The Weeping Prophet

By Tom Cox

An engraved illustration image of the prophet Jeremiah lamenting over Jerusalem, from a vintage Victorian bible dated 1852 that is no longer in copyright

The prophet Jeremiah had the most difficult of heavenly callings. Like many other prophets, he initially resisted the call by insisting that he was too young and didn’t talk good. God answered, in effect, “Never mind that. I’ll tell you what to say.”

For forty years Jeremiah called out the priests, rulers, and other leaders for their greed and idolatry, for their worship and child sacrifice to false gods, and for their social injustice. He called for a national repentance—a turning from the sinful and destructive ways of the past. Sackcloth and ashes stuff. If they refused, he warned, they would lose everything—their temple economy, their wealth, their land, and for some, their very lives. The reactions he received from his prophetic message, however, may sound familiar: ridicule, disbelief, scorn, denial. Jeremiah made it clear to them: “You are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless” (Jeremiah 7:8).

Jeremiah’s legacy was that no one listened to him and everything he said eventually came to pass. Then he wrote the book of Lamentations, a book of the Bible that can seem bleak if things are going well for you, but if you are struggling and depressed by the rampant injustice of the world, it feels good to know that God mourns with you. In fact, it seems particularly pertinent today:

“Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities.” (Lamentations 5:7)

“We pay for the water we drink, and our wood comes at a price.” (verse 4)

“We get our bread at the risk of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.” (verse 9)

“Our skin is hot as an oven, because of the fever of famine.” (verse 10)

Today’s climate experts and activists know the weight of such a difficult calling deep in their bones. Like Jeremiah, scientists and experts have been warning of the dangers of climate change for forty-plus years. Everything they’ve predicted is coming to pass—often more rapidly than predicted. And the response of far too many people has still been denial and complacency. The greed for convenience and prosperity trumps all. Unsustainable economic growth has become a national right. Creation is not seen as something God asked us to care for and steward but as a disposable resource to plunder and discard. We may not sacrifice children to false gods, but we are certainly sacrificing their future quality of life.

Nowhere is climate denialism as prevalent as in the church. White evangelicals are the least likely people in the U.S. to voice concern about the environment. A recent Pew study (Nov 2022) revealed that only 8% of Americans identify as both highly religious and concerned about the environment. That number only rises to 40% when you add moderately religious Americans. The study reveals that the more religious a person is the less they believe that climate change is caused by human activity. In the end, according to the study, it is not religion that is the most reliable indicator of climate change acknowledgment but politics. In other words, many Christians are forsaking their God-given duty to creation to serve their real god—political loyalty at all costs.

As someone who is determined to urge U.S. faith communities to enter into climate change discussion and work, this can keep me up at night. Despite all this, I sense change on the horizon. It’s found in young people. According to the same Pew study, 41% of evangelical Protestant adults under 40 say climate change is an extremely or very serious problem. And 42% of evangelical adults under 40 say the Earth is warming due to human activity. I think a political campaign, as ugly as those can be, will bring Republican climate denialism to the forefront, which may turn off independent thinkers and young voters. As more Americans choke on forest fire smoke, suffer through hurricanes, muck out flood waters, roast in record-setting heat, and begin to calculate the economic cost of environmental catastrophe, they may take a dim view of our current path. They may realize that they are not on board for losing half of Earth’s animal species. I believe a tipping point is coming.

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. It is slapped on greeting cards and t-shirts and stitched into pillows. And it’s usually taken completely out of context. Well into Israel’s Babylonian exile, Jeremiah issued this consolation: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” So often this verse is interpreted as God having a secret, individual plan for your own personal success and prosperity. It is claimed by graduates and those going through rough times as evidence of a special path that God has prepared just for them. When viewed in its proper context—that of Israel being slaves in Babylon—it becomes obvious that this was not a personal prosperity promise given by God to individuals but a long-term promised future for an entire nation.

Let’s go back a few verses in this passage:

“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  ‘Build houses and settle down…. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage…. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. …When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to [your former home].’” (Jeremiah 4­–7, 10)

False prophets had been going around Babylon promising that God was going to release them soon. Jeremiah set them straight about this fake news: “Cool your jets. Settle down. Marry off your kids to the children of your captors. Build a house here and seek peace in your captivity. After seventy more years of captivity, I will lead this nation back home.” Nearly everyone who heard these words would die in exile, but their descendants would return to the Promised Land, rebuild the Temple, and live out the future God had in mind for their nation.

It seems that God does not always intend to beam you up and out of the predicament you’ve created. Sometimes you really do have to pay for your sins. This is often known by another name—karma. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s not without hope. It’s not too late to ensure a better future for the next generations.

May our children and grandchildren not have to write a book of Lamentations about us. This of course depends solely on us. We have no time to wait for future generations to make the tough choices. Those who are alive right now are the only ones who can do something about climate change. Are we willing to work and sacrifice for those in the future instead of handing them a toxic, fixed reality? We still have time to redeem ourselves but like the Israelites, we have no more time for denial.

My climate change work is not for myself. I don’t have enough time left and I don’t have any children. I am almost certainly planting a tree under whose shade I will never sit. But I see God’s promise to me as this: someone will sit there. There WILL be a tree and there WILL be someone to sit beneath it and appreciate it. That sounds like a win. That, in the words of Jeremiah, sounds like “plans to give you hope and a future.”

Pura vida.