hope and judgment

Good morning friends,
Today's reading begins with hope and ends with warning. This progression raises the question Jeremiah voices as an accusation against God at the end of the passage: is there any hope for Israel or is God just offering an impossible promise while the sword of judgment is at Israel's throat? I think God is offering Israel true hope, but a hope they will not take advantage of. God calls his people to turn back to him, but the nation does not.

The good news is that even after judgment and exile there is hope because God's love never ends. Judah is conquered and forced into exile during Jeremiah's ministry. Even in exile, God is there. The exilic period ends up being a critical part of Israel's reformation and the time during which much of the Old Testament took the shape we know today. That time of hardship strengthened Israel's identity in God and prepared Israel for the diaspora that has continued to be the situation of many Jews today. Israel did return to their land as God promised. The temple was rebuilt and worship restored. God's promise and God's story continue through all our twists and turns. God is always faithful, even when we are not.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 4:1-10
If you return, O Israel, says the Lord, if you return to me, if you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver, 2and if you swear, “As the Lord lives!” in truth, in justice, and in uprightness, then nations shall be blessed by him, and by him they shall boast.

3For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. 4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet through the land; shout aloud and say, “Gather together, and let us go into the fortified cities!” 6Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, do not delay, for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction. 7A lion has gone up from its thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant. 8Because of this put on sackcloth, lament and wail: “The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.” 9On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded. 10Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ even while the sword is at the throat!”