tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post4686035290955763426..comments2024-03-29T06:58:28.383+13:00Comments on Anglican Down Under: The heart of covenantPeter Carrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-32608524374262868002008-08-22T21:04:00.000+12:002008-08-22T21:04:00.000+12:00Very interesting. Jeremiah has been the subject of...Very interesting. Jeremiah has been the subject of my daily devotions recently, and he is not comfortable reading! He declared his ministry as the Lord's (rather reluctant) prophet, recalling the people to the 'ancient paths' (7.16), which were nothing less than the Mosaic covenant. Yet his claim to be a prophet were contested by many rivals ('Peace! Peace!'), and he suffered quite grievously for his witness - abuse, threats, imprisonment, beatings, loneliness. In the end his word is vindicated (that's why he's in the Bible!), but it takes a terrible invasion and exile to get the message across. As so often in the Prophets, the official representatives of religion are the ones rejected by God. <BR/>Jeremiah called his people to repentance over 40 years, but the call was largely ignored. The message of the book has been characterized as 'Judgment and Hope' - hope following and through judgment rather than instead of it, and Anglicans should keep these two elements in tension as well. Think of the baskets of figs (ch. 24) and the kind of people we are raising up - and becoming ourselves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com