When confronted with chaos we seek answers from what seems like a reliable source. Sometimes from a prophet or a holy book. The truth can live in many places and faces. Often there are many truths.
What happens when we do not like the answer? How do we discern what words are telling us which path is best not just for now but for the future generations?
In today’s continued saga, the refugees and survivors of Jerusalem’s destruction huddle terrified in what once was their normal reality and seek a path. They do the rare thing - seek the sacred — beg the elder prophet Jeremiah, fellow refugee, for hope, prayer, and direction from above -- where should they go?
He asks for ten days to commune with YHWH and returns with a message of hope as long as the people do not flee to Egypt.
Stay here, among the ruins, help rebuild. Do not go to live in Egypt - which is what many of them want to do. Who wants to remain behind in Judah, under Babylon? Jeremiah with an unpopular prophecy which they will choose to ignore. As they ignored all his threats that this will happen.
But why is he even suggesting it?
Robert Alter explores this question:
“God’s message as Jeremiah conveys it is emphatic and unambiguous: these Judahites must now stay in their land. But unlike the prophet’s previous counsel that it was futile to resist the Babylonians, this imperative is scarcely based on a sober assessment of the political situation. There is surely no objective evidence that they had no reason to fear the king of Babylonia (verse 11), or that they will now be granted a grand national restoration.”
So why does he want them to stay so fiercely that he warns them of the sword of war that will follow them even to Egypt should they choose to leave:
וְהָיְתָ֣ה הַחֶ֗רֶב אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתֶּם֙ יְרֵאִ֣ים מִמֶּ֔נָּה שָׁ֛ם תַּשִּׂ֥יג אֶתְכֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהָרָעָ֞ב אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֣ם ׀ דֹּאֲגִ֣ים מִמֶּ֗נּוּ שָׁ֣ם יִדְבַּ֧ק אַחֲרֵיכֶ֛ם מִצְרַ֖יִם וְשָׁ֥ם תָּמֻֽתוּ׃
the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine you worry over shall follow at your heels in Egypt too; and there you shall die.
Jeremiah 42:15
Is it nationalism - the insistence to stay in desolate Judea and rebuild it - that drives this divine message? Is it the refusal to admit defeat by going back to Egypt -the historical reverse of the Exodus?
Is he just pro-Babylonian even after the defeat - consistent with his refusal to recognize the Egyptian culture as a trusted source of security or support?
Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz @bortzanalia suggested a more personal, internal reason for Jeremiah’s words:
“Jeremiah knows his destiny, exiled and spiritually impoverished, and he attempts to rescue those who want to pave a different path, seeking an alternative fate to destruction and exile. The prophet looks for a future that transcends the current state and finds a way to craft a chance for redemption.
As Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick learned from Goethe:
“In reading some of Goethe’s sayings, so worshipped by his votaries, I came across this, ‘Live in the All’. That is to say, your separate identity is but a wretched one, but get out of yourself, spread and expand yourself, and bring to yourself the tinglings of life that are felt in the flowers and the woods”.
In this chapter, Jeremiah tries to follow the teachings of the vastness of the universe and to explore the many opportunities that life might present even in times of peril. The prophet is ready to embrace other paths.”
But will the people listen? Or stick to the narratives of familiar fear, not without good cause?
What path do refugees take when the road has been redacted to basic needs of survival?
How do we humans get beyond the fear of the sword?
How can we heal and write new stories with less swords and less fear of swords in our shared holy books?
Hope and Healing. Peace.
Join me to talk about
Jeremiah & the Queen of Heaven, A Conversation about the Ancient Hebrew Goddess of Compassion
The book of Jeremiah is a literary masterpiece, painting evocative images crafted into metaphors of nuance and power. But what most stands out in Jeremiah is his vivid rendering of the agony of an abandoned heart.
Rev. Elizabeth M. Edman
Next Below the Bible Belt Zoom Live Conversation with Rabbi Amichai
October 18, 5pm ET
As we wrap up our long journey with the Prophet Jeremiah, during these difficult of war, and as witnesses to the tragic fall of Jerusalem in this biblical narrative, we get to ponder and ask some big questions. Some of these were heard among the survivors and the refugees of Jerusalem’s destruction, some still echo today. What do we learn from these chapters about the ways we face our own big questions and keep cultivating hope?
And who is this goddess of care that our ancestors speak for?
Join the Free Zoom Conversation with your questions and thoughts:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88915392821
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