The way of imagination

  Texts: Jeremiah 1.4-19; 16.1-13; 20.7-18      St. Paul once famously said to his protégé Timothy: “Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tm. 2.3, NRSV).   Indeed, St. Paul was no stranger to suffering (cf. 2 Corinthians) and neither was Jeremiah, or any of the genuine prophets.   From the get-go, God is up front with Jeremiah and tells him flat out that he will be opposed by the kings and princes, priests and local leaders of Jerusalem but that he is not to be intimidated: “Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them” (Jer. 1.17, NRSV).   Jeremiah finds himself between a rock and a hard place – between a hostile people and an implacable God.   God did indeed keep Jeremiah alive during the 40 years that he spent warning the people of the disaster that was sure to come; though, at times, Jeremiah would have preferred death to continued pleading with those who hated him (cf. Jer. 20.14-18).  ...

  Texts: 1 Kings 22.19-23, Jeremiah 23.9-32, 1.4-10      From the beginnings of Israel, there was a constant threat of someone prophesying falsely in Yahweh’s name (cf. Dt. 13; 18.20-22).   The first basic criterion for a legitimate prophecy was that it actually came true – how long the waiting period should be for the fulfillment of the controversial oracle never seems to have been officially determined, however (as Jeremiah would painfully discover during 40 years of predicting disaster).   True prophets, like Micaiah (1 Kings 22) and Jeremiah (cf. Jer. 28.1-17), had to contend with false prophets who told the king/people what they wanted to hear.   A fundamental aspect of genuine prophetic work was always telling people the opposite of what they believed.   What could possibly go wrong?      In chapter 23, Yahweh tells Jeremiah the ( second ) prerequisite for prophesying truthfully – standing in “the council of the...

  Texts: Psalm 139; Jeremiah 1.1-5, 16.1-13, 20.7-18      We often have a sentimental attitude about the Psalmist’s words: “…it was you who formed my inward parts;     you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Ps. 139.13-14) However, when similar language is used to describe Jeremiah’s calling to be a prophet (Jer. 1.4-5), it is anything but an attempt on God’s part to boost Jeremiah’s self-esteem.   Au contraire , these divine words, when used in Jeremiah, take on a great deal of ambiguity (for us).   We often have the habit of speaking of our vocation, our “calling” in life, as if God was a celestial guidance counselor.   Again, to grasp what is going on in the first chapter of the book of Jeremiah, we must disabuse ourselves of such modern, Western affectations.   An underlying current in a lot of Western religious thinking is that God is part of our plan,...

Texts: 2 Kings 22-25; 2 Chronicles 35-36; Deuteronomy 17.14-20; Jeremiah 1.1-3, 36.1-26       What was the nature of the relationship between prophets and those in positions of power?   In a word – bad .   A prophet was by definition powerless – prophets had no official status in ancient Israelite society.   Prophets functioned, for the most part, outside of the hierarchical social structure.   Indeed, Moses was the exception that proves the rule.   Moses, under Yahweh’s guidance, “created” his role as “leader” of Israel.   Moses wore many hats, as we would say – legislator, judge, administrator, etc.   God called people from all walks of life to be prophets; as I said previously, there was no agreed-upon “career-path” to becoming a prophet – receiving a prophetic vocation was always a personally (and, as we shall see, nationally) disruptive event.   There was one aspect of Moses’ activity, however, that was to become a staple of th...

  Texts: Genesis 12.1-3; Exodus 19.1-6; Deuteronomy 28.58-68; Jeremiah 2.1-8, 7.25-26, 35.15-17      What is the purpose of a prophet?   A prophet is Yahweh’s means of communication with his people Israel.   The prophetic tradition begins with Moses at Mount Sinai.   After the liberated slaves of the 12 tribes have arrived at the foot of the mountain, Yahweh declares the 10 Commandments: “When…the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die” (Exodus 20.18-19).   As the prototypical prophet, Moses was well aware of the weight of the burden of being a liaison between God and his people (cf. Ex. 32.30-32).   And so, since the time of Moses, “the word of the LORD” came to those individual members of God’s people w...

  The newly-minted Thursday arrived at the breakfast meeting with much trepidation, caused principally by the enormous face of the enormous Sunday, the president of the Council, whose unflinching gaze convinces Syme that he is about to be outed as a spy.   As it turns out, it is Tuesday whose identity as a policeman is revealed.   The President dismisses “Gogol” [1] before adjourning the meeting and the man who was Tuesday escapes unharmed.   During the meeting, a plot to assassinate the Czar and the President of France in Paris with a bomb had been discussed and the coordination of which had been entrusted to Saturday. [2]      Syme’s adventure continues and one by one, each of the other members of the General Anarchist Council are revealed to be…undercover detectives.   First Friday (Professor de Worms/Wilks [3] ), then Saturday (Dr. Bull), followed by Wednesday (the Marquis de St-Eustache/Ratcliffe) and finally Monday (the Secretary) re...