Jeremiah — Chapter 4
Synopsis: Israel called to circumcise her heart (v.4). Then vivid description of the Chaldean invasion: an evil coming from the north like a lion, the devastation likened to a strong wind, the darkening of heaven, the ruined earth — a return to chaos and void (v.23).
Verse 4
Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, O ye men of Juda, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my indignation come forth like fire, and burn, and there be none that can quench it. Paul quotes the same demand in Rom.2:29: 'Circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit.' The external sign without internal conversion is worse than useless. Lapide: the 'foreskin of the heart' = the excess and redundancy of carnal desire that prevents the heart's total devotion to God.
Verse 23
I looked at the earth, and it was void and nothing: and at the heavens, and there was no light in them. Return to the primeval chaos of Gen.1:2 ('tohu vabohu' = without form and void). Lapide: the Chaldean devastation will be so total that the land will revert to pre-creation desolation — a symbolic undoing of creation's gifts to an unfaithful people.