Cause and Effect
“and you have polluted a land with your harlotry and your wickedness. Therefore, the showers have been withheld, and there is no spring rain.” Jeremiah 3:2-3
Therefore – Over and over we have seen that the ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek contain specificity where English words have umbrella functions. Greek has five words for slave. English has one. Hebrew has three words for love. English has one. But some words (or parts of words) do multiple duty in these ancient languages. Why that is the case is quite interesting and opens the door to the way people of other civilizations thought about the world. In this verse, we get a tiny flavor of one of the most used multiple meaning words in Hebrew, the single consonant, v (pronounced “waw”). This one letter can mean any of the following (and more): and, so, then, when now, or, but, that. Obviously, context has to tell us which one to use.
Since the “word” (really just a letter) is attached to other words, it seems like it doesn’t require much attention. But if we think we can brush over this tiny part of the Hebrew alphabet, we’re greatly mistaken. This tiny letter usually connects two or more thoughts or things. In Jeremiah’s verse, this tiny letter blares with a trumpet so loud that all the earth needs to listen. It connects sin with nature.
How we have been deceived! We think that sin is a private, or at most, a social affair. Our sins affect us and those in our human community. We have reduced sin to human morality issues. Of course, these days sin has all but disappeared, even from the church. Today’s morality is about what is allowed by Law or by convention. It has nothing to do with some deity.
You would never convince Jeremiah of such foolishness. Jeremiah spoke God’s word when he said, “Sin affects the natural order. Human sinfulness has consequences in nature.” Look at this verse again. The most important “word” is this tiny letter. Human disobedience and immorality has polluted the land and as a result the vital necessities of nature have been altered. Did you think that the sovereign God couldn’t change the weather because of our disobedience? When did we assume that the forces of nature were “natural”? God controls it all! My disobedience has a direct affect on the whole world. My sin is not tucked away in some hidden corner, dealt with by private confession or silent tears. My sin moves the wind, the rain, the clouds. It alters the temperature of the sea, the movement of the ice caps, the balance of the atmosphere. Sin destroys all!
When we fall to our knees with “God, forgive me”, we need to remember this verse in Jeremiah. “God, forgive my pollution of the land. Spare the world of the consequences of my sin.”
