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The Covenant

Painting of Jeremiah by Rembrandt

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.“ Jer. 11:1-5

As we come to chapter 11 in Jeremiah’s prophecy we encounter the prophet’s first exposition of God’s covenant with His chosen people. Here in this chapter, and again in chapter 31, we find inspiration so great that the New Testament writers feel compelled to quote Jeremiah’s words in total as they come to an understanding of what the covenant means in light of the appearance of the Messiah. Consequently, in the next several blogs I will depart from taking up the book sequentially, and focus on chapters 11 and 31 and their links to the Apostle Paul as he writes in his letter to the Galatians, and the unknown, but esteemed writer to the Hebrews as he speaks about Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.

In taking on this material I am aware of a huge body of commentary from a large band of highly credentialed scholars who have provided a monumental service in helping the church understand the theology of the covenant. By and large I will ignore these contributions, at least directly. Not because they are not valuable, but because I am attempting to read the words of Scripture for myself and put them into application in “real time” as my new life unfolds before me. It is my hope that since I have been a “Reformed Presbyterian” for almost my entire adult life, the contributions of these great theologians–beginning with John Calvin and extending to the present day–have by osmosis worked their way into my brain and will guide my thoughts as I encounter these passages of the Word of God.

How I appreciate Jeremiah when he puts on his Puddleglum face! “Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant….” Although the covenant that God first made with the children of Israel had both a blessing and curse attached to it, Jeremiah starts right in with the worst case scenario: the curses of the covenant. Of course, as we know from the preceding chapters with their catalogue of sins committed by God’s chosen, he is entirely appropriate in doing so. (Not to mention the fact that the Lord told him to start there.)

What’s a bit surprising here is that the curse is not for disobeying the terms of the covenant, but rather for not hearing the words of the covenant. It’s a curse for not listening. In fact Jeremiah quotes the Lord who Himself says, “Listen to my voice.” I am instantly reminded of the words of Jesus who in the Gospels so often says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Listening and hearing are obligations of the covenant keepers.

There are so many ways to go from this point! We could talk about God’s listening to us–in prayer. We could talk about the SETI project, and how certain scientists are searching for messages from intelligent life in outer space. Or we could talk about the message that is here right on earth–in every cell in our bodies–via the DNA code.

Astute readers of this blog know already where I’ll probably head–down the scientific trail. OK, let’s get this out of the way!

The late Carl Sagan–no friend of theism–was the inspiration for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and the movie Contact that was based on the actual SETI project. In the movie the scientist portrayed by the actress Jodie Foster, finds evidence for ET by means of a radio signal in which is encoded a sequence of prime numbers. Without going into the mathematical details, the chance of such a sequence being generated randomly is virtually nil. Hence, it must have been generated by an intelligent being. In the movie this evidence is enough to persuade the powers at be to continue to fund the project, leading ultimately to the building of a machine that transports the Foster character into the vast reaches of the galaxy.

The irony is that while a relatively modest sign of intelligence such as that observed in the movie would generate rave reviews in the scientific community, the incredibly complex and beautiful sign of intelligence observed in the DNA code existing in every cell of every living creature leads that same community to say, “Darwin did it,” i.e., that Darwin’s theory of chance and necessity explains it all. “It only looks designed for a purpose,” is the mantra of the biologists. And they say that scientists only follow the facts wherever they lead. In reality every scientist, including this one, is no better than the presuppositions he basis his science on.

In Jeremiah’s terms all people everywhere are responsible for listening to the message built into them by their creator. John Calvin the great 16th century theologian observed that in knowing something about ourselves we know something about God, because His image is in us. In that sense he was speaking about our spirits: our heart, our mind, our will–all which seem self evident to us as living personalities. In our day, we know even more. We know that our bodies, too, are expressions of an elaborate piece of software that Bill Gates with all his billions could never design. Only One could do that. “Listen to Him,” says the prophet.

Next: God’s listening to us. Prayer.

Book Review

The following is a book review that I have prepared for Town North Church.

Getting to the Other Side of Grief: Overcoming the Death of a Spouse; by Susan Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert de Vries.

July 28, 2003. It’s been six months now. Undoubtedly, that date marks the worst day of my life because my precious Susan died. Her body no longer breathed. Her lips no longer smiled. Her voice was silent. Those penetrating eyes were closed never to reopen. The daily wisdom, encouragement and unselfish love that she gave me were to end—forever in this life.

In a Christian context it’s more appropriate to say that “she went home to be with the Lord.” I believe that. I believe she is in a glory now that is unfathomable. But the fact is: my wife is dead and I am left alone. Her death was good for her, but bad for me. I can in my mind rejoice in her new joy; but frankly, I was plunged into a deep grief that is also in some ways unfathomable. Even her long illness did not prepare me for this—being left behind without her, my joy and my greatest human love.

Most of you reading this cannot understand what I am attempting to express. I didn’t before losing her. I don’t believe anything can prepare you for the loss of a spouse. Only those who have seen their husbands or their wives die can really understand. So that is why this book, Getting to the Other Side of Grief, is so valuable. The two authors both lost their first spouses to cancer–he in fact, like me, lost his wife to ovarian cancer. Finding each other after their spouses died and starting to work on this book led in time to a romance between them and their eventual marriage. Susan Zonnebelt-Smeenge is a practicing psychiatrist and Robert de Vries is a practicing pastor. So not only does the reader get the down-to-earth perspective, both male and female, of someone who has lost a spouse, but also two professional perspectives that are valuable in understanding the emotional and spiritual crises that inevitably arise after a spouse’s death. Furthermore, for us as Reformed believers, the book has the added impact that it makes good use of the Heidelberg Catechism in its pastoral counsel.

Reading this book was the single most helpful thing I did after Susan’s passing. I keep going back to it to help jog my memory. Of course I was greatly helped by Pastor Dave’s compassionate counsel, and the love and support of my family members and friends. But this book dealt with all of the complex emotions and practical issues that overwhelmed me after becoming a widower. And it didn’t try to sugarcoat them. Experiencing the death of a spouse is miserable, there is no denying it. But there are ways to begin to cope and to regroup and to realize that the Lord has left you here for a purpose. That you still have a life to live on this side of heaven shaped by His providence and His love. There is, in a word, hope for the grieving widow and widower.

Half of all you married persons reading this will experience the death of your spouse some day. Three fourths of you will be women. The other one fourth will find that there is much less support for you as a man than there is for women. If you find yourself in this position, brother, I am here for you. And the first thing I will do after crying with you is give you this book. (It is now available in the TNPC library.)

John Dishman

I know that the mom of the aforementioned grandson is apprehensive lest I somehow give the 5 or 6 readers of this blog the impression that the aforementioned name (Luke) is in fact decided upon. I realize his final name could turn out to be, say, Jeremiah; or my favorite, Epaphroditus. However, now that I know it’s a he, I feel it’s much too impersonal to refer to this grandson of mine as just “him” or “it” or “the fetus.” I guess I could just call him “grandson” and leave it at that. But somehow using the admittedly placeholder name of Luke (he was a famous doctor after all) makes him just a little bit closer to me. So with all apologies to Luke’s mama, I will continue to use that name under the proviso that it will probably turn out to be only a temporary one. But he does get the trainboard after all, so it’s important that this future train driver have a name so we can say, “now Lukie, slow that engine down…”

I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. (Jer. 10:23&24)

I suppose one of the most absorbing topics in the Christian life is “guidance.” Examples include: “who does the Lord want me to marry?” and “what job does the Lord want me to take?” and “should I buy this nice house or the cheaper one?” and so on.

A magazine I get, Modern Reformation, has a whole issue on this topic. And I admit I read it thoroughly because I, too, am struggling with the question, “what do I do with the rest of my life now that Susan is gone?” I reflected on that a bit in my blog below on “The Balm in Gilead.” There I quoted the famous passage from Proverbs (3:5&6) about the Lord making our paths straight if we acknowledge Him in all our ways. In the passage above from Jeremiah the prophet proclaims a similar thought, but in his typical pessimistic style worries about the Lord’s anger. He also gives what mathematicians would call the “contra-positive” of the theorem expressed in Proverbs. The way of man is NOT in himself, NOR does man direct his own steps. This brings to mind yet another familiar proverb: Prov 16:9 which reads The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. Both Jeremiah and the Proverb writer acknowledge that guidance often comes outside the heart and mind of a man or woman. That great word PROVIDENCE stands out here. The Westminster Confession of Faith puts it this way:

God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

Since we are not privy to the Creator’s infallible foreknowledge and the immutable counsel of His will, much of providence will seem pretty mysterious to us. I suppose that’s where faith and hope come in. Though a child might not understand why she is getting this horrible injection, she has faith that her mommy intends it for her good. Jesus said we have to have faith like a little child to receive the Kingdom of Heaven.

And when we think of it this way–as parents raising up their children–we get another perspective on guidance. Parents are of course concerned with the BIG DECISIONS in the life of their child (marriage, vocation, etc.) but their day-to-day parenting chores are not so much directed at these as they are to the character of the child. How the child shows respect to its elders; has good table manners; knows right from wrong; obeys the ten commandments; etc.

One of the authors of articles in the magazine I quoted earlier put it this way:

“Discerning God’s will for our own lives is the (fallible) process of thinking and deciding about our own personal circumstances in the light of our developing a Christian character.” Given his desire for the Lord to “correct him in justice” I think Jeremiah would say “right on!”

There is none like you, O LORD you are great, and your name is great in might.
Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.
They are both stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz.
They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is violet and purple;
they are all the work of skilled men.
But the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. (Jer. 10:6-13)

The first thing Angie did when I got back from my wagon trip with the girls (see below) was to put in the video of her sonogram. The first frames said it all. The technician had it spelled out one letter at a time: “I….AM…..A……BOY….”

But then came all the fascinating stuff: young Luke clearly sucking his thumb, and moving around, and crossing his delicately formed little feet. Incredible!

In the midst of all the evolution vs Christianity debates of recent times, what convinces it for me is looking at one of my granddaughters’ little ears. I don’t know why it is the ear, especially. (Both girls have very cute ears, contrasted, say, from their Grandpop’s big Flanery ears.) But something about the artistic way each little ear is formed is so appealing. So clearly designed by a Great Artist who understands symmetry and beauty and utility.

In Jeremiah’s day it blew his mind that anyone could be so stupid as to think that pieces of wood–that had to be carried yet–could be an object of worship. They couldn’t even propel themselves around, much less anything in the created world. But the LORD: He is the one who made the earth by His power, and established the world by His wisdom.

The intellectual elite of our culture don’t bow down to pieces of wood or stone. Rather, they boldly proclaim that the although the world and all that is in it looks designed for a purpose, it isn’t. My granddaughter’s ear is the product of blind chance which conforms to the laws of physics–wherever they came from. And so is my emotion at looking at her ear and feeling such an affection for her and for the way she is designed and for the soul that is her inside that incredibly complex system we call “her body.” Little Lydia, age 2, is learning how to put together sentences. “Please cut out the tree from the play doh, Grandpop,” is a typical one. How did she learn to say that? No one knows. Even the smartest linguist throws up his hands and mutters under his breath, “hard wired.” I.e, “DESIGNED.”

So is there an analog between the idolators of Jeremiah’s day, and the atheistic materialists of ours? First, let me say that except for the grace of God there go I. I spoke below of a potential disappointment with God in the death of my precious wife. I can see how I could be driven toward atheism by the impact of that blow on my life. “What kind of God would take away someone like her through the sufferings of cancer?” But of course, even in saying that I would be admitting that something called love really exists. The love I had for her, and she for me, was REAL. It wasn’t a “meme” leftover from the destructive forces of natural selection. It was in fact the most real thing in my life (and I think in hers). We loved each other with a love that grew each day, and which was both so obvious to us both, yet so complex, that a scientific explanation is impossible. Science does have its limits!

But back to my question: what about the idol-makers of Jeremiah’s day and the materialists of ours? The parallel I see is that they both worship something they have made themselves. The idol-maker the “god” that he himself had chiseled from a log; the materialist the elaborate theory (a.k.a dogma) that he has erected with his colleagues, and which he defends–not with the scientific method, which allows for falsification–but with the zeal of a religious convert. John Calvin, following the Apostle Paul, said that in knowing something about ourselves, we know something about our Creator, because we are created in His image. It takes a mighty act of will to deny that image that lurks inside us.

Jeremiah was quite clear about the fate of the idol-makers of his day. The idols and their makers will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. His warning still stands. The Day of the Lord is coming, and for those who have made idols of either kind, it won’t be a “nice day.” As for me I will continue to gaze in awe at those incredible pictures of my unborn grandson, and at those delicate beautiful ears of my granddaughters.

Those of you who have read “All About Angie” now know the really important news: I’m going to have a grandson!!

My father (Roy Edward Dishman) was always concerned about the future propagation of this branch of the Dishman line (it potentially ended with him and me). He would be very pleased. Susan was less concerned with the propagation of the Dishman line. (She was more concerned with the toleration of the Dishman line….). But she would be pleased, also. Somehow, I think she knows what is going on. But when historic times like these come in our family life, I sure do miss her.

At any rate, you can congratulate me at any time. (Oh yeah, Angie and Mark deserve some credit also.) But just for the record, I love my little girls–and I would have been VERY happy at a third. Just today I took them for a wagon ride to the neighborhood park near M&A’s house, and so I was the third family member to hear the historic news. I know that Grandpa and Grandma Witteman will be very pleased, also. As Susan would say it: “Thanks to the Lord for these covenant blessings!”

PS: I guess “Baby Luke” (as I understand we are now calling him) is in line to get the famous train board. Hope he will like playing with trains this Christmas at age 6 months!!

I notice that in the online version of the Wall Street Journal every columnist volunteers his/her email address so you can respond to his/her column. I actually did this with Jonathan Clements, and what do you know, he wrote me a brief response the same day. (I also got one from Britt Hume, but that’s another story….)

So, if you, the faithful reader of this blog, would like to dialog about anything that I have written please feel free to email me at:

john@dishmans.net

I promise I won’t publish your comment on this site–unless you want me to. Unlike other blog sites this one doesn’t allow anyone to post online comments. I guess we’ll keep it that way.

The historic Old World balm of Gilead, or Mecca balsam, is a small evergreen tree (Commiphora gileadensis, also once called C. opobalsamum) of the family Burseraceae (incense-tree family) native to Africa and Asia and the source of the commercial balm of Gilead; it is referred to in the Bible in Jer. 8.22. The Ishmaelites from Gilead were bearing balm when they bought Joseph from his brothers. Balm of Gilead is still in high repute for healing in some countries. (From the online Columbia encyclopedia).

My joy is gone; grief is upon me;
my heart is sick within me.
Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people
from the length and breadth of the land:
“Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King not in her?”
“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
and with their foreign idols?”
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.”
For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
not been restored? (Jer. 8:18 ff)

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin sick soul.

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.
(African American Spiritual)

All my life I’ve had a strange attraction to this old spiritual recited above. The words are not profound, but combined with the familiar tune it somehow penetrates to my soul. Particularly in this time of grieving, I desperately want a spiritual balm to heal my wounded being.

The dictionary entry helps explain the source of the “balm of Gilead” from ancient times. Yet its use in Jeremiah–presumably the inspiration for the song–seems antithetical to the song’s intent. The hymn writer wants to soothe our sin sick soul. But Jeremiah refers to it in a passage in which he laments the final and crushing judgment on his people and on his city. In the chapters previous to this one Jeremiah details how a great horde of invaders will storm out of the north and utterly destroy the land leaving only desolation behind. Unlike Jonah–who hoped the Ninevites would not repent though they did–Jeremiah is hoping beyond hope that his prophecy of doom will be heeded and lead to a repentant nation. It is not, and so the end comes.

The reference to the balm in Gilead is found in a question that Jeremiah poses. “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” If we read between the lines it appears that the prophet is saying: “Sovereign God, you control everything. Why don’t you cause these reprobates to repent? Why don’t you restore them to where they once were: a holy and reverent people as in days of yore?”

Philip Yancey in his book Disappointment With God, grapples with this issue of why God does or does not act. His reason for writing stemmed out of a conversation with a young man named “Richard” (likely not his real name) who finally rejected his faith in God after a series of his prayers were answered in reverse. Everything he prayed for turned out to be the worst case scenario: his Christian girlfriend jilted him, his parents got a divorce, a job offer was withdrawn at the last moment and the job given to a less deserving candidate. After pleading all one night with God to show Himself through some sign–which never appeared–he went outside and burned his Bible and all his theology books. In Richard’s mind, either God was never there to begin with, or He refused to answer his valid requests for help. “Why does God toy with us?” he asked Yancey.

Space does not permit a recounting of Yancey’s pilgrimage in understanding his own disappointments with God (I highly recommend the book), but I want to touch on one of his points vis-a-vis Jeremiah. That point is that at one time in human history God did answer: swiftly and directly. From Exodus to the time of the prophets we see Him speaking directly to His people through the mouths of his prophets, and through great signs and wonders such as the miracles associated with exodus from Egypt. Yet, when God spoke the people grumbled and disobeyed. They were stiff-necked. Yancey’s point seems to be that such direct communication from God that Richard longed for was in fact the norm at one point in the history of the way in which God dealt with man. But that experiment failed! Man is so depraved that he, like his father Adam, will simply not listen, but rather sings the song, “I’ll do it my way.”

Today, we don’t have Jeremiahs speaking to us and foretelling future judgment–though we undoubtedly deserve it. In fact through the lens of the New Testament we find that the people of God are all prophets (and priests and kings), who can read and interpret and apply the once delivered Word of God for themselves and for the community of believers. And yes, even the Richards of the world can find true guidance as the Holy Spirit, who speaks not in wonders but in a still small voice, witnesses with our spirit and in His acts of providence.

As I continue to ponder what appears to me to be the premature passing of my precious wife, I find that I, too, struggle against being disappointed with God. Why her? Why now? Her favorite verse was Romans 8:28–”And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, to them who are called according to his purpose.” This evening I read an article on the topic of guidance which suggested that the Old Testament analog to Romans 8:28 was Proverbs 3:5-6–”Trust in the LORD with all your heart,and do not lean on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” That verse is inscribed underneath the cross tower at our church. After reflection on these verses and the contents of the article it occurred to me that not only was Susan’s passing into glory on July 28, 2003, good for her; it was also good for me. With my mind and with my heart I cannot fathom how it is good for me–it hurts so much. Yet, deeper down, there is a balm of Gilead that heals the sin sick soul. In taking my wife to glory when He did–a thing I truly don’t understand–the Lord nevertheless intends to make my paths straight also. Blessed be His name!

” ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD ,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD ,
‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt-
you have rebelled against the LORD your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,’ ”
declares the LORD .
“Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD , “for I am your husband. I will choose you-one from a town and two from a clan-and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the LORD , “men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD .’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD , and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD . No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance. (Jer. 3:11ff)

One of the classic movies of my children’s generation is the Indiana Jones saga Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the movie the lost Ark of the Covenant is finally found, and unleashes its wrath on its Nazi discoverers. After the interest generated by the movie I happened to view a TV documentary (on the Discovery Channel maybe?) claiming that the Ark was in fact in Ethiopia guarded by a band of Coptic Christians, only one of whom could ever view the Ark. This highly favored fellow was appointed for a lifetime.

In contrast to these tales about the famous Mosaic relic, we have Jeremiah telling the rebellious Israelites that a day will come when the Ark will no longer be remembered at all. “It will never enter their minds…” he tells them. Why? Because Jerusalem itself will in fact replace the Ark. It will be the Throne of the LORD, and all nations will come there to honor His name.

I’m no expert in prophecy, but it seems like this special event still lies in the future. There has in fact been a return to Jerusalem–in 1948 the State of Israel was established–but not quite like the one described here with all nations coming there to honor the LORD. In fact most of the nations nearby the present day Israel would like to destroy it.

But even if the specific prophecy of this passage is yet to be fulfilled–and what a glorious day that will be–the principle for acceptance applied to the “returners” is nonetheless valid. The LORD bids His faithless chosen people to return to Him, and assures them that He will be angry with them no longer. They need only acknowledge their guilt and their rebellion against their God. He even goes so far as to declare that He, the LORD of All, is their husband. And as their husband, will even accept them back despite their prostitution to foreign gods.

During my time in the grief group after Susan’s death, I often heard the widows in the group comment on how they view the Lord as their “husband.” They looked to Him to take care of their needs in place of the human husbands that were gone. Frankly, this idea didn’t compute with me. Instead I focused on the idea out of Genesis 3: “It is not good for man to be alone.”

So even though I don’t relate to the idea of the Lord being my husband, I do relate to how a husband feels when he has lost a wife. If my pain of losing Susan is any indication, then the Lord must be miserable at the loss of His wife, Israel. Indeed, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, and expressed longing that they might return to Him: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

So it is with us would-be disciples of our Lord. So often we are not willing! Yet the eternal promise is true for us as it was them. “I will frown on you no longer.” That’s a wonderful promise for the new year. May the Gentle Husband who reaches out to His wayward wife smile on us as we daily confess our tendency to rebel, and repent of those actual instances in our lives when flesh has triumphed over the spirit.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

“If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers-
would you now return to me?”
declares the LORD . “Look up to the barren heights and see.
Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers,
sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and no spring rains have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame. Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
will you always be angry?
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.” (Jer. 3:1-3)

I miss my wife. Her absence from my life has left a huge hole that at times seems unfillable. So this experience of grief at the loss of my spouse helps me understand in a small way what the LORD Himself must experience when His “wife”, His chosen people, forsakes Him to go after the gods of other nations. The metaphor of prostitution is a very powerful one. Jeremiah, along with the other prophets of the Old Testament, uses it often.

I suppose of the two tragedies, the death of a wife is to be preferred over the unfaithfulness of a wife. To her dying day, Susan would look deeply into my eyes with that incredible loving gaze and say, “I love you more than life itself.” That she should be unfaithful to me would be incomprehensible. Never her!

Yet it happens. Even to Christian husbands with Christian wives. The pain to the husband must be overpowering. I cannot conceive of it. As Jeremiah puts it, it is inconceivable that a man should return to the wife that he divorced and who married another. Even the LORD asks, “would you now return to me?” That’s apparently what the people of Israel wanted. They have called to the Father and begged Him to stop being angry with them (after He withheld the spring rains), yet they continue to do all the evil that they can.

Although it’s risky to make historical parallels to the events of Scripture where an inspired prophet gives his own interpretation, it seems to this writer that our culture made a fateful choice of similar import to Israel when in the 1960’s it embarked on the journey of sex independent of marriage. Recreational sex, live-ins, domestic partners–these have become the norm in our day. The institution of heterosexual marriage has come under attack, particularly in light of the recent court decisions.

So why is it that the God-ordained institution of marriage should become devalued in favor of “shacking up”, and on the other hand God-opposed same-sex relationships should be encouraged even to the point of calling them “marriage” by the cultural elite? I wonder if it all goes back to that great God-instilled human trait of desiring to love and to be loved. We are encouraged to look for it in all the wrong places. Counterfeits are accepted in place of love for God, love for spouse, love for family, love for friend and love for neighbor.

I know the pain of losing the love of my life. I understand a bit more in the emptiness of my soul why the motivation to be loved and to love is such a driving motivation given the fact that her spot now stands vacant. The one who occupied my love is now but a whisper in my mind. I desperately want to fill it. I could be tempted to do something rash to ease my pain. So, our culture–rejecting its former love for God–succumbs to that same temptation to find fulfillment of its love desire in the harlotry so prolifically provided by the false gods. Yet, as Augustine observed so many centuries ago: “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Our next entry will explore how the LORD Himself guides even his unfaithful “wife” towards that rest.