{"id":69679,"date":"2020-02-04T16:22:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T14:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69679"},"modified":"2023-09-02T23:01:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T20:01:56","slug":"a-twisted-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-twisted-society\/","title":{"rendered":"A Twisted Society"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/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":[501,503,377,440],"acf":{"old_id":"69679","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49926,"related_cahpter":"409","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The elite don\u2019t feel the pinch, but they are the corruptors - and they won\u2019t be safe behind palace walls","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this chapter, Jeremiah describes a sick and twisted society, one built on slander and duplicity. Three times in the first seven verses, the tongues of the Israelites are mentioned. These tongues are bent like a bow to do violence (v.2); they have been <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trained<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to speak lies and sin (v.4); and they are \u201ca sharpened arrow\u201d, speaking kindness while concealing the hate (v.7). This society is sick not just on an interpersonal level; the very bodies of its members are corrupted and perverted for evil purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The prophet describes consequences of such a society in frightening terms (v.20):<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the broad places.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Kingdom of Judah in which Jeremiah lived was a vassal to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Life under this regime meant partial autonomy, but extensive tribute. For many of the Babylonians\u2019 vassals, who remembered their recently lost freedom, this situation was unacceptable. For the proudly (formerly) independent nations living under the thumb of their Mesopotamian overlords, it was only a matter of time before rebellion broke out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judah was divided into two factions. The pro-rebellion faction wanted to throw off the yoke of Babylon. They believed that God would help them as God had in the past, as God always would. Notably, they were represented by the ruling class, the king, priests, and other elites. Jeremiah represents the anti-rebellion faction. He recognized (and was told by God) that for the Israelites many sins, idolatry, and corrupt society, they had been forsaken by God. God would not be coming to their aid like in the past, until they changed their ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, when Jeremiah tells the people that \u201cDeath\u2026 is entered into our palaces\u201d, he\u2019s sending the ruling class an important message: you are not immune. You may feel safe to rebel behind your high walls and full storehouses, but you are not. This fate is coming to all the \u201cuncircumcised\u201d, a term usually reserved (often derogatorily) for Israel\u2019s enemies, but in a damning twist of fate, the prophet tells us (v.25) \u201call these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vulnerable always suffer worst from society&#8217;s ills; the Judahite elite don\u2019t feel the pinch. But they are the corruptors of society, the architects of the idolatrous depravity that has poisoned their society. Death and destruction will find them first; there is no privilege to protect them from God\u2019s wrath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69683,"id":69683,"title":"jer9-palace","filename":"jer9-palace.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-twisted-society\/jer9-palace\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer9-palace","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69679,"date":"2020-02-04 14:22:24","modified":"2020-02-04 14:22:34","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-palace-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Twisted Society","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The elite don\u2019t feel the pinch, but they are the corruptors - 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