Daily Prophets
Day 188
“Jerusalem will be full of people and cattle and I, says God, I will be a wall of fire around it and My Glory will be in it. Shout for joy, fair Zion, for I come and dwell in your midst, declares God. In that day, many nations will attach themselves to God and become God’s people and I will dwell in your midst. Judah will be God’s inheritance, God’s portion in the Hoy Land and God will choose Jerusalem again.”(Zechariah 2:8,9,14-16).
This chapter begins with a vision that is similar to Ezekiel’s in that the prophet sees angels and horns, etc. The message, however is different because Zechariah is bringing good news to the people. They are about to be redeemed and sent back to Jerusalem and the prophet is giving them courage and strength to believe they have been forgiven, redeemed and can rebuild without fear.
We, in modernity, forget the power of prophecy and the comfort of God’s words and actions. We, in modernity, also forget that we have an obligation to follow through on truly living in God’s ways, not just giving lip service to it. We still follow the example of ancient Israel in performing rituals correctly and still taking advantage of the poor, needy and the stranger. We still believe that our cunning will save us and God will not notice. We have rebuilt without fear, foolishly believing we have been redeemed while not noticing the ways that we are destroying those we consider inferior as well as ourselves. Zechariah is reminding us that God’s glory and protection is here as long as we follow God’s ways, and act in God’s Name. Instead of using God’s glory and God’s fire as protection, guidance and joy; we use it for entitlement, power and glory. We are, like ancient Israel, using God’s power to destroy ourselves while engaging in the self-deception of enriching ourselves.
“Shout for joy” is the call of the prophet because God is dwelling in our midst. While that is true in Jerusalem, what many of us forget is that God dwells with us in exile as well. God dwelling in our midst is not just a sign of forgiveness and redemption, it is a reminder and call to action. It is a safeguard against our false egos and baser nature to take advantage of the people we are to care for. It is a constant advocacy for the poor and the stranger. It is a call to our better natures to care for the earth, the animals and people in it and care for God. Zechariah is building up our spirits and I am seeing him call to us to live in a way that is compatible with being a partner of God. The angel delivering this message to the prophet is eager to confront Zechariah with this good news and to imply the covenant that is attached to this good news.
An important message is contained in the last two verses above. Jerusalem and Judah are to be restored to their places of honor and inheritance, beauty and strength, gathering place and light to the nations. Since these verses are in the ‘future’ tense, they have begun and are not yet completed. We have to finish the work that God has begun and our ancestors began. We get to be the welcoming place for God, we get to hang out with God and be the example of God’s love and direction that will bring other people to join with us. We get to act in and live in God’s world and continue to do the next right thing, do our daily inventory, worship God with our actions, not just our words. Then, “on that day” the nations of the world led by the righteous visionary people of same will come to “attach themselves to God”. Then, we will live in harmony and there will be a joining of spirits of humans and God. This is the upbeat message of Zechariah, we have yet to follow his lead!
Rabbi Heschel teaches “Prophecy always moves in a polarity, yet the tension yes and no, of anger and love, of doom and redemption, is often dissolved in the certainty of God’s eternal attachment,”(The Prophets pg.95). This teaching is so important to remember, God is always attached to us. God is always with us. Our experience of loneliness and isolation is one that is of our making. We are like Cain in interpreting our errors as God’s rejection. God doesn’t reject us, God is with us, we reject God because of our shame at not living up to God’s call and feeling unworthy of God’s attachment to us. Rabbi Heschel is teaching us that the extremes we feel can be and, I add, must be mitigated by God’s “eternal attachment”. We get to hang out with God all the time, if we choose. As the Kotzker Rebbe said:”Where do you find God? Wherever/whenever you let God in.” We can let God in, are we willing to?
In recovery, we continually seek to let God in, continually seek to better understand God’s call to us and fulfill it. In fact, this is the major joy of recovery, getting to live life in ways that answer God’s call to us, getting to fulfill God’s path for us, getting to experience the worthiness of being human. In recovery, we have attached ourselves to God and experience the redemption, the love, the joy, the connection and the community we sought for so long.
I have been redeemed and I have some work to do to live completely attached to God. I am blessed by God’s love and only God’s companionship, attachment to me brought me out of the Egypt I was in 32+ years ago. I never have to ask “where is God” I only can ask “where is Mark”. I joined and helped to create a community of God-Attachers 32+ years ago and we all rejoice and shout for joy in our connection to God and to one another. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark