Daily Prophets
Day 93
“And God said to me: Proclaim all these things through… the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the terms of this covenant and do them…but they would not listen or give ear; they all followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. I did not realize that it was against me they fashioned their plots: let us destroy the tree with its fruit…O Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously… let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my case.”(Jeremiah 11:6,8,19,20).
Jeremiah is finding out the hardships of being a prophet. He is experiencing an amazing connection to and with God and an alienation from the people, his fellow citizens, who don’t want to change their ways nor be responsible for their actions. In the first verse above, God is telling Jeremiah to “shout from the rooftops” the errors of Judah’s ways. He is also telling them and us that they don’t want to listen, understand nor hear the words of the covenant. And, on top of that, they follow the stubborn negativity of their heart.
I understand these first two verses above to be telling us so much about life, about humans, about God and about how to have a real, connected relationship with God and another(s) human being. We have a covenant with God that was made by our ancestors and we GET to be the inheritors of this covenant. The issue for many of us is that we feel constrained within the covenant and God, through Jeremiah, is telling us that the covenant is the path to freedom. This is what happens when our hearts and minds take over our lives. We begin to see black as white, bitter as sweet, friends as foes, idols as God. Jeremiah is reminding us to hear the call of the covenant, fulfill it and be loyal and true to God, not the idols we make for ourselves.
The last two verses above are Jeremiah’s awareness that the people, his neighbors, the people he is trying to save and care for, want him dead! He was and is so busy warning us, at times yelling at us, sounding the alarm so we can turn back to God and save ourselves, he isn’t aware of the plot against him. He is hyper-focused on his mission and he doesn’t realize the mendacity of the people is so great, they believe him to be a traitor, rather than a savior. It is so sad that the people are so stuck in the lies they tell themselves that they cannot discern fact from fiction, God from their idols, good from evil. Jeremiah is heartbroken and, he wants to be vindicated by God so he asks for righteous judgement and vengeance.
Rabbi Heschel teaches: “The shock of discovering how those who spoke “fair words” to him were seeking his life came as a bolt of lightening to a soul riven with pain, tortured by visions of imminent disaster. When Jeremiah became aware of a conspiracy to slay him it was more than he could bear. It was not his vested interests… that the prophet was fighting for. He was fighting for the physical survival of his people.” How often have we tried to kill the messenger? How often have we misread the words of Torah and the words of the prophets as history, as a myth, as something that is to be studied for the law, rather than a witness to our treachery, our breaking of the covenant? Jeremiah is shocked that the people he has been speaking to, the people he is trying to save want to kill him because they don’t want to hear the truth. Jeremiah has a lot of “skin in the game”, his love for his people is one of the motivators for him; his love for God is another; and his belief that people can and will change and return to God and Godly ways of living. This is the pain everyone who has ever been betrayed has felt; the pain of bewilderment, the pain of loss, the pain of hurt by the very people one has helped and believed in and continue(s) to help.
In recovery, we continue to make amends and return from the willful evilness of our prior actions and are constantly on guard against repeating them. We continue to be vigilant in turning our will and lives over to the care of God. We constantly search for ways to help others, warn others, and grow ourselves. Yet, we also know that there are times when people who don’t want to change will reject us and we have learned to pray for them, not against them. We reject the pull of our hearts to ‘get even’, wish them harm and we turn ourselves 180 degrees to pray for them and, at times, reach out to someone else who may be better able to speak to them in a way they can hear.
I have experienced Jeremiah’s bewilderment and pain. I also have followed his example of returning to serving God and another(s) human being. It is so crucial to rise above the evil leanings of my heart (meaning mind and emotions) so that my soul can be in charge. When my soul is in charge, I can, must, and do spread God’s righteousness and God’s love, compassion, kindness and truth wherever I go. When my soul is in charge, the pain of betrayal doesn’t stop me from living my truth and authentically. When my mind and emotions are in charge, I stay in voluntary suffering for a long time and cause myself and those who love me, more pain and sadness. I hear God’s call today in a new way:“hear, understand and do My covenant, people will take advantage of you as they have Me. Do not give into the evil of your mind and emotions, allow your soul to lead so you can heal and continue your path.” This is the call to us today, we can hear it, do it, and rejoice in our healing as well as pray for the healing of our betrayers. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark