Message: The Pathos of God / Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

The books of the Prophets are among the hardest parts of the Bible to understand. They use many images and symbols, often far from our daily lives, such as the early and late rains, a valley full of dry bones, the sea monster Leviathan, and the balm of Gilead. The words of judgment in the prophets are also difficult to hear. Their warnings against sin and injustice can sound harsh, and at times they feel too heavy or even violent. Some miracle stories and visions seem hard to make sense of in the way we think today. Above all, Prophets spoke from different places and situations, so their voices can sometimes feel inconsistent.

But we do not need to feel discouraged. The good news is that, despite their complexity, the prophetic books have something in common. Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the great rabbis of the 20th century, writes in his book The Prophets: “Prophecy consists in the inspired communication of divine attitudes to the prophetic consciousness. As we have seen, the divine pathos is the ground tone of all these attitudes. A central category of the prophetic understanding for God, it is echoed in almost every prophetic statement.”

Heschel sees the prophets’ voices as expressions of the heart of God. The prophets are those who feel God’s sorrow, anger, and compassion. He calls this the divine pathos. God grieves over injustice. God is angry at evil. God shows compassion to the weak. God longs for restoration. The prophets share this heart of God. The cry for justice in Amos shows God’s pain for the oppressed. The call for love in Hosea indicates God’s refusal to give up. The vision of hope in Isaiah is a sign of God’s mercy reaching out to lift up those who have fallen. For this reason, when we read the prophets, we are reading the heart of God.

In the Bible, God is not cold or distant. God is not apathetic, insensitive, or indifferent. God cares for everyone with a warm heart, like a mother bird with her chicks. The Law in the Old Testament shows this clearly. It commands farmers not to take all the grain and fruit from their fields so the poor can have some (Leviticus 19:9–10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19–22), to pay workers before sunset so they do not go to bed hungry (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14–15), and to forgive debts in the seventh year (Deuteronomy 15:1–2). It also orders people not to mock those who cannot hear and not to put obstacles in the way of those who cannot see (Leviticus 19:14), to return lost property and animals (Deuteronomy 22:1–3), and to care for the weak, such as orphans, widows, and strangers (Exodus 22:21–24; Deuteronomy 10:18–19; 24:17–22).

God’s compassion in the Law extends not only to people but also to animals. The Sabbath is given so that livestock too may rest (Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14; Exodus 23:12). An ox used for threshing must not be muzzled (Deuteronomy 25:4). Animals, not just those of friends but also those of enemies, that are struggling under a heavy load must be helped (Exodus 23:4–5; Deuteronomy 22:4). In the sabbatical year, the land itself rests, and its produce is shared with the poor and with wild creatures (Exodus 23:10–11; Leviticus 25:4–7). Such compassion for animals is rare in other ancient laws.

Because prophets feel the divine pathos, they are compassionate. They do not see the world in a self-centred way or judge from their limited knowledge. They see it through God’s eyes. Their ears are open. Their hearts reach to all creatures. Their voices carry God’s feelings to others.

Today, we hear the voice of one of these prophets in our first scripture reading: Jeremiah.

Jeremiah is sad. The prophet groans in anguish, and his heart is heavy. His people no longer care about God’s message because they obsess over idols (4:1). As the nation grows rich, the people turn away from God and become slaves to idols that make them focus only on their own selfish interests. Jeremiah knows that God liberates people, but idols oppress them. God stands with the weak, but idols side with the strong. God brings love, justice, and peace, but idols excuse prejudice, discrimination, and violence.

Jeremiah is sad. The prophet’s joy is gone, and grief overwhelms him. He sees disaster coming. Just as a rotten root makes a tree wither, the people’s corruption brings ruin to the whole nation. He hears soldiers with bows and spears marching toward the land. But his people are powerless. No one is willing to stand up for their country (4:29).

Jeremiah is sad. The prophet weeps, and his tears do not dry. He feels the pain and sorrow of God. The wound of his people becomes his own wound. He knows invaders will devour their harvest and food, their flocks and herds, their vines and fig trees (5:17). Even after the harvest, there will be nothing to eat. There will be no ointment and no doctor to heal their wounds. Even Gilead, a region east of the Jordan River known for its healing plants, will be destroyed (8:20–22).

Jeremiah is sad. The prophet wails for the mountains and the pastures of the wilderness. God’s creation is devastated by the evil of the people. “The lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the animals have fled and are gone” (9:10). Because of the people’s wickedness, even animals and birds are swept away (12:4). Fertile land is ruined, but no one cares (12:10–11).

Jeremiah is sad. He loves his people and longs for them to avoid disaster, but they refuse to listen. Instead, they ignore him and even try to kill him. They warn, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand” (11:21). He understands that loving someone brings not only happiness but also pain, and still his loneliness does not go away. Even he curses the day he was born (20:14).

God calls us to be Jeremiahs in our time. Many sad stories in the news make our hearts ache. That aching, however, is a sign that God’s heart is still alive in us. We are not people who turn away from the suffering of the world. Like the prophets, we are called to embrace that suffering, which helps us see new hope. The real crisis is that we do not feel anything when we hear about people losing their homes to wildfires, children starving in war, or neighbours losing jobs in a difficult economy.

Today, we also hear that many creatures are at risk. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that more than 47,000 species are threatened with extinction, which is 28 percent of all species. Migratory species, in particular, are facing challenges as they lose their pathways. According to the United Nations’ 2024 report, 44 percent of these species are declining, and about 22 percent are at risk of extinction.

We know the reasons. Wider roads and larger buildings cut through forests and wetlands. Natural habitats for animals are broken up and separated. The routes that wildlife follow along rivers, ridgelines, and the paths of the night sky are blocked, making it hard for them to reach food or nesting areas. Pollution makes the problem worse. Seas become contaminated with toxic materials and plastics. The air becomes polluted. Places that need darkness and quiet are filled with bright light and loud noise.

Jeremiah ends with tears: “O that my head were a spring of water.” Yet his tears are not the final word. They are the first spring of hope. The God who grieves also restores. Every living being matters to God. God does not forget even a sparrow. The God who gave Sabbath rest to people, animals, and the land now calls us to make room for healing. Turn. Make space. Choose life. This is the word we hear today. 

In God’s compassion, sorrow becomes courage. Lament becomes work for justice. Tears become seeds of joy. May we all learn to feel God’s heart so that we act in love for the healing of creation.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rev. Min Hwang