We wish to believe that tyrants will topple, and that those accused of crimes will be held accountable, that the arc of justice will, eventually, bend upwards and prevail.
Between the aspirations and how the real world works there is a wide gap and in it is where prophets stand. And those who protest all forms of corruption.
Isaiah, angry in Jerusalem, ends this long chapter in which he spares no criticism of his people - the Judeans, also known as Israel, choosing comfort over courage, choosing to remain in Babylon instead of heeding the call of Cyrus to return to Jerusalem. Isaiah explicitly calls them out on this denial of the historic moment, of their prioritizing ease over effort- not worthy of their noble name or legacy. He ends this harsh delivery with condemnation:
“One of the traits that makes the Prophets of Israel unique in the annals of human culture is that they regularly offered stinging criticisms of their own people. Addressing themselves to monarchs, priests, the wealthy and the powerful, they hurled insult and venom at those who oppressed the people, violated the rights of the poor and marginalized. Indeed, they were extraordinary in chastising those whose false theology posited that God would shield them even when they betrayed the moral bedrock on which the Covenant was founded...Isaiah doesn’t mince words when he says, “I know that you are difficult and that your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead is brazen … For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and you have been called a rebel from your birth.”
Contemporary Jews and Christians hold these Prophets of Israel up as exemplary figures of what real religion means: righteousness applied impartially, justice as the North Star, compassion and mercy as the roadmap.
Or, at least, we hold up these values once their advocates are safely dead. Once their message is relegated to the past.
But do we honor those who critique our own group today?
It turns out that we only like prophets when their message is dusty and safe to read without pricking our own conscience.
Isaiah’s God has something to say about that too: “’There is no peace for the wicked,’ says God.”
When Isaiah call his people ‘wicked’ and warns them - us - that as long as we avoid our destiny and duty we are on the wrong side of what’s right - he does not win the popular vote. But his words linger.
He demands that we will try to do better. Or else be ready to pay the price which is - no peace, and no peace of mind.
So why did the Judeans choose to stay behind and not return to Zion? That’s a question that is still alive today, and there are many who try to make sense of that historical choice and today’s continued popular preference. Half of world Jewry lives in Israel today while many of us still prefer our birthplaces all over the world. And while for Isaiah and some Zionist voices those who prefer diaspora over homeland are wicked what is likely really meant here by the prophet is not geographical choice but theological attitude. He’s referring to those who look away from truth and faith, living with lies, and he starts this chapter by rebuking those of Israel, stiff-necked, who “ invoke the God of Israel though not in truth and sincerity.” It’s religious hypocrisy that Isaiah names as wicked, and it’s the prioritization of might over right, comfort over courage.
In ‘The Prophets’ Heschel follows this line of thinking, also quoting the last line from today’s chapter:
“As it was in the age of the prophets, so it is in nearly every age: we all go mad, not only individually, but also nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders; we wage wars and slaughter whole peoples. Ferocity appears natural; generosity, superimposed. Since the natural often seems sacred, we seldom dare suppress or try to remake what has been called "all that fine belligerence within us." We measure manhood by the sword and are convinced that history is ultimately determined on the fields of battle. "There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked."
How can we, each of us and all of us, walk this talk, less wicked, more honest, being more at peace and bringing more of it to each other?
Start inside. Then talk truth to power, one piece of truth at a time.
Image: The current Israeli Government
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