“This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord …”
Bible students are familiar with the difficulties raised by comparing one or two of Jeremiah’s later prophecies to secular historical narratives covering the same periods, particularly those concerning Nebuchadnezzar and his conquest of Egypt.
Having spent a fair bit of time studying other accounts written by secular historians, these tempests in a teapot trouble me not a bit.
The prophecies of Jeremiah appear in nothing remotely resembling chronological order. The text supplies no explanation for this, but it’s definitely the case. I am confident there is an intentionality in the Holy Spirit’s arrangement of his word, but whatever it may be, his logic defies easy analysis.
Speculations inevitably ensue. Reader suggestions include scribal error, editorial accident, literary device, arrangement by topic or theme, ordering by length of message and even multiple authors.
Like Fred MacMurray, Rachel had three sons. Boy, I’m dating myself with that one.
Work with me here. I know the patriarch Jacob’s favorite wife only gave birth to two boys physically: Joseph and Benjamin. No need to argue about that. Her unfortunate death in the immediate aftermath of bringing the latter into the world ensured she would produce no more heirs for Jacob.
But she still ended up with three boys. Some of our readers are getting it now.
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This 2021 post documented how, in not much more than a single generation, Jewish religious leaders went from burning the prophecies of Jeremiah — and physically abusing him for making them — to preserving and circulating those same predictions for posterity, such that Daniel in exile had his own copy of what eventually became Jeremiah 25.
In fewer than 66 years, Jeremiah went from pariah and
public menace to one of Israel’s most respected prognosticators, though he
probably didn’t live long enough to see his career
“I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.”
Perhaps the prophet Jeremiah had been reading the book of Proverbs when he made this statement. There, Solomon wrote these words: “A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?” Solomon wondered about it. Jeremiah simply asserted it.
Either way, left to our own devices, we are blind men groping in the dark. In this life, the word of God is our only unerring guide.
“They bend their tongue like a bow.”
I have a dear friend who professed faith in Christ back in his youth, but in his twenties married an unsaved woman and wandered far away from the Lord … or maybe the process worked the other way round. Either way, raising a family in lockstep with the worldview of a woman who does not know Christ or the scriptures, he has grown comfortable subjecting himself to the propaganda of the leftist media on a daily basis.
Eager to please his wife, he now pays arguably more attention to her ideology than she does.
“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.”
As I study the scriptures, the magnitude of God’s grace never ceases to amaze me. This passage is just one in an almost-endless list of examples.
My inexplicable obsession with statistics has been chronicled here and here, but I do try to keep a handle on it, recognizing it ain’t everyone’s cuppa. Mind you, the first stats post was in 2017, and the second only last year, so they are coming faster every time. As one hard-bitten detective might say to another on your favorite cop drama, “Uh oh, he’s decompensating!”
I’ll try not to run on too long.
Major or Minor, the vast majority of the Old Testament prophetic text is made up of visions, oracles or messages from God through the prophets to individuals or nations. There are exceptions, of course. Isaiah contains a historic interlude or two, as do Haggai, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jonah and especially Jeremiah, who provides an exceptional amount of useful historical context.
In addition to the history, some prophets also recorded the personal instructions, special insights, correction or encouragement God gave them in the process of serving him, and the substance of their conversations and interactions with him. Jonah does this in every chapter.
But no prophet preserved more of God’s editorial commentary on his own messages than Jeremiah, all the way through the first 2/3 of his prophecy.
Yesterday we looked at the unnecessary death of Josiah, Israel’s last great king. Today, I’d like to look briefly at four complementary passages concerned with the period of time during which Josiah reigned over Judah. I’m hoping these may help to refine our thoughts about the relationship between leaders and the led.
We often bemoan a lack of godly leadership in our day. That is not always our real problem.
The Latin term vaticinium ex eventu is used by liberal scholars and critics of the Bible to describe a prophecy they believe was made “from the event”, or literally after the fact. For example, German scholar Ferdinand Hitzig objected to prophecies about the king of Egypt made in Jeremiah 44:29-30, calling them vaticinium ex eventu. The argument of men like Hitzig is that later writers forged one or more prophecies in Jeremiah’s name based on events which had already occurred, and grafted them into the existing text of Jeremiah, presumably in order to make his writings appear more credible.
Hitzig died in 1875, by the way, so obviously this is not a new issue. And he’s far from the only expert to make such claims.
“Can the balm of Gilead heal?”
Well, there’s an obscure question for you!
I suppose first we should probably ask what the balm of Gilead is. I don’t imagine most people, even some regular readers of scripture, have the slightest idea.
Genesis 37 makes reference to a “caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead” and bound for Egypt. These men were merchants and traders, and one of the goods they had for sale was balm, salve in the form of wax or resin to be applied topically. They acquired this balm east of the Jordan River in Gilead, later part of Israel. Genesius’ Lexicon says this medicine was secreted by a plant known to grow only in that region, though the actual species is today a matter of dispute among scholars. The plant was extremely rare, its medicine believed to be very effective, and was highly valued and sought after. Once Israel conquered Canaan under Joshua and populated the Transjordan highlands, they effectively cornered the world market on Gilead’s balm.
“I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride ...”
Bible students familiar with the books of Exodus and Numbers, in which Israel’s failings during their period of wilderness wandering are thoroughly documented, may be excused if they find these words from Jeremiah unlikely and supremely generous. I suffer a similar bout of cognitive dissonance when I read Peter’s words about Lot: “That righteous man lived among them day after day ... tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.”
Really? The guy who slept with not one but both his daughters? The guy who voluntarily chose to live among the Sodomites? The guy whose wife was so in love with that corrupt society that she turned back and became a cautionary tale so memorable that “pillar of salt” references still appear in secular literature from time to time almost 3,700 years after it happened?
That Lot?
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| Samuel Reproving Saul, John Singleton Copley, 1798 |
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| Better entertained in goatland ... |
