“Scarecrows In Cucumbers” ( Jeremiah 10: 5, NEB ) by Carley Evans

Images carved from timber by craftsmen and adorned with silver and gold for the purpose of worship “can do no harm and they have no power to do good.” (Jeremiah 10: 5) Do not be awed by them or “by signs in the heavens.” (Jeremiah 10:2) These idols can not speak and can not walk. Others must speak on their behalf, and carry them from place to place. “The figures [a man] casts are a sham, there is no breath in them. They are worth nothing, mere mockeries, which perish when their day of reckoning comes.” (Jeremiah 10:14,15) “They can no more speak than a scarecrow in a plot of cucumbers.” (Jeremiah 10:5) People who worship these images carved by men “are fools and blockheads one and all, learning their nonsense from a log of wood!” (Jeremiah 10:8)

“But the Lord is God in truth, a living god, an eternal king.” (Jeremiah 10:10) “He is the maker of all.” “The Lord of Hosts is His Name.” (Jeremiah 10:16)

“Hark, a rumour comes flying, then a mounting uproar in the land of the north, an army to make Judah’s cities desolate, a haunt of wolves. I know, O Lord, that man’s ways are not of his own choosing; nor is it for a man to determine his course in life. Correct us, O Lord, but with justice, not in anger, lest Thou bring us almost to nothing.” (Jeremiah 10:22-25)

“But now this is the Word of the Lord, the Word of your creator, O Jacob, of Him who fashioned you, O Israel: Have no fear; for I paid your ransom; I call you by name and you are My own. When you pass through deep waters, I Am with you, when you pass through rivers, they do not sweep you away; walk through fire and you are not scorched, through flames and they do not burn you. For I Am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your deliverer.” (Isaiah 43:1-3)

Sanctity

“Sanctity can never abide a merely speculative solution to the problem of suffering. Sanctity solves the problem not by analyzing but by suffering. It is a living solution, burned in the flesh and spirit of the saint by fire. Scripture itself tells us as much. ‘As silver is tried by fire and gold in the furnace, so the Lord trieth hearts’ ” (Prov 17:3). (“Saint John of the Cross” by Fr. Thomas Merton)

“Whenever I” ( Jeremiah 20: 9, NEB ) by Carley Evans

Jeremiah calls himself God’s dupe. He’s been flogged and placed in stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, in the house of the Lord. (Jeremiah 20:1-2) Jeremiah moans that God “outwits [him] and prevails.” He groans that he “is made a laughing-stock all the day long, everyone mocks [him].” (Jeremiah 20:7) As a prophet of the Lord, he proclaims “violence and destruction,” and as a result “[he] is reproached and mocked all the time for uttering the Word of the Lord.” (Jeremiah 20:8)

Jeremiah decides enough is enough. He sets out to “call [God] to mind no more, nor speak in His Name again.” (Jeremiah 20:9)

What happens? “[God’s] Word is imprisoned in [Jeremiah’s] body, like a fire blazing in [his] heart, and [he] is weary with holding it under, and [he] can endure it no more.” Not only that, Jeremiah senses that his friends are watching “for a false step” so they may take revenge. (Jeremiah 20:10) Boldly Jeremiah asserts “the Lord is on my side, strong and ruthless, therefore my persecutors shall stumble and fall powerless.” (Jeremiah 20:11) He rattles his own soul, urging himself to “sing to the Lord, praise the Lord.” (Jeremiah 20:13)

In a marked mood swing, Jeremiah suddenly stops praising his Lord, and curses the day he is born. “Be it ever unblessed,” he cries out, “the day when my mother bore me!” (Jeremiah 20:14) He marvels that “death did not claim [him] before birth, and [his] mother did not become [his] grave.” (Jeremiah 20:17) He struggles to comprehend “why [he] came forth from the womb to know only sorrow and toil, to end [his] days in shame.” (Jeremiah 20:18)

Jeremiah laments, “I am weary with holding [the Word of the Lord] under, and can endure it no more.” (Jeremiah 20:9) The imprisoned Word of God burns like fire within, and must escape. Jeremiah curses the day of his birth, but he continues speaking until the day of his death.