Jason Forbes
Disability Advocate
Jeremiah begins by charging Judah, the last remains of the nation of Israel, with forgetting the Lord (Jer 2:4–8). As a result, God will judge Judah by sending Egypt and Assyria against them (v. 36). Judah has been turning from the Lord to idols and is forsaking the Lord’s glory. It is this glory that Jeremiah is concerned about and appeals to the Lord’s creative acts in creation to emphasise the superiority of the Lord.
To emphasise the Lord’s glory, Jeremiah contrasts the Lord to idols. On one hand, idols are made from wood by men, and cannot move, speak, or walk (10:3–5). On the other hand, Jeremiah recognises that the earth was made by the Lord’s power, that the world was established by his wisdom, and that the heavens were stretched out by his understanding (v. 12). The natural elements of water, lightening and wind are commanded by his utterances (v. 13). Anyone who engages in idolatry, therefore, is considered as stupid, without knowledge, and shameful (v. 14). Because of the Lord’s glory, action must be taken against the disorder of idols.
In as much as this action leads to the disordering of Judah, in the sense that the nation was destroyed by pagan nations and the population dragged off into exile, the Lord’s intent in allowing for this disorder was to bring about a greater order. Jeremiah anticipates a time when the Lord will act against Babylon and destroy the nation that finally destroyed Judah (51:1–14). The Lord had not forsaken Judah, even though it appeared this way (v. 5). The reality was, Babylon was just a cup in the Lord’s hands to make the nations intoxicated and mad (v. 7). The Lord’s actions against Babylon are a means to bring Israel back from disorder to order. Jeremiah draws assurance that this will happen by repeating his reflections on the Lord’s creative nature (vv. 15–19).
When we pursue other things before we pursue God, our relationship with him becomes disordered. We may place amassing wealth ahead of generosity. Acquiring possessions instead of fostering friendships. Doing what we think is right instead of applying God’s standards. Demanding restitution instead of exercising grace. Seeking revenge instead of forgiving. Being impatient instead of forbearing. We readily fall into the patterns of behaviour when our values are compromised or threatened, or when our expectations aren’t met, and our relationship with the Lord becomes disordered. When this happens, other things can quickly become disordered, and we can find ourselves in a bigger mess than what we can possibly clean up ourselves – much like a tiny country being attacked by two political superpowers: one from the north and the other from the south.
The good news is, no matter how much of a mess we’ve made, no matter how disordered things become, no matter how distant we’ve become from God, we are not beyond his reach. God can make order from our disorder. No mess is too big to clean up.