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Author Archives: Neil
Jeremiah 38: The Officials, The Prophet, The Eunuch and the King
Jeremiah 38: 1-13 The Persecution and Rescue of the Inconvenient Prophet
Salvatore Rosa, Jeremie Tire De La Cistern, 3rd quarter of the 17th Century
This chapter of Jeremiah does a great deal to highlight the situation at the end of the kingdom of Judah in ways that are surprising. Jeremiah’s long call for what sounds to many of his listeners like a pro-Babylonian policy, where God has sided not with God’s chosen people but with the Chaldean invaders, and he is viewed by many of the ‘officials’ as a traitor. In honesty, imagining myself from my previous time as a soldier in a very different time and army, there was a time when I probably would have looked at someone talking the way Jeremiah does as a traitor as well. Perhaps it would be the easier and more natural reaction for me as well. The officials have bought into the idea that being the covenant people, having the holy city and the temple and the Davidic king guarantees their position. Even now when the siege of Jerusalem has dried up the city’s resources and there is no food left they hold on doggedly to their own positions and ideology, even though Jeremiah’s long message rings truer every day. Their pro-Egyptian alliance and policies have failed them, and perhaps they believe in their desperation that if they can quiet Jeremiah they can quiet the very real voices of dissent that must be emerging at this point. From later in the chapter we see that there are already those who have deserted the city and have either heeded Jeremiah’s words or seen the senselessness of dying of starvation behind the walls that will soon be crumbling. Jeremiah has been once taken out of the house of Jonathan the secretary and the king has offered him some protection, but now the ‘officials’ throw him into the mud-filled cistern to die of dehydration and starvation.
King Zedekiah also occupies a role that most people do not imagine with a king. Zedekiah does not wield total control of the people, in fact many of these officials seem to be the ones able to manipulate the course of how things will go. Zedekiah the son of Josiah, the devout king who attempted to lead the people of Judah back to trusting in the LORD, now finds himself powerless against these officials. Perhaps he is weak and ineffective, or perhaps he finds himself with a position without any real power with others who are skilled at operating the mechanisms of power pulling the strings. Regardless of how Zedekiah found himself in a weak position, here he stands caught between the coming onslaught of Babylon and those in his own government who have locked Jerusalem into a struggle it cannot win.
Finally into the scene enters the unlikely hero, Ebed-melech an Ethiopian eunuch. Not Jewish, not even a person who can enter into the temple, but a person who (unlike the officials) can see that persecuting the LORD’s prophet is wicked. In a scene that is full of compassion, Ebed-melech goes to the king and tells him what is going on. With the king’s approval he goes with three others and not only removes Jeremiah from this cistern where he was sentenced to die but thinks enough to bring padding to protect the abused prophet’s armpits as they lift him out of the pit. These Judean officials are thwarted by the actions of Ebed-melech and again Jeremiah is brought to the court of the guard.
It is a world in chaos with competing agenda and ideologies. Where in the chaos of collapse there are still those grasping for the seats of power on the sinking ship. Yet the prophet continues his impassioned plea to save the city and the temple and the people, in spite of all he has endured.
Jeremiah 38:14-28 The King and The Prophet
14 King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I have something to ask you; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will put me to death, will you not? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 So King Zedekiah swore an oath in secret to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death or hand you over to these men who seek your life.” 17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If you will only surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be handed over to the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for I might be handed over to them and they would abuse me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “That will not happen. Just obey the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall go well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you are determined not to surrender, this is what the LORD has shown me– 22 a vision of all the women remaining in the house of the king of Judah being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and saying, ‘Your trusted friends have seduced you and have overcome you; Now that your feet are stuck in the mud, they desert you.’ 23 All your wives and your children shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon; and this city shall be burned with fire.” 24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone else know of this conversation, or you will die. 25 If the officials should hear that I have spoken with you, and they should come and say to you, ‘Just tell us what you said to the king; do not conceal it from us, or we will put you to death. What did the king say to you?’ 26 then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea to the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.'” 27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and questioned him; and he answered them in the very words the king had commanded. So they stopped questioning him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.King Zedekiah is a tragic figure in this narrative, and I believe that Jeremiah has some compassion for him, if for no other reason than him being Josiah’s son. Jeremiah once again is summoned to meet with the king in ‘secret’ (although it is a secret that everyone knows occurs even if they don’t know the content of what is said). For those who have read George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Ice series (which the HBO series Game of Thrones gets its storyline) it is almost like in King’s Landing where there are the listeners employed by Cersei, Varus, and Littlefinger, all keeping track of everyone’s movements. King Zedekiah also seems to at least respect Jeremiah, and maybe even believes his words (though he is unable to act on them). This is the last time Jeremiah will make this plea for the King to surrender and his life and the city will be saved. We learn from the king’s words that there are already Judeans who have defected to the Babylonians, and the king is afraid that in his surrender he would fall into their hands. We also know from the official’s words earlier in the chapter when the mention the soldiers ‘who are left’ that either many of the soldiers have fallen or some of them too have defected (very likely in my opinion). Jeremiah’s words again are for naught, the king does not act on them, but he does continue to protect Jeremiah and his excuse that he tells Jeremiah to tell the ears of the already curious eyes watching is a plausible one, ‘to keep him out of the house of Jonathan’ where Jeremiah has already been once and fears to go again. The time is short, Jeremiah’s days in the court of the guard are coming to an end and with them the city of Jerusalem is approaching its end.
The Man I Tried To Be
Titian, Sisyphus (1548-1549)
Trying to make a person happy that knew unhappiness
And for a while I succeeded and the shadows lifted
From the soul of another who dwelt in the deluge of depression
But the sunshine was quickly concealed when the rains returned
And as the raining season deepened a cold north wind blew
Yet, I tried again and again to recreate the magic of summer
Holding onto sunrises and sunsets, pointing to each ray of hope
Every rainbow of promise that the storms might someday end
Yet, even on the cold and rainy days I tried to dance and sing
To celebrate the gifts of each day no matter the sky’s disposition
Yet, even the eternal optimist learns their limits in time
They too feel the heavy dankness entering into their souls
When their image is continually reflected back
In the storm filled soul of the one they love
And although I tried to be that man who could weather the storms
Some Promethean hero bringing light and heat into the dark world
Yet, no heroic or banal act ever seemed to bring the light back
And so Prometheus found himself rolling the stone of Sisyphus
Unable to roll the stone away to the point where new life might be found
Eventually, the storms left me treading water as the heavens cried
And I searched for some ark to place within it all the lives
Consumed by the floods that seemed to never end
And as painful as the ending of a world is by necessity
For me, it was only seeing the man I tried to be die
That allowed me to return to who I was before the fall
Before the flood, before realizing that I too was flesh and blood
Yet, in the aftermath of the deluge the sun returned
The climate changed and the dankness slowly retreated
It was a long journey into the new world
A journey from which I gained much but never desire again
But it was a journey from the man I tried to be
To being satisfied with the man who I am
Neil White, 2014
Images for Second and Third Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 12 and 13 year A)
Two weeks together; Week 1: June 22, 2014
Jeremiah 20: 7-13 I have become a laughingstock Psalm 69: 7-10, 16-18 It is for your sake I have borne reproach Romans 6: 1-11 Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? Matthew 10: 24-39 Whoever loves father or mother more than me…I have written on Jeremiah 20 elsewhere in my blog
Cry Of Prophet Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem by Ilya Repin 1870
Jesus Teaches His Disciples from Luther Bible
James Tissot, The First Shall Be Last, Between 1886 and 1984
Jesus in Golgatha by Theopahnes the Cretan
Love is Not a Victory March by Marie -Esther@deviantart.com
Third Sunday after Pentecost:
Jeremiah 28: 5-9 Jeremiah and the false prophet Hananiah Psalm 89 I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever Romans 6: 12-23 Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies Matthew 10: 40-42 Whoever gives even a cup of water to one of these…I have written about Jeremiah 28 also in my blog
Diakoniegemaelde Neuendettelsaus by Alexander Rahm, Author released image to public domain
Frans Francken, Werke der Barmherzigkeit (1605)
Sculpture from l’hospital de Sant Pau de Barcelona by Gargallo (1905-1911)
Andrey Mironav, Don’t You Know Who You Are (I am the Door of the Sheep) artist released image to public domain
Jan Luyken etching 21 of 40 ‘Satisfying the Thirsty’ 17th Century
Quiet Courage
We see it everyday and seldom give it a second thoughtFor the courage we are trained to see rests in the extraordinary
Acts of heroism that loudly demand us to stand up and take notice
But far more common and often more daring is the quiet courage
The daily decision to enter into the little battles to make it past our fears
A refusal to let the past failures place a limit on the futures potential
The silent struggles against illness, weakness, depression and fatigue
Courageously embracing the pain we carry with us without losing hope
Hope that someday the unseen struggle will light a better way
For us or for those who will follow in the footsteps and pathways
We leave behind us in the sedimentary soil of others’ pasts
And perhaps the sun that will light the skies of tomorrow
Will not be the short burning explosion of one time heroics
But the billions of small flames of quiet courage that are lit that day Neil White, 2014
Our Life in Another’s Eyes
Back to Reality
Jeremiah 37: The People Who Do Not Hear
Jeremiah 37: 1-10 A Failure to Listen
Shema Yisrael at the Knessey Menorah in Jerusalem
Zedekiah son of Josiah, whom King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, succeeded Coniah son of Jehoiakim. 2 But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah saying, “Please pray for us to the LORD our God.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Meanwhile, the army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah: 7 Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: This is what the two of you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, Pharaoh’s army, which set out to help you, is going to return to its own land, to Egypt. 8 And the Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city; they shall take it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the LORD: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 Even if you defeated the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men in their tents, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.
For the Jewish people, their central command is to hear or listen. The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-Shema is the first word in this verse translated Hear) is to form the central practice of their lives
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. Deuteronomy 6: 4
Yet here, as throughout the ministry of Jeremiah where he speaks the word of the LORD nobody listens. Even now, in this time where Babylon has already conquered the Kingdom of Judah once and place on the throne Zedekiah in the place of Jeconiah, has taken the elites of the land into exile and has demonstrated that the words of so many of the other voices that contradicted Jeremiah’s voice were false, still nobody wants to listen to this inconvenient prophet. Yet, in this chapter here and in the next section we see in Zedekiah an acceptance of Jeremiah’s role if not his words. Zedekiah sends to Jeremiah for him to once again pray to the LORD our God (again echoing the language of the Shema) but we have heard again that Jeremiah is no longer to pray for this people.
The life of the king and the prophet and the people are also caught up in the geo-political events of the day and so as the great empire to the north (Babylon) hears of the movement of the armies of the empire to the south (Egypt) they move to engage the armies of Pharaoh. Much of the policies in this interim time between the first and second invasion of the armies of Chaldea (the forces of the Babylonian empire) have involved political maneuvering to place the Judean people in alliance with the Egyptians. These alliances will fail and Judea will be left alone to face the wrath of Babylon, but in Jeremiah’s view Judah has a more important enemy, the LORD their God. Jeremiah again prophesies what he has prophesied for years, there is no escape from the armies of Babylon, that even if their entire army was destroyed leaving only the wounded that would be enough for them to carry out their function in destroying Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 37: 11-21 Jeremiah Put in Prison
Salvatore Rosa, Jeremie Tire De La Cistern, 3rd quarter of the 17th Century
11 Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his share of property among the people there. 13 When he reached the Benjamin Gate, a sentinel there named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah arrested the prophet Jeremiah saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 And Jeremiah said, “That is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 The officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of the secretary Jonathan, for it had been made a prison. 16 Thus Jeremiah was put in the cistern house, in the cells, and remained there many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him, and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the LORD?” Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You shall be handed over to the king of Babylon.” 18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’?
20 Now please hear me, my lord king: be good enough to listen to my plea, and do not send me back to the house of the secretary Jonathan to die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard; and a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Jeremiah’s words have not made him popular with the remaining leaders in Jerusalem, so when he sets out from Jerusalem during this break in the siege by the movement of the Chaldean army he is arrested and placed in a makeshift prison set up at the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jeremiah is beaten, imprisoned and in Jeremiah’s eyes left for dead. Surprisingly, it is King Zedekiah who sends for him in secret (and this probably drew the ire of many of the officials who were enraged at Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned). Zedekiah, son of Josiah the faithful king, once again seems to respect the role of the prophet Jeremiah and so asks again for a word from the LORD. Jeremiah answers again, probably not with the words the king wants to hear but with a message that is probably not surprising to the king. Unlike the other officials the king is not enraged by these words, perhaps even accepts the inevitability of them. Then surprisingly we hear the plea of Jeremiah, making his case that he is not a traitor or a liar, but rather the very prophets who spoke the words the officials wanted to hear have spoken lies and Jeremiah pleads to be rescued from his current situation in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jeremiah’s plea is heard and the king places him in the court of the guard (where Jeremiah 32 and 33 take place) which is apparently a more hospitable imprisonment where Jeremiah receives regular food until famine and the lack of food from the siege overtake the city. Even if the king cannot change the course of the city and the kingdom’s eventual destruction by Babylon, and even if he is unwilling (or perhaps unable-Zedekiah does not occupy the typical strong position we often imagine with kings) to surrender to Babylon, at least he is able to provide some protection for the prophet Jeremiah.
Images for The Holy Trinity Sunday
Genesis 1: 1- 2:4a In the beginning…
Psalm 8 When I look to the heavens, the work of your fingers…
2 Corinthians 13: 11-13 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God…
Matthew 28: 16-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…
OK, a lot of directions that can be gone on a Sunday like this artwise…talking specifically about the Trinity there are images like:
Icon of the Council of Nicea
Since the Council of Nicea is where the language of God as Trinity became the official doctrine of the church in 325
Rublev’s Icon of the Holy Trinity
Trinity with Christ Crucified, Austrian about 1410
For the first reading about the creation there are also a plethora of images, here are some varied images I like:
Lukas Cranach, Day 7 Shabbat, The Rest of God and Man, from the Lutherbibel (1534)
William Blake, The Ancient of Days: The Division of Light and Darkness (1794)
I like this particular nebula because it is where the formation the Pillars of Creation is
Origins of Creation by nisht@deviantart.com
Creation by OneLifeOneArt@deviantart.com
And for the Great Commission in Matthew’s Gospel:
Christoph Wiegel, The Great Commission
Stained glass window by David J. Hetland
When The White Rider Falls
Fallen White Knight by RachellaJH@deviantart.com
Than see him fall to the ground disappointing their hopes To continue to exhibit the illusion of strength Even when that illusion covers a gaping wound And as the cheering crowds depart the coliseum in silence Mourning not his injuries but their own disappointment Leaving only the critics who look down with disapproving stares As the one once lifted up as the hero becomes the outcast And the white rider becomes quickly forgotten and ignored His life’s blood sacrificed to quench the desire of the masses Now crippled, he is quickly replaced by another who takes up the banner When yesterday’s heroes fall from grace We turn away in fear, for if those who we placed little lower than gods With all their strength and mental resolve and ability If they can know the sting on failure and weakness of wounds Then what hope do we mere mortals have Neil White, 2014
Sign of the Rose 