Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 60:1 (NA 2009)
Article: Jeremiah, Judgement And Creation
Author: Hetty Lalleman

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TynBull 60:1 (2009) p. 15

Jeremiah, Judgement And Creation

Hetty Lalleman

Summary

Building on a German publication by Helga Weippert, it is argued that the idea of creation can already be found in Jeremiah, not just in Isaiah 40-55. Jeremiah 4-5 has parallels in Genesis 1-2 as well as in Jeremiah 33, and there is insufficient ground to assume that Jeremiah 33 represents a post-Jeremiah development, as Weippert suggests. Jeremiah uses not only the covenant as a framework for his proclamation of judgement and doom but also creation.

1. Introduction

In the moral life of ancient Israel the prophets played an important role.1 In the so-called Former Prophets we see them in action in warning kings when the Ten Commandments are trespassed, for example Nathan over against David, Elijah over against Ahab. The Latter Prophets confront the people time and again with the consequences of ignoring God’s commandments, the ‘stipulations’ provided in the framework of the covenant. As God’s covenant people, Israel is required to live according to the laws of the covenant made at Sinai. But it is not only the covenant which forms the framework used by the prophets to warn the people. Creation also played a role in the preaching of judgement and repentance and in the message of the prophets in general.

In this article we will focus on the book of Jeremiah and investigate if there is a relationship between creation and covenant, in particular in the area of ethics.

TynBull 60:1 (2009) p. 16

2. Weippert

For many years Old Testament scholarship has been dominated by the view that the events of the Exodus and at Mount Sinai were the major themes in Israel’s faith, as Von Rad stated.2 The confession of God as Creator of the universe only later became integrated into Israel’s beliefs, and the Babylonian exile played an important part in establishing creation as a core belief, says the consensus view. As for the prophets, many scholars see the so-called Deutero-Isaiah as the major contributor to Israel’s faith in God as the Creator of the world. The relevant chapters from the book of Isaiah are also the ones in which there is a strong emphasis on God as the Redeemer of Israel and the only God of the universe. Here idols and the worship of idols are strongly rejected and even ridiculed.

In 1981 Helga Weippert argued that Deutero-Isaiah was not the first to int...

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