How God’s truth becomes blunted (Jer 8:1-17)

An old song from the seventies describes an extra-marital affair and concludes with the plaintive refrain, ‘How can this be wrong when it feels so right?’.[1] At least the lyrics acknowledge that such a liaison is wrong, or considered wrong, although it is half-way questioning it because ‘it feels right’. It is, of course, conveniently forgotten that for the cheated spouse the other’s adultery would not feel right. Today in the West, the motto of many has become, ‘it cannot be wrong when it feels so right’. Apart from criminal offences, right and wrong is now a matter of taste and feelings. If it makes you happy, do it, if you feel it is right, then it is right for you.

When sin becomes invisible

This state of affairs is not far from Judah’s situation in Jeremiah’s prophecy. The people hold fast to their sinful attitudes and refuse to repent, they are not questioning or doubting their actions but are oblivious to them being wrong (Jer 8:6-7). The examples of falling and rising again and the instinctive movements of migrant birds going away and returning suggest how unnatural it is for the people to sin and not recognise the wrong or return to God (Jer 8:4-5, 7). It seems that sin as God understands it has become invisible to them and God asks in exasperation, how such a thing is possible. Given the rediscovery of the book of the law in Josiah’s time and the wholesale reform it led to, this is even more of a puzzle (2 Kings 22-23).

God’s Word cherished yet rejected

The people and their spiritual leaders, in fact, prided themselves on having God’s Word and on their wisdom derived from it, yet God’s verdict was that they did not know His requirements and their false interpretations made His message into a lie (Jer 8:7-8). They focused selectively on encouragement and peace (Jer 8:11) and glossed over God’s call for obedience and godly living. Neither did they allow God’s Word to challenge their prevailing cultural beliefs and show up sin for what it was (see Recognising and healing our blind spots).[2] Even the warning of judgement, illustrated in a harvest where no grapes or figs were left and the fig leaves withered (Jer 8:13 cf. Matt 21:18-19), only led to a half-hearted response. The people acknowledged their sin, but their response overall sounded more like blaming God that He did not fulfil His promises (Jer 8:14-15). Thus, the judgment was approaching from the north (Dan was the northernmost city of the old kingdom of Israel) as relentlessly as the horses of the invading army pounded the earth so that the whole land shook (Jer 8:16). The changing imagery of serpents that cannot be charmed away evoked the wilderness wanderings when the Israelites grumbled against God and were bitten by snakes (Jer 8:17; Num 21:4-9).

God’s truth blunted

It is not hard to hear resonances of this prophecy with our modern context. Pastors feel the pressure today to avoid passages of judgment and sin and not to stir people’s consciences too much, while individual devotional times often focus on selective readings of comfort and encouragement. Even when Scripture is read in church, it is frequently not explained, but becomes an excuse for the human thoughts of the preacher which is only in nodding acquaintance to the passage. In our Protestant churches, the Reformation cry of sola scriptura (‘Scripture alone’ being our authority) is still held as a conviction, yet so little is done to teach or explain it or live faithfully by it. Worship songs that in earlier times were tools to teach Scripture through praising God’s character and actions have become therapeutic tools for many to create a feeling of emotional closeness with God, to alleviate our pain, loneliness and anxiety. Of course, our modern disorientation, our feelings of being lost are very real and should not be dismissed as unimportant, but the challenge is to bring them to the Word of God. Like the scalpel of a surgeon, the sharp truth of Scripture can cut through our excuses, excise our disease and lead to true healing. It is only in the light of God’s truth that we can truly be set free to serve the living God with joy (Jn 8:31-32).

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[1] Barbara Mandrell, David Houston, ‘How Can This Be Wrong When It Feels So Right?’, 1972.

[2] This brazen attitude is graphically illustrated in the reign of Jehoiakim, who defiantly listened to Jeremiah’s written prophecies, then section by section threw them into the fire (Jer 36:20-26).

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