Daily Prophets
Day 79
“Beware of letting Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘ God will save us.’ Did any of the gods of other nations save his land from the king of Assyria? Which among all the gods of those countries saved their countries from me, that God will save Jerusalem from me?(Isaiah 36:18,20).
A messenger from the king of Assyria is delivering this message to the people of Jerusalem so they surrender. He has stated that God sent the king to conquer Jerusalem, etc, all in the name of scaring the people into surrender.
Looking at what the king is saying is interesting. He is trying to upend the people’s faith in God. He is attacking the people at their most vulnerable place, trusting in God Who is not visible, not corporeal, only abstract. He is trying to undermine the faith of the people as well as call into question the experience of their ancestors. The troop leader is truing to use logic on the people, if no other god saved their own lands, how and why would God save Jerusalem.
This is the way logic and faith are used to lie to self and another. Of course the other gods, false gods, idols, could not save the other countries! The Torah and Bible are replete with these stories, look at Pharaoh’s trust in Ra that was misplaced when God and Moses told him about the plagues. This is where self-deception creeps in to allow for the deception of another(s). The Assyrian troop leader really believes that might can make right, is a true believer in his kings assertion that only their god has the ultimate power, and tries to sell this to the people of Jerusalem.
Rabbi Heschel teaches: “In order to force the city to capitulate by breaking down public morale, an Assyrian official, Rabshakeh, meets the representatives of Hezekiah and addresses them within the hearing of the people crowded on top of the city wall.” I believe Rabbi Heschel is reminding us that enemies of God, of decency, of Truth, love, and of kindness etc will always try to deceive everyone else through fear and abandonment. Rabshakeh’s words are meant to let the people know that they have no allies, everyone else has either surrendered or been crushed, and God has abandoned them. This is the attempt made to break down the morale of the public and it happens on a personal level as well. It can be done by one individual to another, challenging a truth with a lie that is logical and makes sense, sort of. We see this with the Vaccine Rollout, we saw it with the response to the Pandemic, we see it when we have a dream and someone crushes it with “logic and deception”. Rabbi Heschel railed (this is how I hear him) against Segregation, restrictive voting rights, senseless hatred by Catholics toward Jews, the Vietnam War, any and all prejudices and mendacity.
Politicians hear this: Your deception of others will end in your ruin. Look at how many of your colleagues have left office and been disgraced by their actions either while in office or later on. Look at how few of you stood up for Sen. John McCain when Trump vilified him. Lindsey Graham, where were you? Oh yeah, you were playing Golf with the perpetrator of lies against your “best friend”. Where is the Republican Party when every piece of legislation to help the poor, the needy is DOA, according to “Moscow Mitch” McConnell? Where are the decent, faithful people of the country when immigrants are treated less than human, when people of color, people of different faiths, Asians, people seeking refuge and asylum (what the original pilgrims were seeking) are seen as scum and others which white people are told to fear? These politicians are the same as Rabshakeh, doing the bidding of the powerful to deceive and uproot faith in God.
In recovery, another of our foundational principles and a cornerstone of our recovery is the letting go of deception of self and another(s). We know the results of worship and listening to false gods, idols we create; destruction, devastation, and demoralization. All of the idols did serve a purpose, however, they forced us to see the path God has put in front of us. The defeat of these false gods made us take off the blinders of deception and face what truly is, rather than what our defective eyesight was telling us. Rigorous honesty is what our recovery demands and we keep achieving, sometimes later and sometimes sooner. Surrender to God allows us to let go of the perfection lie and do good each day. It causes us to grow from our successes and missing the marks each and every day. Surrender to and faith in God causes us to see the God-Image in each and every person, seek to connect with and raise up all people and be of service to them and God in Truth, kindness, justice, caring and love.
I have both deceived another(s) and been deceived by another(s). In my recovery, it has been only God that I have worshiped and I have been deceived by others who purport to join me in this mission while being self-seeking. I am not as smart as I once thought I was in sniffing out each and every phony. When I have been deceived, I have experienced a drop in my belief in community, people and myself. I have gained by these deceptions by seeing how I have given into my own self-deception, the harm it brought to people and what I need to repair the damage and grow from it. I am relieved to say I have learned from these experiences and am freer for them now. What self-deception do you still indulge? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark