Above: Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART VIII
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Jeremiah 12:1-17
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Jeremiah 12:1-6 flows directly from 11:18-23. Jeremiah, reversing the metaphors of Psalm 1, argued that the wicked prosper, and that God planted and watered them. (This impatience is always understandable.) God told the prophet to distrust not only the people of his hometown, but the prophet’s relatives, too. Jeremiah’s situation will get worse, we read.
Jeremiah was not alone in lamenting, though. God had a complaint, too. God’s own people–metaphorically, family–were not trustworthy, either.
Jeremiah 12 depicts YHWH and Jeremiah as having similar predicaments. The prophet, representing the best of Jewish tradition, argued faithfully with God. Jeremiah could have abandoned his commitment to YHWH, but did not. The prophet sometimes bitterly regretted his spiritual vocation. Yet he remained faithful. YHWH, who had done much for His covenant people, met with ample rejection, as Jeremiah did.
Jeremiah 12:14-17 dates to a later period than 12:1-13. 12:14-17 balances divine judgment and mercy, and returns to the themes of the remnant and the return from the Babylonian Exile. However, the text also holds open the option of renewed judgment and punishment.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 8, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF CLARA LUPER, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND ALLEGED HERETIC; AND HIS DAUGHTER, EMILIE GRACE BRIGGS, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND “HERETIC’S DAUGHTER”
THE FEAST OF GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC POET AND JESUIT PRIEST
THE FEAST OF HENRY DOWNTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF ROLAND ALLEN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MISSION STRATEGIST
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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