Wednesday 19th August
Read Jeremiah 4:11-18
“At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, ‘A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows towards my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.’
13 Look! He advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind,
his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us! We are ruined!
14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.
How long will you harbour wicked thoughts?
15 A voice is announcing from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
16 ‘Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
“A besieging army is coming from a distant land,
raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.
17 They surround her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,”’
declares the Lord.
18 ‘Your own conduct and actions
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
How it pierces to the heart!’” (NIVUK)
The nightmare images accumulate…now a sirocco blows in, far too powerful to winnow grain and sort wheat from chaff, this wind will take everything and everyone away (v11-12). It is indiscriminate judgment – touching both the good and the bad. There are so many foes descending upon Judah the dust of their horses charging down from the north looks like a sirocco (v13)!
The immediacy of the danger is impressed upon Jeremiah, even if this is a warning of what is to come. He experiences this in real time, he sees the threat approaching, he recounts it like a football game happening before his eyes – the messenger from Dan (in the north) bringing the warning at speed to the people (v14-15). The poetry is designed to increase panic, lift the heart rate of those to whom it is directed, prompt action. It is designed to provoke the ‘fight or flight’ response.
It is incredibly bold too. No one likes people who declare ‘I told you so’. Even when we say it we preface it with ‘I don’t want to say…’! Yet Jeremiah places the blame for this disaster precisely where it resides – at the feet of the people themselves (v18). They are fully responsible for the destruction descending upon them.
Yet, even amidst this nightmare, Jeremiah calls out for the people to repent, to turn back to God (v14). A hopeful call amidst hopelessness. A single bright light as darkness approaches. Even amidst the sirocco of judgment a lifeline is thrown out…
