Before taking any of the readings, I returned to the question of the importance of the Promised Land to the Israelites. I asked my Father about it, and He showed me that the land made concrete to them the abstract Covenant. It was also the vehicle of His providence. From it came their food, clothing, etc. It was also a major source of their autonomy as a nation. The loss of this land was a tangible symbol of the broken Covenant. I was content with this understanding and went on with the retreat.

Of Jeremiah 13:19, and 24, verse 19, “Is it I whom they hurt, says the Lord; is it not themselves to their own confusion?” spoke especially to me. There is so much sin in the world, and those that sin bring so much harm to themselves. They are destroying themselves spiritually, and bring physical harm to us all. It seems the only real hope for all the world’s ills it to turn back to the God we, as a whole, have rejected, listen to Him, and heed Him.

Ezekiel 16, Hosea 1, and Wisdom 13:10 recalled to me more of how God’s protection doesn’t seem to be with us as a whole. There are so many devastating earthquakes, volcanoes, famines, floods, etc.. Accidents are common, too, not to mention deliberate violence and diseases such as AIDS. Too many of us just won’t let God into our world. I spent the rest of the prayer period in intercessory prayer, inviting our Father into our world to heal it.