Scripture Daily

Context No. 162 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 1:11-19: in context

11Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” 12Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it.” 13The LORD’s word came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” I said, “I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.” 14Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north, evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15For behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says the LORD. “They will come, and they will each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah. 16I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17“You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and say to them all that I command you. Don’t be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them. 18For behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. 19They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you”, says the LORD, “to rescue you.”

Jeremiah has just been called as a prophet and has objected that he is only a boy. This passage is God training him with two questions, and the first turns on a pun that only works in Hebrew.

What do you see? An almond branch. The almond is shaqed, and God's reply is that he is shoqed, watching, over his word to perform it. The almond is the first tree to bloom in the Judean spring, flowering while everything else is bare, so it is the watchful tree, awake before the rest. The word and the image and the promise all lock together in a single sound.

Then the second: a boiling pot, tipping from the north. That is the invasion route, and it is the whole coming disaster in one domestic image, a cooking pot about to spill. Then the commission proper, and it is not reassuring. Gird up your loins, tell them everything I command you, do not be dismayed or I will dismay you before them. The whole land, its kings, officials, priests and people, will fight against you. But they will not prevail, for I am with you. The promise is not that the fight will be avoided. What am I hoping to be spared, when what I have actually been offered is company in it?

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