Jeremiah 32:17

My Notes

What Does Jeremiah 32:17 Mean?

Jeremiah prays in a moment of crisis: ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.

Ah Lord GOD (Adonai Yahweh) — the address combines the title of sovereign master (Adonai) with God's covenant name (Yahweh). Jeremiah approaches God as both the universal sovereign and the personal covenant-keeper.

Thou hast made the heaven and the earth — Jeremiah grounds his prayer in creation. Before making his request, he establishes who he is talking to: the God who made everything. The appeal to creation is not theological filler. It is the foundation of the request — if God made heaven and earth, no subsequent problem exceeds his capacity.

By thy great power and stretched out arm — the creation was accomplished through divine power. The stretched out arm is an anthropomorphism for God's active intervention — the same phrase used for the exodus (Deuteronomy 4:34). The God who stretched out his arm to create the universe and deliver Israel from Egypt can stretch it out again.

There is nothing too hard for thee — the Hebrew (pala) means too wonderful, too extraordinary, too difficult. Nothing is beyond God's ability. The word is the same used in Genesis 18:14 when God asks Abraham: is any thing too hard for the LORD? The answer is always no.

The context is critical: God has told Jeremiah to buy a field (v.6-15) — during the Babylonian siege, when land in Judah is worthless. The purchase makes no sense unless God plans to restore the nation. Jeremiah's prayer is the processing of a command that seems absurd — and he begins by reminding himself of the God who does what is impossible.

God's response (v.27) echoes Jeremiah's own words: behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Reflection Questions

• 1.Why does Jeremiah begin his prayer with creation before making his request — and what does that model for your prayers?
• 2.What does 'nothing too hard for thee' mean when applied to the specific impossibility you are facing?
• 3.How does the context — buying a field during a siege — demonstrate faith in the face of absurd circumstances?
• 4.Where do you need to remind yourself of who God is before you can process what God is asking?

Devotional

Ah Lord GOD! The prayer begins with a gasp. Not a formal invocation. An exclamation — the kind of sound you make when the situation is bigger than you can process. Ah — the exhale before the faith.

Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm. Before Jeremiah asks for anything, he establishes who he is talking to. The God who made everything. The God whose arm stretched out and created the universe. If this is who you are — if you made heaven and earth — then what I am about to ask is not too big for you.

And there is nothing too hard for thee. Nothing. The word means too extraordinary, too wonderful, too beyond comprehension. Nothing qualifies. No situation. No crisis. No impossibility. Nothing is too hard for the God who made the heaven and the earth.

Jeremiah prays this during a siege. The Babylonians are at the gates. God has told him to buy a field — an act that makes zero sense unless God plans to restore what is being destroyed. The prayer is not academic theology. It is a man processing an impossible command by reminding himself of the God who does impossible things.

What is your impossible situation? What has God asked you to do that makes no sense given your circumstances? Jeremiah's prayer is the model: start with who God is. He made heaven and earth. His arm stretched out and created everything. Nothing is too hard for him. Your situation is not the exception. There is nothing — nothing — too hard for the God you are talking to.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture