{"id":69461,"date":"2020-02-03T08:50:30","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T06:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69461"},"modified":"2023-08-23T17:46:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T14:46:07","slug":"a-lion-has-left-its-lair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-lion-has-left-its-lair\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lion Has Left Its Lair"},"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":[444,434],"acf":{"old_id":"69461","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38552,"related_cahpter":"404","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The imminence of destruction\r\n\r\n","content":"

Since 609 BCE, when Pharaoh Necho assisted Assyria in its war against Babylonia, there was ongoing conflict between Egypt and Babylonia. In 605, Nebuchadnezzar succeeds his father Nebopolassar on the throne, and his first act is to decisively rout the Egyptian forces at Carchemish, on the Euphrates. In Babylonian chronicles, this victory signifies the end of Assyria and the beginning of the Babylonian Empire. Until now, the fortress of Carchemish has blocked the Babylonians’ westward and southward expansion. Now Nebuchadnezzar can extend his dominion throughout the lands of Assyria’s former empire. Within a year, he defeats the Egyptians; sailing south along the Mediterranean coast, he makes landfall at Ashkelon and captures it. After this defeat, Egypt retreats beyond the wadi, where it awaits the right time to recapture its lost territories and stronghold. These events are described in II Kings: <\/span><\/p>\n

The King of Egypt did not continue to venture out of his land anymore, for the King of Babylonia had conquered from the wadi of Egypt to the River Perat, all that had belonged to the King of Egypt (24:7).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately after his victory at Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar embarks on a campaign to quiet the region and subdue Egypt’s allies. The outcome is clear from the start: Who can resist this mighty, foreign king who has overcome the powerful Egyptian Empire?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The horn announces the outbreak of war, calling for an emergency assembly at the enemy’s approach. “Raise a banner toward Zion” signifies the same, as reinforced by verse 21, in which Jeremiah asks, “How long will I see the banner and hear the sound of the horn?”<\/span><\/p>\n

There is an old Zionist lyric “Raise a banner and a flag toward Zion,” which expressed \u2014 perhaps more than any other song \u2014 the moment the people became determined to return to the land of their forefathers: “who by wagon, who on foot.” The modern connotations of “a banner toward Zion” are the complete opposite of the phrase’s sense in this chapter of Jeremiah, in which banners warn Zion of the approaching enemy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah does not yet refer to the Babylonians by name. “A lion has left its lair” \u2014 this is the moment he becomes aware of the imminence of destruction. The prophet’s description \u2014 the king and ministers’ hearts stopping and the priests’ and prophets’ astonishment \u2014 depicts the paralysis that will strike the city when the enemy from the north approaches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lau, Binyamin. <\/span>Jeremiah: The Fate of a Prophet<\/span><\/em>. Maggid Books, 2013. \u201cThe Earth Quakes as Nebuchadnezzar Approaches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69252,"id":69252,"title":"jer-lau2","filename":"jer-lau2.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/running-a-gauntlet-of-pain\/jer-lau2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer-lau2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69251,"date":"2020-01-27 21:59:05","modified":"2020-01-27 21:59:20","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Lion Has Left Its Lair","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The imminence of destruction","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":69252,"id":69252,"title":"jer-lau2","filename":"jer-lau2.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/running-a-gauntlet-of-pain\/jer-lau2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer-lau2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69251,"date":"2020-01-27 21:59:05","modified":"2020-01-27 21:59:20","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69461"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117285,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69461\/revisions\/117285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}