Daily Devotional | The Great Reversal

What is it about slapstick comedy that makes us laugh? Film star Buster Keaton began his career in vaudeville at the age of six, playing a disobedient child whose father often tossed him into the orchestra pit as punishment. He became a leading man in silent films, famous for his pratfalls and physical comedy. There is something in human nature that finds it amusing to see another person take a fall. In real life, however, falls can be tragic.

In today’s passage, Jeremiah observes that children were not the only ones who suffered when the city of Jerusalem fell. The rich, who “once ate delicacies” and were raised in luxury, are now “destitute in the streets” and “lie on ash heaps” (v. 5). Likewise, those who had been high- born princes have been brought low. Jeremiah paints a before and after picture in verses 7–8, which contrasts their former health and beauty with the ravages of famine.

In verse 6, Jeremiah contrasts Jerusalem’s destruction with the judgment of Sodom. Unlike Sodom, “which was overthrown in a moment,” the suffering of Jerusalem was prolonged. The Hebrew word that the NIV translates as punishment is ambiguous. It can be used to speak of punishment as well as to refer to the sin that is its cause. Not only was Jerusalem’s suffering greater than that of Sodom but so was their culpability. They had been warned of the consequences of their disobedience. They were given time to repent. Jeremiah had urged them to surrender and submit to divine discipline (see Jer. 38:17–20). Jerusalem’s greatest tragedy was not the magnitude of its suffering but the fact that it was avoidable. As Proverbs 15:32 warns, “Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.”