Empty Suits

The LORD says:

Don’t brag about your wisdom

or strength or wealth.

If you feel you must brag,

then have enough sense

to brag about worshiping me,

the LORD.

What I like best

is showing kindness,

justice, and mercy

to everyone on earth.

Someday I will punish the nations of Egypt, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, and the tribes of the desert. The men of these nations are circumcised, but they don’t worship me. And it’s the same with you people of Judah. Your bodies are circumcised, but your hearts are unchanged. (Jeremiah 9:23-26)

People get full of themselves sometimes. Jeremiah began prophesying when the nation of Judah was doing just fine, thank you. They were wealthy and life was comfortable, at least for the ruling class. Two things were a problem, however. One, the ruling class was not kind, they were not merciful, and justice was rare. They mistreated the poor and disadvantaged and were happy to find reasons for taking what little they had and adding it to their own pockets. They went through the motions of worshipping Yahweh, offering the sacrifices at the right time and making sure they were circumcised.

But Jeremiah pointed out that worshipping God was something more than rituals, fine words, and things like circumcision. After all, the Jews weren’t the only circumcised people in the Middle East. The Egyptians, the Edomites (descended from Jacob’s brother, Esau), the Moabites (descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew) and others were all just as circumcised as the Jews were. But that didn’t mean they loved God. And that wouldn’t stop God from punishing them. Circumcision, after all, was pretty easy. Words and rituals can be meaningless. What mattered were hard things, like a changed heart leading to compassion and true worship.

Send to Kindle