The book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Scriptures has absolutely transformed so much of what I think about Jesus. As I read Jeremiah, chapter 2 always grips me and I end up never reading much past it. I did an in-depth exegetical study of Jeremiah last summer, where I understood Jeremiah from the perspective of the historical context of which it was written.
So much of our Old Testament study within the Western Church is done through allegory, or spiritualizing what O.T. scriptures are saying, but I do not believe that justice is done unless the historical significance is thoroughly discussed. What is Jeremiah the prophet saying in our day, because the word spoken is not that different from what Jesus spoke. As James Sanders has said, "The false prophet never speaks of love for the enemies of God," which is true of the false prophets in the book of Jeremiah.
We read Jeremiah sometimes from such a "personal" narrative that it loses the overall effect that it was written to an entire kingdom, i.e. the southern kingdom of Judah. At the time Jeremiah was narrated by Jeremiah to Baruch the scribe, Israel was the northern kingdom and Judah the southern kingdom. Approximately one hundred years earlier in 722 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel has been lay ed waste by Assyria and the capital city, Shiloh has been destroyed. Important to note, because when Jeremiah starts to bring a prophetic word in approx. 627 B.C., the word is that Judah is worse off, because she has seen the destruction brought upon her sister Israel, and yet fails to turn from following after other gods.
The main sin of Judah was that she placed hope in Ba'al, the god of fertility rather that Yhwh. Ba'al is the 'god of rain', which in a Middle Eastern climate is important.
That is why I can never get by chapter 2, because Yhwh is crying out in his heart that he loved Israel/Judah when she was in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. In a place where they cried out to Yhwh, "Do not let us die and he continually provided." The wilderness is not a spiritual place where we go to dwell, such as Monasticism, but it is where we live continuously with Christ. It is a place where our every breath, and sustenance is provided by Yhwh. When Israel developed the kingdoms, she no longer had need for Yhwh, until she realized that Ba'al was in all actuality not actually a god, because it could not bring rain. Fear caused Israel to want a king in the first place, but the heart of Yhwh was that they be 'wilderness' dwelling people. The kings by their very nature kill in order to maintain their land and way of life. The translation today would be "Sojourners and pilgrims". Anyways, if you get a chance also read Jeremiah 30-31, renewal of creation themes, as well as Climax of Covenant themes. Jesus started a "wilderness movement", or else why would the gospel have been proclaimed to "all" nations? In many ways, the Church over the past 2000 years has done what Israel did in wanting a "kingdom" where they no longer cry out to Yhwh, but kill in order to sustain what it has.
The life of Jesus completely embodies what Jeremiah is saying, which would make sense since it is the "Word" of God, i.e. the Logos.
Word! Peace!
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