Jeremiah;- Glory only in the Lord (ch9)

I’ve already looked at the first half of Jeremiah ch9. The second half is occupied by four short prophecies, on topics related to the themes of the previous prophecies.

Wormwood

V12 “Who is the man so wise that he can understand this?”
As we know from the book of Proverbs, true wisdom means understanding God and what he wants from us.

“To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it?”
One way of getting this understanding is by listening to the words of the prophets.

The basic question is “Why is the land laid waste like a wilderness, so that no-one passes through?” Actually it isn’t laid waste yet, but it will be. This question is anticipating.

The answer is- the former inhabitants forsook God’s law and did not obey his voice or live in accordance with it. They followed their own hearts, which meant worshipping the Baals.

V15 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink.”

This refers to the Numbers ch5 procedure for testing a woman suspected of adultery. In other words, he regards his people as adulterous to himself. He is the “husband” in the situation, his people are the disloyal “wife”. That is why the star which poisons the waters of the world in Revelation ch8 is called “Wormwood”.

The mourning women

V17 “Call for the mourning women to come.”

A poetical prophecy sandwiched between the two passages of prose. The prophet has already expressed his own grief about the fate of the land. These women are now being summoned to express the community’s grief officially, as part of the standard ritual for mourning the dead. These are the mourning women whom Jesus sent away when he was about to raise Jairus’ daughter. Their function was to stimulate the mourning of others; “that our eyes may flow down with tears”.

In fact mourning is already coming from Zion, complaining that they are ruined “because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings”. If Zion has “left the land”, this appears to distinguish between Zion and the physical location of Jerusalem.

The Lord has something to say to these women, something they must teach their neighbours. The necessity comes from the fact that death has come into their community, touching even their children and young men. The message is that the dead bodies will be left on the ground like the un-gathered sheaves of corn after the reapers have passed. Instead of being buried, they will remain like dung to fertilise the ground (this has been said before, ch8 v2).

Glory only in the Lord

Vv23-24 “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practise love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord.”

This declaration is self-contained and self-explanatory. It is echoed by Paul in a number of places. In 1 Corinthians ch1, he points out that the church does not have many who are wise in human terms, or powerful or of noble birth, because God has chosen what is weak and powerful in the world in order to shame the strong. In 2 Corinthians ch10 v17, he summarises the whole passage as “Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord”, and in 2 Corinthians ch12 v5 he declares that he will boast of nothing except his own weakness.

Against the uncircumcised in heart

Vv25-26 Circumcision is one of the marks which identify God’s people Israel, which distinguishes them from the uncircumcised. Another mark is a refusal to “cut the corners of their hair”, which apparently serves to distinguish them from the tribes of the desert. Therefore, at least in the long run, the Lord will punish those who lack those marks.

The catch is that the Lord is not talking about physical circumcision. He makes it clear that what matters is being “circumcised in heart”. Therefore his punishment will actually extend to “those who are circumcised but yet uncircumcised”, and the name “Judah” is slipped into that list.

Presumably, also, it is safe to go the the barber and have a haircut, as long as you remain “long-haired in heart”.

This thread was accidentally omitted from it's right place in the sequence, so I am adding it in before we come to the epilogue supplied by the original editors. It's another way of summing up Jeremiah's criticisms of the land.

If anyone is interested, the thread was missed because I was relying on chapter numbers to get threads in the right order in the folder, and there were two coming out of the same chapter. I noticed the mistake when I was starting to prepare the eventual "Index thread".

Good thread. Good insight.