of God for the time of the end, as He said there would be a falling away first. And then know that the end is close at hand, and your eternal lot of inheritance that God has granted you through Christ will be received. You and I and all the elect children of God will one day (very soon) enter into that glorious new “field,” that new earth, and all the things of this life will be forgotten and remembered no more.

I want to conclude this look at Jeremiah 32, so we can go back in our next study to Genesis 23. It says in Jeremiah 32:36-44:

And now therefore thus saith JEHOVAH, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus saith JEHOVAH; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith JEHOVAH.

The return of the captivity in this context is pointing to the entry into the new heaven and new earth and the kingdom of God. That will be the land that we will enter into forever.