“When you tell this people
All these words,
They will say to you.
‘Why has Yahweh pronounced
All this great evil against us?
What is our iniquity?
What is the sin
That we have committed
Against Yahweh our God?’”
Yahweh reminds Jeremiah that the people might not like what he tells them. They will then begin to question him. Why were all these bad things happening to them? What had they done? What sin had they committed against Yahweh, their God?
“Yahweh said.
‘Surely I have intervened
In your life for good.
Surely I imposed enemies on you!
I intervened with you
In a time of trouble.
I intervened with you
In a time of distress.
Can iron with bronze
Break iron from the north?’”
Yahweh reminds Jeremiah that he has had a good life. However, Yahweh has given him enemies, yet he was there in his times of trouble and distress. Then Yahweh returned to the theme of how to defeat the invaders from the north. Would a combination of iron and bronze be enough to break the coming iron from the north? Only time will tell.
“Then the cities of Judah,
The inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Both will go out.
They will cry out to the gods
To whom they make offerings.
But these gods will never save them
In the time of their troubles.
Your gods have become
As many as your towns.
O Judah!
Your gods have become
As many as the streets of Jerusalem.
These altars
That you have set up
Shame you.
These altars make offerings to Baal.”
Then Yahweh continues to call our Jerusalem and Judah for their behavior. They have cried out to their gods and made offerings to them. However, Yahweh reminds them that these gods will never save them in their times of trouble. They appear to have as many gods as there are towns in Judah. Each town seems to have its own god. The same is true of Jerusalem, where practically every street has its own god. These are the altars that shame them, since they made offerings to Baal, the Canaanite god, on these altars.
“Hear that noise!
Listen!
It is coming!
There is a great commotion
From the land of the north.
They want
To make the cities of Judah
A desolation,
A lair of jackals.”
Jeremiah reminds people that the attack is coming from the north. If they listened carefully, they could hear them coming. They intended to make Judah a place of desolation where only wild jackal dogs lived. This concept of a lair of jackals appeared often in his presentations.
“‘Do you not fear me?’
Says Yahweh.
‘Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand
As a boundary for the sea.
This is a perpetual barrier
That it cannot pass.
Though the waves toss,
They cannot prevail.
Though they roar,
They cannot pass over it.
But these people have a stubborn heart.
They have a rebellious heart.
They have turned aside.
They have gone away.
They do not say in their hearts.
‘Let us fear Yahweh our God.
He gives the rain in its season.
He gives the autumn rain.
He gives the spring rain.
He keeps for us
The weeks appointed for the harvest.’
Your iniquities have turned these away.
Your sins have deprived you of good.”
Why don’t they fear Yahweh? Why don’t they tremble before him? Yahweh has placed sand as a perpetual barrier against the sea so that the sea cannot pass over it. Even though the waves toss and roar, they still were not able to prevail and pass over the sand. They have a stubborn and rebellious heart. They have turned away and gone astray. They do not fear Yahweh their God. Yahweh gives the perfect rain for every season with autumn and spring rains. Yet they have sunshine for the harvest time. Yahweh, via Jeremiah reminds them that their iniquities have turned them away from him. Their sins have deprived them of the good things in life.
“Then he remembered the days of old.
He remembered Moses his servant.
Where is the one
Who brought them up out of the sea?
Where are the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one
Who put within them His Holy Spirit?
Who caused his glorious arm
To march at the right hand of Moses?
Who divided the waters before them?
Who made for himself an everlasting name?
Who led them through the depths?
Who was like a horse in the desert
So that they did not stumble?
Like cattle that go down into the valley,
The Spirit of Yahweh gave them rest.
Thus you led your people
To make for yourself a glorious name.”
Despite all their unfaithful actions, Yahweh kept his people safe as in the days of his servant Moses. In a series of questions, he reminds them of the good things in the past. He brought them out of the sea depths as he divided the waters with his mighty arms. Yahweh gave them the Holy Spirit to lead his flock like a shepherd. He was like a horse leading in the desert so that they would not stumble. He protected them like cattle in the valleys that finally got rest. He made his name glorious.
“How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of the messenger.
He announces peace.
He brings good news.
He announces salvation.
He says to Zion.
‘Your God reigns.’”
Second Isaiah has a messenger with beautiful feet go over the mountains to bring good news. This messenger brings good news as he announces peace and salvation. He reminds the people of Mount Zion that their God is in control and rules over them. There is no attempt to talk about a human king for Israel.
“You have forgotten
The God of your salvation.
You have not remembered
The rock of your refuge.
Though you plant pleasant plants,
The harvest will flee away.
Even though you set out slips
Of an alien god,
The harvest will flee away.
Although you make them grow
On the day that you plant them,
The harvest will flee away.
Even though you make them blossom
In the morning that you sow them,
The harvest will flee away.
In a day of grief,
In a day of incurable pain,
The harvest will flee away.”
Yahweh, via Isaiah, reminds the northern Israelites that they have forgotten about their saving God, the rock of their lives. Thus when they plant pleasant plants, they will not come to harvest them because they put in the seeds of foreign gods. They make them grow on the day that they planted them, but they will see them harvested. These flowers seem to blossom in the morning. However, in the day of grief and incurable pain there will be no harvest. In other words, their forgetfulness of God has led to this planting that will not have any good result.
“Your silver has become dross.
Your wine is mixed with water.
Your princes are rebels.
They are the companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe.
They run after gifts.
They do not defend the orphans.
The widow’s cause does not
Come before them.”
Isaiah reminds the Israelites that their silver money in Jerusalem has become worthless scum dross. Their wine is not pure, since it is mixed with water, or watered down. The princes of Jerusalem have become rebels and companions of thieves. They love bribes and run after gifts. There is no one left to defend and help the orphans and the widows, which is so important for Israelite life.
“Many have committed sin
For a trifle gain.
Whoever seeks to get rich
Will avert their eyes.
As a stake is driven firmly
Into a fissure between stones,
So sin is wedged
In between
Selling and buying.
If a person is not steadfast
In the fear of the Lord,
His house
Will be quickly overthrown.”
Sirach reminds us that many sins have been committed over the attempt to make a small profit. Those who seek to get rich turn their eyes away from morality. Just as a stake is usually placed between 2 stones, so too you will find some sin between the buying and selling of a product. If you are not steadfast in your fear of the Lord, your house will be quickly overthrown. Sirach was no friend of capitalism.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 