The Call to Repentance and the Promise of Restoration: Jeremiah's Timeless Message
July 26, 2024 - Friday, Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Jeremiah 3:14-17
Today's excerpt from Jeremiah calls the people to repentance: "Return, rebellious children, says the LORD" (Jer. 3:14). We have talked about repentance many times, but it is worth highlighting that God's call to repentance signifies His faithfulness. An indifferent god would not care about our behavior. The God of the Bible, however, cannot accept that His people misbehave. His call to repentance is a sign of His care and love.
The word "return" appears for the first time in the Book of Deuteronomy in a section against idolatry and the Babylonian exile as its consequence (see Deut. 4:15-31). The author says that when the people return to the Lord, He will show them mercy because He cannot forget the covenant He established with their ancestors (see Deut. 4:30-31).
God's call to repentance is accompanied by a promise of giving His people "shepherds" who will shepherd them "wisely and prudently" (Jer. 3:15). The Old Testament contains three promises: the promise of offspring, of land, and of an ideal king. Of all three, it was the third one that did not materialize. Most of the kings of Israel were a disaster, and the biblical author blames Israel's leadership for leading the people astray and causing the national tragedy of the year 586 BC.
Then, we have a rather cryptic statement about the most holy object of Jewish religion before the temple was destroyed in 586 BC: the Ark of the Covenant. Jeremiah says that the people "will no longer think of [the ark], or remember it, or miss it, or make another" (Jer. 3:16). The Ark of the Covenant was probably considered by many people a kind of magical object. It was often taken into battles as a symbol of God's presence and an assurance of victory. But there is a danger with such a magical approach to religion: it turns means of worship into an idol.
The Bible narrates the story of the destruction of the Temple built by Solomon but does not mention the Ark. According to the Books of Maccabees, Jeremiah hid it in a cave on Mount Nebo from which Moses saw the Promised Land (see 2 Macc. 2:1-8). But when the people returned from the Babylonian exile and rebuilt the temple, the Ark was not brought back to that new temple. Thus, from that time all the way until the year 70 AD, when the Romans destroyed the second temple, the temple was devoid of its most holy object. Surprisingly, the Ark of the Covenant appears in heaven in the Book of Revelation (see Rev. 11:19). How it made it there is a mystery.
Our passage ends with a threefold promise. The first one refers to Jerusalem, which, instead of the Ark of the Covenant that was considered the throne of the Lord, shall be called God's throne. The second refers to all nations that will come to Jerusalem and acknowledge the Lord. The third one refers either to Israel or to all the people of the world and speaks about the transformation of the human heart: "They will no longer follow the willfulness of their evil hearts" (Jer. 3:17).
Jeremiah's call to repentance reminds me of Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son. His criticism of the leadership of his time can be echoed today as well. The danger of magical thinking—of turning objects of worship that should facilitate our relationship with God into idols—is also present among the adherents of all religions, including Christians. Finally, his threefold promise points to a future that has yet to materialize. As of now, the earthly Jerusalem is far from looking like God's throne, and the human heart remains as prone to evil as it was in the time of Jeremiah.