Jeremiah 32:26

The Bible says in Jeremiah 32:26-27, “Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,[27] Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Jeremiah prayed to the Lord in verses 16 through 25. In the rest of chapter 32 the Lord is answering Jeremiah’s prayer. The Lord always answers the prayers of those who are honest with Him and who talk honestly to Him about their feelings. Jeremiah’s prayer was a brief history of the nation of Israel up to Jeremiah’s day when Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of Israel at the hands of the Babylonians. God’s answer to Jeremiah’s prayer was an explanation of why the Babylonians conquered the land of Israel. The first thing that God says in Jeremiah 32:27 is, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh.” In other words God has the ultimate control of the Israelites and the Babylonians. Every believer needs to be reminded of this truth because we all come into contact with the people of the world, and we all see the people of the do things in their grab for power and control that we think should not be done. What is going on? One of the things that is going on is this: the Lord “is the God of all flesh.” The Lord is using the unbelievers also, even if they do not know it.

The second thing that the Lord said was a question that He posed to Jeremiah. The Lord asked, “Is anything too hard for me?” The answer is obvious: nothing is too hard for the Lord Jesus. He can do anything. Each of us need to be reminded of this truth when we pray to the Lord because we must always pray without any doubts that Jesus can fix whatever situation we are bringing to Him.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 32:28-36, “Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:[29] And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.[30] For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.[31] For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,[32] Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.[33] And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.[34] But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.[35] And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.[36] And now therefore thus saith the LORD, 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;” One of the spiritual lessons that I get from God’s answer to Jeremiah has to do with how the Lord deals with every believer, and how the Lord especially will deal with every believer at the judgment. Bad things happened. Bad things happened. Jeremiah knew that God could do anything, so the question is always, “Why did God allow all these bad things to happen?” The short answer is: God has His reasons. God knows what He is doing. God has a purpose in all things. The long answer we will eventually get also. It may be at the judgment, but we will get it. God will eventually tell us in great detail all that He allowed in our lives and why He allowed. Sometimes, we find out more in this life, and sometimes we do not; but we will find out. As it says in First Corinthians 13:9-12, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.[10] But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.[11] When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

The Lord continues His answer to Jeremiah and the Lord says in Jeremiah 32:37-40, “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:[38] And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:[39] 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:[40] 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.” God makes several promises in these verses. All of the statements are about good things that are going to happen to believers. A great future is planned. God makes the plans and God causes it all to happen. How does an individual become one of the people of God? God makes it happen. Jesus passed by the disciples and called them. The disciples did not go and find Jesus: Jesus went and called the disciples. Jesus said in John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The above verses also speak strongly to the truth of eternal security. Eternal security (the fact that you will definitely go to heaven if you have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ) is based upon what the Lord Jesus will do for you, and not what you will do for yourself. Notice that God said in Jeremiah 32:40, “I will make an everlasting covenant with them.” The children of Israel had a covenant (the old covenant), but their covenant was the covenant of the law. The covenant of the law had several limitations. One of its limitations was the fact that human beings just could not keep it. Another limitation was the fact that the covenant of the law was meant to endure only for a limited time. It lasted from Moses until Jesus. Jesus brought a new covenant that was so much better then the old covenant. Jesus said in Mark 14:24, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.” The word “testament” means covenant. Jesus said in John 10:28-30, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.[29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.[30] I and my Father are one.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 32:41-44, “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.[42] For thus saith the LORD; 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.[43] 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.[44] 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 the LORD.”

A lot of times when we talk about salvation, we talk about it from the human standpoint. In other words we talk about how much a person benefits and how much a person gains when Jesus saves them. That certainly is true, and we certainly do need to be reminded of how important it is to be cognizant of our salvation and of how much Jesus did for us when He died for us on the cross of Calvary. We need to remember God and than k Him for what He has done for us. But we are not the only ones who have benefitted from our salvation. God has also benefitted. God loves to see a soul saved. It causes Him joy and happiness. That is why the Lord says in Jeremiah 32:41, “I will rejoice over them to do them good.” Jesus said in Luke 15:7, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

Another interesting point to make about the verses in Jeremiah 32:41-44 is the fact that these verses shoe what kind of a being God is. God is someone who does things with all of His energy and all of His might. God does not do anything half-heartedly. He does do anything part-way. He does not go half-way. He goes all the way. God is all-in: nothing held back and nothing reserved. This is one of the reasons that we are eternally secure in Christ in the salvation that God designed and put into place for us. God said in Jeremiah 32:41, “I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” If God things with His whole heart and His whole soul, shouldn’t we? Of course we should. It says in Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 33:1-2, “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,[2] Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;” Verse two is a very interesting phrase. Notice in the English translation, the little preposition “it.” Normally, a preposition refers back to the last noun that was used in the sentence or the previous sentence. The last noun in the previous sentence is the word “prison.” We could interpret Jeremiah 33:2 that God is saying to Jeremiah, “Do not be worried, Jeremiah, that you are shut up in the prison. I made the prison. Your enemies did not make it. I made it.”

I am not absolutely certain that the Lord was talking directly about the prison, but God was definitely talking about it indirectly and also talking about everything else. What has God formed? He has formed everything: everything that exists. It says about Jesus as Creator in John 1:3, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” Let’s look at the word “formed” that is used in Jeremiah 32:2. That same Hebrew word is used in the book of Genesis. It says in Genesis 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It says in Genesis 2:8, “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” And it also says in Genesis 2:19, “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” This Hebrew word that is used in Jeremiah 33:2 is not used again in the Old Testament after the three uses in the book of Genesis until we get to the book of Psalms and the prophets, where it is often used. It says in Psalms 33:14-15, “From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.[15] He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.” One other point to make is that the word that is translated “formed” in Jeremiah 33:2 is often translated “potter.” For example, it says in Psalms 2:9, “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.” And it also says in Jeremiah 18:3, “Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.” That which God has formed and fashioned and molded, He has done so for a reason, and it will fulfill His purpose for it. This is true even concerning the things that bother you. This is true even concerning your “prison.”

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