Occasionally a phrase in the Bible turns my head, and I think, “Huh”? In Jeremiah this past week I read such a statement attributed to the Lord—nor did it enter my mind (Jeremiah 32:35).

As the omniscient (all-knowing) God, how does anything surprise the Lord?

The context of this quote explains a great deal. The Lord spoke through Jeremiah about his impending judgement on the people of Israel. Babylonians stood at the gate, and the sack and pillage of Jerusalem loomed. No rescue, no last minute reprieve. The Lord’s anger seethed.

Why was God so angry? Years of evil from the people of Israel—turning their backs on the Lord, setting up idols to false gods in Solomon’s temple, and most shocking, killing their children in the worship of a demon god.

This murder of innocent children set the Lord off. So tremendously vile, the Lord described the practice as unimaginable. Did God not know about these heinous acts? The Lord knew, but still the Lord described the horror as unbelievable. As I might say, not in a million years—never entered my mind.

Earlier Jeremiah wrote: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it (Jeremiah 17:9)?

And so I see the context. Who can understand a religious system that calls for the sacrifice of innocents? Yet such systems emerged over and over in various places throughout history.

These old stories, buried in the thickness of our Bibles, serve as warnings. Our enlightened hearts of the modern world remain deceitful. We’re not above killing innocents over bad ideas, are we?

Blessed in the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him (Jeremiah 17:7). Only the Lord cures the heart. That’s the lesson to draw from Jeremiah’s insight into the human condition.

Jeremiah in week forty-one of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Trym Nilsen