{"id":69288,"date":"2020-01-28T11:57:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T09:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69288"},"modified":"2023-08-24T12:47:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T09:47:32","slug":"reaching-through-the-millenia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/reaching-through-the-millenia\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaching Through The Millenia"},"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":[552,988,423,571],"acf":{"old_id":"69288","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":68344,"related_cahpter":"405","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Change now, while you still can\r\n","content":"

The first part of this chapter is packed full of the sort of dramatic, violent, sexual metaphors which are hard for me to relate to as a modern reader.<\/span><\/p>\n

But then at the end there is a turn and I feel, with a shock, that Jeremiah is speaking directly to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among my people are the wicked<\/span>\u2026<\/span>who set traps to catch people.<\/span> Like cages full of birds,<\/span> their houses are full of deceit;<\/span> they have become rich and powerful<\/span> and have grown fat and sleek.<\/span> Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice.<\/span> They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor (5:26-28).<\/span><\/p>\n

Does this remind you of anything happening in contemporary politics? I think Jeremiah is reaching through the millennia and speaking directly to us, modern day Americans who put children in jail for the crime of their parents who are seeking to escape life-threatening crime, whose leader declares there are “very fine people on both sides” of a Nazi rally and its counterprotest, who take away health insurance from the poor and give tax breaks to the wealthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

But oops! I meant to keep this not too political. Which simply feels impossible in the context of this book, if I am to take it seriously: Jeremiah writing about how the body politic is broken. I can\u2019t relate to many of his metaphors, but this I can relate to. Our body politic, too, is broken.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>Should I not punish them for this?<\/span>
\n<\/span>declares the Lord.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Should I not avenge myself<\/span>
\n<\/span>on such a nation as this?\u00a0<\/span>(5:29)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair question. What should happen next \u2013 for us, I mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

Will God punish us in a vengeful strike? Can we really hope that this shall not happen, if its absence means things continue as they are?<\/span><\/p>\n

But perhaps there is a path forward. As God promises in the middle of this chapter: \u201cI will not destroy you completely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps we can hope that our entire civilization will not be pulled down by injustice and imbalance, but instead we will find a way to convince those in power to recognize the pain we are causing others, so that as a country we can repent from our ways, and turn away from our evil actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope there is a way for this to happen without destruction and suffering along the way. Perhaps in warning us, this is exactly what Jeremiah is saying: change now, while you still can.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69289,"id":69289,"title":"jer5-time machine","filename":"jer5-time-machine.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-time-machine.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/reaching-through-the-millenia\/jer5-time-machine\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer5-time-machine","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69288,"date":"2020-01-28 09:56:45","modified":"2020-01-28 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