{"id":66099,"date":"2019-11-24T21:23:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T19:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=66099"},"modified":"2023-06-19T10:51:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T07:51:32","slug":"isaiahs-imagine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/isaiahs-imagine\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaiah\u2019s ‘Imagine’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[690,512,409,434],"acf":{"old_id":"66099","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37561,"related_cahpter":"357","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"After the revenge fantasy, comes the peace fantasy","content":"

Have you ever felt so angry at someone that you start fantasizing about their downfall? Maybe you imagine them shamed or rejected, failing at everything they try to do. Or maybe you picture yourself triumphant over them, forcing them to admit they were wrong to mistreat you. Whatever they did to you, you want them to get even worse back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of this chapter of Isaiah is just this kind of revenge fantasy. The last chapter in a series of \u201coracles against the nations\u201d, most of this chapter imagines the violent downfall of Israel\u2019s seafaring enemies. In Isaiah\u2019s prophecy, these nations are destroyed, their economies ruined and their pride punctured. But that\u2019s not the end of the chapter.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the last two verses, the prophet predicts that Tyre will rise again\u2014still engaged in her sinful ways, but with the bounty of her work dedicated to God. It\u2019s an unusual ending, to say the least. After a brutal period of destruction and downfall, Tyre will rise from its ashes to be exactly the same as it was, but this time in service of God. What, then is the difference between the Tyre of the revenge fantasy and the rebuilt Tyre? Why should the rebuilt nation not go to war with Israel once again?<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems our answer lies in the wisdom of John Lennon. \u201cImagine there’s no countries,\u201d he sings, \u201cIt isn’t hard to do\/ Nothing to kill or die for\/ And no religion too\/ Imagine all the people living life in peace.\u201d In Lennon\u2019s utopia, people are still themselves, but with nothing to divide them. As Lennon would have us believe, the problem with Tyre (and presumably the other nations mentioned in this chapter) was not their sinful ways, but their religious differences from the Israelites. With differences of religion removed, there would be no need for war or destruction. Perhaps Lennon was channeling the spirit of prophecy; after all, the greatest prophets were dreamers too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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