Jeremiah Chapters 5-6; They have done abhorrent things...

    

Jeremiah begins Chapter 5 searching for the reasons why the people have turned from God. He knows what is coming and he is suffering from this foresight. Do they act foolishly because they are “just poor folk?” The rich should know better but they are far worse. He has tried to warn them but the people have made little progress since the reforms of Josiah. Wish as he might, Jeremiah will be unable to dissuade God’s anger.

 Julie: Referring to 5:1 “You will not find a man,/ There is none who acts justly,/ Who seeks integrity-/That I should pardon her.

That I should pardon her. Is her the nation?  Is this in keeping with the metaphor of Israel as the adulteress bride?

Rabbi: Yes!

Jane: Yeah, I noticed that too!

Ceil: referring to 5:18,  God is addressing Jeremiah and explaining to him why the people will be punished and how he should explain it to them/Israel.

Joel: referring to 5:19 “Because you forsook me and served alien gods on your own land, you will have to serve foreigners in a land not your own.”

Is this a reference to the New Egypt? I remember the quote from the Passover Haggadah. It mentions Abraham and refers to the Egyptian captivity.

Rabbi: Yes, this is from Genesis 15:13 “And He said to Abraham, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be slaves and oppressed…”

Very good Joel!

Note: In 609 BCE Josiah dies in the battle near Megiddo. Josiah’s son Jehoahaz is made king but is quickly removed by Pharaoh Neco II and deported to Egypt. Neco places Johoiakim, Jehoahaz’s brother, on the throne where he will reign over Judah as an Egyptian vassal.

Joel: The tone in Jeremiah feels more punitive than what we read in Isaiah. For example, “you, devoid of intelligence”, behaving as “well-fed, lusty stallions/ Each neighing at another’s wife”… Also there are frequent references to “the foolish”.

Rabbi: There is a real rawness in Jeremiah.

Gary: Is Jeremiah from the same cultural group as Isaiah? Is he as well connected?

Julie: Jeremiah is a son of a priest but the prophets represent the nation from all strata of life.

Bill: Maybe this is meant to attract all the different groups within the nation.

Jane: They are communicating on many different levels, similar to how a teacher would teach to a diverse group of learners.

Rabbi: Compared to Isaiah, Jeremiah’s task is more difficult. The people will feel that he is betraying them; they do not want to hear about the coming exile and they will punish him for it.

Julie: Maybe this is why he is called “the Weeping Prophet”.

                                                          Chapter 6

Julie: Rabbi, do we have rules of engagement in war at this time in our history?

Rabbi: Yes, we can find the rules in Deuteronomy. They are ethics that might not meet our modern standards, but they are there. We may massacre all the pagan people, but the fruit trees must go unharmed as this is God’s creation.

Bill: In war we are to leave the fruit trees unharmed? This is very practical. If you win you will have fruit to eat. The land is then yours.

Rabbi: Referring to the situation, the die is cast. The prophet is not so naive to think that he can turn this situation around. He knows it is too late. They will be punished and sent into exile.

Bill: So why bother? What’s the purpose?

Joel: Jeremiah is like a trauma/grief coach. He is going to help them through it. It doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Rather Jeremiah’s goal is assure the people that Israel as a whole nation will have a future.

Bill: This is similar to our 40 years of wandering in the dessert. The older generation will not be able to enter the Promised Land but the new generation will. God makes the decision that the older generation cannot handle freedom. Likewise, the remnant living at the time of the prophets must

 

 

adapt to a new future of freedom, but they all won’t survive those trying times.

                                                                 

Jeremiah Chapters 3-5;Thine Own Wickedness Shall Correct Thee!

       King Josiah destroying the idols of Baal.

 

Previously, Israel has been shielded from foreign invaders but now it will be punished by the empire from the north. Child sacrifice, neglect of the poor, idolatry and sexual cult ritual have turned God’s favor from his people as they have turned away from God. Attempts at reform have come too little and too late to meet God’s expectations. Exile draws near and restoration of the righteous is promised but they must wait patiently for this process to run its course.

 Chapter 3 begins with a question: Can the people ever return to God after chasing false gods and straying so far from his laws?

Carl: Can the lord forgive? God is using the word “defiled “ in Ch. 3:2  “you defiled the land/With your whoring and your debauchery…”

God doesn’t appear to be closing the door – there is a ray of hope here.

Joel: There is a very specific morality here. Men can whore about but women can’t. Women are blamed for men straying.

Ceil: If a couple strayed they were both stoned.

Joel: There is the famous Torah story of a man and a woman copulating at the altar and Pinchas (Phineas) runs his sword through the two of them in one action.

Carl: Doesn’t this bother you?

Joel: Well, yes. In the text Pinchas is rewarded directly by God for his righteousness.

Carl: God isn’t saying he is jealous, but he does seem to be expressing this emotion.

Joel: The contract is with Israel and her actions are being described as a whoring adulteress.

Carl: If God mentions his jealousy then this would mean that he can be emotionally hurt.

Joel: In the text he does respond as an injured being.

Carl: But God is infinite and this makes him appear finite so that the humans – his spin-off creations, can understand.

Joel: Maimonides said that God appears human only so we can understand him.

Carl: So I am in good company.

Julie: We are made in God’s image; it doesn’t specify exactly how.

Carl: If God has an issue he will decide in a finite way how to resolve it.

Julie: In this case he is sending in the Babylonian Empire to punish the people.

Carl: Is Judah being saved by Josiah?

Joel: Josiah is seen as the first monotheistic reformer but his reforms are unable to off- set how far the people have strayed. He dies at the battle of Megiddo.

Jane: Josiah dies in 609BCE.

Julie: Maybe he is the lucky one. He doesn’t have to see his people conquered.

Jane:  Referring to Ch. 3:14 “Turn back, rebellious children…since I have espoused/you, I will take you…  

Jonathan: This sounds very familiar. It sounds like Isaiah. It sounds like the two prophets are texting each other.

Jane: This is the rationale for the coming punishment.

Carl: Referring to ch3:22 “Turn back, O rebellious children,/I will heal your afflictions!”

God seems to be relenting.

Julie: He will forgive them but they are still getting punished.

Jane: This is like a time-out.

Joel: Creativity happens under stress. The prophets are the expression of this stress. But it’s a process. They lead the way to modern Judaism.

Jane: Cataclysmic events drive change.

Joel: The prophets bring in a new level, a more sophisticated level of morality that is developing under tremendous political and social upheaval.

Chapter 4

Jane: Referring to Ch. 4: 15-17 “Hark, one proclaims from Dan/And announces calamity from Mount Ephraim!/Tell the nations: Here they are!/ Announce concerning Jerusalem:/ Watchers are coming from a distant land,/ They raise their voices against the towns of Judah,/ Like guards of fields, they surround her on every side.”

This is war.

Ceil: Yes, it sounds like an invasion.

Jane: Referring to Ch 4:23-26 “I look at the earth,/It is unformed and void;/ At the skies,/And their light is gone…I look: no man is left,/…

 God is giving the warning. If you keep this up, this is what is in store for you. He is telling them the future. 

Jonathan: If you don’t stop, I’ll call your mother… This is the story of Jewish Guilt!

Joel: This is more like “Wait till your father gets home!!.”

Joel: Illness, plague, crop failure… these things are always the repercussions of poor behavior. It kind of gets annoying.

Ceil: This is not limited to Judaism. Most people would ask, “What have I done to deserve this?”

Jonathan: Well, an atheist might say, I ate poorly or this illness is due to my genes. This is the reason I am ill, but a believing Jew would eat chicken fat and then say, why am I ill? God must be punishing me.”

Carl: referring to Ch. 4:4 “Remove the thickening about your hearts…”

This is about the dangers of cholesterol.

All: Laugh!

Carl: This is so descriptive.

Joel: Yeah, it’s all powerful poetry.

             Chapter 5

Carl: referring to Ch. 5: 5 “the poor…/They act foolishly;/ For they do not know the way of the LORD,/ …I will go to the wealthy/And speak with them.”

Joel: The wealthy should know better, but they are worse.

Ceil: The poor may not know better.

Joel: The prophets are always railing against the rich.

Jonathan: Same as today.

Ceil: The wealthy should be more moral because they have more information.

Jane: They are arrogant because they know and still do not do the right thing.

Carl: This sounds so crazy, rambling and redundant.

Joel: I don’t think this is rambling at all. I think he’s on target.

Julie: God is laying out the reasons for the upcoming punishment. I work for the Dept. of Education in New York. When I do staff development I always begin by telling the group what I am about to discuss, then reiterate the important points and sum them up again at the end.

Paul: referring to5:: 4-5 “The poor folk;/ they act foolishly…”

Why punish fools? Why not educate them?

Joel: The Rabbis are clear on who is foolish. It is not people of low I/Q s. as we would have it today. They mean people who do not accept the reality of God. They mean the non-believers.

Ceil: Dumb means you should know better.

Jane: or ungrateful.

Julie: The people are foolish for not following what I have shown them.

Ceil: It’s ultimately about transgression.

Jonathan: It can mean a person lacking in judgment.

Historians and cultural critics have noted that Jeremiah’s form is exactly like ancient near East court of law tracts between a King or Overlord and his vassal state. The Overlord will send a messenger to read a document to the offending vassal stating his case. There is an implied accusation, a description of what the Overlord has done for the vassal state, a declarations of the vassal’s guilt and then culpability. This format is also seen in the book of Deuteronomy, which was contemporaneous with Jeremiah. We see here the Prophets using existing material, but put to new use in the service of a new Judaism.

Jeremiah 2:23-37; Idols, Idols everywhere.

                                                 

Canaanite god Baal                                              Assyrian god ashur



Canaanite Goddess Ashera

King Manasseh ruled Judah for 55 years. During this time he paid heavy tribute to the Assyrian king and encouraged their cults in an effort to discourage Yahwism and quell revolt. After Manasseh’s death in 642 BCE, his son Amon reigned for two years faithfully continuing his father’s policies. Amon was assassinated and his eight year old son Josiah succeeded him on the throne. Eight years later as Assyrian power weakened, Josiah was able to galvanize forces and occupy what was once Israel continuing North into Damascus, thus re-establishing the Davidic dynasty. In 622 BCE Josiah renovated the Temple, reestablished the priesthood and Yahwist law. As we know from our previous reading of Isaiah, Josiah’s efforts will fall short and will not able to dissuade God from punishing the people with exile.

“Like a Lustful she-camel,/Restlessly running about,/Or like a wild ass used to the desert,/Snuffing the wind in her eagerness,/ Whose passion none can restrain…”

Carl: 2:23-24 Wow, like a lustful she-camel. What an image!

Julie: There is a lot of this kind of imagery of Israel being compared to a whore or an unfaithful wife.

Ellen: I have a question about the idols. Is it the idol itself that holds the power or is it a conduit for their god?

Jane: It serves as a physical manifestation of a god.

Joel: This is the monotheistic dichotomy. We claim that our god is a spirit, while the pagan gods are made of wood and stone. Our god is true, while the others are false.

Ellen: We have idol-like things too.

Ceil: We don’t pray to the Torah or to a mezuzah.

Bill: Well, there are some sects of Judaism that pray to the chair or the tomb of a beloved rabbi.

Joel: They are not praying to the chair or tomb – they are praying at the tomb. That’s different!

Carl: Referring to 2:25 “No, I love the strangers (other gods),/And after them I must go…”

God is more concerned with the strangers (meaning the pagan worshippers) than the idols.

Rabbi: This is a reference to idol worship.

Joel: Freud would say that this is the transcendental abstract idea of God. Jews represent the enlightenment. We represent the modern and scientific mind that doesn’t need physical objects or manifestations.

Bill: This is like late classical Greece.

Joel: Aristotle said idol worship was crap but the people wanted it.

Jane: I’m sure in ancient times that there was public worship and then there was private worship. People must have renounced idols in the public square but in the home they may have had an altar.

Joel: The prophets are the cutting edge guys that see how Judaism will develop but the rank and file still needed something physical to hold onto in their hands.

Ellen: But don’t we venerate things like mezuzahs?

Rabbi: I don’t conform to the idea that a mezuzah protects a home. What is important is the text inside it. It is a beautiful part of our tradition.

Julie: So why don’t we have a Xerox of a hand- written text? Why do we need the animal parchment?

Bill: Wouldn’t you prefer to have a real master artwork rather than a reproduction of one?

Rabbi: Which would you prefer, a real Matisse or a poster of a Matisse?

Julie: I can’t afford a real Matisse! I see your point but I don’t want animal hide used to make Mezuzahs. I don’t believe in it regardless of its authenticity. I’ll take the mezuzah with the “authentic parchment” Xerox copy inside it.

Ellen: Many Jews believe that a mezuzah is not kosher without the parchment inside it.

Jane: The mezuzah venerates our love of education and the written word as well as honoring God’s message.

Ceil: Veneration and worship are mixed up.

Rabbi: If we said that the Torah is God then, that would be different.

Paul: The Protestant Reformation is a good example of this very idea. They ultimately tossed the statues/idols out.

Joel: In the Byzantine Empire, people killed each other over visual representations. It was called the Iconoclastic Wars. In the 6^th to the 9^th Centuries, Pro and anti- icon factions literally killed one another.

Rabbi: I think the point of this idol debate is that the people have strayed from God’s path. It’s the worship over the other god that is the problem, not the visual representation.

Carl: The mezuzah is the product of the scribe’s transference of spiritual power. I read that somewhere.

Julie: I have a question regarding Deuteronomy. Supposedly a Priest found the Deuteronamic text hidden away in the temple. Were the other four books of Torah codified before or after Deuteronomy?

Joel: There is divergent scholarship on this issue. If the books were not codified as separate texts (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers) scholars says they were the J, E, P, R, Texts. That is the Javist, Elohist, Priestly, and Redactor texts.

Ellen: I think there is a human evolution to trying to rid the superstition out of worship. It is deeply rooted in our psyche.

Joel: This represents the cultural evolution of the Western mind and the Jewish people. Take your pick. At a certain stage, people’s philosophic thought became more abstract and transcendent and less sacrificial, vengeful and concrete.

Rabbi: It is easy to make the case that this is one of the reasons why Judaism is a harder sell.

Assyrian fish god

Goddess Ashera and the goats