{"id":78879,"date":"2020-08-16T16:44:27","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T13:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78879"},"modified":"2020-08-16T16:54:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-16T13:54:23","slug":"a-return-to-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-return-to-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"A Return to Nature"},"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":"78879","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49926,"related_cahpter":"547","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Anthropause: where we see a void left by other humans, God sees the natural world\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this chapter, the prophet moves from his previous message directed to the Judahites of Jerusalem, to the neighboring city-states and nations. There is a common pattern to this message: these nations were all haughty, they mocked and abused Israel, and will now be cast out of their lands, which will be in some way returned to nature. This return to nature takes a number of forms: some lands will become \u201cdeserted\u201d and \u201cdesolate\u201d (v.4), some will be laid waste (v.5), some will \u201cbecome an abode for shepherds and flocks\u201d (v.6), and some will be reclaimed by wild animals (v.14).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are, in all this, only a few references to Israel inheriting the land of their defeated enemies. One might expect this to in fact be the main topic of this prophecy. After all, isn\u2019t the opposite of us being defeated by our enemies the conquest of our enemies? By breaking this paradigm, the prophet is providing us an important reminder, and making a fascinating point.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reminder is one that appears frequently in Tanakh: that God is the Master of the Universe. The focus of the chapter, from God\u2019s acts of destruction to the results of that destruction, puts the power solely in God\u2019s hands. The prophet emphasizes that all these powerful nations will be simply swept aside by God\u2019s anger.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fascinating point the prophet is making is that the absence of one people is not the presence of other people, it is nature. Throughout Tanakh, one people is replaced by another. Whether it is Israel\u2019s conquest of the Canaanite nations in the time of Joshua, Israel\u2019s oppressors in the book of Judges, the nations David defeats in his various conquests, or the empires that eventually conquer Israel and Judah, one nation always drives out another. This seems to be an unbreakable pattern of human life and history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But this prophecy changes that. Humans are replaced by nature, by fields and pastures, jackdaws, owls, and ravens (v.14). The message is a profound one: where we humans see a void left by other humans, God sees the natural world, the Creator\u2019s vision of a world shared by humanity <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> nature. The prophet is telling us that nature, a return to it, the natural world, are necessary parts of human history and life. We are not meant to go on eternally replacing one another\u2019s cities, building on top of what came before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An embrace of nature is meant to be part of our society and civilization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: International Day for Biological Diversity theme<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":78884,"id":78884,"title":"zeph2-wildlife","filename":"zeph2-wildlife.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-return-to-nature\/zeph2-wildlife\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zeph2-wildlife","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78879,"date":"2020-08-16 13:54:03","modified":"2020-08-16 13:54:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1024,"height":576,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":576,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":576,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":576,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Return to Nature","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Anthropause: where we see a void left by other humans, God sees the natural world","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":78884,"id":78884,"title":"zeph2-wildlife","filename":"zeph2-wildlife.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-return-to-nature\/zeph2-wildlife\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zeph2-wildlife","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78879,"date":"2020-08-16 13:54:03","modified":"2020-08-16 13:54:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1024,"height":576,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":576,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":576,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":576,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-wildlife-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78879"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78885,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78879\/revisions\/78885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}