Daniel 7: 1-3,15-18 Taken from the text that is generally regarded as the touchstone of all biblical apocalyptic writings in both Testaments, this excerpt “interprets” Daniel’s nightmare.  His dream includes four “winds,” and “great beasts,” which are somehow linked to “four … Continue reading →

Jeremiah 19: 1,4-7 Inserted into the text of the Book of Jeremiah is this “letter” sent to God’s people living in exile in Babylon.  The message it contains is unexpected.  Even in this alien place, God’s “letter” says, and in … Continue reading →

Lamentations 1:1-6 The writer of this lament or dirge over the destruction of Jerusalem personifies the City as a “widow,” or as a “princess [who] has become a vassal.”  She once had many admirers, lovers and friends.  The writer now … Continue reading →

Jeremiah 32: 1-3a, 6-15 Jerusalem is under siege and the nation’s future looks bleak.  This is not a time any reasonable person would want to invest in real estate in Jerusalem.  Yet, under “the word of the Lord,” that is … Continue reading →

Jeremiah 8: 18-9:1 The Lord, in the text of the prophet Jeremiah, expresses utter despair over the faithlessness of the Lord’s people and the inevitable consequences.  “My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.”  The people … Continue reading →

Jeremiah 4: 11-12, 22-28 The Lord is so thoroughly angry at “my people” that the text of Jeremiah is clear, saying the Lord speaks directly: “it is I who speak in judgment against them.”  They are foolish, stupid, “with no understanding.” … Continue reading →

Jeremiah 18: 1-11 Walter Brueggemann lists the most prominent metaphors for God used in the Hebrew Scriptures, including gardener, shepherd, mother, healer, and, as in today’s excerpt from Jeremiah, potter.  He identifies these as “metaphors of sustenance.,” which “include dimensions … Continue reading →

Jeremiah 2: 4-13 Jeremiah delivers the Lord’s subpoena against Israel.  The charges are that the people have gone “after worthless things, and become worthless themselves.”  The Lord brought them through the wilderness into a “plentiful land,” but the priests and … Continue reading →

Jeremiah 1: 4-10 Jeremiah records his call as a young boy.  “…[T]he word of the Lord…” informs the child that while he was still in the womb, the Lord “consecrated” him.  The youth points out the obvious problem with this … Continue reading →

Isaiah 5: 1-7 The “gardener’s love song” in Isaiah depicts an attentive, hands-on worker who lovingly plants and nurtures a vineyard in the expectation that one day it would “yield grapes.”  Instead, the vineyard produced “wild grapes.”  In frustration and … Continue reading →