Jeremiah Chapters 19-21; According To Your Deeds.

 

 

                                                           Chapter 19       

Jeremiah is directed by God to buy a ceramic jug and go with elders and priests to the entrance of the Harsith Gate to proclaim the people's impending destruction. They have defiled God’s laws and have sacrificed their children to the fires of Baal.  Jeremiah is instructed to smash the ceramic jug to illustrate how the Lord will smash the people and the city.

 

Rabbi: Referring to 19:11 “So I will smash this people and this city, as one smashes a potter’s vessel, which can never be mended.”

I believe that to break a jar next to another is meant to signify a wish for their death.

Ellen: How do we translate this practice when used during the wedding ceremony?

Corey: Jewish tradition uses it as a way to keep away evil.

Rabbi: I believe it entered from the Greek Tradition into the Jewish tradition sometime in early exile.

Paul: The Greeks break glass or ceramic for celebratory purposes.

Ceil: Breaking an object is meant to represent something that cannot be mended.

 

   Chapter 20

Pashhur, the son of the Head Priest hears Jeremiah prophesizing the coming destruction and so has him flogged and imprisoned for one day. Jeremiah’s mission does not allow him to temper his speech and so he further prophesies on the coming fate of Israel with a special message for Pashhur himself.  Pashur will survive the coming siege, but will die in exile. Rashi comments that the Hebrew word pashur which  means a great or noble man is a play on the word pasha which means to be cut- off.

 

Rabbi: This is one of the best chapters on the plight of the Prophet.

Ceil: This doesn’t sound like a special curse on Pashhur but rather on the whole community.

Paul: Where is the scribe Baruch at this time?

Rabbi: referring  back to 19:14 “When Jeremiah returned from Topath…he stood in the court…”

There is a switch in voice. Maybe this is Baruch’s voice.

Paul: Maybe Baruch left him.

Joel: I think Baruch dies with him in Egypt.

 

Ellen: This all sounds very neurotic.

Joel: No, this is therapeutic Jeremiah. This is stereotypical Jewish complaining. He’s getting all his stuff out.

 Ellen: “To spend my days in shame!”

Ceil: He is not being honored for being God’s servant ; he is being punished. “God you are great but WHY, are you doing this to me?

Joel: This is not the Buddhist message. Jeremiah is over- attached and can’t let go.

Ceil: Yes, he is asking God,” Why are you picking on me?”

Rabbi: We do see the interior of Jeremiah.

Ellen: We saw it with Moses too.

Julie: This is the experience of being the moral minority voice against the majority. They have the power to crush him, but he has to speak in spite of everything and everyone.

Rabbi: Yes, and he can’t or won’t filter his speech.

Corey: Are there any happy prophets?

Rabbi: In the midst of trauma, the prophets offer hope for others, even if they are not happy themselves..

Paul: Do all the prophets hail the coming of the Messiah?

Rabbi: Not across the board but they are saying that ultimately there will be redemption.

Joel: The prophets are illustrating what it takes to address institutionalized evil. In the past kings with total power would kill a dissenting voice, but in Judaism even kings must answer to a higher judge.

Ellen: I’m thinking about the difference between animals and humans. First you have people who think like animals. Then you have a tribal mentality where people do just what their leaders tell them to do, even if it’s killing or ritualized slaughter.  The human who burns its young in Baal’s fire is contrasted against the human who has developed past this idea or need. It’s the evolution of the human brain.

                                                      Chapter 21

Rabbi points out that at this point in the narrative the destruction of Jerusalem is taking place.

The people are experiencing what Jeremiah has foretold.

 

Rabbi: referring to 21:2 “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us.”

Jeremiah now has the king’s attention. He is asking Jeremiah, “What will happen next?”

Joel: referring to 21:5 “And I myself will battle against you with an outstretched mighty arm…”

This is a quote from the Passover Haggadah, only now God’s wrath is being used against us. It’s the same language that God uses to lift us out of Egypt.

Ellen: referring to 21:6 “I will strike the inhabitants of this city…they shall die by a terrible pestilence.”

This is reminiscent of the plagues.

 

To fight is to incur an assured death; to acquiesce is to accept enslavement. These are not choices in so much as they are statements of fact.  There are no bargains to be had but only an unspecified amount of time to make payment on a debt  long overdue.