This description from Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on Jeremiah 3-4:4 jarred me. “The wounded hope of God” sounds a bit dangerous to me. It rattles the way I think about God. Does God hope? Can he be wounded? What does that mean for us? How do I reconcile his impassibility— that God does not experience pain or pleasure from the actions of another being—with the language in this text about his yearning for his people who are unfaithful? It’s a longing so strong that it “violates the torah.” How so?
“The wounded hope of God,” what a powerful phrase. As you allude, the word for “side” in John 19:34 is the same word the Septuagint uses for Adam’s side in Gen 2:21. How amazing that, whereas God wounded man to create woman, God allowed himself to be wounded by man to give birth to the church (the ancient interpretation of John 19:34). The hope in his scars. On that note, looking forward to your new book!
God longs for his own as we see Christ longing in the scripture. There is no contingency in our living hope in Christ or his longing for us. In Christ he is not a God who is not touched by our infirmities. Thanks for broaching this subject. Our hope is wrapped around his longing for us. There is no contingency in this. We rest secure in this.
“The wounded hope of God,” what a powerful phrase. As you allude, the word for “side” in John 19:34 is the same word the Septuagint uses for Adam’s side in Gen 2:21. How amazing that, whereas God wounded man to create woman, God allowed himself to be wounded by man to give birth to the church (the ancient interpretation of John 19:34). The hope in his scars. On that note, looking forward to your new book!
Exactly! And thanks, Aaron.
> connection between woman and land
Ooh, do go down the rabbit hole—I would love to read more of your insights on this connection. [chanting: Rabbit hole! Rabbit hole! Rabbit hole!]
My book, The Sexual Reformation does a bit of a deep dive on it. Here is a something short I wrote on it for Modern Reformation: https://www.modernreformation.org/resources/articles/the-mod-women-wells-and-weddings
God longs for his own as we see Christ longing in the scripture. There is no contingency in our living hope in Christ or his longing for us. In Christ he is not a God who is not touched by our infirmities. Thanks for broaching this subject. Our hope is wrapped around his longing for us. There is no contingency in this. We rest secure in this.
Thank you. So powerfully written and illuminating on this passage.
Thank you Jesus for being our wounded healer.
Beautiful