Jeremiah: Strength and Tenderness 05/11/2021

Having read the last blog about Jeremiah which described him as 'the weeping prophet,' you might be forgiven for writing him off as a very weak individual. In some societies, it does not do to be too emotional and Jeremiah is only too ready to display his raw emotions. It was the ancient Jewish rabbis who coined the phrase - 'the weeping prophet' to describe this man of God. They claimed that he began weeping as soon as he was born. There is a famous picture of Jeremiah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the painter Michelangelo has presented him in a posture of despair. "He looks like a man who has wept so long he has no tears left to shed. His face is turned to one side, like a man who has been battered by many blows. His shoulders are hunched forward, weighed down by the sins of Judah. His eyes are cast down, as if he can no longer bear to see God's people suffer. His hand covers his mouth. Perhaps he has nothing left to say." [Philip Graham Ryken: Jeremiah: Answering the Call]

While all of this description is accurate, it does not tell the whole story. The epithet 'the weeping prophet' is misleading if it conveys to us a man who is too soft and too emotional to be effective. In fact, the prophet Jeremiah is far more complex than the ancient rabbis acknowledged. If you look what this man suffered in his ministry for God, he could hardly be described as weak. He was prepared to suffer unpopularity, persecution, slander, imprisonment and starvation and continued to proclaim God's message of impending judgement to a nation who did not want to listen. That does not sound like a 'softie' or a weakling to me. Here is how another writer from Edinburgh describes him.

"The man himself is a rich subject for study. He blends in his character, to a degree of striking fineness, feminine tenderness with masculine strength, nervous sensitiveness with transparent simplicity …." [Baxter, J. Sidlow. Baxter's Explore the Book (p. 796). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.]

If you are reading a novel which has been well written, you will usually find that characters are not single-dimensional. Human beings are complex - we combine various contradictory characteristics blended together to make a unique individual human being. I am both an introvert and an extravert. I strive for order and tidiness but at times I am untidy because of my eagerness to complete a task, especially if it relates to DIY. Those who know me well will recognise the inconsistencies in my personality. And so it was with Jeremiah. He was incredibly strong and resilient. He persevered in his loyalty to God and the message God had given him despite the bitter hostility he encountered. Sidlow Baxter was writing before it was politically incorrect to attribute tenderness exclusively to women - he talks about Jeremiah having 'feminine tenderness.' This is a bit sexist - he seems to be suggesting that only women can be tender or sensitive. By the same token, Sidlow Baxter restricts strength to men. I have known women who were very strong emotionally and mentally - strength of character is not restricted to the male of the species. I have also known men who are too weak to be effective. But I agree with Sidlow Baxter in his recognition of the complexity of Jeremiah's character. He was emotional but he was not a weakling. He was personally sensitive to the sufferings of his own people. He was deeply upset at the judgement that was going to be afflicted on his own small nation by the Babylonians.

There was also another layer of complexity in this interesting man of God. He had intense loyalty to God and he was ready to obey God and convey a message from God even when it was unpopular. He sympathised with God's anger on the people of Judah but at the same time he was so saddened at the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering that would result from the Babylonian invasion. So Jeremiah had this raging inner conflict with his patriotism (his deep love for his countrymen) and his prophetic mission which pronounced a message of judgement on his own people. In the 21st century, the Christian church is less inclined to speak of divine judgement than a generation ago. We rarely mention hell and the lake of fire. We are reluctant to portray God as a God of judgement. We prefer to characterise him as a God of love. The book of Jeremiah shows that God is both a God of love and righteous judgement. It was another prophet called Jonah who was angry with God because of his compassion.

I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” [Jonah 4:2-3 NIV]

Jonah did not want God to spare Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. He was horrified with their cruelty and thought that they fully deserved God's judgement. But Jeremiah was exactly the opposite - this was not the enemy nation of Assyria or even Babylon that was about to suffer God's awful anger. It was his own nation - the people of Judah. And that hurt Jeremiah's patriotism. We have seen his outbursts in the last Day Share entitled, "Jeremiah: Weeping Prophet". But Jeremiah recognised that God was a God of justice and that the people had refused to listen to the warning of the prophets and their conduct was dishonouring to a holy God. They deserved judgement. And so, we should not try to soften God's anger against sin and the inevitability of his wrath and judgement against ungodliness. If our characters are complex and multi-dimensional, it is far more true of Yahweh. He is both a God of infinite grace and abounding mercy but he is also a holy God who cannot tolerate sin and disobedience and he will judge mankind for their refusal to accept His Son.

This is how the artist Michelangelo portrayed Jeremiah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. [Wikipedia]