Jeremiah
was one shrewd investor. Real estate tends to hold its value, and he seems to
have bought up this loan cheap: David gave fifty shekels for the temple mount (2
Sam 24.24) and Ephron the son of Zohar clipped Abraham for four hundred when
the patriarch needed a burial ground. (Gn 23.15) Jeremiah seals the deal for a
fast seventeen.
Of
course, there was a downside.
The
prophet makes his killer deal in a land besieged by a foreign force who - as
Jeremiah himself had long insisted - would eventually conquer. A new
administration would distribute spoils to its own clients and anyway the
deportation of the majority of the populace would stifle the local economy.
Then, too, a new government does not generally honor the legalities of the old.
Buying
land near Jerusalem at this juncture is like contracting with the Republic of
Texas for real estate in San Antonio halfway through the siege of the Alamo, or
purchasing Confederate war bonds in Atlanta just before Sherman's troops roar
in. Sure, you could get a great deal on a foreclosure in the Sun Belt a few
years back, but that wasn't much good once the housing bubble had burst.
Jeremiah
obeys God's command, even goes the length of making sure all parties sign on
the dotted line, notarizing the contract and stashing the documents in a safe
deposit box. But in private the prophet takes the opportunity to inform the
Almighty of the present state of the market. (v.16-25) Of course, he was also
trading on insider information: God tells Jeremiah that disaster is certain,
but not final. Hope survives on the other side of captivity.
The
message of Scripture to besieged souls is not that the worst will not happen;
it very well may. Instead, the Lord assures us that the worst is, at the best,
a temporary condition, and the best is, at the worst, delayed but never
derailed.
Jesus
gave his life to ransom our sin-besieged souls when any appraiser worth her
license would have declared us a dead loss, and Easter Sunday's recovery wiped
out Good Friday's deficits. Cling to faith in Christ despite the fluctuations
of fate: Seal up the promise and hang on.
Sold!
Doug
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