FOOLISH AND STUPID PEOPLE- In verse 22, Jeremiah announces as God’s spokesperson that "my people are foolish . . . they are stupid children" (v. 22). Harsh, insulting and condemnatory words. Such is the tenor of the entire lesson. In relationship to the wisdom that seeks to make life work and to choose how to do good, the people addressed here are "stupid" and foolish." "The wise person pays attention to consequences and determines conduct in relation to that . . . the only skill evident in this community is a perverse one . . . the people are wide and skilled only in wickedness-the opposite of wisdom." [1]

NO INTERCESSION ALLOWED THIS TIME - In other dire circumstances in which Israel found itself, intercessors could step up to the table and intercede for them (Moses in Ex. 32:11; Amos in Amos 7:1-6). Such intercession brought about the possibility of assuaged wrath; God might hear and relent God’s judgment. But here it is different. Gone are the intercessors. And regardless of Jeremiah’s imploring for Israel to repent, the ripped relationship between God and Israel is so severe that God will not even allow intercession (7:16; 11:14; 14:11-12; 15:1).

SLIVER OF HOPE - the fragile verse that bears a sliver of hope is in verse 27: "The whole land shall b e a desolation; yet I will not make a full end." Some scholars feel that even this hope is misplaced since it is sandwiched between such withering judgment. Yet, the phrase suggests that despite the chaos and invasion and death and exile, it will not be the final end. It is as if God puts this tiny kernel of hope into the ground of destruction as a kind of promissory note about their future.

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How have you experienced God as Judge or Avenger? How did such an experience impact you?

I think of Iraq-devastated by bombings, hostage-taking, and the disregard for human dignity who fall victim on both sides of the war. How would they hear such words from Jeremiah? How do you experience something like Jeremiah’s concern and agony of soul when you learn of people’s suffering?

gambits

This is not an easy passage from which to draw a homily. The tone is dark and somber, almost frantic.

Begin by describing Jeremiah’s terror, captured in the words at the end of the chapter-Woe is me! I am fainting before killers! It’s as if Jeremiah is standing on the edge of the earth and watching as the world returns to tohu wabohu, waste and void (Gen. 1:2).

Try to replicate such sadness in our world today-the war in IRAQ, the constant turmoil in Kosovo or Afghanistan.

Pull up the little phrase-yet I will not make a full end. Discuss the debate over whether it was added much later after the fact, or whether it actually was part of the original text.

What we know about God elsewhere in Scripture makes that phrase quite appropriate in the midst of judgment and devastation. Hope. Continue the story of how God ultimately did not let allow the devastation of invasion to ethnically cleanse Israel from the earth. Hope would grow again. Doesn’t replace the sadness or violence, but hope does give people strength to move forward, no matter how difficult the climb.

Shift finally to the grace that is revealed in Jesus Christ for the world as well. We may again see cataclysmic chaos through generations, yet the sliver of hope is still there for us. That’s good news.

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible VI ((Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001), page 614.