恢复工作的美善(耶利米书30 – 33章)

圣经注释 / 工作神学项目出品

二十三年之久,耶利米预言耶路撒冷即将被毁(来自记载于2至28章中的上帝对犹大的控告)。[1] 随后,在30 – 33章里,先知开始盼望上帝的国度得到复兴。他把这复兴描述成没有罪的污染,只有工作的喜乐。

以色列的民(原文是处女)哪,我要再建立你,你就被建立;​[2] 你必再以击鼓为美,与欢乐的人一同跳舞而出;又必在撒玛利亚的山上栽种葡萄园,栽种的人要享用所结的果子。日子必到,以法莲山上守望的人必欢呼说:起来吧!我们可以上锡安,到耶和华我们的上帝哪里去。​[3] (耶31:4-6)

我们在这里看到,耶利米预言的整体构架是罪、然后被掳、然乎复兴。犹大的复兴还远着呢,​[4] 

可此时先知就在29:11里,为那应许给被掳之人的希望给出了一个理由。在恢复的世界里,百姓仍能工作,只不过他们从前的工作没有收益,而如今他们会享用工作的果实。复兴后的百姓会把他们的工作、娱乐、宴会和敬拜连为一体。栽种、收割、奏乐、舞蹈、和享受土产的图景,描绘了因着对上帝忠心而工作的那种愉快。

向上帝忠心不是枝节问题,而是享受工作和工作成果的核心之所在。耶31:31-34和32:37-41所描述的“新约”,又重申了忠心的重要。

耶和华说:日子将到,我要与以色列家和犹大家另立新约。不像我拉着他们祖宗的手,领他们出埃及地的时候,与他们所立的约。我虽作他们的丈夫,他们却背了我的约。这是耶和华说的。我要将我的律法放在他们里面,写在他们心上。我要作他们的上帝,他们要作我的子民。我要将我的律法放在他们里面,写在他们心上。我要作他们的上帝,他们要作我的子民。他们各人不再教导自己的邻舍和自己的弟兄说:你该认识耶和华,因为他们从最小的到至大的都必认识我。( 耶利米书31:31-34)

在此我们一下子就看到一个复兴的世界。在其中,上帝的子民从内心里忠于主的律法,享受他们一直应当享受的工作。百姓得到复兴,复归到他们一直该有的样式。他们在生命的方方面面都经历到上帝的同在,并因而为着公共利益而工作。“在那重建的社区里,工作和敬拜是结成一体的。”罗伯特•卡罗尔曾如是评说道。[5] 我们不要期望现在就完全进入这种光景,因为我们毕竟生活在有罪的世界里。但我们现在就可瞥见那种光景的美好。

The prophet attacked “the false pen of the scribes” (Jer. 8:8), the greed and deceit, saying “‘peace, peace’, when there is no peace” (Jer. 8:10-11). He noted that Judah’s gods were as many as Judah’s towns (Jer. 11:13). In 20:3-6, he prophesied the Babylonian exile after being beaten and put in stocks in Jerusalem; chapter 21 is a clear prophecy of coming destruction with one last chance to do justice and deliver the oppressed (Jer. 21:12). In chapter 25, the refrain is that “the work of their hands” is evil, and God will use evil people [Babylon] as a sword against evil people throughout the earth (showing the destruction of all evil nations). All the while Jeremiah begged people not to listen to lying prophecies (Jer. 27), Hananiah predicted that Babylon would return the exiles and all the loot within two years.

The naming here (“virgin Israel”) is a statement of renewal. Contrast it with Jer. 2:23-25, 33; 3:1-5, etc.

Or Jer. 32:15: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (cp. Jer. 32:43-44, 33:12).

This oracle is tied to the cultic celebration and worship of God (Jer. 31:6), which at this point in the book is a vital issue because the people had been thrust out of the house of God and failed in their worship (cf. Jer. 11:15). For the false approach to worship, see esp. Jer. 7:1-15.  Jeremiah 31:4-6 is not intended as a catalog of good kinds of work, but it is worth noting that music-making and dancing are affirmed and honored.

Robert P. Carroll, Jeremiah, Old Testament Library (London: SCM Press, 1986), 590.