Homilies on Jeremiah · Homily012

1Accordingly, he begins from the more gloomy utterances, but the necessary ones, such as "I will kill," then, having killed, "and I will make alive; I will strike, and I myself will heal"; for "whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives." First he strikes, and after this he heals; "for he himself makes to feel pain and again restores." And so also here: "I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root up and to pull down and to destroy and to build up again and to plant." Yet the first thing is that those evil things be taken away from us. God cannot build in the place of the evil building. "For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? What fellowship has light with darkness?" The evil must be rooted up from the foundations, the building of evil must be consumed away from our soul, so that after these things the words of God may build and plant; for I cannot understand otherwise the things that are written: "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth." What do the words do? "Root up and pull down and destroy." Words root up "nations," words pull down kingdoms—but not those bodily and worldly kingdoms. Worthily of words that pull down, worthily of words that root up, understand the things rooted up by words, the things pulled down by words. Is there not, then, right now in the things being spoken a power, if God grants it (according to the saying "the Lord will give the word to those who proclaim the good news with great power"), a power that roots up, if there be any unbelief, if any hypocrisy, if any wickedness, if any licentiousness? Is there not one that pulls down, if anywhere an idol-temple has been built up in the heart—so that, when that has been pulled down, a temple of God may be built, and the glory of God may be found in the temple built up again, and there may come to be not a grove, but a planting, a paradise of God, where the temple of God is in Christ Jesus; to whom is the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen.