A Threat of Jeremiah’s life
Jeremiah 11:18-23
18 It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew;
then you showed me their evil deeds.
19 But I was like a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
And I did not know it was against me
that they devised schemes, saying,
‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will no longer be remembered!’
20 But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously,
who try the heart and the mind,
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the people of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, ‘You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand’— 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: I am going to punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; 23 and not even a remnant shall be left of them. For I will bring disaster upon the people of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.
The language feels harsh to us, should not Jeremiah just forgive the people of Anathoth for their threats to kill him. Shouldn’t God show the people of Anathoth grace and just forgive them.
Let’s get some of the background. Anathoth is Jeremiah’s hometown, the place he grew up. The people who are tell him that if he keeps on prophesying in God’s name they will kill him – those people are people who had known him all his life, some of them would be his relatives. Those seeking Jeremiah’s death want to obliterate his name from memory. For Jeremiah the threats are deeply personal.
When we experience deeply personal hurt, it is hard to forgive, it is hard to let go of the pain and to not desire revenge. Jeremiah here reminds us of the human desire for revenge is always close to the surface. And we need to allow ourselves to speak it out loud like Jeremiah does here. For in speaking aloud what we are feeling we hear ourselves say it and we frequently reject the harsh words we have spoken, realizing that they are not what we actually want to see happen. That in speaking out our anger we can sometimes defuse it. Notice Jeremiah never suggests he will act to bring justice, his words are directed towards God, asking God to act.
But we are still left with a problem, for God is very clear in vs. 23 that he will bring “disaster upon the people of Anathoth.” Can’t God just turn a blind eye to what the people were threatening against Jeremiah and forgive and forget. The brutal truth is that in the coming kingdom of God evil will be judged. God is a God of justice and a God of grace, and evil that is unwilling to change its pattern of action will be brought to account and judged.
Justice is in God’s hands, he will exercise it at the time God has chosen. Meanwhile in the face of evil, we cry out to God as Jeremiah does and wait for God to act in God’s time.
PRAYER:
O Lord, we cry out to you for you to bring justice to our world, at times we desire that your punishment would fall of those who do evil in the world. You alone can bring true justice, give us the certainty that you will bring justice in your time and that we can with confidence leave that in your hands. In Jesus’ name. Amen.