Daily Prophets
Day 121
They sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison…Now the word of God came to Jeremiah, while he was imprisoned. Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the Kushite…But I will deliver you in that day, says God…For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword…because you have put your trust in me, says God.”(Jeremiah 39:14,15,16,18).
This chapter describes the fall of Jerusalem, the capture of Zedekiah, the death of his courtiers and sons and the destruction of the Temple. Reading it is sad and understandable, when one goes against what is the next right thing to do, when one consistently thinks they are above God’s laws, God’s calls, perverting justice for their own gains, taking advantage of the poor and the needy, eventually they get fat and are conquered. A story that we never seem to learn from.
Interestingly, one of the first acts is to free Jeremiah and listen to his words. Ironically, the capturer, Babylon, gives power to the poor and the needy-they live while the powerful ones of Judah lost power and their lives for some and had everything taken from them. This is Jeremiah’s way, I believe, of showing that God had ordained Babylon to capture the city because the heads of Judah could not turn back to God and follow God’s ways.
Jeremiah’s first words to the Babylonians were about Ebed-Melech, the servant of Zedekiah who saved Jeremiah from dying and got him moved to a ‘better’ prison and made sure he had food to eat. Ebed-Melech was loyal to God and God’s ways at the risk to his life from king Zedekiah, who hated and loved Jeremiah.
God promised to deliver Ebed-Melech as a reward for having trust in God. This points to the reciprocity of our relationship with God. God continually is close to us, within us, and guiding us and when we follow, we are ‘saved’ from our false pride and egotistical ways. God continues to put a path in front of us to serve and care for another(s) and be filled with joy, satisfaction and love. Should we not follow God’s guidance, we are constantly being called on to turn back to God and the path. The prophets were trying to save the people from their own mendacity and they would not hear. Ergo, destruction and capture.
Yet, Ebed-Melech is saved and delivered because he trusted God, not the lies of the people in power. How strong and resilient Ebed-Melech was. What an example he is for all of us: slavery, powerful people, disaster, betrayal, fear, etc cannot break my trust and faith in God nor can any of these things stop me being loyal to God and from acting in ways that are compatible with God.
Rabbi Heschel teaches us: “With Israel’s distress came the affliction of God. His displacement, His homelessness in the land, in the world…For Israel’s desertion was not merely an injury to man, it was an insult to God.”(The Prophets pg.142). It is so hard for so many of us to imagine this experience. Since God is not human nor matter, how do these attributes make sense? I understand God to be The Ineffable One as Rabbi Heschel teaches and, just as we can save the planet or destroy it vis a vis climate change, so too can we save or destroy the spiritual life of the planet. As we use the creative power God gives to all of us to take advantage of the poor and the needy, bastardize the will of God, proclaim and propagate lies and deceits all while using the cloak of Clergy and God, our world will be destroyed by another Babylon. We can turn back today, right now and save our country, our world-if only we tap into the spiritual courage that Ebed-Melech had.
In recovery, we live the path of God each and every day-to varying degrees depending on the day. We cannot be in recovery without living a path of decency, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, accountability, truth, justice and love. These are the bedrocks of our recovery-whether you call this the path of God, the path of Buddha, the path of decency, the path of humanism-it does not matter. What matters is being on this path or we are on the path to destruction and ruin. We have degrees, some of us PhD’s in destruction and ruin so we know that Ebed-Melech is our exemplar. We know that following this path freed us from the prison of our false pride and egotistical ways. In recovery, we are grateful and of service whenever we have the opportunity. We know we are blessed and seek to bless others as often as we can.
I have both destroyed and been destroyed. I have sounded the alarm and been in prison. The prison that is the most difficult to live in is the prison of exile. Being put here by another(s) whom you trusted and believed in is devastating and only faith in God can free me. Thank God I have been freed from this last prison that I helped to put myself in. Staying loyal to God in these moments is not difficult, hearing God’s compassion and love a little more at times during incarceration, crying out to God after feeling sorry for myself- exhilarating and joyful as well as freeing. God’s love is truly open to all of us, when we turn back to God, not imprison ourselves nor another(s) and live the path we were created to live one grain of sand more each day. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark