This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail … - Jeremiah 47:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 22, 2020): Jeremiah 47

I love the beach. When I go on vacation, I am not someone who likes to travel to all the tourist attractions that an area might offer. If I get what I want, my desire is always to go and sit someplace by a body of water with a good book, and just stay there reading and looking out over the surface of the water. I have friends who dream of a place in the mountains where they can spend their days, but my dream home would overlook a lake or maybe an ocean, and offer many peaceful opportunities just to sit and relax watching the calming waves.

But biblically, the image of water is not what I imagine it to be in my dreams. In the Bible, the idea of water always involves chaos. The reason for this is that water was, and still is, inherently unpredictable. Men who ventured out onto the sea knew that their survival often meant staying relatively close to the shoreline. No one ventured out to cross the Atlantic Ocean because the water was unpredictable. And sometimes even standing on the shore was a risky proposition, because conditions on the water could change dramatically in a short period, impacting what had previously been dry land.

I have never had to live through a tsunami, but I can imagine the confusion that would reign as the waters suddenly rise, and the people are sent scrambling for higher ground. I can’t believe that it would be a silent process. I can hear the screams of the people, even from those who realize that no one can come to their assistance and that high ground is simply too far away.

It is this image of a sudden tsunami that Jeremiah uses to describe what is about to happen in the north. We can date this vision to 609 B.C.E. or maybe slightly earlier. The situation is that Egypt is on its way to attempt to prop up the failing Assyrian Empire against the emerging Babylonians. Necho II believes that he can support the Assyrians, maintaining a balance of power in the area, as well as furthering the security of his own nation. Jeremiah’s response is that he is deluded in what he is trying to do. The Babylonians are coming like a tsunami, and they will overwhelm all that tries to stand in their way. King Necho II of Egypt will have as much success attempting to stop the Babylonians as he would have of standing on the shore at the beginning of a tsunami and trying to stop the waves. The people will cry out, and if he continues on his current path, his people will cry out, but there will be no one who can hear their cries or do anything to change their situation. No one can stop the coming waves, and it is only a fool that would even try.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Daniel 1