Jeremiah prophesy to the Israelites

Hag Shavuot (Pentecost), the joyous Feast day of the LORD is coming soon! And right now is already the forty-seven days, which is six weeks and five days of the Omer. In the old days when we were been invited to join the membership of our church, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, we were told to attend lessons about the Holy Spirit and at the end of the lessons we will all gathered together to receive the Holy Spirit unto ourselves and be baptized at that very moment. In church, we were not told anything about the Torah, the Feast days of the LORD and definitely nothing about the Sabbath. Some of the senior pastors had told us that our Lord Jesus Christ had already taken that away from us when he went to the cross and hence we will not be cursed by it. The point elaborated by them is no doubt good intention but they have forgotten that the Torah contains both the blessings and the curses too. Taken away from us our curses is good but what about our blessings? We cannot be so naive that we want only blessings and not curses, right? Anyway, God is our only Authoriser and not any human beings on earth. Whether we are blessed or cursed depends very much on Him and Him alone.

Haftarah Behar relates the account of Jeremiah’s redemption – purchase of a family field at Anathoth. While imprisoned in the guardhouse, a cousin approaches Jeremiah and asks him to redeem a piece of property. The LORD commands Jeremiah to execute the transaction according to careful, legal procedure. Jeremiah does so, but does not understand why he must. If the Babylonians are about to end the kingdom of Judah and deport its population as Jeremiah predicted, why worry about legal claims to a piece of property? He asks the LORD for an explanation. The Haftarah concludes just as the LORD begins to offer the prophet an answer to his query. The sages selected the story of Jeremiah’s redemption the family field in Anathoth because Parashah Behar provides the laws of buying, selling, and redeeming property.

The Midrash offers a messianic interpretation to the passage, explaining that the laws of redemption found in the Torah portion allude to the final redemption. Since the word “dod” can also mean friend or beloved, God Himself is the true Dod – the Redeemer of Israel. Likewise, “the ben-dod is the Mashiach, of whom it says [in Psalm 2:7(6)], ‘Today I, Hashem, have fathered you.’” Indeed, if ben dod is written in its long form (with a vav), it appears identical to the title “Son of David, (ben David).” Jeremiah thus received a message regarding the children of Israel’s ultimate redemption before they even went into the first exile, as is hinted at by the words ben dod and dod.

According to the Midrash either as an oral tradition of the apostolic community or as a written source exegetes the thirty shekels of silver exchanged for the life of Yeshua represents the “value” of His life. The priests exchange the thirty shekels, the value of His life, for the Potter’s Field, but Yeshua exchanges His life for the right to possess and redeem Israel. Thus the Gospel writers all drew upon these similar apostolic sources while composing their Gospels.

Jeremiah’s deed to the field in Anathoth symbolizes the Torah and God’s covenant with Israel. Just as Jeremiah’s deed contained “commandments” and “statutes,” the Torah contains commandments and statutes. Just as Jeremiah’s deed guaranteed his rights to the land, the Torah guarantees Israel’s right to the land. The LORD intended Jeremiah’s purchase of the fleld as a prophetic sign act, signifying a future hope for the people. Jeremiah explained, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land’” (32:15).

Why did the LORD tell Jeremiah to redeem the field in Anathoth during the middle of the siege? Because Jeremiah’s redemption – purchase of the field in Anathoth symbolizes the redemption, and it predicts the return from exile. The LORD says, “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety” (32:37). At the time of the final redemption, He will again take Judah (the Jewish People) to be His people, and He will be their God. He will place His fear within them through a transformation of heart so that they will not turn away from Him:

I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. (Jeremiah 32:39)

Haftarah Bechukotai includes a series of diverse and disconnected sayings, prophecies, prayers, instructions, and predictions from the prophet Jeremiah. The passage begins with a brief prayer in which Jeremiah declares the LORD to be his strength and stronghold before predicting the conversion of the Gentile nations to the worship of Israel’s God. The sin of Judah, however, cannot be erased. It is written upon their hearts like an inscription etched in stone. Therefore the LORD will punish Judah, and both the holy Temple and the idolatrous high places will fall to plunderers. The people of Judah will be taken away from their land. The man who relies on human strength will perish like a bush in the desert, but the man who trusts in the LORD will thrive like a tree planted beside water. The human heart is deceitful and sick, only God can weigh it and judge it. The LORD is both the hope and cleansing of Israel, therefore, those who turn away from Him will be shamed. The Haftarah concludes with Jeremiah petitioning God for personal healing and salvation.

The sages chose this passage of Jeremiah as the Haftarah for Parashah Bechukotai because they detected a subtle reference to the laws of the Sabbatical year in 17:4. The Torah portion’s curses for covenant infidelity conclude with a description the land of Israel lying desolate, enjoying its Sabbatical years in consequence for the people’s neglect of the commandment.While the people languish in exile, “then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.

AII the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it” (Leviticus 26:34-35).

In this Haftarah, we see the LORD commissioned Jeremiah to announce His judgment against Judah. He warned Jeremiah not to take a wife or have children because of the horrid doom that would overtake Jeremiah’s generation. “I have withdrawn my peace from this people,” the LORD said (16:5). Jeremiah foresaw a terrible slaughter. The LORD told him not to mourn for the people. He told him to neither offer consolation to the mourner nor to feast with those celebrating. The people of Judah would go into exile. When the people asked Jeremiah why he uttered such dark predictions, the LORD answered through the voice of the prophet, “It is because your ancestors have forsaken Me … You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me” (16:11-12).

Nevertheless Jeremiah’s prophecies did, however, offer a ray of future hope. The LORD promised that one day He would regather His scattered people and restore them to the land. That monumental, future redemption will eclipse even the redemption from Egypt.

Apparently this week’s Haftarah studies, both of them teaches us that God is always in control whether we realizes it or not. He rewards those who fear Him and punishes the evil and arrogants. Those who do not believe in God will certainly cringe before Him for mercy on that Day. And Torah study will greatly benefits us in the knowledge of the fear of God when the World-to-come is here.

Shalom for now and happy Shavuot in advance…