Read
A Warning for the People
The Lord said:
1Run for your lives,
people of Benjamin.
Get out of Jerusalem.
Sound a trumpet in Tekoa
and light a signal fire
in Beth-Haccherem.
Soon you will be struck
by disaster from the north.
2Jerusalem is a lovely pasture,
3but shepherds will surround it
and divided up,
then let their flocks
eat all the grass.
4Kings will tell their troops,
“If we reach Jerusalem
in the morning,
we'll attack at noon.
But if we arrive later,
5we'll attack after dark
and destroy its fortresses.”
6I am the Lord All-Powerful,
and I will command these armies
to chop down trees
and build a ramp up to the walls
of Jerusalem.
People of Jerusalem,
I must punish you
for your injustice.
7Evil pours from your city
like water from a spring.
Sounds of injustice and violence
echo within your walls;
victims are everywhere,
wounded and dying.
8Listen to me,
you people of Jerusalem
and Judah.
I will abandon you,
and your land will become
an empty desert.
9I will tell your enemies
to leave your nation bare
like a vine stripped of grapes.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
have spoken.
Jeremiah's Anger
10I have told the people
that you, Lord,
will punish them,
but they just laugh
and refuse to listen.
11Your anger against Judah
flames up inside me,
and I can't hold it in
much longer.
The Lord's Anger
The Lord answered:
Don't hold back my anger!
Let it sweep away everyone—
the children at play
and all adults,
young and old alike.
12 I'll punish the people of Judah
and give to others
their houses and fields,
as well as their wives.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
13Everyone is greedy and dishonest,
whether poor or rich.
Even the prophets and priests
cannot be trusted.
14 All they ever offer
to my deeply wounded people
are empty hopes for peace.
15They should be ashamed
of their disgusting sins,
but they don't even blush.
And so, when I punish Judah,
they will end up on the ground,
dead like everyone else.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
Reflect
Well, isn’t this ironic? I am writing this meditation of the evening of the first Presidential Candidate’s Debates in the 2016 electoral campaign in the United States. Sentences in today’s passage are not unlike the brash declarations being heard in this most bizarre of campaigns. “Run for you lives”, “Light a signal fire”, “Destroy the fortresses” “build a wall” and “victims are everywhere, wounded and dying”. Such is the language of political hyperbole in our day. Whether thrown as barbs at the opponent, used to incite vehement reaction among one’s followers or to vilify foreigners, these are what we used to call “fightin’ words”.
But there is a huge difference with that rhetoric and today’s reading: This is God’s word to a rebellious and disobedient people. If there was a sound track to this passage, it would be a shrieking siren. “Danger – Danger – Danger. You have unleashed my wrath. I must punish you … I will abandon you … I will tell your enemies to leave your nation bare. I, the Lord All Powerful, have spoken.”
Jeremiah is frankly upset – or better yet dumbfounded. “Lord”, he states, “I have told the people that you will punish them but they just laugh and refuse to listen.”
What do you do when your audience refuses to heed your advice or warning? Turn around and walk away? Speak louder? Find a few people whom you might persuade? Jeremiah, we will learn in the coming chapters, remains faithful to God in the midst of the decimation that God imposes on Israel and Judah. He just kept preaching, kept talking, kept telling the people what they didn’t want to hear.
In our local churches, we probably have tried a bit too hard to just be nice. People cringe in the pews if there is any mention of hell. They don’t like it when words like ‘repent’ and ‘allow yourselves to be broken’ are pronounced. They like the mercy, not the justice. Where are the Jeremiahs in our churches?
Respond
Lord, when people don’t want to hear your word, embolden us to keep sharing it. When people fail to turn away from their wrong doing, give us the courage to remain faithful to our call. Help us to be your witnesses in the world today. Amen.
Terry Smith
Terry was Executive Director of Canadian Baptist Ministries, the national and global development and outreach arm of Canadian Baptist churches. He and his wife, Heather worked in France for 20 years, with inner-city youth, in urban church planting, inter-faith programs with Muslims in the francophone world, theological education and leadership development. He has co-authored Going Global (2011) with Gary Nelson and Gord King and wrote Wordeed, An Integral Mission Primer (2012). Terry has also written on evangelism, gospel and culture, urban mission and missiology. In addition to his work at CBM, he has taught at seminaries in Canada and around the world. Terry and Heather, live in Toronto, Canada. They have three adult children, Meghan, Caitlyn & Nathaniel.