{"id":69754,"date":"2020-02-05T23:31:03","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T21:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69754"},"modified":"2023-09-04T17:11:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T14:11:43","slug":"jeremiah-prophet-or-prop-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/jeremiah-prophet-or-prop-guy\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeremiah: Prophet Or Prop Guy?"},"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":[478,840,854,553],"acf":{"old_id":"69754","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":69743,"related_cahpter":"410","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Warning against assimilation using trees...\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jeremiah is my favorite prophet, because of his use of props during his illustrative condemnations. This is a guy who could keep any congregation awake on a Saturday morning, because the items he uses to aid in his talks vary from the ordinary to the strange. Throughout his time as a prophet, Jeremiah\u2019s metaphors and analogies include, but are not limited to: an almond branch, a boiling pot, a decrepit girdle (that he is to hide in the rocks), a smashed pot, two baskets of figs, a cup of poison, and a yoke of exile. He uses these items to paint one overarching idea: the nation of Israel is headed for immediate trouble unless change happens.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My favorite image that Jeremiah employs, is here in chapter 10. He describes the practices of the other nations as delusional, noting <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Jeremiah is describing here sounds remarkably similar to a modern Christmas tree. Obviously, the practice of using evergreen and fir trees as a Christmas ritual wouldn\u2019t happen for a long time after the prophet lived (historians suggest this custom began in Germany in the 16<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century), but Jeremiah would have certainly been familiar with other ancient pagan practices involving trees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, Ancient Egyptians were said to have celebrated the winter solstice by decorating their homes with the green leaves of date palms. In Rome, to celebrate the feast of Saturnalia, Romans decorated their homes with evergreen branches and candles. Both of these holidays are the roots (pun intended) of what would eventually evolve into the modern Christmas holiday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By no means am I the first to notice the connection between Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy and the modern day Tannenbaum, and there certainly have been debates as to what exactly the prophet is describing in this chapter. What is clear, however, is that Jeremiah is yet again warning the people of assimilation through the alluring practices of other nations. This theme is likewise abundant in the Torah as well, when God tells the Jewish people to avoid the ways of the Canaanites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, is Jeremiah cautioning the reader against yuletide traditions, or is this just another visual in his arsenal of images? Is Jeremiah the prophet, or the prop guy? I\u2019ll let you decide. Either way, he\u2019s fit for \u201ctinsel\u201d town.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69756,"id":69756,"title":"jer10-tree","filename":"jer10-tree.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer10-tree.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/jeremiah-prophet-or-prop-guy\/jer10-tree\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer10-tree","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69754,"date":"2020-02-05 21:30:49","modified":"2020-02-05 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