The movie Schindler’s List was released in late 1993. Directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg, the film tells the dramatic story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved more than one thousand Jews from annihilation during the Holocaust by giving them jobs in his factories. Schindler’s List is very difficult to watch – but not at all because it lacks theatrical excellence. No: Spielberg’s movie is undeniably a cinematic triumph. The problem is simply the subject matter. For the redemptive actions of Oskar Schindler must be seen against the dark background of Nazi villainy. Especially disturbing is the figure of Amon Goth, a member of the German SS played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes. Goth oversees the extermination of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. Thousands of these Jews are slaughtered outright while many others are consigned to German death camps. Goth descends to monstrous, revolting acts of evil. To watch Schindler’s List is to be confronted with the brutal reality of wickedness in our world.
The book of Jeremiah has this same quality. At first glance, Jeremiah is not the most uplifting book in the Bible. Yes, Jeremiah does have a few magnificent passages which offer hope for the future. However, the vast majority of Jeremiah’s prophecy involves a sustained condemnation of the pervasive evil which had infected the southern kingdom of Judah. If we were to imagine a subtitle for the book of Jeremiah, I think it would go something like this: “How God responds to evil.” Reading the book of Jeremiah, we see how the God who made the world reacts when nearly everything has gone wrong. And yes, it doesn’t make for easy reading.
The people of Judah had conducted themselves in a manner which was utterly appalling. They stooped so low that their degeneracy even exceeded the pagan nations which God had driven out of the promised land before them. So as I said above, in one sense this is not the most uplifting book of the Bible. Yet in another, larger sense, this message actually should be very encouraging for us. Because the book of Jeremiah shows us how much God hates evil. Our world is often plagued with violence and injustice. What would we think if God simply shrugged his shoulders and went on his way? We would rightly conclude that he was not a good God. The ancient Jews always believed that their God – precisely because of his goodness – had the responsibility to confront and defeat the dark powers which had corrupted his creation.
The book of Jeremiah thus reminds us that God is implacably opposed to wickedness and depravity. True, God is patient and slow to anger. He gives people time to consider their wrongdoing and hopefully turn away from their iniquity. For those who do repent, God is full of mercy and forgiveness. But God’s patience is not unlimited. Eventually, he will step forward and put an end to evil. God will have the last word. And that is the most uplifting message of all!
So let’s dive into the book of Jeremiah and see how this plays out.
Jeremiah was a priest from the little town of Anathoth, not far from Jerusalem. He prophesied during the tragic and tumultuous final years of the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah’s prophetic career began during the reign of king Josiah, the last righteous king of Judah who tried to turn the hearts of his people back to the LORD their God. Unfortunately, Josiah’s efforts could not stop Judah’s long slide to disaster. After Josiah’s death, a series of his descendants came to the throne, most notably his son Jehoiakim, his grandson named (confusingly) Jehoiachin, then Jehoiachin’s uncle/Josiah’s son Zedekiah, the very last king of Judah. All the kings who followed Josiah reverted back to doing evil in the eyes of the LORD.
There are many, many passages in the book of Jeremiah which illustrate the depth of God’s anger toward Judah’s rebellion and wickedness. Jeremiah chapter 16 is one striking example. There God says to Jeremiah, “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people.” (Jeremiah 16:5) Now read that again. It’s not a typo. God declares – with startling clarity – that he no longer has any love, blessing or pity for the people of Judah.
“There’s nothing you can do to make God love you less.” I’m quite certain that many of my readers have heard this claim in evangelical circles. However, this statement is simply not true. This passage is one of many places in the Bible which demonstrate that it is quite possible to lose God’s love.
God is so angry with the people of Judah that he has forbidden Jeremiah from even paying his respects at a funeral! We’ve all been to funerals where it’s customary to celebrate all the positive qualities of the dearly departed. Their flaws are quietly ignored. Here we see the opposite. God regards the people of Judah as so thoroughly despicable and worthless that he commands Jeremiah not to mourn or even express any sympathy at the time of their death. That’s pretty harsh – but it gets even worse.
We also learn of the plans God has for the people of Judah. “For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: ‘They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”
God promises to bring terrible disaster upon the people of Judah. Frighteningly, he is working to bring about their death. And not just any death, but a miserable, agonizing death. They’ll be seized by terror as foreigners invade their land and cut them down by the sword. Besieged by their enemies, their bodies will grotesquely waste away from famine. Those who don’t perish by violence or starvation will meet an equally horrid end by succumbing to disease. And even after death, their ignominy will not end. They won’t even receive the dignity of a decent burial. Instead, their bodies will be like trash on the ground. The wild animals will feast on their flesh.
This is difficult to read, but it’s God’s word to us, just the same as any other part of the Bible. It reminds us of a time when God no longer loved the people of Judah – the very people he had chosen to represent him before the world. In fact, it would not be inaccurate to say that God was intent on exterminating most of these people. (A small number would go into exile.) When we think about the word extermination, we normally think about ridding ourselves of some vile pest which has infested our homes. So it’s quite sobering to think that human beings can descend to a point where God intends to annihilate them. Yet for the people of Jerusalem, that was precisely the case.
These words are shocking to us today. But it seems that Jeremiah’s message was equally shocking to the people of Judah then. The people asked the prophet, “Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?”
Jeremiah responded: “It is because your fathers forsook me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. But you have behaved more wickedly than your fathers. See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me. So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.” (Jeremiah 16:11-13)
In sum, the people of Judah and Jerusalem lost God’s love because of their wicked behavior. Rather than offering to God the worship he alone deserves, they insisted on bowing down to idols. Rather than obedience to God’s commands, they flagrantly disobeyed the word of the LORD. They embraced wickedness rather than righteousness and chose depravity over uprightness. Their misconduct brought God’s wrath crashing down upon their heads.
So don’t be misled. God’s love is rich and deep. He longs for everyone to come to him so that they might find life, joy, abundance and peace. But those who turn away from the living God and pursue wickedness will find that God’s justice is rich and deep as well. He will not tolerate evil in his world forever.
