GEMS FROM JEREMIAH (51) Divine Justice, part I

 

^“Listen! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon are coming to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.

 Summon archers against Babylon, all who bend the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her—for she has arrogantly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel…

I am against you, O arrogant one,
    says the Lord God of hosts,
for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
The arrogant one shall stumble and fall,
    with no one to raise him up,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour everything around him.” (Jer. 50.28-32)

     Justice is perhaps the most pervasive theme in the Hebrew Scriptures (OT).  Yahweh is “the Judge of all the earth” (cf. Gn. 18.25).  The paradigmatic example of divine justice, as a response to rampant human evil, is Noah’s flood (Gn. 6—9).  However, the Creator’s justice is always tempered with mercy – Noah and his family are spared and, following the flood, are commissioned with the “cultural mandate” of Gn. 1.26-31 to be the origin of a new humanity (Gn. 9.1-7).  This pattern – of the rescue, in the midst of divine judgment, of those who will further the Creator’s purpose – will be repeated again and again throughout the biblical narrative.  After God judges the builders of the Tower of Babel (Gn. 11.1-9), he calls Abram to leave Babylonia (Sumer) and travel towards the Promised Land (Gn. 12.1-3).  When God informs Abraham of his plan to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn. 18.16-33), Abraham pleads with God to spare the cities so as not to destroy the righteous along with the wicked.  God agrees to relent if he can find 10 righteous people among the inhabitants of the condemned cities; in the end, after failing to find a righteous quorum, the life of Abraham’s nephew, Lot (along with those of his wife and daughters) is spared, while Sodom and Gomorrah burn (cf. Gn. 19).  This theme of judgment/salvation (rescue) continues with the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as the Creator strikes Egypt with 10 plagues until Pharaoh surrenders to the power of Yahweh and releases his people (cf. Ex. 3—15).  This all culminates in the Israelites’ crossing of the Red Sea while the pursuing Egyptian army is drowned.  Salvation and judgment, judgment and salvation.

     Following the exodus from Egypt, Yahweh establishes his covenant with his people at Mt. Sinai (cf. Ex. 19—20).  Yahweh know links his justice with his faithfulness to his covenant with Israel, both in the sense of honouring his promises and covenantal obligations and in the sense of stipulating the consequences for his people if they are unfaithful to the covenant (cf. Dt. 27—30).  Yahweh will be just – he will not only be faithful to defend/bless Israel if she is faithful to him, but will also judge/curse her if ever she proves unfaithful to the covenant.  Of course, the ultimate curse for breaking the covenant was exile from the land…  Most of the book of Jeremiah has been concerned with the prophet’s repeated warnings of just this disastrous outcome if Judah persisted in her rebellion and idolatry.  Finally, the worst-case scenario played out, and the people of God found themselves in exile in…of all places, Babylon.  However, in chapters 50—51, we are shown the other side of Yahweh’s justice – that of defending his people against those who would oppress her.  Babylon, proclaims Jeremiah, will inevitably have to face the music as well.

     So, in the book of Jeremiah, several themes converge: Yahweh’s ages-long struggle to establish his kingdom on earth in lieu of human empire (and the accompanying judgment of human wickedness) involves his just covenantal commitment to judge his people if they prove to be like “the nations” and also to defend them against their enemies (once they repent or once their enemies provoke Yahweh’s wrath by their over-enthusiastic attacks on Israel).  Justice, salvation, kingdom and covenant.  These are the “lenses” through which the Scriptures invite us to see the Creator’s purpose of re-taking his world from all those evil forces – both human and “supra-human” – which seek to destroy it (cf. Jer. 51.24-25), both without and within his people, the subjects of his kingdom (cf. Ex. 19.5-6).

     In Jer. 51.6-10, we find a passage which elucidates just these themes (which are prominent in all prophetic literature) – the salvation of the people of God which consists in the judgment of her enemies[1] (in this case, Babylon), the justification/vindication of Israel, praise of Yahweh for his righteous acts in favour of his people and in honour of his covenant with her.  Jer. 51.6 echoes the story of Lot and his family who were told to save themselves from the city of Sodom before God destroyed it (cf. Gn. 19.15-26; Jer. 50.40).  Jeremiah announces “the time of the Lord’s vengeance”.  Babylon is described as a “golden cup”, from which all the nations of the earth have drunk and become inebriated (51.7).  Babylon’s judgment “has reached up to heaven” (51.9).  All of this is described as the “vindication” of the people of God, which results in Yahweh being praised for his “work” (against Babylon and in favour of Jerusalem: 51.10).  Indeed, Yahweh declares that he will avenge his destroyed temple (Jer. 50.28; 51.11).

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[1] Though, as we have seen throughout the book of Jeremiah, Yahweh’s judgment of Israel consists in her enemies conquering/exiling her.  The sword of judgment/salvation is double-edged.  Indeed, in the Bible, these two realities are inseparable and always occur simultaneously.