Jeremiah 15:16: “Your words were found and I ate them and your words became for me a joy, and the delight of my heart, for I have been called by your name, O Lord God Almighty.”
John 6:54: “Whosoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
In John 6:54, the Greek word used for eat is trogon which has the idea of chewing and cutting up into little pieces. The Septuagint uses this same word in Jeremiah 15:16 where Jeremiah says that he found the words of God and ate them. The Hebrew word for ate is ’okelam which is generally believed to come from the root word ’alakam which means to eat or consume. However, some rabbis believe it could also represent the root kallah which could be a metonymy or what we generally call a figure of speech. It is sometimes rendered as kidney but as a metonymy represents the inward secret parts of the soul. In this case Jeremiah received the words and ate them, that is, he consumed them or studied them, discussed them and meditated on them until they became a part of his very soul or being.
Obviously Jesus is expressing a metonymy or a figure of speech when He speaks of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. At least the Jewish disciples would interpret this as a figure of speech because it was a very common metonymy in the Aramaic speaking world and had the idea that when one speaks from his heart (the flesh), you would eat it; that is, you would study it, discuss it, and meditate on it until it became a very part of your soul.
Drinking His blood is another figure of speech in the Aramaic for digesting something then translating it into something that affect your behavior. This kind of sheds some new light, at least for some Christians, on a communion service. I daresay most people who take communion have little idea what it is all about except that it was commanded by Jesus so we do it and it is a reference to His death and resurrection. However, what Jesus was really commanding, or at least what the disciples heard was that communion was not eating the bread and drinking the grape juice, that was meant to introduce and prepare the participants into a deep study of the Word of God. I find it odd that we have communion after the service and not before. I know – tradition. Nothing wrong with that but some people would think it almost sacrilegious to have communion prior to their Bible Study. You see the problem with most Bible studies is that it becomes a time for each person to show off their knowledge and how skilled they are in the study of the Word of God rather than using the time to draw closer to Jesus, as a corporate body to fill yourselves with Him and share your time together digesting the Word of God.
As I recall I went through eleven years of Bible College and Seminary, I do not recall one time we had more than a whole class where we learned about the communion service. I mean sure we are commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus, but every time I go the church, I worship God in church and study the Word of God I am commemorating his death and resurrection. The communion service is just the icing on the cake.
Anyways, looking at Jeremiah 15:16 I discover that these words were found. The word used in the Hebrew for found is nimese’u which is in a Niphal form. This would tend to make the word reflexive and would express the idea that he found the words for himself, for his own benefit. When he studied the words and meditated on them he found that they brought joy to him. The word joy is sus which is not commonly used for joy. The word means white or cleansed cleansing. It expresses the joy after a good shower or bath. In ancient times bathing was rare and usually done for ritual purposes. Thus, that sense of refreshing and cleanliness was a joy that we who shower almost daily get used to but you have to admit even doing it every day there is something joyful and refreshing about it. I have studied the Word of God all my adult life a minimum of three to four hours a day in the original languages and I have never gotten used to that sense of refreshment and joy after studying through a passage of Scripture.
Jeremiah also said it became the delight of his heart. The word delight is simecha. That is the common Hebrew word for joy. This is a rejoicing that you feel in His presence. The mem in the center of this word would suggest that you feel his presence through his revealed Word. At the end of the Jewish feast of Sukkot for one whole day the Jews celebrate Simchat Torah where they rejoice in the Law of God. They take the Torah scrolls and march around the Synagogue rejoicing in the Law of God. The Jews take their Word of God just as seriously as we Christians do and I think in many cases more seriously that we do.
The key word in both these verses is the word eat. By eating something you are making it become a part of you, it is something that will strengthen you and give you energy to move forward. But Jeremiah found it to be more than just nourishment, it was also a source of joy.
When it comes to eating the Word of God, it is not a boring meal of rye crisp and carrot sticks. It is meant to be a feast. Sometimes as I approach my study time in the Word I find that sense of anticipation and joy in that experience. Sometimes I rush home after my day of driving my disability bus anxious for my evening meal of the Word of God as some people are anxious for their evening dinner. As some contemplate what they will be having for dinner I contemplate the passage of Scripture I will be studying. Today I was very anxious to chow down on Jeremiah 15:16.
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