Context and Jeremiah 29

I have a fire in me, said Jeremiah. And that fire is that I have to say things I do not want to say because it is my job to do so.

Here is a much-loved section of the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, much quoted at weddings and such, and almost always out of context. You will see why in a while. But for now, read Jeremiah 29:11-13.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah's letter to his people actually begins like this, in Jeremiah 29:4-10.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place."

In other words, you should be exiled for 70 years first, and accept your exile. Bring up two whole generations in an alien land, and treat that land as your own. Then only will you be able to receive the blessings. And if you don't accept your exile... well, here's the part after the first quote; in Jeremiah 29:15-19.

You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile— yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.

In other words, if you are not an exile, then you're in serious trouble if you're hoping for the blessing.

And here ends the lesson about not taking nice quotes out of context and indiscriminately telling people they will be blessed without telling them the conditions of the specific blessing.

Five Years Ago

Five years ago, this post came up on Two Ravens:

Huginn: What the Three Sisters said to him had two meanings.

Muninn: Or six, if I remember correctly.

H: He wants to be King Hereafter and also Afterhere.

M: He is making his world into his own image. It will not be as we recall.

H: But he has said he does not want the kingdoms of the world.

M: Of course not. He only wants his own.

It's turning out to be true, as the two ravens have often been. I remember that when I left the old place two years ago, two large ravens up in a tree looked at me and said their usual, "Ark!"

The signs are everywhere, and all you have to do is listen. After all, the patriarchs and prophets worked with the ravens too.

Crossings

I woke up this morning realising that I had seven good years, not for myself, but for that venerable institution in which I worked. Those seven years produced a sheaf of original papers and professional awards. And then, after that, the lean years came. The pattern was a familiar one, to those who read the signs.

And yet, not all pharaohs are Pharaoh; not all caesars are Caesar. In the Genesis account of Joseph's work for his Pharaoh, it is clear that Joseph was given a free hand to work on the basis of his prophetic interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams. The account shows positive consequences; seven years of surplus gains were banked and parlayed into a world-class lead. This lead was such that when the world was in famine, all countries came to Egypt to buy grain.

It is always tempting to draw lessons from the inverse story: for example, to say that if Joseph had not been given free reign, the Egyptians would have joined the rest of the world in world-class famine. But we must avoid such temptations because we do not know what would have happened, we are only given the account of what did happen. Drawing adverse conclusions from the imaginary inverse can create a sort of anti-universe in which everything is in reverse.

The lessons of history are reasonably clear though. There are indeed a few pivotal events which might seem earth-shaking to people of those times, but which in retrospect (and more so as the chronological distance increases) diminish in importance. There are also those which increase in significance as the big picture becomes clearer.

Take for example the dropping of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On one hand, it has been fairly argued that Japan would have capitulated anyway, and that the lives saved by nuking two cities to hasten the war's end were insufficient compensation to the human race as a whole. On the other hand, it is clear that since 1945, nobody has dared use such weapons in anger; we have kept the nuclear peace for almost 63 years. What other lethal weapons has the human race had, itchy fingers and all, and yet refused to deploy for that long? Perhaps, in some unfathomable way, the unfortunate citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were sacrificed so that humanity would take a valuable step back from the brink.

Then again, too far a step back from the brink, and we might never make an important crossing. This was what happened to the first generation of Israel, just out from Egypt. They lost their nerve on the brink and subsequently failed to enter the Promised Land. Only the two pioneers Joshua and Caleb were alive to make the second attempt, decades later. Where there is insufficient vision, insufficient faith to see a larger future, the people perish. Selah.

Daylight

From the rising of the sun, until its setting, we sat by the rivers of Babylon and remembered Zion. How proud we were, how beautiful the feet of them who brought good news! It was as a fire within us which could not be contained. And we shall come to the centre of Jerusalem, and see the abomination of desolation, and weep.

But we have been promised that the time will come, when old men will dream their old dreams and young men will see new visions. We will soar as on the wings of eagles, yet not partake of the flesh of that unclean bird. We will not be silent, and the fragrance of our praise will go up to the Highest, and the words of our mouths, the meditations of our heart, made up of broken bones from the valley of the shadow of death, will be whole again.

And there will no longer be weeping, and we shall have no need of the words of the prophets. For now we see as through a glass darkly, and then face to face. That which is incorruptible shall replace that which is corrupt, and the lilies shall bloom in the valley. For we have no words, except those that have been given unto us for a time, two times, and half a time.

Word of the Day: Jeremiad

The Jeremiad is a rare but ancient form of literature. The eponymous Jeremiah was a Jewish prophet who wrote the biblical book of Jeremiah, condemning his contemporary society while offering long-term hope and redemption. A jeremiad is thus a sustained narrative, discourse, or prophetic utterance which carries at least the following defining characteristics:

1) The author is a traditionalist with a sense that injustice or criminal negligence has occurred, and he suffers from an ability to restrain himself in terms of offering commentary on it, despite the negative consequences of doing so (see Jeremiah 20:8-10).

2) Society is presented as complacent and putting unjustifiable trust in their vision of God and the future (see Jeremiah 4:10-12).

3) God is presented as deliberately withholding His presence despite the continual invocation of His power and name (see Jeremiah 11:14).

4) Doom is presented as inevitable in a strong reversal against traditional outcomes (see Jeremiah 21).

5) The prophet is mistreated and buried in ordure (see Jeremiah 38.)

6) Future redemption is promised, after much suffering (see Jeremiah 29:10-14).

=====

Notes: Also see the Wikipedia article; and this which is the Princteon WordNet definition.

In The News

In the news today, Richard Schickel of the Los Angeles Times wrote about critical standards in blogging and in the writing of reviews for the edification and provocation of others. There are many fascinating lines in this op-ed piece; for example, he writes, "The act of writing for print, with its implication of permanence, concentrates the mind most wonderfully. It imposes on writer and reader a sense of responsibility that mere yammering does not. It is the difference between cocktail-party chat and logically reasoned discourse that sits still on a page, inviting serious engagement."

How true!

In other news today, five Singapore schools were chosen to lead a new push for high-tech classrooms, proclaims that trumpet of Singapore Inc., the Straits Times. It is interesting to note that only one of them is an elite Singapore school (a list also defined by that publication) and that this particular school has not got a Latin motto or a peculiar heraldic beast on its insignia. Further in, that school is labelled a 'Global Academy'.

How interesting!

And on page 32 of that same newspaper is an article titled A Questionable Grip On The Steering. It has a very sharp line buried in it somewhere (a bit like the Guioco Piano, but I digress): "The history of the latest new things... is rocket-like ascent followed by major malfunctions. The malfunctions usually can be traced to hubris." The article is about Cerberus and Daimler. It's all right, this isn't exactly Tristan and Isolde or even Proctor and Gamble.

How profound!

Anyone can read the news. But it takes panache to read the news and from it prophesy the downfall of civilisation, the flapping of the final butterfly, and the erosion of the world to come. For me, all I can say is that to sit on a buttressed coign of vantage, inhaling the rarefied and delicate breath of heaven, is a relief from prophecy. And I don't have to say anything.

They Are Both Spheroids

The question of course is a trivial one: "What is the main similarity between the Earth and a football?"

Of course, a lot of people speak of football (soccer to the odd-shaped ball fans) as a global sport (which it is). Some even say that the world revolves around football (well, if it did, then football would revolve around the world too). But there is no doubt that a large population is interested in the game, and sometimes finds auguries as to the state of the world in it.

Well if football is prophetic, then we're in trouble: just last night, the men of the Eternal City crashed and burned 1-7 at the hands of the Red Devils.

Ah well. It's all balls anyway.

St David's Day (2007)

It comes as a surprise to me that I've never made a St David's Day post. The first day of March has always been of great significance to my family; we have in many years booked a table at some expensive restaurant just to celebrate this day.

But who was Saint David? This short article should serve to introduce you to one of the most pleasant and encouraging saints of all our ancient traditions. If nothing else, these words which Rhigyfarch attribute to him make uncommon sense:

"Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us."

And to those words, kindly and wise, I shall append the words of an anonymous voice, coming from last St David's Day:

Wilderness

the desert never had left him
its sand lay between his toes
he swore at the bright seraphim
with the name nobody knows

rebuked, they ascended quickly
his bleached hair waved in the wind
their faces looked somewhat sickly
as if 'twas they who had sinned

he smiled as he came from the sand
they had kept him from his goal
but the name he hid in his hand
clearly protected his soul

I am not sure about the prophetic power of poetry, but I am sure that God speaks through many voices, and some are quite unexpected.