Heart Searching
Context
When Jeremiah says that Judah’s sin is engraved … on the horns of their altars (1), he means that it has penetrated to the heart of their worship, to the very place where they thought forgiveness and protection were guaranteed. ‘Moreover, “the horns of the altar,” which once provided atonement for sin and protection from pursuing adversaries (
To persist in deliberate known sin is dangerous enough. Combining it with regular attendance at church and participating in Holy Communion is a mockery of the grace of God. If there are things that need to be put right, that needs to be done first.
There is biting sarcasm involved in the use of the figures here. The law was inscribed on the tablets of stone by the “finger” of God (
Asherah: A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles
The historical background to the book of Jeremiah is crucial in that Jeremiah preaches non-resistance to the expanding Babylonian empire. His message contradicts previous Israelite experience, such as that of king Hezekiah, who through piety and a miracle thwarted a foreign invasion of Jerusalem (
The prophet warns that Jerusalem is not invincible, thus opposing conventional ‘Zion theology’ that trusts in God’s promise to David to protect David’s throne in Jerusalem (
The doctrine of the “inviolability of Zion” is the natural consequence of its being the dwelling of God. The Lord is in the citadels of Zion and has shown himself to be its fortress; it is made secure forever (
Two Trees
The words translated “trust” in the Bible literally mean “a bold, confident, sure security or action based on that security.” Trust is not exactly the same as faith, which is the gift of God (
The classic verse regarding trust is
We are all ‘persons of faith’—the only difference lies in the object of our trust. … The question is: where have you put your faith? In what are you trusting?
Trust in man
Robinson translates, ‘the juniper tree,’ found in the Arabah or Great Valley, here called “the desert,” south of the Dead Sea. The “heath” was one of the plants, according to Pliny (xiii. 21; xvi. 26), excluded from religious uses, because it has neither fruit nor seed, and is neither sown nor planted. shall not see when good cometh
On the contrary, ‘good’ may indeed attend the self-sufficient, self-trusting person, but he will not see it—in the sense that ultimately it will bring them no lasting benefit. In fact, even in the midst of prosperity, such a person may find that life itself becomes a desert, and their own inner person, cut off from any life-giving nourishment from the God they have rejected, has become spiritually shrivelled and stunted.
The “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will
When sin becomes habitual and we refuse to repent, even after all the appeals of God’s word, the warnings of friends, or the protests of our own conscience, it leads to a very dangerous spiritual state, in which it becomes ever harder and harder to repent.
This is not just your average self-sufficient pagan. This is someone who has known the living God but who is now governing the essential core of their life (heart) without reference to God.
Trust in the LORD
Anyone, Jew or Gentile, can belong to the new community. At the centre is Jesus, the promised Messiah-Lord, who sits at God’s right hand exercising authority from above. He will return one day and all are accountable to him. His life, ministry and resurrection/ascension prove that he is worthy of trust.
The truth about that desert, the godless world, is summed up with masterly brevity in the three features of 6b: thirst, loneliness and sterility.’ And conversely, the person who is trusting in the Lord may well face heat and a year of drought—i.e. times of stress, pressure, suffering and need (as Jeremiah will testify again a few verses later). But even in and through such tough times, God’s faithful ones need not fear and can continue to bear fruit.
Repentance
Restoration
There is a double irony, however, in Jeremiah’s prediction.
First, the foreign nations will acknowledge what Israel had refused to accept—namely that man-made gods are false and worthless (19b). While Israel had spent their energies running after the gods of the nations (ch. 2), the nations would themselves acknowledge that they had been deceived.
This is a paradox that runs through the Bible. Often God’s own people are the last to perceive the futility of their own idolatries. Often ‘outsider’ people come to see what ‘insiders’ have refused to accept, or offer correction to those who should have known better.
