Jeremiah 15:1-10: a reflection

1Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not turn toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out! 2It will happen when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ then you shall tell them, ‘The LORD says: “Such as are for death, to death; such as are for the sword, to the sword; such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.”’ 3“I will appoint over them four kinds,” says the LORD: “the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy. 4I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn you? Who will come to ask of your welfare? 6You have rejected me,” says the LORD. “You have gone backward. Therefore I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you. I am weary of showing compassion. 7I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land. I have bereaved them of children. I have destroyed my people. They didn’t return from their ways. 8Their widows are increased more than the sand of the seas. I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday. I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly. 9She who has borne seven languishes. She has given up the spirit. Her sun has gone down while it was yet day. She has been disappointed and confounded. I will deliver their residue to the sword before their enemies,” says the LORD. 10Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them curses me.

This is a heavy chapter. God tells Jeremiah that even the greatest intercessors, Moses and Samuel, could not turn his heart toward a people who have persistently refused him. The language of judgment is severe, and it comes after long patience finally exhausted. God even says he is weary of relenting, of holding back what their obstinate rejection has earned. It is a sobering picture of what happens when grace is presumed upon again and again.

But there is another voice in the chapter, and it is the prophet's own. Woe is me, my mother, Jeremiah cries, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land. He is lonely and worn down, hated for delivering a message he did not choose, cursed by everyone though he has wronged no one. Here is a faithful servant of God pouring out his grief honestly, not hiding his pain behind pious words but bringing his complaint straight to God.

Two things to carry from this chapter. First, do not presume on God's patience; his compassion is deep, but persistent, hardened rejection is a serious thing, and the call is always to return before the heart grows cold. Second, if you are worn down by doing what is right in a place that resents it, take comfort that even Jeremiah felt this, and that he brought his ache honestly to God. You are in faithful company. Pour out your grief to the Lord as Jeremiah did, and keep going.

Lord, this heavy chapter warns me not to presume on your patience, and it shows me a faithful prophet worn down and lonely, pouring out his grief to you. Keep me from taking your compassion for granted; help me return to you before my heart grows cold. And when I am weary of doing right in a place that resents it, let me bring my ache honestly to you, as Jeremiah did, and find strength to continue. Amen.