Reading for August 27th

Read Jeremiah 8.18-9.3. *.18-9.26: Weeping. God, the earth, and offical mourning women weep to signify the certainty of the nation's destruction. The poetry of weeping also suggests that God joins with the people and the earth in expressing vulnerability, pain, and grief over the invasion that will destroy life in the land. In 8.18-9.3: There is disagreement among scholars about the identity of the principal speaker in this poem but it is probably God. In verse 21: The God who suffered in the story of the broken family (2.1-3.25) is in pain and dismay again over the hurt of my poor people. The Hebrew text reads "daughter of my people," to suggest that God is still lamenting over the broken family relationship. In 9.1: The divine speaker then expresses a wish; O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! Divine tears, unlike divine anger, create a brief solidarity and empty with the people. If the audience is Israel during Exile, divine tears suggest that God has not rejected them forever but suffers with them. In verse 2: The speaker's mood changes quickly. God desires to escape from the midst of the sinners, unfaithful people. Comments or Questions..