This section of Jeremiah is full of God’s wrath, retribution, vengeance, and power. And I didn’t like it. Not one little bit. God is going to show judgment on Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, the Amonites, Kedar, Hazor, Elam.
And by judgment, I mean anger and decimation. Here are some of the things God reported to Jerimiah that God would do.
Um, no thank you. It’s no wonder some quake in their boots at God’s judgment. Some think God is only around to use the gavel, and pass harsh sentences, like wallowing in vomit. That’s just mean.
All of these books in Scripture were written by humans, or at least scribed by humans. Humans who had personalities, and conflicts and perspectives. There is no way that the stories we read now, millennia later, are entirely absent the scribers’ flair. I am not trying to dismiss Jeremiah’s prophecies as untrue, or that God wasn’t talking to him. And it sounds so incongruous to my understanding of God.
Maybe I’m wrong in my understanding of God. Or maybe I’m judging Jeremiah’s prophecies from my lens and my context. Maybe during Jerimiah’s time, these prophecies made sense and weren’t so out of character, at least in my understanding. Or maybe Jeremiah is infusing his prophecies with his lens and his context. Whatever the reason, this is hard for me to wrap my head around.
To be clear, I believe God is a just God. I believe there are consequences for my behavior. But I don’t think it involves God making me despised. I’m not sure what to do with all of that wrath and vengeance, but there was one little bit in this section that did sound more familiar to my understanding of God.
In the midst of all these God-induced tribulations, God instructs those who are to be decimated that they are to “Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.” So even in the midst of this fury, God is caring for the least and the last.
I am not sure that’s enough to allow me to recognize the God described here, but it definitely helps.
This morning, I’m thinking about the God others describe that I don’t recognize, and wondering if the disconnect in their description, or my understanding.
- I will make [Moab] drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD; and make him wallow in his vomit
- I have stripped Esau bare, and will make you least among the nations, despised by humankind.
- I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
- I will terrify Elam before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; I will bring disaster upon them
Um, no thank you. It’s no wonder some quake in their boots at God’s judgment. Some think God is only around to use the gavel, and pass harsh sentences, like wallowing in vomit. That’s just mean.
All of these books in Scripture were written by humans, or at least scribed by humans. Humans who had personalities, and conflicts and perspectives. There is no way that the stories we read now, millennia later, are entirely absent the scribers’ flair. I am not trying to dismiss Jeremiah’s prophecies as untrue, or that God wasn’t talking to him. And it sounds so incongruous to my understanding of God.
Maybe I’m wrong in my understanding of God. Or maybe I’m judging Jeremiah’s prophecies from my lens and my context. Maybe during Jerimiah’s time, these prophecies made sense and weren’t so out of character, at least in my understanding. Or maybe Jeremiah is infusing his prophecies with his lens and his context. Whatever the reason, this is hard for me to wrap my head around.
To be clear, I believe God is a just God. I believe there are consequences for my behavior. But I don’t think it involves God making me despised. I’m not sure what to do with all of that wrath and vengeance, but there was one little bit in this section that did sound more familiar to my understanding of God.
In the midst of all these God-induced tribulations, God instructs those who are to be decimated that they are to “Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.” So even in the midst of this fury, God is caring for the least and the last.
I am not sure that’s enough to allow me to recognize the God described here, but it definitely helps.
This morning, I’m thinking about the God others describe that I don’t recognize, and wondering if the disconnect in their description, or my understanding.
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