{"id":72531,"date":"2020-03-29T22:13:03","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T19:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72531"},"modified":"2020-03-29T22:13:03","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T19:13:03","slug":"the-two-sides-of-divine-and-human-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-two-sides-of-divine-and-human-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"The Two Sides of Divine And Human Reality"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"72531","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":72540,"related_cahpter":"447","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Protection and compassion vs. vengeance and destruction\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consciously or not, I\u2019ve always imagined God to be a source of goodness, protection, safety, and compassion. And yet, throughout the book of Jeremiah, God is also a source of anger, destruction, vengeance, and tragedy. In Jeremiah 47, God promises to inflict such devastation on the Philistines that \u201cparents will not turn to help their children\u201d (v. 3). Parents will feel so helpless that they will turn their eyes from their children so that they won\u2019t see the harm done to them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a horrific image. And it is attributed to divine origin. It\u2019s upsetting. Even the text seems a bit flustered. \u201cWhy won\u2019t you stop?!\u201d a voice cries out (v. 6). It\u2019s not clear whether this voice is Jeremiah\u2019s or God\u2019s, relayed through Jeremiah. But the passage is unambiguous that this suffering is unstoppable because it is divine will. The verse begs for relief but knows that no respite will come. The \u201cyou\u201d invoked (who won\u2019t stop) is \u201cthe sword of God.\u201d So perhaps somehow God is simultaneously destroying and asking God\u2019s own self, \u201cwhy won\u2019t you stop?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are we to make of that? Is God trapped in a cycle of violence? Maybe the text is meant as a reflection of painful human reality. It\u2019s not a value judgment or theological assertion, but a statement of fact, reflecting the series of betrayals that humans inevitably commit, and their consequences. So Israel will suffer, and so the nations will suffer. They all face punishment for their transgressions: Israel worshipping other gods and other nations harming Israel. We might be tempted to read this passage with satisfaction, noting that God\u2019s revenge is taken on our behalf. After all, God is destroying the Philistine enemy. But this passage comes on the heels of chapter after chapter of destruction inflicted on the Israelites. It\u2019s hard not to feel a sort of desperate sympathy. Whatever your nation, you\u2019ll face divine wrath. And there\u2019s not much room for self-satisfaction. So maybe it\u2019s a chapter that gives a sense of smallness, let\u2019s call it humility, in the onslaught of unavoidable violence, whether directed against us or against others. There isn\u2019t much space for pride when everyone is struck low.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But we aren\u2019t left with only powerlessness. Jeremiah also gives a sustaining promise: powers may rise and fall, there will be times of boon and of emptiness, Israel will suffer as all nations will suffer, but the thread of the Jewish people will never be entirely severed. Israel may be winnowed or dispersed, but God will not break the covenant (33:20). Maybe that strand of hope keeps us persevering in the face of overwhelming assault. In a time in which a Pharaoh wasn\u2019t just a character of the Exodus, long-ago escaped and destroyed, but your next-door neighbor attacking Gaza, maybe that is the reminder of God\u2019s compassion that Jeremiah needed to give.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":67678,"id":67678,"title":"is45-good and evil","filename":"is45-good-and-evil.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/one-god\/is45-good-and-evil\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is45-good-and-evil","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67677,"date":"2019-12-24 14:55:32","modified":"2022-07-06 07:47:35","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":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Two Sides of Divine And Human Reality","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Protection and compassion vs. vengeance and destruction","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":67678,"id":67678,"title":"is45-good and evil","filename":"is45-good-and-evil.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/one-god\/is45-good-and-evil\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is45-good-and-evil","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67677,"date":"2019-12-24 14:55:32","modified":"2022-07-06 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