NOTES for Jer 6:1-30

In Jeremiah's prophecies, God's relationship with Jerusalem is presented as a constant struggle. God tries to shout loudly enough for His people to hear, but people plug their ears and close their eyes. He sends them trials and punishments, but they shut themselves off and do not feel the pain. He melts them as a refiner melts silver in order to cleanse it from the impurity of lead, but nothing comes of it, and the silver has to be thrown out along with the slag. This struggle also runs through the life of the prophet himself: in God's name he threatens Jerusalem with siege and destruction, but he is considered a traitor and imprisoned for defeatist attitudes.

This is how divine and human freedom is realized: on one side, God's desire to save people, to find a path to their heart and reveal His love to them; on the other, the person's freedom at any moment to turn away, cover his face, fail to recognize, and fail to hear. This freedom may be the most frightening of God's gifts, but since it is so important that God endures its consequences, perhaps this is also the path of the answer God expects from us: the free choice of His will, the freedom of purity and love...