When I read through today’s passage from Jeremiah, the image that came to mind was a pile of large ancient wisdom-filled books landing with a loud thud on my desk sending any dust around them into the air. Thud. The word of God lands and all around it shakes. No bird sings. We all wonder what life will be like when the dust settles.
The book of Jeremiah is 52 chapters long. We need to know that there is no word of hope and reconciliation until chapter 30. From the description of Jeremiah’s call as a prophet in chapter One, the following 29 chapters are clear-shooting, poetic and poignant indictments against the people of Judah and their faithlessness. The consequences of their insincerity and disloyalty to God are prophesied to be catastrophic—politically, socially, theologically and environmentally. With a cosmic thud, Jeremiah’s prophetic prose lands in the midst of one the stormiest, most tumultuous times in the history of Israel.