Rebuke and Retribution

Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for the October 24, 2015 Sabbath School Lesson

 

“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads. The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads. Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail    for lack of food.” Jeremiah 14:2-6, NIV

During the month of November, 1996, Spokane County, where I live, was struck by a major ice storm. Much of an area with around a third of a million people living was without power. This meant no heat in bitter winter cold for many. It meant also no warm food and no hot water. For those living in warmer climes that have never seen snow or ice, this may be hard to fathom. But when this happens in the higher latitudes, life can be hanging by a thread for many. Cellphones were not in common usage, although charging them would have been problematic even if we did have them. Fortunately, the power for the “landline” phone system was independent and for most people their phones continued to work.

We phoned the power company to inform them that our power was out, but the problem was so widespread that even getting through to someone was a challenge. Once we did get through, we were advised that we would be on a list for repair but that emergency systems were primary so they would be dealt with first. The estimated time for a repair they said would be around eight hours, so we bundled up and we waited. When the repair crew arrived, they said an underground fuse had blown and they would replace it. When that was done, we rejoiced to feel warm air from the furnace and lights in our home. However, no sooner did the power truck head down the highway than the power immediately went off again. Our elation turned to despair.

I quickly called the power company and after a lengthy time on hold, was told that we would be put in the que for repair again. They were not sure how long it would be, but perhaps a few hours. This was disheartening. Perhaps even more depressing was that this was Thanksgiving week, and we had relatives coming to enjoy the holiday with us. They decided to come anyway, hoping that the power would be restored by then. It wasn’t. We ended up going to a buffet restaurant in town that still had power for our Thanksgiving dinner. When we drove through town we discovered that most stores, including grocery stores, were dark and empty.

For the grocers, they could sell nothing because they had no electricity to operate their cash registers and the computer network that linked them to inventory was not operating. Also, much of the refrigerated and frozen food was ruined because it could not be kept cold enough without electricity. That may seem strange in view of how cold it was outside, but many things require zero degrees for storage and it was perhaps twenty degrees warmer than that at night with slightly above freezing temperatures during the day. This caused the ice from the ice storm to melt in the daytime, but left all the damage it had caused: downed trees, snapped power poles and lines, and damaged structures. In some areas, the appearance was more like a war zone. Once power was restored, the local news revealed that some individuals had taken guns and actually shot at repair crews for not getting to them fast enough. All of this demonstrated how thin the veneer of civilization is that we take for granted every day.

This raises the question of how much would we endure before resorting to primitive selfishness and destructive behavior? Could we faithfully observe the Golden Rule[i] if we were facing a breakdown in our normally expected services? Perhaps more importantly would we learn anything from the experience that would help us grow spiritually?

In Jeremiah’s day, the connection was often drawn between events in the natural world and the relationship that people had to their god. This was true of both Jewish and pagan societies. This was the subject not only of Bible stories, but also of the myths of many cultures, including Greek and Roman. Often was recounted the fate of humans, demi-gods and even lesser gods who transgressed the will of those in the panoply of ruling deities. Interestingly, pagans often took this very seriously and morality plays would re-enact the lessons to be learned from the stories. But the Jews strangely rebelled against their spiritual heritage and often chose their own path in contradiction of what would be expected even in pagan societies. This perplexed Jeremiah who remarked that no nation gives up its gods but Israel had done exactly that, exchanging the living God for idols of stone, metal and wood.[ii] Further, uncharacteristically for people of that time, they failed to see a connection between their experiences in the natural world and their relationship to deity.

Today, we also struggle with the idea that the two may have any connection. This makes it challenging to relate to books like Jeremiah. For instance we know that rain and snow do not come from some secret storehouses[iii] somewhere but happen as a result of certain climatic conditions, hence the weather reports on the evening news. While not an exact science, the forecasts are usually pretty close to on target. We know that earthquakes come randomly from the sliding of geologic plates against one another. Droughts also are related to weather patterns out over the major oceans and poor farming and harvesting practices. So where does this place us in respect to understanding Jeremiah, the other prophets, and even the Book of Revelation which ties these recurring natural events to God’s disposition toward His followers?

Perhaps the relationship between faith and natural phenomena is not as ambiguous as we might think. We hear often in the media about how greenhouse gasses are depleting the ozone layer. Plastics are entering the waste stream with extraordinary volume, choking our oceans and killing wildlife. Hundreds of chemicals now pollute the water we drink and the air we breathe. While the government of the United States has determined acceptable levels for many of these contaminants individually, no one has determined if in combination these chemicals may have a cumulative toxic effect. Electromagnetic radiation bathes us everywhere we go from a multitude of sources. All of these things have happened because prior to marketing, little consideration is given to the question of what will be the long term effects of this technology on our environment and upon us. How will any deleterious effects from one source combine with those from another? Will it produce something inert, or should we be concerned?

When we say that the side effects of a technology are negligible, aren’t we actually saying “You are going to have to live with this because we have determined that the benefit provided outweighs the risk posed to you or anyone else?” At what point did we all lose the ability to say, “I do not want chemical X in my drinking water. Please stop putting it there.” All of this is strikingly similar to the tale of Naboth’s vineyard which was coveted by King Ahab.[iv]

Ahab wanted to purchase Naboth’s vineyard because it was adjacent to the palace. Naboth did not want to sell the property, so with Ahab’s acquiescence, his wife, Jezebel, had Naboth killed. King Ahab then took possession of the vineyard.  The parallel here is that someone is saying I want something and if you have to die so I can satisfy my desire, so be it. Multiplied by millions of Ahabs who want something and Jezebels willing to supply it, we begin to see the global nature of the problem. We also begin to see how failed relationships with deity multiplied to such an extent can create worldwide ecological disasters impacting weather and the very air we breathe and water we drink.

The dramatic imagery of Revelation with seas of blood and out of control weather scorching mankind or destroying him with hail may not seem so far-fetched when we consider what we have done to our Earth. But all of this could have been prevented and may still be mitigated if we would only admit our selfishness and work for the benefit of all and not just a few. That Golden Rule could serve us well if we choose to live by it. Perhaps the Prophet Micah summed it up best. He wrote. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”( Micah 6:8, NIV) If we all set aside self, long enough to do that, what a different world this would be.



[i] Matthew 7:12

[ii] Jeremiah 2:11

[iii] Job 38:22

[iv] 1 Kings 21

 

 

 

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