Lenten Readings -- Finishing up Jeremiah

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, so I will be turning my attention to Passion Week in the Gospel of Mark. But I wanted to mention some passages in Jeremiah that I didn't get to, especially chapters 29 and 31.   We largely covered Jeremiah's prophecies during the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim. But there are a few key passages I want to mention before moving on.

Josiah -- Jeremiah 1-7, maybe 8-10. Died in battle against the Egyptians

Shallum/Jehoahaz -- mentioned in Jeremiah 22:11. He was deposed by Pharaoh Necho II. Reigned for 3 months. Taken to Egypt.

Jehoiakim -- Maybe Jeremiah 8-10. We have looked at Jeremiah 11-20, 25-26, 35-36, and 45 which come from his reign. He likely died an ignominious death outside Jerusalem. 

I would say that Jeremiah 46-47 come from his era as well, but these are part of the Oracles Against the Nations (OAN), which seem to have been grouped together from ancient times. In the MT they are chapters 46-51. In the LXX they are 25-31. They are a key reason why the LXX chapter order is different. 

Coniah/Jehoachin -- mentioned in Jeremiah 22. This chapter is a look back at all the kings up to this point. He is also mentioned in 37:1, 24:1, 27:20, and 28:4. The first deportation to Babylon takes place as he is deposed by Nebuchadnezzar in 597BC.

Zedekiah -- Jeconiah (Coniah) is taken to Babylon after 3 months of ruling. Zedekiah is installed next. Here are chapters relating to his reign: 

• Jeremiah 27 -- Jeremiah says to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, symbolism of the yoke
• Jeremiah 28 -- Conflict with the false prophet Hananiah
• Jeremiah 23 -- has similar themes to Jeremiah 27-28
• Jeremiah 51:59-64 -- Part of the OAN, scroll taken to Babylon
• Jeremiah 24 -- illustration of good and bad figs, possibly drawn on by Jesus/Mark, message to early exiles
• Jeremiah 29 -- letter to exiles, see below
• Jeremiah 21 -- Jeremiah prophesies doom as Babylon moves against Jerusalem
• Jeremiah 34 -- Zedekiah frees slaves in Jerusalem, but his people reverse it.
• Jeremiah 30-33 constitute the "Book of Consolation" after the first deportation. We will look at Jeremiah 31 below.
• Jeremiah 32 -- Jeremiah buys a field as a symbol of future hope.
• Jeremiah 33 -- Jeremiah predicts the Davidic line will be restored.
• Jeremiah 37 -- Jeremiah imprisoned as Babylonians temporarily withdraw.
• Jeremiah 38 -- Jeremiah thrown into a cistern
• Jeremiah 39 -- The fall of Jerusalem
• Jeremiah 52 -- a historical appendix added later 
• In the OAN, the oracle against Edom probably fits during this time frame: 49:34-39

Gedaliah
Chapters 40-41 give the appointment of Gedaliah after Zedekiah is deported and killed. He is assassinated. In Jeremiah 42-43, some survivors flee to Egypt. In Jeremiah 44, Jeremiah prophesies to the refugees in Egypt. 

I want to end with a quick spotlight on two of the most significant chapters in Jeremiah. Earlier, I gave my favorite list earlier as including Jeremiah 1, 7, 29, and 31. Let's slip the last two under the wire.

Jeremiah 29 (36LXX)
This is the chapter where Jeremiah writes to those who were taken to Babylon in the first deportation of 597BC. King Jehoiakim was killed. Nebuchadnezzar deported King Jehoiachin after he had only ruled for three months. Jeremiah tells them to build houses and settle down, mentioning the 70 years in exile again. "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile" (29:7).

29:11 is the well-known promise of God to those in exile that this is not the end for Israel. "Know the thoughts I have for you," Yahweh says. They are thoughts to give Israel a future and a hope.

While I don't have a problem with quoting this verse about your own life, clearly they were originally about the future return of Israel from exile. Thankfully, there are plenty of other verses that make it clear God loves us too and will guard our eternal destiny. There is never a promise, however, that life will always end up positively in this life. Think of all the martyrs for their faith.

Jeremiah 31 (38LXX)
1. From a New Testament perspective, Jeremiah 31 is probably the most important chapter in the book of Jeremiah. It is here that the famous "new covenant" passage is found. "Days are coming," says Yahweh, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel" (31:31). Hebrews 8 quotes this passage -- the longest quote of the OT in the NT.

We have of course taken it well beyond its original sense. Jeremiah is simply predicting that when Israel returns from Israel, the Law will be written on their hearts. Israel will be faithful to Yahweh without having to be warned over and over again. The New Testament thinks of the age of the Spirit, when those who are in Christ have the Spirit inside us to guide us into all truth and empower us to live righteously (=love God and neighbor).

2. Matthew 2 also connects Jeremiah 31:15 with the deaths of the babies in Bethlehem, "Rachel weeping for her children because they no longer exist." The first meaning in Jeremiah of course was in reference to the destruction of the northern kingdom. The children of Rachel -- especially her grandson Ephraim -- were taken away. This is a good example of the NT reading the OT in a "fuller sense" beyond anything the original authors would have understood.

3. Finally, I have long been struck by 31:29, a saying that also appears in Ezekiel 18. "Our fathers ate sour grapes but it is our teeth that are set on edge." Although the prophecies of Jeremiah show clear enough that ungodliness continued in Israel, there were many who felt like Judah was destroyed because of the sins of Manasseh and those who had come before. Psalm 44 may actually come from this time period -- 

"All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, or been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way, yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals, and covered us with deep darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. Because of you we are being killed all day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

In Jeremiah 31 and Exekiel 18 we see a potential shift in biblical theology. Prior to this time, the sins of the fathers were visited on the sons to the third and fourth generation. But from now on, "the one who does the sinning will be the one who dies" (Ezek. 18:20). This is good NT theology and good Christian theology. We are not judged on the sins of our parents but on our individual sins.  

Jeremiah 52
The last chapter of Jeremiah is a historical appendix. It is virtually word for word for 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. (A similar dynamic takes place in Isaiah 36-39, which is nearly word for word for 2 Kings 18:13-20:19). There is sometimes resistance to a sense that these books in their current forms were edited after the lives of the prophets themselves, but this is unsupported sentimentality. There is no problem with inspiration or inerrancy for the books to have been collected and edited after the lives of the prophets. God can inspire editing too!

I think our problem in part is multiple. One, it means that what we see is not what we get. But remember, these books were not originally written to us. They are for us as Scripture, but Israel was their original audience. If we get the wrong impression, that's our problem, not the Bible's. I think the idea of such processes may also seem less magical to us. But again, that's not the Bible's problem. It's mine.

It simply means that the anonymous people who put the prophets in their current form were inspired as well. In Jeremiah 52, a later canonical compiler has appended 2 Kings 24 to Jeremiah's prophecies for the sake of context. And it makes a wonderful, very fitting end to the book.

Here endeth the Lenten reading, 2025.

21. Lenten Reading Gaps -- Jeremiah 26, 35, and 45

I have been working to figure out the most likely historical order of the chapters of Jeremiah. For example, the chapters relating to Jehoiakim clearly come before the chapters relating to Zedekiah. So I jumped from Jeremiah 20 to chapter 25 to chapter 36 and back to chapter 22.

However, I missed some chapters. I believe the order I should have followed is 20, 25, 26, 35, 36, 45, 22.  In other words, I missed three chapters. Today, I want to fill in those gaps. As a sidenote, some think chapters 7-10 might also relate to the reign of Jehoiakim.
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1. Jeremiah 26 comes from early in the reign of Jehoiakim (26:1). [1] In Jeremiah 25, the prophet predicted that Israel would go into exile. In this next chapter, Yahweh commands Jeremiah to go prophecy in the temple. Yahweh still holds out hope that they will turn back to him (26:3). See my "next" post on Jeremiah 36 on God's omniscience in Jeremiah. As before, Jeremiah warns that the Jerusalem temple might end up like Shiloh (cf. Jer. 7).

The response is not repentance. Rather, they tell Jeremiah he is going to die for preaching against the temple (26:8). Officials come from the king's house to the temple to say the same. Jeremiah reminds them that he is speaking for Yahweh. It is they who need to change their ways so that Yahweh will change his mind about destroying Jerusalem and its temple (26:13). They can do what they want with him, but they will experience the consequences (26:15).

So in verses 16-19, some more cautious voices respond. They remind them of how Micah prophesied similar things during the reign of Hezekiah (26:18). But they repented and Yahweh changed his mind about letting the Assyrians destroy them (26:19).

Then we hear the fate of a prophet who did not escape like Jeremiah. A prophet named Uriah preached against Jehoiakim and had to flee to Egypt to escape death. They hunted him down, brought him back, and killed him (26:20-23). However, Jeremiah was under the protection of Ahikam.

2. Jeremiah 35 should have come next in the series. In this chapter, Jeremiah gives a test to a clan known as the Rechabites. Perhaps this was a family of Nazirites. An ancestor of theirs, Jonadab, had committed to Yahweh that his family and descendants would not drink wine (which implies that Jeremiah and most in Israel did). Jonadab the son of Rechab lived some 200 years earlier.

Jeremiah tests them. He takes them to the temple and offers them wine. They do not accept the offer. Then Jeremiah praises them, contrasting them with the rest of Judah, which was faithless.

Another commitment they had was to live in tents rather than build houses. However, because of the threat of Nebuchadnezzer, they were staying (presumably with others) within the city walls.

3. I have already looked at Jeremiah 36. In that chapter, Jeremiah sends Baruch to the temple since he has been forbidden from coming there. The chapter to which I should have gone next is Jeremiah 45.

After Baruch had read the scroll of Jeremiah's prophecies in the temple and also taken it to the king, he and Jeremiah are told to go into hiding so that they are not put to death. This very short chapter gives Jeremiah's words thereafter to Baruch. Jeremiah tells Baruch not to expect great things of his life. Judah will be destroyed. Baruch will survive, but he will live in the context of great suffering.

[1] Jeremiah 26 is Jeremiah 33 in the LXX.

[2] Jeremiah 35 is Jeremiah 42 in the LXX.

[3] Jeremiah 45 is Jeremiah 51:31-35 in the LXX.

Introduction to Jeremiah

Scroll I (same in MT and LXX)
Jeremiah 1 (Josiah, 628BC)
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11 (Jehoiakim, 609BC)
Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah 13-18
19. Jeremiah 19-20

Scroll II (different order in MT and LXX)
20. Jump to Jeremiah 25 (605BC, Jeremiah 32 LXX)
21. Jeremiah 26 and 35
22. Jump to Jeremiah 36 (605BC, Jeremiah 43 LXX)
Jeremiah 45

23. Lenten Readings -- Back to Jeremiah 22 (Litany of the Kings)

[I see this is not the right chapter to do next, but I will leave it.]

1. In this fascinating chapter, Jeremiah gives us a moral snapshot of the kings of Judah up to Jehoiachin, the successor to Jehoiakim. All but one of the kings (Zedekiah) of his lifetime are covered: Josiah, Shallum (Jehoahaz), Jehoiakim, and Coniah (Jehoiachin) are all mentioned. That possibly dates this prophecy to around 597BC.

The chapter begins with Yahweh telling Jeremiah to go to the palace to prophesy in relation to the kings of Judah (22:1). Here is the formula he gives them for success:

• Do what is just and right (22:3).
• Rescue the person who is robbed from their oppressor.
• Do not do any wrong or violence to the immigrant.
• Similarly, do not wrong the widow or fatherless.
• Do not shed innocent blood.

Do these things and the kings will enjoy the palace and ride through the gates in chariots with their officials (22:4). If not, the palace will become ruins (22:5), which it did.

2. Then commences Jeremiah's predictions of judgment on the palace. Because they had forgotten their covenant with Yahweh, the line of David will fail (22:30, at least for now). No one will sit on the throne of David. 

However, here for the first (and last) time, we hear positive words about Josiah. Josiah did what was right (22:15) and all went well with him. (Except, of course, for getting killed in battle) He defended the cause of the poor and needy. We have now had the big four in the chapter -- the immigrant, the widow, the fatherless, and the poor.

3. But Josiah's son Shallum, renamed Jehoahaz, only ruled for three months. In those months, he was set on dishonest gain (22:17). He shed innocent blood. He was set on oppression and extortion. Pharaoh Necho II removed him as king quickly. He died in exile in Egypt, banished by the Pharaoh from his land.

4. Then Jeremiah moves on to Jehoiakim (originally named Eliakim), another son of Josiah. The prophecies from Jeremiah 11-20 were all during his rule, and we have seen how he burned a scroll with all of Jeremiah's prophecies on it (Jer. 36). Although 2 Kings doesn't mention it, both in Jeremiah 36:30 and here in 22:19, there are hints that Jehoiakim was killed and at least initially left for dead outdoors in disgrace. He resisted Nebuchadnezzar and paid for it with his life. Of Jehoiakim, Yahweh says that he warned him, but Jehoiakim did not listen (22:21). 

5. Now, here, for the first time, we are introduced to the king that succeeded Jehoiakim -- Jehoiachin his son. He also only ruled for three months before Nebuchadnezzar had him removed and taken in exile back to Babylon (22:25). If Jehoiachin had been a signet ring on Yahweh's finger, he would have taken him off (22:24). So even his mother would be taken away to Babylon, never to return (22:26-27). He is a broken pot.
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Introduction to Jeremiah

Scroll I (same in MT and LXX)
Jeremiah 1 (Josiah, 628BC)
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11 (Jehoiakim, 609BC)
Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah 13-18
19. Jeremiah 19-20 

Scroll II (different order in MT and LXX)
20. Jump to Jeremiah 25 (605BC, Jeremiah 32 LXX) 
21. Jeremiah 26 and 35

22. Jump to Jeremiah 36 (605BC, Jeremiah 43 LXX)
Jeremiah 45

22. Lenten Readings: Jump to Jeremiah 36 (Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah's scroll)

1. Going in chronological order, Jeremiah 36 clearly dates like Jeremiah 25 to the year 605BC during the reign of Jehoiakim (36:1). [1] Jeremiah takes a scroll of all his prophecies since the days of King Josiah to the king (36:2) -- with Jeremiah's first prophecies starting in 627BC. One can wonder if these prophecies were largely Jeremiah 1-20, with the possible inclusion of Jeremiah 25 as well.

Yahweh sounds hopeful that the house of Judah might turn from its evil ways (36:3). This statement is probably a reminder that the concept of God knowing all the future was probably not yet entirely solidified. If God knows the future -- indeed, if God has deep insight into human behavior -- he would know the overwhelmingly likely response. And he did know.

We seem to have two or three choices. The open theist and panentheist says that the future doesn't exist and so is unknowable or that God chooses not to know the future so we have free will. They take the text too literally at this point.

The orthodox option believes that God knows exactly what Jehoiakim will do because God is truly and really all-knowing and omniscient. God is walking through history with Jeremiah who does not see the future in its entirety. God is reading from a script that he has known for eternity past. He is doing it for Jeremiah's and the later audience of Jeremiah's sake. 

Even in revelation, God meets us where we are. Something along these lines is the historic, orthodox perspective that preserves God as God and not God as some really nice, sooped-up Zeus.

But Jeremiah may not entirely understand this fully yet. The Bible displays a flow of revelation. The earlier parts have a true understanding, but their understanding sometimes is not as precise as later parts, particularly the New Testament. Psalm 139 is generally considered a focal point on this subject, where God is said to know every one of the psalmist's days before he was born (139:16). [2] Going off that comment, God would know the day Jehoiakim burned Jeremiah's scroll.

This can be a scary line of thought, but it is a clear conclusion if one believes that God is all-knowing. If you and I could guess what Jehoiakim would do, then Yahweh certainly would have predicted it -- even if he didn't know the future. If taken with strict literalism, the passage seems to limit God's knowledge inadvertently. For God to be God, we have to take this text as God walking through the situation with Jeremiah even though he knows what will happen. [3]

2. Going in chronological order, this is the first time we encounter Baruch, although he is mentioned in Jeremiah 32:12 as a witness to Jeremiah's land purchase. Baruch is the scribe who writes down Jeremiah's oral prophecies. We can wonder if he was primarily responsible for the initial collection of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry onto scrolls.

Remembering Jeremiah 25, the priest in charge of the temple had beaten Jeremiah. He is not allowed in the temple now (36:3). So, Jeremiah sends Baruch with the scroll instead. Baruch is to read the entire scroll to the people of Judah on a "fast day." It is unclear whether this is a regularly scheduled fast day or whether the religious establishment and king have called a special fast. Probably the latter.

Jeremiah still has hope that they will return to Yahweh (36:7).

3. So Baruch reads the scroll at the entry of the New Gate to the temple. The son of a temple official named Gemariah then goes to king's house and tells officials there about it. It is commanded that Baruch come to them with the scroll to them. Baruch reads it to them at their request, and they seem open to hear it. They clearly consider Jeremiah to be a legitimate prophet.

They question Baruch. Is this truly a dictation from Jeremiah. Yes. Then they sent Baruch away and told him and Jeremiah to go into hiding. They apparently know how the king will respond.

Finally, the king is informed. It is the ninth month (November-December), and a fire is going. The king is not alarmed. None of his servants rent their clothes. Instead, the king has the scroll burned. I think it's hard for us to appreciate how shocking an action this was. Prophets were untouchable.

Instead, the king orders the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch, as they had anticipated. So, Jeremiah simply dictates the scroll again, even adding to it. He predicts disaster and that there will soon be no one to sit on the throne of David. Jehoiakim's body will be cast out into the street. [4]

[1] Jeremiah 36 in the Masoretic text (MT) is chapter 43 in the Greek Old Testament (LXX).

[2] The headings of the psalms were added after the psalms were written, presumably as the psalms were collected. The headings are traditional but not usually considered inspired. For that reason, this psalm is anonymous even though it came to have David's name on it. It seems rather later than David in its theology.

[3] Nowhere is this dynamic of biblical revelation clearer than in Moses exchange with God in Numbers 14, where God tells Moses he is going to destroy Israel but Moses talks him down. This is a clear case of anthropomorphism where God is portrayed like a furious man wanting to beat up someone. Some Christians may like these passages a little too much and miss the fact that, in them, God was meeting us in human terms to help our understanding. God was painting a picture for us. He was "stooping to our weakness." 

An all-knowing God doesn't literally get angry because he has always known what was going to happen. God's "anger" is for the benefit of our understanding. 

[4] The final fate of Jehoiakim is unclear. 2 Kings 24:6 simply says he slept with his fathers. However, since the prophecies of Jeremiah were collected after the event, it's hard to imagine that this is not how Jehoiakim ended up. Jeremiah 22:18-19 has a similar prediction. Josephus gives a tradition of its fulfillment at the command of Nebuchadnezzar (Antiquities 10.96-97).

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Introduction to Jeremiah

Scroll I (same in MT and LXX)
Jeremiah 1 (Josiah, 628BC)
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11 (Jehoiakim, 609BC)
Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah 13-18
19. Jeremiah 19-20 

Scroll II (different order in MT and LXX)
20. Jump to Jeremiah 25 (605BC, Jeremiah 32 LXX)
21. Jeremiah 26 and 35

20. Lenten Readings -- Jump to Jeremiah 25

1. The ordering of the text of Jeremiah is a puzzle. On the one hand, there is the chronological order. We are jumping to Jeremiah 25 because it is likely the next chapter in the order in which Jeremiah prophesied. Jeremiah 21, which comes next in the Hebrew text we have, skips to the reign of Zedekiah. 

But Zedekiah's reign started in 597BC. There are clearly more prophecies from the reign of Jehoiakim in the book of Jeremiah. This includes not least Jeremiah 25, which dates to 605BC, the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign. The ordering of Jeremiah from chapter 20 seems to have prioritized themes over chronology, grouping like material together.

To make matters even more complicated, the order of the chapters in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, often imprecisely called the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX), is quite different from our English Bibles. The order of our English Bibles largely follows that of the Masoretic Text (MT), the main Hebrew text that has survived, dating to around the 900s/1000 in its current form.

The Greek textual tradition of Jeremiah is thus much older than the MT and probably preserves an earlier, more "original" order. We thus face a conundrum. The English text of Jeremiah that we now have likely includes about 13% later material added by Jewish tradition now found in the MT. Meanwhile, the order of the LXX is much closer to the way the prophecies of Jeremiah were originally preserved.

2. The situation reminds me a little of the situation we faced when it became clear that the Greek text behind the King James had verses and a few sections that were not likely in the original version of the Bible (e.g., Mark 16:9-20; John 7:53-8:11). God must not have been too displeased with this material because it was in most Bibles for over 1500 years. Similarly, Jeremiah as we have it has been in the Bibles of Jews and Christians for over 1000 years at least.

The question reveals assumptions we didn't know we had. Is the goal to "get back" to the original or is the text God has preserved just as or more important? Modern assumptions want to "get back" to the original manuscripts or the original voice of the author. But isn't what God is saying to us pretty important? After all -- ideally or not -- it is our understanding of the text today that determines how we live and how the text forms us. Like it or not, I am not shaped by an understanding of the text I do not have -- even if there is a more accurate, more original understanding!

I personally want it all. I want to engage the text of Jeremiah as God has preserved it AND I would like to have insight into earlier forms of the collection of prophecies. In the end, our theories about the earliest ways in which the book's prophecies were collected are ultimately speculative and thus not inspired.

In my opinion, these discussions reveal that the way we often conduct our debates over inerrancy and such are more our problem than the Bible's problem. They are debates that are often more about our desire to control what people today think. Real biblical interpretation is far messier and uncertain. God believes what is true, and we will never get it all right because our brains are finite and fallen. 

We do not have in our minds the Bible as it actually is or was. Inevitably, ultimately, we only have our interpretations of the Bible. We have individual interpretations. We have the collective interpretations of denominations and Christian traditions. We have the collective interpretations of Christians throughout the centuries. None of these are exactly the original meaning.

The first "version" of Jeremiah, probably in the 500s BC, would have been a collection of 3 or 4 scrolls. I think we can plausibly say that chapters 1-20 constituted one of them.

3. So, going in chronological order, we jump from Jeremiah 20 to Jeremiah 25. [1] Jeremiah 25 gives us the date when Jeremiah started prophesying. The chapter is dated to 605BC (25:1). This was also the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah tells us he has been prophesying for 23 years up to that point (25:3), from the 13th year of Josiah in 628BC.

Here in Jeremiah 25 we find the prophecy that Judah will go into exile for 70 years. This is not a precise number but 7 x 10, where 7 is a special symbolic number. The first group taken to Babylon took place in 597, which would suggest a return around 527 if the date were precise. The actual return was in 538 BC. Again, some individuals take the text more rigidly than it wants to be taken.

But God will not go more easily on the tool he is using to punish Israel than he is on Israel. Babylon will face judgment as well, and they will never return. [2]

4. The image of a cup of wrath is introduced in 25:15. Revelation 14:9-10 and 18:6 will use this image in its picturing of the judgment of Rome. Although the original prophecy took place in 605, Jeremiah 25:18 reveals that the voice of the text as it stands dates to a later time after the judgment on surrounding nations like Egypt had already taken place. An extensive list of surrounding peoples is mentioned as slated for judgment with God using the hand of Nebuchadnezzar to do it.

And Judah would not be spared either. The guilty "shepherds" of Israel would also be judged (25:34). Yahweh is very angry indeed (25:38).

[1] Jeremiah 25 is chapter 32 in the LXX.

[2] Jeremiah 25:14 is not in the LXX version of the chapter, nor is it attested in 4QJer from Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although it is possible that this absence is because of the fragmentary nature of 4QJer, the text of Jeremiah 25 in this manuscript follows the Greek more than the MT. 25:14 probably was not among the original prophecies of Jeremiah, although it is certainly true.

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Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11
Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah 13-18

Jeremiah 19-20

19. Lenten Readings --- Jeremiah 19-20

My readings in Jeremiah for Lent continue.
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1. Jeremiah's prophecies during the reign of Jehoiakim (609-598BC) continue.

Jeremiah 19 begins with the remarkable challenge of bringing some elders and priests to the Valley of Hinnom for a prophetic word (19:1-2). Why would they go with Jeremiah? It would suggest that Jeremiah had significant cache. It made me wonder if the high priest Hilkiah might actually have been his father.

He is to take them to the gate called "Broken Pots" (probably the Dung Gate on the south side of the city) where he is to break the potter's jar and make his prophetic word to them (19:2). His word to the kings of Judah (presumably Jehoiakim) is that they are going into exile. God is bringing destruction on Judah. The city will become ruiins. The siege will be so bad that they will cannibalize their own children (19:9).

He gives this prophetic word facing the Valley of Hinnom (19:2), where child sacrifices had once been made to the god Molech (19:5). The city would soon be called the Valley of Slaughter because of the death that would take place there at the hands of the Babylonians. Of course, this valley became the metaphorical model for Gehenna or hell. Jeremiah has already mentioned this valley, also called Topheth, in chapter 7.

Smashing the jar is symbolic of the destruction of the city (19:10-11). There will not be enough room for the bodies in Topheth (19:11).

Then Jeremiah returned to the temple court and repeated the prophecy (19:14). It reminds us of Jesus' action in the temple in which he quoted Jeremiah 7:11.

2. In Jeremiah 20, the tension between Jeremiah and the leaders of Jerusalem hits a new level. The priest Passhur, who was in charge of the temple, has Jeremiah beaten for his prophesies and put in stocks at the temple Gate of Benjamin (20:2). When he is released the next day, Jeremiah renames the priest. "Terror on Every Side." Then Jeremiah predicts that the Babylonians will take him and his family as prisoners back to Babylon, where he would die.

3. The chapter ends with Jeremiah venting to Yahweh. Why did he even have to be born (20:18)? Why didn't Yahweh kill him when he was in the womb (20:17)? Then he wouldn't have had to face such trouble and end his days in sorrow? 

The word of Yahweh has only brought him insult (20:8), not the honor he might have thought it would (20:7). But he can't help but deliver it. Even if he would want to stay quiet, it is like fire in his bones (20:9). His "friends" are waiting for him to slip up. How horrible.

But he still praises Yahweh. "Sing to Yahweh" (20:13). He rescues the needy from the wicked.  He is a mighty warrior. He probes the heart and mind (cf. Heb. 4:12-13). He will bring justice on Jeremiah's enemies. 
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Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11
Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah 13-18

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 18

Earlier chapter posts are now at the bottom. 

There were always going to be more chapters of Jeremiah than days in Lent, and I have been quite busy this week and so have missed five days of writing. I thought I'd skip ahead to chapter 18. Here are some quick notes on the intervening chapters:

Jeremiah 13 -- Jehoiakim -- Some symbolic actions here. He hides a wet linen cloth near Parah, possibly to symbolize the Euphrates river of the Babylonians, which is then ruined. Then there is the symbolism of a full wine jar being smashed. Judah is to be taken into exile -- king, queen, and all. 13:22 talks about Judah being raped. Also an allusion to the skin color of the Cushites and the famous rhetorical question, "Can the leopard change its spots?"

Jeremiah 14 -- Jehoiakim -- Prophesied during a drought. Jeremiah pleads for Yahweh not to forsake them. He knows he is there (14:9). God tells Jeremiah not to pray for them. He will not heed their sacrifices. The later part of the chapter denounces the prophets and priests. The people acknowledge their wickedness and plea for rain and mercy (14:20).

Jeremiah 15 -- Jehoiakim -- Chapter 15 begins by saying that even though Moses and Samuel stood before Yahweh, he would not spare them (15:1). (I'm increasingly wondering if the reign of Josiah involved some of the strongest beginnings of Scripture collection.) As in 2 Kings, Manasseh is blamed for the approaching destruction and exile (15:4). God is sending four destroyers: the sword, dogs, birds, and wild animals. Jeremiah is undergoing persecution.

Jeremiah 16 -- Jehoiakim -- Yahweh instructs Jeremiah to remain celibate. He is not to have children. The future will not be good for the children of the land. They will die of disease. They will die unmourned. God has taken his peace from his people (16:5). A small window into mourning practices. Why? Because their ancestors have turned from him and they have doubled down. Exile it is. The end of the chapter is a little puzzling. At first it seems to talk about return from exile, but it ends with God gathering Israel for judgment.

Jeremiah 17 -- Jehoiakim -- More promises of exile for the way Judah has served other gods "under every green tree." Their wealth will be taken away as spoil. 17:7-8 are reminiscent of Psalm 1. 17:9 is particularly striking. God searches the human heart (17:10). 17:11 is about becoming wealthy through unjust means. He pleas for justice for his enemies. The end of the chapter has striking words on keeping the Sabbath by not doing work (more Deuteronomy parallels). There is surprising hope for redemption for Judah's kings given the direness of earlier chapters. 

And now, Jeremiah 18  
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1. Chapter 18 begins with an image familiar from Romans 9 -- Israel is clay and God is the potter. God can do with he clay as he wishes (18:4). However, far from God's shaping of the clay being unconditional, it is dependent on the choices of Israel. If Israel turns from its evil, it will be spared (18:8). But Israel is insistent on continuing on its path away from Yahweh (18:12). Israel has forgotten its God (18:15).

There are possibly implications for the understanding of Romans 9-11. The sentiment here is similar to what Paul says about cutting out the natural branches and the possibility of grafting them back in. It is not unconditional election but conditional.

2. Jeremiah is an outsider. He is an outsider from the priests and prophets in power. They have formal positions and are officially recognized. Jeremiah seems to be prophesying from the edges. God does that. Those who are recognized. Those who are popular. Those who hold official positions often do not speak for God. God often speaks from the undesirable, from the sidelines.

So the priests tell Jeremiah it's not his business to tell them what the Law says. The officially recognized prophets tell him it isn't his place to speak for God. Yet it seems that he is one of the only ones speaking for God. Jeremiah had once prayed on their behalf, but not any more. Now, Jeremiah prays for justice and for their overthrow.

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11
Jeremiah 12

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 12

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11
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1. Jeremiah 12 reminds us of other places in the Old Testament where a prophet or other individual brings a question or complaint to God about the doings of the wicked. In particular, the prophet Habakkuk was prophesying at about the same time as Jeremiah. "How long will I cry for help and you not listen?" Habakkuk says to Yahweh (Hab. 1:2). Psalm 13 asks the same thing on a more personal level (13:1, 2).

Jeremiah prefaces his question with an acknowledgment that God is in the right. He is expressing frustration without truly indicting God. It's a reminder that we can bring our feelings to God while recognizing that God is in charge and is never in the wrong. 

"Why do the guilty prosper?" he asks Yahweh. It is a question that those with God's heart often ask. You see the unrighteous take power. You see the slimy prevail, while the good-hearted are run over.

What's worse, it can happen in the church. It can happen in religious communities. "You are in their mouths but far from their hearts" (Jer. 12:2). God allows it. God "plants them," which is shorthand for God's permissive will. God does not truly promote evil, although he allows it.

2. Jeremiah asks for God to remove them (12:3). They think God isn't noticing. "He is blind to our ways," they say (12:4). 

This seems to continue Jeremiah's themes of the religious and political leadership of Israel thinking that they will be ok because they are running Yahweh's temple. When Pharaoh Necho II installed Eliakim on the throne, he renamed him "Jehoiakim," which means "Yahweh rises." 

We don't know the details. Was Necho mocking Josiah? With Egypt asserting its control over Israel, was that supposed to be the true rise of Yahweh, as opposed to the ways in which Josiah was trying to make Yahweh rise by reform? 

Of course, Jehoiakim's reign was nothing of the sort. So also it can be that those who think that God has now finally arrived are really boasting in his departure. "No longer need we say that the church does not have silver and gold," Pope Innocent IV allegedly says. "But can the church still say, 'Rise up and walk'?" is said to respond Thomas Aquinas.

Necho says that Yahweh is rising because his puppet king will now do his bidding. None of this doing away with other gods, which Necho probably saw as perverse -- an insult to those other gods. None of this worrying about the oppressed. The powerful are in place because God has favored them and put them there. The poor are cursed because God doesn't like them. The order of things is God's order, and to resist it is to resist God. Jehoiakim is God rising, finally.

3. Except it isn't. The real Yahweh says, "I have abandoned my house" (12:7). The hawks are hungry for God's people. Let them come, Yahweh says (12:9). The "shepherds" of Israel have trampled God's vineyard (12:10). The land has become desolate, and its leaders haven't even noticed (12:11).

But God will have his day. The leaders say in one breath, "As Yahweh lives" and in the next say, "As Ba'al lives" (12:16). Fine. They are about to be plucked from the land. God is about to pluck Judah up. God will bring them back after this judgment (12:15). But dire times await in the meantime. 

4. Jeremiah is already exhausted. Better get ready. It's going to get much worse. He's just been racing against humans. You'll be racing against horses next (12:5). Get ready.

Meanwhile, beware of your family. They may be saying nice words to your face, but they are after you behind your back (12:6). They are preparing treachery.

Such are the joys of being a prophet of judgment. Don't expect people to like you. Don't expect people to honor you. Expect opposition. Expect plotting. Perhaps expect the church itself to turn its back on you. 

Of course, not everyone who thinks he or she is a prophet truly is. From the standpoint of someone looking on, it might have been difficult to see that Jeremiah was the true prophet. Some people just like to shoot their mouths off. Some people are well-intentioned but just wrong. Hindsight is 20/20.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 11

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
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1. Some suggest that at this point, the book of Jeremiah may shift from the days of Josiah (chaps. 1-10) to the reign of Jehoiakim after Josiah was killed in battle. Unlike Josiah, Jehoiakim did not serve Yahweh. He reversed Josiah's Yahwistic reforms.

Jehoiakim was placed on the throne by Pharoah Necho II. His brother Jehoahaz had initially ruled after Josiah's death, but Necho deposed him after only three months of ruling. After deposing him, Necho took Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim, renamed him "Jehoiakim," and put him on the throne. This suggests that Jehoiakim was more subservient to Necho's demands, perhaps almost a puppet in some ways.

2. Apart from the mention of the Ark of the Covenant in Jeremiah 3, the concept of God's covenant with Israel really appears first here in Jeremiah 11. Repeatedly in the chapter, Jeremiah warns Judah that they have broken the covenant. This warning would be all the more significant given that the Book of the Law had just recently been discovered in the temple (in 621BC) and Josiah had used Deuteronomy as the basis for widespread reform. 

The covenant in view is specifically the one God made with Israel at Sinai (11:4). The terms of the covenant were that 1) Yahweh would be Israel's God. 2) Israel would be Yahweh's dedicated people. 3) There were the stipulations of the arrangement which, if Israel kept them, 4) they would find blessing in their land, "milk and honey" (11:5). These correlate to what James Dunn called the "four pillars" of Judaism. [1]

3. In verses 6-13, Yahweh then brings charges against his people. They have violated the covenant. They have not kept the terms of the agreement. God has repeatedly and tirelessly warned them (11:7). They haven't listened. This is why they have experienced hardships as God's punishment (11:8).

Instead, Israel has returned to the sins of their ancestors by worshiping other gods (11:10). They have as many gods as they have towns. They have as many altars to Ba'al as there are streets in Jerusalem (11:13). No doubt they will call on them when the approaching disaster strikes, but they won't answer. They may even call out to Yahweh when disaster strikes, but he won't answer either (11:11).

4. The last part of the chapter Yahweh speaks to Jeremiah himself. He tells Jeremiah to stop praying for the people (11:14). God won't answer that prayer.

The priests think, "Let's offer more sacrifices." That's what wayward priests often seem to do. Sacrifices don't make up for unrepentant deeds of evil (11:15). Israel was a blossoming olive tree. But it will burn to the ground (11:16).

The LORD told these things to Jeremiah. As a result, the people of his own village, Anathoth, plotted against him (11:21). At first, he was naive. He didn't realize they were plotting to blot his family out entirely (11:19). Like the imprecatory psalms, he asks Yahweh to bring retribution on them (11:20).

They said, "Do not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will die at our hands" (11:21). Jeremiah responded with a prophecy that their young men would die in war. Their children would die in famine. Anathoth would be obliterated when the coming disaster comes (11:22-23).

5. People don't like being told they are in the wrong -- especially when they are in the wrong. Indeed, the reaction to being spoken prophetically against can often bring insight. Those who truly want to follow God and the truth often turn to self-examination when they are indicted as wrongdoers. But those who are truly guilty typically lash out not only in their own defense but sometimes with violent threats against the prophetic voice.

This is the difference between a heart of flesh and a heart of stone. The hardened heart is violent. It lashes out. It is vindictive. It is hateful. The heart of flesh is open. It is surrendered to God and truth that is greater than itself. It is submitted. It seeks peace and reconciliation.

[1] Using slightly anachronistic terms, he titled these monotheism, election, Torah, and temple. 

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 10

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 9
__________________

1. The first few verses of Jeremiah give us what will become a familiar trope of Jewish literature: the foolishness of trusting in "gods" that you can make yourself out of common items. You walk into the woods, chop down a tree, cut the material into a god. Then you worship it. Stupid, right? Jeremiah is probably the earliest full example of this trope, since Isaiah 40 probably dates to the late exile. Deuteronomy 4:28 may imply it.

"They are scarecrows in a cucumber field" (10:5) is striking because many Israelites who worshiped Yahweh probably believed the other deities were real even if they did not worship them. At the very least, Jeremiah questions an idol that you make for yourself. 

I always think of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart when I read this trope. The African novel argues that this understanding of religious objects is not correct. It argues that the object is meant to help a person focus on the deity that is not the same as the wood or stone. It is an icon like a picture or, less exactly, the rosary. I've always wondered if Achebe was intellectualizing something that in practice was much more like the rhetoric of the trope.

2. Jeremiah 10:6-10 then praises Yahweh in contrast to these manufactured deities in a way that reminds us of second Isaiah. However, 10:6-8 and 10 may have been added later than Jeremiah's time. [1]  "Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth shakes. And the nations cannot endure his anger." Powerful poetry.

I might note that a good deal of Jeremiah so far has been poetry. The prophets were poets, which means that a good deal of prophecy in the Old Testament is in poetic form. The key structure of Hebrew poetry is of course parallelism -- say it, say it again (synonymous parallelism) or say it, say the opposite (antithetical parallelism). I'm simplifying for memory purposes. 

The precise will no doubt come up for air -- it's not exactly the same thing and it's just something that contrasts, not necessarily the opposite. I know. I just wanted to help you with your ongoing therapy with the real world.

3. Jeremiah 10:11-16 is magnificent praise of Yahweh. By contrast, those who didn't make the skies and earth will perish from the earth and the skies (10:11). (A nice little chiasm for you IBS fans)

This verse is in Aramaic. How magnificent. He uses the language of the Assyrian and Babylonian conquerors to dismiss their gods! What a zinger!

I might also note that this is the second or third time while reading Jeremiah this time through that I have noticed a possible allusion to Genesis 1. This seems significant to me in terms of its dating.

What magnificent praise of Yahweh in these verses in relation to his power over nature. The contrast with the "delusion" of the other gods' existence is, again, very striking in a henotheistic world. You can see again the anticipation of second Isaiah. 

In contrast to Yahweh, we humans are "stupid and without knowledge." That's for sure.

4. The last part of the chapter forebodes the impending judgment that is coming from Babylon. Although I could be wrong, it feels to me like it must have felt after Josiah was killed in battle and the Assyrians were defeated by the Babylonians. The sense of foreboding must have been immense. Babylon just felt like Assyria had felt a little over 100 years before.

"My tent is destroyed" (10:20). Is this an allusion to the destruction of the temple? "There is no one to stretch my tent again." "My shepherds are stupid," is perhaps an allusion to the priests who ran the temple -- the ones who thought everything is ok because "This is the temple of the LORD."

The chapter ends with a plea from Jeremiah to Yahweh (10:23-25). Discipline us but please not too much that we are destroyed. Save your destruction for foreign nations. Reminds me a bit of Habakkuk, who comes from this same period as well. 

[1] As we will explore more fully once we get to Jeremiah 25, the Greek of Jeremiah is significantly shorter than the Masoretic text (MT) on which our English Old Testament was largely based. The MT dates to the 900s/1000 after Christ. In the case of Jeremiah 10:6-8 and 10, these verses are missing from the Greek Old Testament but present among the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS, ca. 100BC). 

We can imagine where these verses were not part of Jeremiah's original prophecy but became part of the tradition very early on, perhaps in the late 500s. In this scenario, the Greek preserves an older reading, while the DSS give the incredibly early (and true) addition. The MT then followed this version. We will increasingly engage the textual issues of Jeremiah once we reach chapter 25.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 9

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 8
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1. Jeremiah's words blur between lament and warning. He sees what is coming so vividly. I had the thought reading the chapter -- "Was this written after Josiah was killed in battle?" That was in 609BC as Josiah tried to stop Pharaoh Necho from going north to assist Assyria. 

Jeremiah weeps for the slain of his people. They have brought it on themselves. "They are all adulterers" -- presumably with other gods. They are liars. They do not know Yahweh.

"Beware of your neighbors..." Don't trust your family. Family was the most trusted resource of all in that culture, and yet family was untrustworthy. "Oppression upon oppression. Deceit upon deceit" (Jer. 9:6).

So, God will test them (9:7). God will refine them. 

They speak nicely to the face of their neighbors, but inside they are plotting against them (9:8). The end result is that God is going to make Jerusalem a heap of ruins (9:11).

But no one gets it. Instead, they break the Law of Yahweh. Is this a reference to the Book of the Law recently discovered in the temple. It clearly says they should have no other gods before Yahweh. But they go after the Ba'als (9:14). Now God will scatter them among the nations (9:16).

2. So Jeremiah calls for a funeral. Get the women ready for a funeral dirge (9:17, 20. Get ready to wail. "Death has come up into our windows" (9:21). "Human corpses will fall like dung in the open field" (9:22).

Time to stop boasting that you're "wise" or wealthy (9:23). Boast that you know Yahweh. Boast that you value the One who acts with hesed (faithfulness, lovingkindness), justice (mishpat), and righteousness (zedaqa) in the world -- and act accordingly because God delights in such things (9:24).

3. You may not realize that the Israelites were not the only ones who practiced circumcision. The Egyptians did as well, as did the Edomites (descendants of Esau), Ammonites, and Moabites (descendants of Lot). But Jeremiah says that outward circumcision won't matter when Yahweh visits.

We've already seen this idea of a circumcised heart in Jeremiah (4:4). We see again Jeremiah's sense that these outward rituals were meaningless if one's heart didn't truly serve the Lord. Biblical ethics is about our motivations, intentions, and character far more than the acts we commit.

Another pagan practice is mentioned -- shaving part of one's head. Perhaps this is the background to Leviticus 19:27 and 21:5. I grew up hearing this was about not having a mustache. It turns out it had a historical context. In any case, such rituals are pointless if one's heart is not truly serving Yahweh and if one is oppressing others and treating others falsely.

"All these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart" (9:26).

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 8

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 7
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1. Jeremiah 8 begins with an incredibly vivid picture. It pictures a future when the Babylonians will have conquered Jerusalem and Judea. They have raided the burial places of the kings. The bones of kings like Josiah, of priests like Hilkaiah, of prophets like Isaiah, of the people -- they have all been dragged out to rot under the elements. On another interpretation, Jeremiah is picturing the bones of false kings, false priests, and false prophets.

Jeremiah is puzzled. The northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians for its perversity -- its going after other gods and its injustices among the people. Yet Judah has not learned any lessons from it. No one repents saying, "What have I done?" (8:6). They just keep plunging forward like a horse insistent on battle. 

2. Jeremiah 8:8 is another very curious verse. In one translation, Jeremiah says that the scribes of Judah have tampered with the Law. He pictures a situation where greedy priests and false prophets are dealing falsely with the people so that they can become wealthy. As in 6:14, Jeremiah indicts them for saying, "Peace, peace" when there is not going to be peace.

They have secured Judah's doom. God is going to give them poisoned water to drink. They will die in their fortified cities. God is setting loose poisonous snakes in Judah, and they will bite these false leaders and the people too.

"The harvest is past. The summer has ended. And we are not saved" (8:20). There is no balm coming from Gilead. There is no physician to administer it. Destruction is on the way.

3. So, what are we to take away from Jeremiah 8 that we have not essentially heard before? It seems to me that the tone is direr than any yet. The imagery of the bones of kings, priests, and prophets is more vivid and startling than any yet.

The image of priests tampering with the Law has played into theories like those of Wellhausen who believed the "Book of the Law" that was discovered under Josiah had actually been doctored by the priests. More recently, William G. Dever has advanced this theory.

Jeremiah 8:18 might be echoed by a number of Christians today. "My joy is gone. Grief is upon me. My heart is sick." Jeremiah has tried and tried and tried to get Israel to see that they are in the wrong despite the fact that they are convinced they are just fine. They remain unconvinced. Jeremiah's heart is sick.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 7

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
Jeremiah 6
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1. There are three or four chapters that especially come to mind as the most important chapters in Jeremiah. There is of course the first chapter which gives us Jeremiah's calling. Chapter 31 has the important passage on the new covenant that is quoted in Hebrews and assumed in the New Testament. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible.

Jeremiah 7 is another one. This is the chapter where Jeremiah indicts those who think that Jerusalem and Judah will be safe because it is the place with God's temple. "This is the temple of the LORD. This is the temple of the LORD. This is the temple of the LORD" (Jer. 7:4). Jeremiah 7 is "The Temple Sermon."

2. It is a little puzzling how to fit Jeremiah 7 with Josiah's reforms. The sense of impending doom feels later than Josiah's early reign. Yet Josiah is said to have done away with some of the things Jeremiah is critiquing. Perhaps Josiah's reforms didn't stick or were not fully implemented? Given the flow of Jeremiah so far, I tend to see this chapter as an indictment of the priestly establishment of Judah in the 610s at the height of Josiah's temple reforms.

Around 621BC, Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law in the temple, and Josiah does something that has never been done in Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, or 1 & 2 Kings. Josiah restricts sacrifices to the Jerusalem temple. Perhaps this move anticipated the fact that the temple would become the center of second temple Judaism when the temple was rebuilt in 516BC during the second temple period.

The situation of Jeremiah 7 is that there are some who think, "God won't let anyone knock down his house. It's his house, after all. That's where he lives." "God won't let anyone destroy Jerusalem. That's his address. What powerful god let's another god bulldoze his city?" I suppose we at least have to give the high priest credit for having faith in Yahweh's power.

3. But they have no sense of Yahweh's values. Here are Yahweh's values: "If you stop taking advantage of the immigrant, orphan, or widow, if you don’t shed the blood of the innocent in this place, or go after other gods to your own ruin, only then will I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave long ago to your ancestors for all time" (7:6-7).

"Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, sacrifice to Baal and go after other gods that you don’t know, and then come and stand before me in this temple that bears my name, and say, 'We are safe'?" (7:9-10). This verse seems to allude to the Ten Commandments, which of course were in the Book of the Law just found in the temple.

Instead, they think sacrifices are the key. If they perform all the rituals, everything will be ok. One of the most intriguing verses in the chapter is 7:22. Here, Yahweh reminds them that he gave no commands concerning sacrifices when he brought the Israelites out of Egypt. Some have suggested that the verse indicates Jeremiah knew nothing about Leviticus or the sacrificial parts of the Pentaeuch. The NIV actually added words to get around the conundrum -- "I did not just give commands about sacrifices."

4. Jeremiah reminds the priestly establishment that God let Shiloh be destroyed by the Philistines (7:12-15). This is an event only partially narrated in 1 Samuel 4:1-11. This event of taking the Ark of the Covenant may also stand in the background of Jeremiah's earlier comments about the Ark in Jeremiah 3:16. Jeremiah hates the use of objects, ritual, and the superficial in contrast to the true worship of Yahweh from the heart and actually treating others around you with respect.

The sons of Eli tried to use the Ark as a good luck charm, and God let the Philistines take it. The tabernacle at Shiloh was destroyed. So, the priestly establishment of Jerusalem -- or Josiah -- shouldn't think that Jerusalem is safe just because they've cranked up the sacrifices.

5. Another feature of the chapter is that Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom had been a place where people sacrificed their sons and daughters to Molech. This was particularly true under Josiah's father, Manasseh (2 Kings 23:10). This was an abhorrent practice that Genesis 22 (Abraham and the potential sacrificing of Isaac) implicitly rejects, in my opinion.

Jeremiah foretells that, when Babylon invades, they will take the excess of bodies to this valley where the birds and animals will feed on the carcasses (7:33). This is the Valley ge-Hinnom, that will become the basis for the concept of Gehenna in the New Testament, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:47-48; cf. Isa. 66:24).

6. In short, Jeremiah 7 captures the essence of Jeremiah's prophecies. Judah is facing judgment. She has made some superficial reforms -- refurbishing the temple, making sure the right sacrifices are offered. But she has allowed the worship of other gods to persist, including the offering of young children at Topheth. It is a family affair. The women make cakes for the queen of heaven, Ashtoreth, on a fire lit by the fathers on wood gathered by the children (7:18).

Meanwhile, they do violence toward the weak. They treat with contempt the immigrant, the orphan, the widow, the poor -- the "big four."

Is there an indictment of the evangelical church to be found here? I still believe that the bulk of the evangelical church is sincere in its worship. Its "sacrifices" are genuine. But there are also many, I suspect, who are going after other gods in the form of political idolatry. They are doing violence toward the immigrant, the widow, the orphan, and the poor. They might justify it in the name of things concerning which God gave no command in Scripture.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 6

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 5
__________________

1. The warning of impending invasion heightens in Jeremiah 6. We wonder if this dates from the last decade of Josiah's reign or later as the specter of Babylon became more and more real. The doom of Assyria seemed more and more sure. Yahweh shows to Jeremiah the writing on the wall -- Babylon is coming.

"Blow the trumpet in Tekoa." Babylon is coming. A seige ramp will soon enough be set against the walls of Jerusalem (6:6). "Take warning, Jerusalem" (6:8). You're in danger of becoming an uninhabited land.

2. There is such irony. The people are saying, "Peace, peace." But there will be no peace (6:14). Again, we see the fundamental pattern of Jeremiah's prophecies. Judah thinks it's going to be ok. Some think that because they are going through the motions of Yahwistic religion -- they have the Ark; they have the temple -- everything will be fine. Meanwhile, the people are godless and even serve other gods. In response, Jeremiah preaches that judgment is coming from the north.

They love offering sacrifices (6:20). But as several of the prophets had already said by this time -- God really doesn't care about your stinkin' sacrifices. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you will not despise, O God" Ps. 51:16-17).

There is a slight glimmer of hope -- "Take warning Jerusalem or I will turn from you" (6:8). But the chapter more or less assumes it isn't going to happen. Again, there is no mention of Josiah's reforms in Jeremiah. Perhaps Jeremiah did not see them as true-hearted, at least by those who implemented them. "From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely" (6:13).

3. Nevertheless, Jeremiah keeps prophesying, doomed to be ignored. "To whom should I speak and give warning so that they would hear?" (6:10). 

The image of being taken, used in Matthew 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-35, perhaps originates here. It is not of being taken to a good place but of your house being given to the invader while you are dragged away by force (6:11-12).

Jeremiah calls the people back to the ancient paths (6:16), but the people don't want to walk in them. I imagine he means the stories of the exodus and of Israel making its way to the Promised Land.

The destroyer is coming (6:26). Judah needs to put on sackcloth and ashes. But the people are stubborn and rebellious (6:28). From the least to the greatest, they pursue unjust gain (6:13). They thus harm each other, those who should be their brothers and sisters.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 5

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 4
__________________

1. Jeremiah's words of judgment toward Jerusalem continue. Again, his words are all the more striking because Josiah would seem to be ruling at the time. He tells his listeners to run through the streets of Jerusalem looking for even one person who seeks the truth and acts justly (5:1). You won't find anyone, he says.

You will find people putting up a show, though. They use words like "as Yahweh lives" in their language, but it is formal, not real. They have a show of Yahwism, but it isn't real. They don't listen to the actual rebuke of the Lord.

In 5:4, he responds to someone who might say, "You're only talking about the poor, who don't know the Law." Perhaps this echoes 2 Kings 22 where the high priest finds the Book of the Law, and it is clear that no one has looked at it in a long time. So Jeremiah thinks of the rich -- do they heed the Law? Apparently not.

These comments raise the question of Josiah again. There are several possibilities. First, Jeremiah could be talking before Josiah's reforms. That seems unlikely to me because of the echoes of the Law. Second, it could be after Josiah has passed. We can't eliminate this possibility, especially since there are strong echoes of coming destruction that may speak more to the time after Josiah. Or thirdly, perhaps Jeremiah did not think Josiah's reforms were genuine.

The second option has some strong possibilities. Perhaps, even after Josiah's strong efforts to turn Judah back to Yahweh, it didn't really stick. The poor didn't even know about the Law, and the rich didn't really take it to heart?

2. Much of the chapter gives varied images of coming destruction. A lion or a wolf or a leopard is going to kill you (Babylon. 5:6). 

False prophets are saying it's going to be ok (5:13). They're saying, "Yahweh isn't going to do anything. Nothing's going to happen" (5:12). Yahweh responds, "You are wood. God's word in your mouth is fire."

Still, God will not completely destroy them (5:18). This is the message of Jeremiah in a nutshell. I'm going to bring horrible judgment on you, but a remnant of Israel will survive.

In 5:21, we get another image that shows up in the New Testament. Judah has eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear. Jesus will use this image of Israel in his own day.

3. Clearly idolatry -- going after other gods -- has been the primary sin of Judah thus far that Jeremiah indicts. But there are other sins that go with it. We hear about them in the last part of the chapter. 

First, there are the violent, those who "lie in wait" to pounce on others (5:26). Then there is the frequent prophetic critique of the way the weak are treated -- the orphan, for example (5:28). They do not help the needy. 

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests do as the prophets direct" (5:31). Jeremiah 5 makes it clear: Judah is beyond self-repair. The corruption reaches from the poorest citizen to the highest official. Because they refuse to repent, judgment is inevitable.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 4

Introduction to Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 2 
Jeremiah 3
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1. If Jeremiah 3 had the hope that a remnant of the destroyed northern kingdom might come south and be restored to Yahweh, Jeremiah 4 calls out to Judah itself to do the same. If Judah will stop serving other gods and return to Yahweh, "the nations will be blessed by you" (4:2). First, though, they need to get rid of their abominations -- which is exactly what Josiah tried to do in 621BC. But, apparently, it was just lipstick on an idolatrous pig.

In 4:4, we get the origins of an image that Paul himself will use in Romans 2:29 -- circumcision of the heart. Jeremiah in general seems to downplay the "external" practices of Israel's religion at the time. He thus gives precedence to Paul's more interiorized approach to Israel's faith. In Jeremiah 3:16, he dismisses the Ark of the Covenant as a distraction. In Jeremiah 7, he will indict those who rely on the temple. 

Here, he may imply that a circumcision of the heart is more important than the circumcision of a man's flesh.

2.  The next section of the chapter warns about the impending invasion of Babylon (4:5-18). This is quite prophetic, for Assyria was still in power at the time and would not be soundly defeated until 609, possibly over a decade later.

But there was still hope at that time, a chance for repentance. "O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness so that you will be saved" (4:14). Alas, it was not to be, although Josiah certainly tried. Dan in the north would experience their arrival first (4:15). "Blow the trumpet," for the enemy would soon come (4:5). Why? Because Judah has rebelled against the LORD and served Ba'al and Asherah (4:17).

3. It is anguish for Jeremiah (4:19). What anguish to see what is coming, to see the solution, and to be powerless to do anything about it because the people and its leaders do not listen. "For my people are foolish; they do not know me. They are unintelligent children; they have no understanding" (4:22). 

The irony is often that we think we have understanding. We may even think God is on our side. Yet we don't listen to the voices of the wise, the voices of those who know God's heart. We trust in our own understanding without knowing it. We ignore the gnawing voices of those who proclaim God's heart, and disaster ensues. "Nothing's going to happen," we tell ourselves.

Judah was undoing creation. In Genesis 1, God takes that which is "tohu," chaos, and orders it so that it works and is good. But the land is now "formless" again (4:23). In Genesis 1:3, God brings light into the darkness. But now there is no light in the sky. The birds God placed in the sky have now fled (4:25). The land that God filled with trees is now a desert.

Jeremiah could see the birthpains. Judah is like a woman in the birthpains about to give birth to destruction, but she couldn't see it. Jeremiah could see it. He could hear the sound of the approaching trumpet even though Jerusalem could not (4:19).

"In vain you beautify yourself" (4:30). Jeremiah sees the danger of Jerusalem trying to dress herself up so that she would be attractive to external aggressors like Egypt. But, ironically, "they seek your life." It was pointless to trust in them. Yahweh alone could save them.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 2

Previous readings were an introduction to Jeremiah and some thoughts on Jeremiah 1.

1. Roughly the first ten chapters of Jeremiah relate to the time before Josiah's reforms in the late 620s BC. By this time, the northern kingdom of Israel had been gone for a century. After destroying the northern kingdom, the Assyrians had mixed the land of Israel in the north with non-Israelites. This would become the place where the Samaritans would live. 

Although Judah escaped destruction, it was still living under the tension of Assyrian dominance at the time of Josiah. However,  Assyria was entering its last decade of power before it would finally be defeated by the Babylonians in 609BC. King Josiah would also die in 609BC trying to stop the king of Egypt from backing the Assyrians up.

2. Jeremiah 2 indicts Judah for being unfaithful to Yahweh, even though Yahweh brought Israel out from Egypt. It is a theme we see often among the prophets. 

Why? God asks through Jeremiah. Why did you go after other gods? Why wasn't Yahweh good enough for Israel? Jeremiah is baffled that a people would change its gods. When has a people ever done that?

The main competitor would seem to be Ba'al. We remember that Israel did not expel all the other Semites from the land. During this period, the Israelites may have been largely henotheistic — believing in the existence of other gods while holding that only Yahweh should be worshiped. The biblical prophets repeatedly called them back to the exclusive worship of Yahweh. In this period, you probably had families who had always worshiped Ba'al, and you probably had Israelites who also worshiped Ba'al. You may also have had Israelites who thought Yahweh and Ba'al were the same god by different names.

Josiah would insist not only that Yahweh be the sole God Israel worshiped but that he only be worshiped with sacrifice properly in Jerusalem at the temple. Later, the Samaritans would develop their own temple and their own syncretistic way of worshiping Yahweh (300s). Similarly, some of the exiles after Babylon destroyed the city would eventually set up their own temple in Elephantine in Egypt (400s BC). These alternative temples may reflect how novel Josiah's reform was at the time as well as the fact that the concept of worshiping Yahweh outside Jerusalem continued in the minds of many people.

None of that had happened yet when Jeremiah was prophesying. He was bringing Judah back to the story -- it all started when Yahweh delivered them from Egypt. They must have no other gods before him. Yahweh is a fountain of living water for them (2:13) -- an image Jesus uses in John 4. But they have tried to dig their own cisterns, cisterns with cracks that let the water out. Israel was a lovely vineyard who instead has gone after wild grape vines (2:21).

3. Jeremiah also warns Israel against reliance on Egypt. This will not be a problem for Josiah. As we mentioned, Josiah will die in battle against Egypt in 609, trying to stop them from helping the Assyrians against the Babylonians.

The final part of the chapter warns Israel about idolatry. They take a tree or a stone and call it their father (2:27). God sends them prophets. They kill them (2:30). They have forgotten their bridal attire (2:32).

Idolatry and worshiping other gods usually goes hand in hand in the prophets with social injustice. So Israel has oppressed the innocent poor -- even though they have not broken into your houses in desperation (2:34). It would be interesting to hear more about what Jeremiah is thinking here. Did the poor sometimes break into homes looking for food and such? Or was this a common trope used to put the poor in their place, an excuse to hate them?

The chapter ends again with a warning not to depend on Egypt for help.

Lenten Readings -- Jeremiah 1

Yesterday, I introduced the book of Jeremiah. 

1. Jeremiah was a priest -- a descendant of Levi -- who lived in the territory of Benjamin. He was from a city named Anathoth, which suggests he was a descendant of Abiathar the priest. Solomon banished Abiathar to Anathoth (three miles northeast of Jerusalem) because he backed another son of David for the throne.  

Although the name of Jeremiah's father is the same as that of the high priest in his day, it probably is not the same person. For one, Jeremiah was very critical of the temple, as we will see. But the fact that he was from Anathoth suggests he was from a priestly line that did not serve in the temple. The descendants of Zadok served in the temple.

Despite his priestly lineage, we never hear of Jeremiah offering a sacrifice. He started prophesying in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign. The Book of the Law -- likely some version of Deuteronomy -- was discovered in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. While there is a significant overlap between the theology of Jeremiah and that of Deuteronomy, Jeremiah never mentions it.

This context puts Jeremiah in an interesting situation from the start. He likely grows up and begins his prophetic work during a time when sacrifices could be offered to Yahweh anywhere. For example, we can easily imagine that sacrifices were regularly offered to Yahweh in Anathoth. Yet, Josiah shuts down any sacrifices outside the Jerusalem temple. 

While 2 Kings is overwhelmingly positive toward this move, it is very possible that families like Jeremiah's saw this as a power move, even an economic move. Come to Jerusalem, offer your sacrifices, shop a little in our stores and eat at Burger King. I'm exaggerating of course, but these are possible dynamics of the time.

On a side note, the high priest Hilkiah does not go to Jeremiah to authenticate the Book of the Law. Instead, he goes to Huldah, a married prophetess. 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles thus suggest that she was a higher spiritual authority in the land than both the high priest Hilkiah and the prophet Jeremiah. This fact firmly undermines any absolute prohibition of women in spiritual leadership.

2. God knew Jeremiah before he formed him in the womb, that is, even before he was conceived (1:5). Historic Christianity believes that God foreknows everything that will happen. God foreknows every person who will ever be born. The sense is that Jeremiah's life had a specific calling on him as a prophet. God had a very specific purpose for his life to fulfill. 

As a Wesleyan, I believe Jeremiah had a choice in that calling. And God foreknew that Jeremiah would be obedient in his choices. This is not a statement of predestination.

We should also be careful not to overread these verses. For example, it doesn't say that God has this specific a calling for every person. It just doesn't say that. Nor does it say that God directs the majority of fertilized eggs not to be born. The passage simply says that God had a very definite plan for Jeremiah specifically, and God had it before he was even conceived. The verse does not go beyond that to make claims about all people or draw broader theological conclusions.

3. Jeremiah 1 ends with some symbolic visions. A vision of an almond indicates God is watching the situation in Judah and that his word will be fulfilled. A boiling pot warns that Babylon will invade from the north. 

The unhappy message of Jeremiah was that Judah would be judged for its idolatry and worship of other gods. This message would bring opposition against him. But God declares that Jeremiah would be like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls. 

God's word to Jeremiah suggests that God was giving him a fearsome task. Speaking prophetically to kings and high priests is not for the faint of heart! In his calling, God was helping Jeremiah brace for the incredibly daunting task that he was about to face.

Lenten Readings in Jeremiah -- Introduction

During Lent this year, I want to read through the book of Jeremiah, starting today with a little background.

Day 1: Background

1. I don't want to spend too much time on background here because much of it will become clear as we read through the text. Jeremiah prophesied during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah -- roughly from the 620s BC to the time after the temple's destruction in 586 BC. Jeremiah is sometimes called the "weeping prophet" because the message God gave him was one of coming judgment and destruction.

I've often said that I would much rather be a prophet like Isaiah than one like Jeremiah. The message from Isaiah to King Ahaz was an optimistic, positive one -- have faith, Ahaz, because God is going to deliver you! Jeremiah's message was that Israel was going into exile. Let's just say kings often don't like people who speak the truth to them and bring bad news!

Jeremiah had what I sometimes call "Cassandra syndrome," from Greek literature. In Greek mythology, Cassandra did not return the god Apollo's love so he cursed her with the gift to tell the future... but for no one to ever believe her. Jeremiah's situation was not dissimilar. Though he was obviously right, he was largely rejected by his people.

This is also a reminder that it isn't always easy to see who the true prophet is in the thick of things. There were other prophets in Jeremiah's day who were parroting the message of Isaiah a century earlier. "Don't worry," they said. "God is going to save us." But they were false prophets. 

2. Suffice it to say, Jeremiah did not sit down one day and write from chapter 1 to 52. In fact, it will become clear that the chapters of Jeremiah in our Bibles aren't in the order in which they were prophesied. Jeremiah had a scribe, Baruch, who wrote down the prophecies for him. At some point, someone collected them into a collection of scrolls. [1]

This is a paradigm shift. Jeremiah's prophecies originally had a very oral character, even if parts of them were written down. Without even realizing it, we live in a literary age. [2] We think in terms of books. They thought in terms of speech, meaning that they thought of books differently than we do. Books retained an oral, more fluid character for them. We tend to think of books as having a much more fixed, preserved character. 

Similarly, they read books aloud. The "reader" of a book was not someone sitting alone with a copy of a book in their hands (cf. Mark 13:14). A reader was the person who read a text aloud to an audience of some sort, whether Israelites in a synagogue or a reader in a Christian house assembly. The vast majority of people could not read themselves although literacy was likely higher among Jews.

3. Because the material of Jeremiah is not in order, it's clear that the book itself was edited into its current form later. In fact, the chapters are in a different order in the Greek Old Testament dating from as late as perhaps the 200s BC. This suggests that the arrangement of Jeremiah was not entirely fixed even a couple centuries before Christ.

The first compilation of Jeremiah's prophecies probably took place during the Babylonian exile in the mid-500s. Perhaps Baruch himself edited the prophecies of Jeremiah's life onto scrolls. It's important to remember that God can inspire editing as well as initial writing. Most Christians probably have never thought about this possibility, simply assuming Jeremiah sat down and wrote the book all out at once. 

But the concept of inspired editing as part of the process fits equally well with the notion of inerrancy as an author writing something all at once. The key is that the text in its "canonical" form -- the content and shape it came to have in the biblical text -- was inspired. There are some complications here, but this general sense of the situation suffices for our reading.

[1] The book form was not used at this point in history. Scrolls were not infinitely long. A work the size of Jeremiah probably would be kept on three or four scrolls.

[2] At least the older ones of us do. Younger individuals live in a digital age and are digital natives. This is a third major paradigm shift in history.

The Prodigal Son

My Lenten post for this week is now up on the Dean's blog: http://wesleyanseminary.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/the-prodigal-son/

Sorry for those who looked earlier, the Methodist Lectionary I use for some reason skipped from March 7 to March 21! The other one will repost in a week.