Saturday 1st August
Read Jeremiah 1:13-16
“The word of the Lord came to me again: ‘What do you see?’
‘I see a pot that is boiling,’ I answered. ‘It is tilting towards us from the north.’
14 The Lord said to me, ‘From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,’ declares the Lord.
‘Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshipping what their hands have made.” (NIVUK)
If there is a note of promise in the blossoming branch the second image is all about judgment – a theme that will dominate the message of Jeremiah. With the benefit of hindsight we know what this image portends. The Babylonians will surround Jerusalem and set themselves up in the gate, tearing down the walls around them (Jeremiah 39:3).
At this point in Jeremiah’s ministry however it is unclear if this is the intent of this message. Jeremiah began his ministry forty years before Jerusalem fell. It could perhaps have been any number of northern threats – Arameans, Assyrians, Philistines, etc – that rolled down from the north and overwhelmed them.
This may seem a redundant point this far away in time from events long ago but the uncertainty of the enemy is perhaps deliberate. Careful reading of the message makes it clear that the enemy is incidental. God is summoning them (v15), whoever they are, for He is pronouncing judgment on His people (v16) for their rejection of Him. The smallness of their vision (v16d) is contrasted with the sweeping greatness of the vision granted to Jeremiah.
The consequences of our ‘lower case’ distractions have an outsize response. Small acts of rebellion add up to produce sizzling hot effects. The warnings will be spelt out in detail through the rest of Jeremiah but they lose none of their heat with the passing of time. We may instinctively choose to focus on the blossoming promises of salvation from God but that does not diminish His warnings of judgment.
