Глава 11

“Why has my beloved created many abominations in my house?” The prophet speaks of the altars which were set up in the church by Manasseh, or of the many abominations which were shown to Ezekiel by the Spirit. For although the prophet refers to the past, he also mysteriously foreshadows (predetermines) future times, as can be seen from what was said: “and the holy meat will be taken from you, because your wickedness has prevailed” (Jer. 11:15). The prophet calls holy meat the meat of animals that were burned, while their blood was poured on the altar, and shows that for the great wickedness of the Jews, the threats that were uttered by him especially in these words will be fulfilled: “You will punish yourself in Jerusalem: let not my soul depart from you, lest I make you impassable” (Jer. 6:8). “I am a blessed olive tree, I am a red fruit, I am a red flower, I call the Lord your name” (Jer. 11:16). This was the name of Jerusalem, which was like a tree, proud of the beauty of its branches and the abundance of fruit. The Lord loved its gates more than all the tabernacles of Jacob, and its name was more glorious than the name of all the surrounding nations. “At the sound of the great pruning, send fire on it... and it will consume its branches. And the Lord of hosts, who planted it on you, spoke evil against you” (Jer. 11:16-17). The prophet announces the judgment pronounced on Jerusalem. The meaning of these words is this: God has numbered, weighed, and determined the destruction of the Jews. Therefore, go, Babylonians, conquer and devastate the land of Judah, destroy with fire the top of the olive tree, that is, high Jerusalem, the head of the kingdom of Judah, burn the branches, that is, the cities with which, like branches, Jerusalem is covered, and this is the same thing that the prophet repeats further: “Go, gather all the wild animals, and let them come to destroy it.” (Jer.12:9). “He says: Come, let us put wood into his bread, and let us destroy him from the land of the living” (Jer. 11:19). So the inhabitants of Anathoth consulted about the death of Jeremiah and said: “Let us put wood in his bread,” that is, we will give him wood for food, because in Scripture everything that is eaten as food is called bread. To offer someone a tree means either to beat him with a tree, or to hang him on a tree, or to burn him, just as the expression “swallow blows” means to be struck by a rod. And just as a tree is destroyed when they bake bread on it or burn it in a house, so let the tree be destroyed when we beat, burn, or hang the flesh of the prophet. The inhabitants of Anathoth prepared Jeremiah's bread from such and such flour. But in Jeremiah only the image was mysteriously presented, because the Jews killed it not with wood, but with stones. This prophecy was fulfilled in our Lord. The Jews put “wood into bread” for Him, that is, they killed Him by nailing Him to the tree. “Lord of hosts, judge righteously, test hearts and bellies.” You, Lord, know my innocence, Your ear heard the prayers that I offered for them, “that I may see Your vengeance on them” (Jer. 11:20), that is, the vengeance with which You take vengeance, for You are the righteous Judge. “On them,” that is, not on all of them, but only on some of them, on the rebellious inhabitants of Anathoth, who hate the peace of Your people, therefore they are consulting about my death. For it is hard for them that their crafty intentions are frustrated by my suggestions. Of course, there were two reasons for this hatred: one general, because Jeremiah denounced the common sin of idolatry among the people and terrified the Jews with terrible threats, predicting the fall of the kingdom and the destruction of cities; the other reason was private, for the inhabitants of Anathoth were jealous of Jeremiah, seeing his superiority over other priests who lived in Anathoth, and knowing that the name of Jeremiah was held in high esteem by all the people. There is no doubt that these same two reasons prompted the Jews: “Let them ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus” (Matthew 27:20). You might be interested in: