breathforthebones

When I read Jeremiah, it scares the hell out of me. Jeremiah didn’t seek the word. The word sought Jeremiah. And he was consumed by the fire of the word of God. It was a fire in his bones ^(20:9b) that first burned Jeremiah and then burned everyone he came in contact with. There’s an ancient midrash, a Jewish commentary, that describes the fiery nature of God’s word: ‘And how was the Torah written [asks the midrash]? With black fire upon white fire as it rested on the knee of the Holy One, blessed be He.’ The image of God as an author with his fiery work on his knee is a vivid picture of the dangerous nature of Holy Writ – too hot to handle. It burns but it’s not consumed. It’s always changing, yet never altered[1]. The texts we seek to grab hold of and study until we’ve mastered and can manage them are like wildfire, always eluding our best efforts at containment.God’s word is a fire that consumes everything it touches. We cannot take it into our hands without it changing us.