{"id":70695,"date":"2020-02-25T12:37:07","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T10:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=70695"},"modified":"2023-10-17T15:16:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T12:16:31","slug":"who-will-be-brought-low-and-who-will-rise-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-will-be-brought-low-and-who-will-rise-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Be Brought Low And Who Will Rise Up?"},"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":[403,680],"acf":{"old_id":"70695","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":39778,"related_cahpter":"424","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Echoes of Genesis: Conflict and Return\r\n\r\n","content":"

In a few short weeks, Jews \u2018from Hodu to Cush\u2019 will read the book of Esther, whose eponymous hero is descended from King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim. We 929ers last met him in II Kings 24:6, when he was called Jehoiachin. At age 18, his three-month reign was cut short \u2013 or so II Kings tells us \u2013 by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon capturing him and taking him to Babylon.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our chapter, Jeremiah has a vision of two baskets of figs: “One basket contained very good figs, like first-ripened figs, and the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten” (2).<\/span><\/p>\n

The good figs symbolize Jeconiah, the elders of Judah and all the artisans and skilled workers exiled with them. We might be under the impression that this group is to be written off, gone forever, but that is not the case: God promises that he will return them to their land, plant them and not uproot them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone who looks for connections between Biblical texts would have a field day with this chapter. From its first words, where the rare word <\/span>dudai <\/span><\/em>is used to mean \u201cbasket\u201d when it has previously meant \u2018mandrake\u2019, Jeremiah\u2019s vision is worded to hearken back to ancient Jewish discord. In the story of Rachel and Leah in Genesis 30, <\/span>dudaim<\/em> <\/span>are roots or flowers used as a Biblical aphrodisiac. There, the mandrakes brought by Reuben for his mother become a bargaining chip in the struggle between the sisters for the love of Jacob. As in our chapter, there are two sides. One is a winner and the other is a loser.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the grander allusion is still to come: When I first read this chapter, I half expected the bad figs to rise up and eat the good figs, just as the skinny cows eat the fat cows in Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 40:41). Though the Bible does not use the identical words in Jeremiah and Genesis, the comparison of good and bad still brings forth a critical idea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, a captive (Joseph) who has been written off for dead by his remaining family gets an opportunity to rise out of his captivity by helping the Egyptians. He will rise to prominence and return to his ancestral home, both through the deliverance of his descendants, and literally through the carrying of his bones.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our story, Jeconiah and his inner circle have been exiled to Babylon, but their story is not yet over. God tells us in this chapter that they will return to their land. As we see in the book of Esther, Jeconiah\u2019s descendants are those who will save their entire people, just as Joseph\u2019s dream interpretation and agricultural planning saves his family from starvation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who will be brought low and who will rise up? It\u2019s not the obvious answer and it\u2019s not in our hands.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes – Rise and Fall, 1798 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":70696,"id":70696,"title":"jer24-Francisco_de_Goya_y_Lucientes_-_Rise_and_Fall","filename":"jer24-Francisco_de_Goya_y_Lucientes_-_Rise_and_Fall.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer24-Francisco_de_Goya_y_Lucientes_-_Rise_and_Fall.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-will-be-brought-low-and-who-will-rise-up\/jer24-francisco_de_goya_y_lucientes_-_rise_and_fall\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer24-francisco_de_goya_y_lucientes_-_rise_and_fall","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":70695,"date":"2020-02-25 10:35:35","modified":"2020-02-25 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