Commentary on Jeremiah 8:18—9:1

No prophet incorporates the genre of lament into their message to a greater extent than Jeremiah. Among the most recognized writings of the prophet fitting this characterization are those scattered about the book and known as Jeremiah’s “confessions,” although each could quite accurately carry the heading “lament.”¹ In addition to these (and others), the current pericope also more than qualifies as a lament. Unfortunately, the church tends to underutilize lament, as reflected in the Revised Common Lectionary’s somewhat sparse use of the vast store of laments found in the Psalms.² Jeremiah reminds us, however, that the faithful can hardly experience the fullness of life, or of God, without this powerful means of expression.

Someone complaining that their coffee isn’t just the right temperature at Starbucks does not qualify as a lament. With few exceptions in the biblical genre, a lament includes a cry to God regarding a situation of deep grief or profound suffering, but also notes of trust in God and confidence that the lamented situation will improve. These characteristics help explain why the one often referred to as “The Weeping Prophet” would remain such a profound voice of the faith to this day. This noteworthy status would not be true if there were not more to Jeremiah’s weeping than, well, just weeping.

As do all the prophets to some degree, Jeremiah earnestly desires for the people to repent of their wrongdoing so they might live. Thus, one of the very helpful aspects of lament is naming that which is not as it should be. Only after recognizing and naming something can that thing hope to be corrected. Thus, Christian worship services typically begin with a confession of sin.

Jeremiah engages extensively in the practice of recognizing and naming the things that are wrong. In chapter 7, the prophet delivers what is often referred to as his “temple sermon,” in which he spells out the many egregious wrongs of the people—from stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and swearing falsely, to the outright making of offerings to other gods, even offerings of their own children.

As chapter 7 gives way to chapter 8, it becomes clear that, though encouraged and offered the opportunity to do so, the people are not amending their ways in the least. As a result, catastrophe befalls them. God suggests that even storks, turtle doves, swallows, and cranes have more self-awareness and wisdom than God’s people, which is perplexing, to say the least, to both Jeremiah and God.

Verse 14 ends with a hint of self-acknowledgment that the impending doom is a result of the people’s sin against God. Yet, there is still no indication of contrition. Verse 15 suggests that the people still expect everything to turn out OK in some automatic way. Clearly, however, as verses 16–17 reveal, it does not. The text reports that the sounds of the snorting horses of an invading army are heard from Dan. What’s more, God is sending serpents into the midst of the people, whose only purpose is to bite.

It would seem that the only “lament” possible in light of such an ominous precipice would be of a horrific and tragic end from which there is no return. In addition to announcements of judgment and words of lament, however, Jeremiah is also known for profound words of hope, such as in the portion of the text known as the “Book of Consolation.”³ This should not be surprising on the part of a prophet so steeped in lament. Our current pericope, however, expresses hope not simply as part of the lament form in the usual response to pain and grief, but through the actual pain and grief itself.

Many writers have noted the ambiguity of identifying the speaker(s) in our text.⁴ Is the first-person referent Jeremiah or God?⁵ Perhaps we can (and maybe even should) avoid the urge to try to resolve the ambiguity and instead embrace it by considering the first-person speaker to be both Jeremiah and God. Not only for Jeremiah but for any Old Testament prophet, the speaker of the word of the Lord cannot be neatly separated from the word itself. Biblical prophets were not passive mouthpieces who conveyed messages from a shielded location. On the contrary, the prophets, in various ways, embodied and experienced that which they proclaimed.⁶

There can be little doubt that what Jeremiah saw and experienced happening to his people brought him great grief and heartache, particularly since he had put so much of himself into trying to bring about repentance. None of the expressions of profound distress found here are difficult to imagine as belonging to Jeremiah.

And yet, even if Jeremiah here does make a personal claim to the outlined distress, could God not also do so? In fact, if Jeremiah is a prophet in the full biblical sense and is speaking the word of the Lord, could God not? Because Jeremiah has given his all to call the people back, but now sees the catastrophic outcome of their refusal, his joy is gone, grief is upon him, his heart is sick. These things are also true of God! God also hears the cry of the people asking, “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” (18:19), to which God responds (in anger? or in anguish, perhaps even with a tear?), “Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?”

The text then sounds the voice of the people once more, who this time speak a statement reflective of a people who believe their God may not be in Zion: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (verse 20). Again, the first-person speaker responds with words of hurt, recognizing the brokenness of the people, for which the speaker mourns and is even seized with horror (verse 21). The persistent overarching question of “why” continues in verse 22, only for the text to conclude with additional words of anguish over “the slain of the daughter of my people” (9:1).

The text offers no explicit hope for the survival or restoration of the people. Nevertheless, it does offer great hope in that we see neither a prophet nor a God who delights in the suffering, punishment, or imminent destruction of the people. Both have heretofore relentlessly desired repentance and life for God’s people, and there is no indication that this desire has now suddenly ended. So although it is only implicit, a message expressed in the words of Amos comes to mind: “It may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph” (Amos 5:15; see also Isaiah 37:4).

Through lament, Jeremiah honestly names the deep wrongs of God’s people and calls them to account for their refusal to acknowledge or repent. However, the prophet also offers a powerful and moving glimpse of a God who, more profoundly than we can perhaps imagine, is indeed with us, so much so that our suffering becomes God’s suffering. Somewhere in the midst of that, there is indeed hope—profound hope—for a future.

Notes

1. Jeremiah 11:18–23; 12:1–6; 15:10–21; 17:14–18; 18:19–23; 20:7–13.
2. Fortunately, today’s readings include one of the lament psalms.
3. Jeremiah 30:1–31:40. See also the wider context of 30:1–33:26.
4. See, for instance, Patrick D. Miller, “The Book of Jeremiah: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, vol. 6 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 648.
5. Miller refers to the following for an argument for God as the speaker: J. J. M. Roberts, “The Motif of the Weeping God in Jeremiah and Its Background in the Lament Tradition of the Ancient Near East,” Old Testament Essays 5 (1992), 361–74.
6. Consider, for example, the impact of Hosea’s prophetic activity on his family life. The bodily expression and experience of the Word as seen among the prophets will reach an incarnational climax in the person of Jesus Christ.