The whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart (Jeremiah 9:26).The message delivered to Judah is an indictment of its arrogance and stubbornness. Even animals know to whom they are accountable for the seasons and their sustenance, and obey that inner voice that prompts them when it's time to migrate (8:7). But of Judah it is said the people are too stiffnecked to know when they are beaten. They did not listen to me or pay attention (7:26); they insisted on following the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts (7:24).
According to Rabbi Abraham Heschel, God's anger is always measured and for a purpose. "There is no divine anger for anger's sake. It's meaning is . . . instrumental to bring about repentance; its purpose and consummation is its own disappearance" [1].
The point is that people should have the good sense when confronted by God's anger or discipline to change their ways. But a lesson we can take from Jeremiah is that too often we doggedly march on to our own destruction when a simple change of course would make all the difference. We may be lost but we're making good time.
Physical circumcision was supposed to be a symbol of the inward circumcision of the heart - resulting in submission of the whole person to the sovereignty of God.
Submission can be one of the hardest things we're asked to do. When you try to be the boss, how's that work out for you? Meditate on how things would be if you tried God's way.
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