NOTES for Jer 31:1-22
We often tend to view our relationship with God according to the principle of “crime and punishment” or “the carrot and the stick.” That is, if we behave well, God will help us in life—allow us to live this life well and then take us to Himself in paradise; but if we make a mess of things in this life, He will punish us. This principle of religious relations goes back to hoary antiquity. To a large extent, this was the moral theology of the Israelites before the Exile (and, for some reason, of most Christians past and present). One could still explain that Israel went into exile for the sin of idolatry, but why did the best people, those most devoted to the Lord, also find themselves in captivity? This mystery is revealed to the prophet Jeremiah (and to other prophets): the Lord does not work with the stick and the carrot. He is guided solely by a father’s love for His people (and indeed for all people). He permits captivity only to correct the people, to cleanse them of paganism, while loving Israel with an everlasting love that does not depend on their “behavior and diligence.” The God of the Bible is the God of unconditional love; God is love.