Tension is building as the people disregard their covenant with God. In the Temple the priests provide sacrificial offerings to Yahweh as well as to false pagan gods. The people bow to golden and silver idols while the poor go hungry. Once again, God lays out the reasons for the coming punishment which will be meted out by the Babylonian Empire. Jeremiah tries in vain to intervene on behalf of the people but their transgressions have worn down God’s patience.
and idols made of silver and wood are delusions but God is true.
That’s a real leap of faith. Most people need something physical.
Bill: So there are other gods?
Rabbi: The
people believe in other gods but they are false.
Jane: I
think the point of these verses is to show that the people
are placing their faith in something false and it will come to no
good and cannot help them.
are placing their faith in something false and it will come to no
good and cannot help them.
Joel: There
seems to be a split in the logic of the Torah, where God
presides over the defeat and demise of other God’s or at least
their ghosts and a universe where God is alone and the only deity.
In Greek mythology Zeus kills the other gods because he is more
powerful. This logic is reflected in the worship of common people
in the time according to the Prophets, but the Prophets state the
counter belief is false.
presides over the defeat and demise of other God’s or at least
their ghosts and a universe where God is alone and the only deity.
In Greek mythology Zeus kills the other gods because he is more
powerful. This logic is reflected in the worship of common people
in the time according to the Prophets, but the Prophets state the
counter belief is false.
Rabbi: This
can be seen in different ways: God is the only god and
the people worship falsely or there are lesser gods that are not as
powerful as God.
the people worship falsely or there are lesser gods that are not as
powerful as God.
Bill: We do
not permit images of God.
Rabbi: well,
we depict cherubim and other similar imagery.
Julie: I don’t think depicting God is necessarily a reflection of more
or less sophistication in a culture. For the Jewish people the
transition from the worship
of an “idolatrous” statue of a Golden Calf in the book of Exodus, to
blemish free Red Heifer calf offered in ritual sacrifice in the book
of Leviticus, may both be the transitional objects to a point where
merely prayer is our doorway to God.
Bill: I
think there was communal guilt over the Golden Calf
business so we came up with a red heifer.
business so we came up with a red heifer.
Jane:
referring to 10:23 “I know, O Lord, that man’s road is not his
(to choose),/That man, as he walks, cannot direct his own steps.”
(to choose),/That man, as he walks, cannot direct his own steps.”
Is this a
contradiction regarding free will? Is everything
predetermined?
predetermined?
Rabbi: I
think it is calling attention to the fact that man stumbles a
and that we are flawed.
and that we are flawed.
Julie:
Jeremiah believes in God so it is a forgone conclusion that
the right way is God’s way and we need his direction.
the right way is God’s way and we need his direction.
Joel: There
is a political reality to these situations. Judeans live in a
small country subject to the whims of political empire and
conquest .God is seen as transcendental, the Lord of all things. He
is the creator of good and bad events that are essentially outside of
man’s control and understanding.
small country subject to the whims of political empire and
conquest .God is seen as transcendental, the Lord of all things. He
is the creator of good and bad events that are essentially outside of
man’s control and understanding.
Rabbi:
referring to 10:23-25. Jeremiah is
really overwrought. He is
playing different roles and it feels very raw. He is pleading on
behalf of the people but is also in agreement with God that they
have gone the wrong way.
playing different roles and it feels very raw. He is pleading on
behalf of the people but is also in agreement with God that they
have gone the wrong way.
10:25 “Pour
out your wrath, lest You reduce me to naught, /Pour out your wrath on the
nations who have not heeded you,…”
Julie: This
sounds very familiar. Don’t we say something like this
when we open the door for Elijah?
when we open the door for Elijah?
Note: From the Passover Haggadah addressing the Prophet Elijah:
“Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not recognize You
and upon the kingdoms that do not invoke Your Name. For they
have devoured Jacob and destroyed His habitation. Pour Your
anger upon them and let Your fiery wrath overtake them
Pursue them with wrath and annihilate them from beneath the
heavens of the Lord.”
This passage
is partly co-opted from Psalm 79 attributed to King
David, which vents rage upon the enemies of Israel. The question is
whether this passage is merely vengeful against all non-Jews? It
clearly centers on retribution for the enemies of the people of Israel
and limits negative attributions to only those of violent intent.
Furthermore, it can also be said that in this invocation only
polytheistic pagans are addressed as both Christianity and Islam
consider themselves to be “Children of Abraham “ and accepters of
monotheistic faith, whether they feel like the sole heirs of this
tradition or not. Therefore it must be said that although Prophets
like Isaiah and Jeremiah are not universal preachers of love, their
preaching must be understood against the historical context in
which they preached.
David, which vents rage upon the enemies of Israel. The question is
whether this passage is merely vengeful against all non-Jews? It
clearly centers on retribution for the enemies of the people of Israel
and limits negative attributions to only those of violent intent.
Furthermore, it can also be said that in this invocation only
polytheistic pagans are addressed as both Christianity and Islam
consider themselves to be “Children of Abraham “ and accepters of
monotheistic faith, whether they feel like the sole heirs of this
tradition or not. Therefore it must be said that although Prophets
like Isaiah and Jeremiah are not universal preachers of love, their
preaching must be understood against the historical context in
which they preached.
Damien Hirst's "Golden Calf". Selling at 17.9 million dollars.
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