{"id":74900,"date":"2020-05-19T14:03:57","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T11:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74900"},"modified":"2020-05-19T14:07:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T11:07:19","slug":"they-struck-terror-among-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/they-struck-terror-among-us\/","title":{"rendered":"They Struck Terror Among Us"},"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":"74900","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64460,"related_cahpter":"484","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But their death is still a cause for mourning\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This chapter concludes the oracles of judgement against the nations which have made up the middle section of the Book of Ezekiel. One by one, we have read of the awful fates of the Ammonites and the Moabites, the Edomites and the Philistines, the sea-faring Phoenicians, and finally, at greatest length, the Egyptians. The original antagonist of the Israelites, Egypt and its Pharaoh are not spared in Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy. The king of Egypt is explicitly compared to \u201cthe dragon in the seas\u201d (32:2)\u2014 one of the primeval forces of chaos and darkness, the demonic beast who must be defeated so that a peaceful and orderly world can exist. We are given a vision of Sheol, the underworld, which is populated by all those slain in the cataclysmic battles which Ezekiel envisions \u2014 \u201ctheir graves set in the farthest recesses of the Pit, all her company are round about her tomb, all of them slain, fallen by the sword\u2014they who struck terror in the land of the living\u201d (32:23).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ezekiel leaves no doubt that these deaths were necessary \u2014 the defeat of these warriors who \u201cstruck terror in the land of the living\u201d is what makes possible the new, messianic society to which the last part of the book is dedicated. One thing which is striking, though, about these prophecies, is the lack of any note of celebration in this catalogue of death and destruction. Indeed, again and again Ezekiel\u2019s visions are described in tones which are explicitly <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mournful<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201c<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a dirge, and it shall be intoned; the women of the nations shall intone it, they shall intone it over Egypt and all her multitude \u2014declares the Lord GOD\u201d (32:16). Though destruction may be in some sense necessary, it is a cause for sorrow in the eyes of God, and ought to be so in our eyes as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again and again the prophet emphasizes that God does not desire destruction for its own sake. \u201cFor it is not My desire that anyone shall die,\u201d we read, \u201cdeclares the Lord GOD. Repent, therefore, and live\u201d (18:32). The God of Israel is a God who, in the words of the High Holiday liturgy, \u201cdesires life,\u201d and does not glory in the death of sinners. We are commanded to shape our character in this manner as well; in the Book of Proverbs we find the injunction \u201cIf your enemy falls, do not exult; if he trips, let your heart not rejoice\u201d (Proverbs 24:17). The idea of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">schadenfreude<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> seems so distasteful to this text that it actually declares enjoyment of other\u2019s misfortune to be a worse act than whatever one\u2019s enemy has been punished for; should we exult in the misfortunes of others, \u201cthe LORD see it and be displeased, and avert His wrath from him\u201d (Proverbs 24:18). Though destruction may sometimes be necessary, we should never forget that death is always a cause for mourning.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":74901,"id":74901,"title":"ez32-terror2","filename":"ez32-terror2.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez32-terror2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/they-struck-terror-among-us\/ez32-terror2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez32-terror2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":74900,"date":"2020-05-19 11:03:29","modified":"2022-07-17 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