Jeremiah

It is a real struggle to view this, or any revered religious book, with strict objectivity. In reading a novel or an essay, I expect the work to convince me of its merit. With the Bible, however, I choose to read on the assumption that the burden of proof lies on me, the reader. It is my task to sift through the archaic societal baggage, potential mistranslations and disjointed narative to walk away with a jewel of understanding.

There is good news and bad news, therefore, in the reading of Jeremiah. The good news: The book has a recognizable line, a consistent tone, and seems to have been written primarily by one individual with one message. All of this makes it inifinitely more readable than its forbearer, Isaiah. The bad news: It is infinitely more readable than Isaiah. Whereas Isaiah's mixed messages actually contributed to the meaning and interest of the book, Jeremiah asks far less from the reader in terms of thought, and correspondingly is less interesting.

Which frustrates me, a reader determined to make some sense out of it. Yes, JEHOVAH is mad at Israel, and yes, he is then even madder at Babylon, but very little is revealed in the delivery of these judgement messages about his nature or personality. In fact, judgment is the one consistently interesting topic in Jeremiah. Perhaps most intersting is the presentation of the writer's judgment against the God he is worshipping. He actually dares to present a case against God, and God deigns to listen. "You will be in the right, O JEHOVAH, when I lay charges against you;" he acknowledges, "but let me put my case to you" (12:1). JEHOVAH's answer does much to explain the seeming indecision with which he was painted in Jeremiah. "After I have plucked them up," he says of evildoers, "I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again to their heritage and to their land: (12:15). God compares humans to "The vessel he was making of clay [which] was spoiled in the potter's hand." Instead of discarding it, however, "he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him"(18:4). The judgment of God is thorough; "JEHOVAH test[s] the mind and search[es] the heart, to give to them according to their ways" (17:10). Heart, mind and actions are all taken into account. This is appropriate, for God alone has the perspective that comes with physical expansiveness. "Who can hide in secret places?" he asks, "Do I not fill heaven and Earth?" (23:23). But his judgment is also fluid; fate is always in the hands of the judged.

Which is not to say that God is indecisive, as seemed to be the case in Isaiah. He acts with great pith and moment, if not absolute finality. It is significant that each prophetic utterance begins with the phrase, "The word of JEHOVAH came to me, saying . . ." or some variation thereof. It is the word of God, his very speaking, which contains his power and through which he levels nations. Repeatedly, God's judgment is expressed in terms of vocalization: "JEHOVAH will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice" (25:30). And, perhaps more significantly, the power of God's word is a negotiable document; it is transferrable. "Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" (1:9-10). It is, therefore, not an act of scholarly ingenuousness to approach so-called holy books with a certain level of reverence and an assumption of value. The word of God--in any of its forms--is not only a thunder, but an electric current which runs through the spirit and activates it in ways human authors can only reflect, not capture.