WEBVTT 00:00.710 --> 00:03.110 Professor Christine Hayes: We were talking last 00:03.111 --> 00:05.151 time about prophets of the Assyrian crisis. 00:05.150 --> 00:07.930 We've talked about two of the northern prophets, 00:07.931 --> 00:10.481 Amos and Hosea, and we started talking about 00:10.477 --> 00:13.907 Isaiah who was a southern prophet, a prophet in Judah; 00:13.910 --> 00:17.060 and we'll be talking now about the second southern prophet of 00:17.063 --> 00:18.223 the Assyrian crisis. 00:18.220 --> 00:20.020 That is Micah, or Micah. 00:20.020 --> 00:22.510 And he is said to come from the town of Moreshet, 00:22.514 --> 00:25.064 which is about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. 00:25.060 --> 00:27.610 So he's in Judah, and he's the last of the 00:27.611 --> 00:29.231 eighth-century prophets. 00:29.230 --> 00:33.040 He's quite different from the city-bred Isaiah. 00:33.040 --> 00:38.170 He seems to have been a rural prophet who spoke for the poor 00:38.170 --> 00:40.920 farmers. Now, he's prophesying in the 00:40.916 --> 00:44.666 second part of the eighth century, so 740 to about 700. 00:44.670 --> 00:47.220 He's attacking the northern kingdom, although he's a 00:47.220 --> 00:48.170 southern prophet. 00:48.170 --> 00:51.750 He attacks Israel for idolatries and says that the 00:51.747 --> 00:54.957 kingdom will surely fall because of these. 00:54.960 --> 00:57.840 So he also follows the other prophets, as we've seen, 00:57.835 --> 01:00.705 in condemning the people for their moral failings. 01:00.710 --> 01:03.210 The greedy landowners, the dishonest merchants, 01:03.210 --> 01:05.490 the aristocracy, they're all targets of his 01:05.493 --> 01:08.323 denunciations as are other leaders: the priests, 01:08.319 --> 01:11.809 the judges, royalty, the royal house as well as 01:11.813 --> 01:13.563 other false prophets. 01:13.560 --> 01:17.170 But the greatest contrast between Isaiah and Micah--if you 01:17.172 --> 01:20.662 want to differentiate these two southern prophets of the 01:20.658 --> 01:24.138 Assyrian crisis in your mind--the greatest contrast lies 01:24.144 --> 01:27.444 in his view of the city as inherently corrupt. 01:27.440 --> 01:30.080 It's inherently sinful; it's inherently doomed to 01:30.084 --> 01:32.714 destruction. Isaiah had preached the 01:32.707 --> 01:37.357 inviolability of Zion and Micah is sharply critical of the 01:37.359 --> 01:41.299 Davidic dynasty. He ridicules the idea of the 01:41.298 --> 01:43.258 inviolability of Zion. 01:43.260 --> 01:47.070 He ridicules the belief that the presence of the sanctuary in 01:47.071 --> 01:50.121 Jerusalem somehow protects the city from harm. 01:50.120 --> 01:53.250 He says, on the contrary, that God will destroy his city 01:53.245 --> 01:54.775 and his house if need be. 01:54.780 --> 01:58.070 Micah 3:9-12: Hear this, 01:58.068 --> 01:59.488 you rulers of the House of Jacob, 01:59.489 --> 02:01.329 You chiefs of the House of Israel, 02:01.330 --> 02:04.460 Who detest justice And make crooked all that is 02:04.455 --> 02:06.695 straight, Who build Zion with crime, 02:06.700 --> 02:08.210 Jerusalem with iniquity! 02:08.210 --> 02:12.360 Her rulers judge for gifts, Her priests give rulings for a 02:12.362 --> 02:14.832 fee, And her prophets divine for pay; 02:14.830 --> 02:17.270 Yet they rely upon the Lord, saying, 02:17.270 --> 02:20.610 "The Lord is in our midst; No calamity shall overtake us." 02:20.610 --> 02:24.780 Assuredly, because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field, 02:24.780 --> 02:26.900 And Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, 02:26.900 --> 02:30.030 And the Temple Mount A shrine in the woods. 02:30.030 --> 02:33.240 A stark contrast then between Isaiah who trusts and has 02:33.243 --> 02:36.523 confidence that God will never allow His holy city to be 02:36.516 --> 02:39.266 destroyed, his sanctuary to be destroyed. 02:39.270 --> 02:42.330 His presence in the midst of the city is a guarantee that it 02:42.331 --> 02:44.081 will survive. And Micah says: 02:44.078 --> 02:46.078 it's no guarantee of anything. 02:46.080 --> 02:49.440 One of the most famous passages in the Book of Micah is in 02:49.436 --> 02:52.846 chapter 6--eight verses in chapter 6--and this is a passage 02:52.851 --> 02:55.561 that takes the form of a covenant lawsuit, 02:55.560 --> 02:59.010 which we've talked about before, and the structure is as 02:59.014 --> 03:02.094 follows (I've put it up on the white board there): 03:02.092 --> 03:05.612 The first two verses are the issuing of the summons, 03:05.610 --> 03:07.020 the summons to the case. 03:07.020 --> 03:10.640 So the prophet here is acting as God's attorney and he summons 03:10.643 --> 03:14.153 the accused and he summons the witnesses--those would be the 03:14.148 --> 03:16.418 mountains, who are to hear the case 03:16.423 --> 03:19.073 against Israel, God's case against Israel: 03:19.069 --> 03:20.229 Hear what the Lord is saying: 03:20.229 --> 03:22.529 Come, present [My] case before the mountains, 03:22.530 --> 03:24.590 And let the hills hear you pleading. 03:24.590 --> 03:26.650 Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord-- 03:26.650 --> 03:28.630 You firm foundations of the earth! 03:28.629 --> 03:30.409 For the Lord has a case [=a lawsuit] 03:30.405 --> 03:32.825 against His people, He has a suit against 03:32.825 --> 03:35.495 Israel. So those are the opening verses 03:35.504 --> 03:38.604 and in verses 3 to 5 we then move on to the plaintiff's 03:38.595 --> 03:40.765 charge, God's charge or accusation. 03:40.770 --> 03:43.090 And this is given, again, through the attorney. 03:43.090 --> 03:47.470 He appeals to Israel's memory of all of the events that have 03:47.468 --> 03:50.138 manifested his great love for her. 03:50.139 --> 03:53.029 That begins with the exodus of course and continues with the 03:53.027 --> 03:55.957 entry into the Promised Land and he says Israel seems to have 03:55.964 --> 03:58.754 forgotten all of these deeds that God has performed on her 03:58.753 --> 04:01.713 behalf, and the obligations that those 04:01.706 --> 04:03.556 deeds obviously entail. 04:03.560 --> 04:07.880 Israel's conduct in response to this continuous benevolence on 04:07.879 --> 04:09.719 God's part is appalling. 04:09.719 --> 04:13.049 In verses 6 to 7 you have the defendant's plea. 04:13.050 --> 04:16.010 This is Israel speaking, but Israel really, 04:16.012 --> 04:18.412 of course, has no case to plead. 04:18.410 --> 04:22.320 And Israel knows that her only choice is to try to effect 04:22.324 --> 04:26.034 reconciliation but she doesn't know where to begin. 04:26.030 --> 04:28.820 Verses 6-7: With what shall I 04:28.820 --> 04:31.620 approach the Lord, Do homage to God on high? 04:31.620 --> 04:33.730 Shall I approach Him with burnt offerings, 04:33.730 --> 04:35.690 With calves a year old? 04:35.690 --> 04:38.020 Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, 04:38.020 --> 04:39.880 With myriads of streams of oil? 04:39.879 --> 04:42.319 Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, 04:42.319 --> 04:44.749 The fruit of my body for my sins? 04:44.750 --> 04:48.160 And the prophetic attorney--because the prophet is 04:48.157 --> 04:52.327 here acting as the attorney--in verse 8, responds to this. 04:52.329 --> 04:54.619 "He has told you, O man, what is good, 04:54.620 --> 04:56.130 And what the Lord requires of you: 04:56.130 --> 04:59.270 Only to do justice And to love goodness, 04:59.269 --> 05:01.819 And to walk humbly with your God." [See note 1] 05:01.819 --> 05:04.359 And the word that has been translated here as goodness, 05:04.355 --> 05:05.665 is this word hesed. 05:05.670 --> 05:09.100 This is a word that we discussed last week in relation 05:09.098 --> 05:12.458 to Hosea, and it's a word that seems to refer to that 05:12.462 --> 05:16.182 covenantal loyalty, the loyal love of covenantal 05:16.182 --> 05:19.152 partners. This is a classic passage that 05:19.153 --> 05:23.213 really typifies the prophetic emphasis on morality or the 05:23.211 --> 05:26.401 primacy of morality in prophetic thought. 05:26.399 --> 05:30.009 The book of Micah itself structurally alternates three 05:30.007 --> 05:33.887 prophecies of doom with three prophecies of restoration or 05:33.887 --> 05:35.107 hope. So it's doom, 05:35.111 --> 05:36.521 restoration, doom, restoration, 05:36.522 --> 05:37.512 doom, restoration. 05:37.509 --> 05:41.539 These last prophecies tell of the glory of Zion to come in the 05:41.544 --> 05:44.464 future. These restoration passages may 05:44.456 --> 05:49.086 seem a little out of keeping or out of step with the scathing 05:49.088 --> 05:53.718 denunciations or condemnations of Judah in the other parts of 05:53.721 --> 05:56.871 Micah's prophecy, and so some scholars have 05:56.873 --> 06:00.603 suggested that those restoration passages and those references to 06:00.596 --> 06:04.256 God's unconditional promise to preserve the Davidic kingdom, 06:04.259 --> 06:08.529 and the optimistic predictions of universal peace--these must 06:08.533 --> 06:11.243 be interpolations by a later editor. 06:11.240 --> 06:14.860 And it's true that certain parts we see again in Isaiah. 06:14.860 --> 06:18.450 But this is always a very difficult case or issue, 06:18.451 --> 06:22.481 because we know that the prophetic writings do fluctuate 06:22.482 --> 06:26.002 wildly between denunciation and consolation. 06:26.000 --> 06:29.590 So I think that a shift in theme alone is not ever a 06:29.587 --> 06:33.027 certain basis for assuming interpolation--outright 06:33.033 --> 06:37.183 contradiction perhaps--but a shift in theme or tone is never 06:37.184 --> 06:40.494 a solid basis for assuming interpolation. 06:40.490 --> 06:43.530 Anachronism is a very good guide to interpolation. 06:43.529 --> 06:46.149 So Micah explicitly refers to the Babylonian exile, 06:46.150 --> 06:49.400 of course, and that's going to be in 586 and he's in the eighth 06:49.400 --> 06:51.640 century. He's also going to refer to the 06:51.638 --> 06:53.608 rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. 06:53.610 --> 06:56.380 The walls of Jerusalem aren't even destroyed until 586 for 06:56.381 --> 06:58.571 anyone to even speak about rebuilding them, 06:58.569 --> 07:02.669 so those little units or passages may of course represent 07:02.674 --> 07:05.024 late editorial interpolations. 07:05.019 --> 07:09.159 But in its present form--in that nice structure of 07:09.157 --> 07:12.257 alternation of denunciation, restoration, 07:12.257 --> 07:13.437 denunciation, restoration, 07:13.438 --> 07:15.988 a pattern that happens three times--that structure, 07:15.990 --> 07:19.350 is I think typical of the common paradox that we find in 07:19.347 --> 07:22.947 the prophetic writings where they try to balance God's stern 07:22.949 --> 07:25.789 judgment on the one hand, his punishment, 07:25.790 --> 07:29.500 with his merciful love and salvation of his people. 07:29.500 --> 07:33.920 A further paradox lies in the very preservation of prophecies 07:33.921 --> 07:35.691 like Micah's prophecy. 07:35.690 --> 07:39.560 These prophecies were probably preserved by priests in the 07:39.556 --> 07:43.826 temple, even though priests were very often among the targets of 07:43.829 --> 07:46.199 the prophets in their denunciations, 07:46.204 --> 07:47.904 particularly Micah. 07:47.899 --> 07:50.709 Alright, so we've talked about the prophets who responded to 07:50.706 --> 07:53.556 the Assyrian crisis towards the end of the eighth century, 07:53.560 --> 07:56.490 two in the north, two in the south. 07:56.490 --> 08:01.190 Jerusalem survived the siege of 701 when the Assyrians laid 08:01.193 --> 08:05.393 siege in 701. And that gave credence to the 08:05.388 --> 08:09.598 royal ideology, the idea that God was with 08:09.598 --> 08:11.248 Zion, was with Jerusalem, 08:11.250 --> 08:13.740 and was with the House of David and would preserve them, 08:13.740 --> 08:16.780 but even so Judah moves into the next century, 08:16.779 --> 08:21.169 into the 600s in a considerably weakened state after the siege. 08:21.170 --> 08:24.660 And it's during that century--the first half of the 08:24.656 --> 08:28.906 next century--that Assyria reached the zenith of its power. 08:28.910 --> 08:32.310 In Judah, you have King Manasseh reigning. 08:32.309 --> 08:34.729 Now, King Manasseh reigned for nearly 50 years. 08:34.730 --> 08:38.680 We're not sure of exact dates, but somewhere around the 690s 08:38.677 --> 08:41.017 to the 640s, about 640: 50 years. 08:41.019 --> 08:44.069 Now remarkably, the Deuteronomistic historian 08:44.071 --> 08:48.161 devotes only 18 verses to this king who reigned for 50 years 08:48.162 --> 08:51.632 and all of those verses are entirely negative. 08:51.629 --> 08:55.709 And that's in great contrast to their treatment of his father, 08:55.712 --> 08:59.262 Hezekiah, and his grandson who follows him, Josiah. 08:59.259 --> 09:03.109 Manasseh was apparently a loyal vassal of Assyria, 09:03.105 --> 09:07.735 and according to the biblical writer he reversed the reforms 09:07.736 --> 09:12.046 of his father Hezekiah who is said by the writer to have 09:12.053 --> 09:14.803 destroyed idolatry and so on. 09:14.799 --> 09:18.699 But he is said to have reversed that and to have adopted 09:18.695 --> 09:21.645 Assyrian norms. As we move through this century 09:21.649 --> 09:24.469 and move towards the latter half of this century, 09:24.470 --> 09:27.740 Assyria, which has overextended itself is beginning to decline 09:27.742 --> 09:31.012 and some of the other states in the Ancient Near East are able 09:31.014 --> 09:33.484 to break away. First Egypt breaks away; 09:33.480 --> 09:35.080 Babylon breaks away. 09:35.080 --> 09:39.080 Josiah comes to the throne in Judah in 740. 09:39.080 --> 09:40.900 He sees Assyria's weakness. 09:40.899 --> 09:44.049 He decides to take advantage of that and asserts Judean 09:44.046 --> 09:46.136 independence, carries out a series of 09:46.143 --> 09:49.293 reforms--we've talked about several times--in 622, 09:49.289 --> 09:53.939 which include purging the cult perhaps of Assyrian religious 09:53.941 --> 09:58.991 influences, centralizing worship of Yahweh only and in Jerusalem, 09:58.986 --> 10:01.916 and so on. So this centralization of the 10:01.923 --> 10:04.893 cult served probably a political agenda as well, 10:04.894 --> 10:07.554 of asserting independence from Assyria. 10:07.549 --> 10:11.489 Assyria is continuing to decline towards the end of this 10:11.488 --> 10:15.138 century and in 612 the capital Nineveh will fall. 10:15.139 --> 10:18.249 The Babylonians manage to conquer the Assyrians by 10:18.248 --> 10:21.128 destroying Nineveh; it's actually an alliance of 10:21.128 --> 10:22.398 Medes and Babylonians. 10:22.400 --> 10:24.290 So things are going quite well. 10:24.290 --> 10:26.440 Josiah is king; he's a favored king, 10:26.444 --> 10:29.964 but just a few years later he will die in a battle against the 10:29.964 --> 10:31.354 Egyptians at Megiddo. 10:31.350 --> 10:34.670 So a little bit of historical background for you as we talk 10:34.671 --> 10:36.161 about the next prophets. 10:36.159 --> 10:39.749 Alright, so Josiah, the king who's highly favored 10:39.752 --> 10:42.932 will die in 609. Now, Zephaniah was a Judean 10:42.931 --> 10:46.731 prophet who prophesied during the reign of King Josiah. 10:46.730 --> 10:49.790 So we're going to be moving on now to Zephaniah and Jeremiah, 10:49.790 --> 10:52.340 as the prophets of the Babylonian crisis--and we're 10:52.340 --> 10:55.350 going to throw in a couple of prophetic characters along the 10:55.349 --> 10:57.229 way, but they will be the two main 10:57.230 --> 10:59.590 prophets of the Babylonian crisis, obviously in the 10:59.592 --> 11:01.862 south--all we have now is a southern kingdom, 11:01.860 --> 11:04.980 Judah--but I'll be picking up on two other prophets in a 11:04.984 --> 11:07.814 moment as well. So he prophesied during the 11:07.811 --> 11:09.261 time of King Josiah. 11:09.259 --> 11:13.179 Some of his prophecies seem to date to the time, 11:13.176 --> 11:16.756 we think, before Josiah's reforms in 622. 11:16.759 --> 11:19.709 And those prophecies tend to be very pessimistic and very grim. 11:19.710 --> 11:20.920 Judah is condemned. 11:20.920 --> 11:24.120 It's condemned for apostasy; it's condemned for decadence, 11:24.116 --> 11:27.406 all of the things that flourished under King Manasseh. 11:27.409 --> 11:31.029 God is wrathful and his wrath is imminent. 11:31.029 --> 11:33.749 There will be a universal destruction according to 11:33.753 --> 11:37.013 Zephaniah. All life, animal and human, 11:37.009 --> 11:39.119 will be exterminated. 11:39.120 --> 11:42.680 So, as we saw in the book of Amos this Day of Yahweh, 11:42.679 --> 11:45.829 this Day of the Lord, which has been so eagerly 11:45.828 --> 11:48.758 awaited, will not in fact be a day of 11:48.756 --> 11:52.666 triumph, but a day of dark destruction and despair. 11:52.670 --> 11:57.330 Zephaniah 1:15-18, That day shall be a day 11:57.328 --> 11:59.608 of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, 11:59.610 --> 12:01.630 A day of calamity and desolation, 12:01.629 --> 12:03.299 A day of darkness and deep gloom, 12:03.300 --> 12:06.740 A day of densest clouds, A day of horn blasts and 12:06.738 --> 12:08.908 alarms-- Against the fortified towns 12:08.910 --> 12:10.600 And the lofty corner towers. 12:10.600 --> 12:12.440 I will bring distress on the people 12:12.440 --> 12:14.510 And they shall walk like blind men, 12:14.509 --> 12:16.129 Because they sinned against the Lord; 12:16.129 --> 12:18.319 Their blood shall be spilled like dust, 12:18.320 --> 12:20.260 And their fat like dung. 12:20.260 --> 12:23.580 Moreover, their silver and gold Shall not avail to save them. 12:23.580 --> 12:27.030 On the day of the Lord's wrath, In the fire of his passion, 12:27.029 --> 12:28.709 The whole land shall be consumed; 12:28.710 --> 12:31.790 For He will make a terrible end Of all who dwell in the 12:31.792 --> 12:34.182 land. You can see why people didn't 12:34.176 --> 12:37.256 enjoy listening to these prophets, but at the same time, 12:37.259 --> 12:40.399 like the other prophets, Zephaniah also offered hope. 12:40.399 --> 12:44.109 There will be a humble remnant which will seek refuge in God. 12:44.110 --> 12:48.280 These Jewish exiles, he says, will be delivered from 12:48.279 --> 12:52.369 their oppressors and even Gentiles will join in the 12:52.366 --> 12:57.326 worship of God. Zephaniah 3:11-13: 12:57.330 --> 13:00.080 "In that day, You will no longer be shamed 13:00.083 --> 13:02.603 for all the deeds By which you have defied me. 13:02.600 --> 13:05.490 For then I will remove The proud and exultant within 13:05.491 --> 13:07.321 you, And you will be haughty no more 13:07.320 --> 13:08.630 On my sacred mount. 13:08.630 --> 13:11.620 But I will leave within you A poor, humble folk, 13:11.620 --> 13:14.770 "--this idea of purging the dross and leaving the pure 13:14.770 --> 13:17.030 remnant--"And they shall find refuge 13:17.030 --> 13:18.400 In the name of the Lord. 13:18.400 --> 13:20.430 The remnant of Israel Shall do no wrong 13:20.430 --> 13:23.090 And speak no falsehood; A deceitful tongue 13:23.090 --> 13:24.330 Shall not be in their mouths. 13:24.330 --> 13:27.150 Only such as these shall graze and lie down, 13:27.149 --> 13:28.759 With none to trouble them." 13:28.759 --> 13:31.679 There will also be an ingathering of any exiled. 13:31.680 --> 13:33.540 Verse 20: "At that time I will 13:33.541 --> 13:34.491 gather you, And at [that] 13:34.488 --> 13:36.988 time I will bring you [home]; For I will make you renowned 13:36.989 --> 13:38.819 and famous Among all the peoples on earth, 13:38.820 --> 13:42.050 When I restore your fortunes Before their very eyes." 13:42.049 --> 13:44.449 There's one passage in particular that seems 13:44.452 --> 13:45.852 extraordinarily joyous. 13:45.850 --> 13:49.500 It seems to announce the salvation as happening now, 13:49.504 --> 13:53.384 as present and so a lot of scholars think that this was 13:53.375 --> 13:57.815 Zephaniah's reaction to Josiah and Josiah's reform which seemed 13:57.818 --> 14:02.048 to him to perhaps be the very salvation for which the nation 14:02.046 --> 14:05.406 was longing. Chapter 3:14 and 15: 14:05.410 --> 14:08.350 Shout for joy, Fair Zion, Cry aloud, O Israel! 14:08.350 --> 14:10.280 Rejoice and be glad with all your heart, 14:10.280 --> 14:12.700 Fair Jerusalem! The Lord has annulled the 14:12.698 --> 14:15.458 judgment against you, He has swept away your foes. 14:15.460 --> 14:17.710 Israel's Sovereign the Lord is within you; 14:17.710 --> 14:20.640 You need fear misfortune no more. 14:20.639 --> 14:24.599 So, this sounds very much like a reaction to these reforms 14:24.601 --> 14:26.131 initiated by Josiah. 14:26.129 --> 14:30.139 This is hailed as the very restoration of God's presence in 14:30.143 --> 14:33.053 the community of Judah that was desired. 14:33.049 --> 14:36.519 The judgment has been annulled, these terrible things I've been 14:36.520 --> 14:38.200 prophesying will not happen. 14:38.200 --> 14:42.080 Another short prophetic book we should mention now is the Book 14:42.080 --> 14:44.250 of Nahum. It's very different from the 14:44.251 --> 14:45.461 other prophetic books. 14:45.460 --> 14:48.930 It doesn't really contain prophecies and it doesn't really 14:48.927 --> 14:51.357 upbraid the people for their failings, 14:51.360 --> 14:53.980 which are two things that most of the other prophets do. 14:53.980 --> 14:58.050 The Book of Nahum is a short little book and it's really a 14:58.046 --> 15:02.466 series of three poems and the first one is an acrostic poem, 15:02.470 --> 15:07.000 an alphabetical poem--each line beginning with successive 15:06.996 --> 15:10.706 letters of the Hebrew alphabet--and these poems 15:10.713 --> 15:14.273 rejoice over the fall of Nineveh in 612, 15:14.269 --> 15:18.549 the capital of the cruel Assyrian empire. 15:18.549 --> 15:21.769 The Assyrians were actually quite widely hated in the 15:21.771 --> 15:23.011 Ancient Near East. 15:23.009 --> 15:25.849 They were noted for their exceptional brutality, 15:25.845 --> 15:28.735 their inhumanity, particularly in their conquests 15:28.741 --> 15:30.191 and empire building. 15:30.190 --> 15:32.820 They deported populations wholesale; 15:32.820 --> 15:36.030 they were guilty of all sorts of atrocities like mutilating 15:36.029 --> 15:38.489 their captives; they would butcher women and 15:38.487 --> 15:40.707 children--all sorts of horrendous deeds. 15:40.710 --> 15:44.050 We have lots of testimony about this, both in Assyrian sources 15:44.045 --> 15:47.045 but other Ancient Near Eastern sources, texts as well as 15:47.053 --> 15:49.383 artwork. So Nahum, in this poem, 15:49.382 --> 15:53.672 is celebrating the avenging and wrathful God who has finally 15:53.674 --> 15:57.824 turned around to destroy this terrible enemy of Israel and 15:57.819 --> 15:59.419 indeed the world. 15:59.419 --> 16:02.769 According to Nahum, it's quite true that God had 16:02.767 --> 16:04.687 used Assyria as his tool. 16:04.690 --> 16:08.140 He had used Assyria to discipline the kingdom of 16:08.140 --> 16:12.180 Israel--they did destroy Israel--and to discipline Judah 16:12.178 --> 16:13.718 for Judah's sins. 16:13.720 --> 16:17.150 But God is ultimately the universal sovereign and so 16:17.149 --> 16:21.179 Assyria's savagery--even if it was part of God's disciplining 16:21.184 --> 16:25.024 of his children is--Assyria's savagery is itself something 16:25.017 --> 16:26.897 that must be punished. 16:26.899 --> 16:30.099 So for Nahum, the fall of Nineveh is God's 16:30.101 --> 16:34.241 vengeance upon Assyria for her barbaric inhumanity. 16:34.240 --> 16:38.980 The Book of Nahum has often been praised for its very vivid 16:38.983 --> 16:41.643 poetic style. It describes these armed 16:41.644 --> 16:44.574 legions that march against Nineveh and plunder its 16:44.572 --> 16:47.042 treasure, and some of the most exciting 16:47.035 --> 16:50.525 archaeology that's been going on has been the digging up of 16:50.527 --> 16:52.727 Nineveh. I think the dig has obviously 16:52.730 --> 16:56.130 stopped for reasons having to do with the climate in that part of 16:56.129 --> 16:58.629 the world, but the findings of Nineveh and 16:58.634 --> 17:01.684 the sacking of Nineveh--how shallow pits were dug and 17:01.678 --> 17:05.308 treasures thrown into them and covered over by the gates of the 17:05.308 --> 17:08.368 city as people were fleeing, and many of these things-- when 17:08.374 --> 17:10.504 you read the description of Nineveh and look at some of the 17:10.498 --> 17:13.628 archaeological data, it's quite fascinating. 17:13.630 --> 17:18.060 But Nahum looks forward to a happy era of freedom for Judah 17:18.060 --> 17:21.570 and he says in 2:15: "For never again shall the 17:21.574 --> 17:23.794 wicked come against you." 17:23.789 --> 17:25.529 Well, this isn't true, and in fact, 17:25.533 --> 17:27.843 in a few years Josiah's going to be killed. 17:27.839 --> 17:31.309 Judah's going to be made subject to Egypt and in fact 17:31.312 --> 17:35.002 Babylon. By 605 Babylon manages to 17:35.003 --> 17:39.843 extract tribute from Judah as a vassal. 17:39.839 --> 17:42.059 So in a way, we have here really a glaring 17:42.057 --> 17:45.297 error and it's important to note that this error in Nahum--it 17:45.302 --> 17:49.582 wasn't updated, it wasn't repaired in order to 17:49.583 --> 17:53.273 protect his prophetic reputation. 17:53.269 --> 17:54.839 So we see this interesting tension. 17:54.839 --> 17:58.519 We sometimes see prophetic books being edited, 17:58.518 --> 18:02.358 revised, having interpolations put into them, 18:02.359 --> 18:04.859 partly out of this conviction that their words must be 18:04.861 --> 18:07.081 relevant and continue to have some relevance; 18:07.079 --> 18:10.279 and other times, there seems to be good evidence 18:10.280 --> 18:14.230 that prophetic oracles were preserved rather faithfully. 18:14.230 --> 18:18.030 But with the fall of Nineveh, national confidence was 18:18.027 --> 18:22.407 probably boosted and then things quickly turned sour with the 18:22.408 --> 18:26.058 death of Josiah in 609, which was a terrible shock. 18:26.059 --> 18:30.949 You have Judah lying trapped, as it were, between two great 18:30.952 --> 18:35.932 powers: Egypt in the southwest, Babylon in the northeast. 18:35.930 --> 18:40.090 And in 605, as I said, Babylon managed to defeat Egypt 18:40.086 --> 18:44.866 and reduce Judah to the status of a tributary vassal under the 18:44.869 --> 18:48.819 King Jehoiakim. King Jehoiakim rebels and in 18:48.822 --> 18:53.222 response, the Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem. 18:53.220 --> 18:56.570 There will be two sieges of Jerusalem by the Babylonians 18:56.566 --> 18:59.486 just as we've had two sieges earlier--two sieges: 18:59.487 --> 19:02.237 one in 597, one in 587, both under 19:02.235 --> 19:05.365 Nebuchadnezzar. He lays siege to Jerusalem in 19:05.367 --> 19:07.597 597, and doesn't destroy Jerusalem. 19:07.599 --> 19:11.139 He kills the king, takes the king's son into 19:11.137 --> 19:15.247 captivity in Babylon and installs a puppet king, 19:15.250 --> 19:19.440 still under the assumption that things could be kept under 19:19.435 --> 19:22.025 control. So the puppet King Zedekiah is 19:22.029 --> 19:25.249 on the throne but he also decides to rebel and assert 19:25.253 --> 19:28.233 Judah's independence against the Babylonians. 19:28.230 --> 19:31.630 So Nebuchadnezzar returns, and this is in 587. 19:31.630 --> 19:34.840 And now the city is in fact captured, the sanctuary is 19:34.837 --> 19:38.707 completely destroyed, and the bulk of the population 19:38.714 --> 19:43.524 is exiled and this is what brings to end nearly 400years of 19:43.519 --> 19:46.169 an independent Hebrew nation. 19:46.170 --> 19:50.110 The Book of Habakkuk was written during this period, 19:50.109 --> 19:53.509 so 600 to the destruction--somewhere in those 19:53.507 --> 19:56.247 years. That's the period in which the 19:56.247 --> 19:58.737 Babylonians attacked Jerusalem twice. 19:58.740 --> 20:02.200 Habakkuk is another unusual prophetic book. 20:02.200 --> 20:06.400 It doesn't contain prophecies, so much as it contains 20:06.398 --> 20:09.788 philosophical musings on God's behavior. 20:09.789 --> 20:12.039 And we're going to see this increasing now as we move into 20:12.038 --> 20:14.368 the next section of the Bible when we complete the prophetic 20:14.366 --> 20:16.466 section. We'll be encountering writings 20:16.467 --> 20:19.557 of very different genres and some of them do contain these 20:19.560 --> 20:21.840 philosophical musings on God's conduct. 20:21.839 --> 20:26.789 Habakkuk 1 and 2 are a kind of poetic dialogue between the 20:26.792 --> 20:30.622 prophet and Yahweh, and the prophet complains 20:30.615 --> 20:33.565 bitterly about God's inaction. 20:33.569 --> 20:35.789 Verses 2 and 3 of the first chapter: 20:35.789 --> 20:38.499 How long, O Lord, shall I cry out 20:38.500 --> 20:42.230 And You not listen, Shall I shout to you "Violence!" 20:42.230 --> 20:43.940 And you not save? 20:43.940 --> 20:47.620 Why do You make me see iniquity [Why] do You look upon wrong?-- 20:47.619 --> 20:49.449 Raiding and violence are before me, 20:49.450 --> 20:51.990 Strife continues and contention goes on. 20:51.990 --> 20:54.710 And skipping down to verses 13 and 14, 20:54.710 --> 20:57.640 You whose eyes are too pure to look upon evil, 20:57.640 --> 20:59.260 Who cannot countenance wrongdoing, 20:59.259 --> 21:01.189 Why do you countenance treachery. 21:01.190 --> 21:03.380 And stand by idle While the one in the wrong 21:03.377 --> 21:04.997 devours The one in the right? 21:05.000 --> 21:07.560 You have made mankind like the fish of the sea, 21:07.559 --> 21:10.159 Like creeping things that have no ruler. 21:10.160 --> 21:12.880 Well, God responds to these charges by saying that the 21:12.884 --> 21:16.074 Babylonians are the instruments of his justice even though they 21:16.071 --> 21:18.951 ascribe their might and their success to their gods, 21:18.950 --> 21:21.540 rather than to Yahweh. 21:21.539 --> 21:25.499 Now, we've already seen in other books the idea that a 21:25.501 --> 21:29.541 conquering nation is serving as the instrument of God's 21:29.538 --> 21:32.488 punishment. But Habakkuk is a little bit 21:32.493 --> 21:36.683 unusual because he doesn't couch this idea in the larger argument 21:36.684 --> 21:40.094 that Judah deserves this catastrophic punishment. 21:40.089 --> 21:42.789 There's a great difference between Habakkuk and the 21:42.788 --> 21:45.028 Deuteronimistic historian, for example, 21:45.025 --> 21:48.645 because Habakkuk doesn't assert that the people are suffering 21:48.652 --> 21:51.332 for their sins. Habakkuk is struggling with 21:51.332 --> 21:54.342 what appears to him to be a basic lack of justice. 21:54.339 --> 21:57.769 The Deuteuronomistic historian wants to assert God's justice, 21:57.767 --> 22:00.507 and whatever suffering happens is justifiable. 22:00.509 --> 22:03.099 Habakkuk is resisting that idea and we're going to see that 22:03.103 --> 22:05.613 resistance really come to a climax next week when we talk 22:05.607 --> 22:06.767 about the Book of Job. 22:06.769 --> 22:12.099 Habakkuk in 1:4 struggles with this, "…decision fails / And 22:12.098 --> 22:14.228 justice never emerges. 22:14.230 --> 22:18.150 / For the villain hedges in the just man-- / Therefore judgment 22:18.146 --> 22:19.406 emerges deformed." 22:19.410 --> 22:23.030 It's not merely that the wicked and the righteous suffer the 22:23.028 --> 22:26.828 same fate, it's that the wicked really seem to fare better than 22:26.830 --> 22:30.200 the just and that reduces humankind to the level of fish 22:30.203 --> 22:33.823 and creeping things for whom sheer power and not morality is 22:33.822 --> 22:36.032 the principal consideration. 22:36.029 --> 22:40.429 Now, having made this charge, Habakkuk awaits God's answer. 22:40.430 --> 22:43.970 In chapter 2:1-5 he says, I will stand on my watch, 22:43.970 --> 22:47.970 Take up my station at the post, And wait to see what He will 22:47.970 --> 22:50.390 say to me, What He will reply to my 22:50.392 --> 22:53.212 complaint. The Lord answered me and said: 22:53.210 --> 22:56.360 "Write the prophecy down, Inscribe it clearly on tablets, 22:56.360 --> 22:58.200 So that it can be read easily. 22:58.200 --> 23:00.640 …the righteous man is rewarded with life 23:00.640 --> 23:02.030 For his fidelity. 23:02.029 --> 23:05.439 How much less then shall the defiant go unpunished,… 23:05.440 --> 23:08.430 Not a terribly deep answer. 23:08.430 --> 23:11.300 The righteous simply have to have faith that justice will 23:11.297 --> 23:14.367 prevail and this faith has to sustain them through the trials 23:14.369 --> 23:16.109 that challenge that very idea. 23:16.109 --> 23:19.819 We'll see a deeper answer to this same problem in the Book of 23:19.819 --> 23:22.759 Job. The third chapter then shifts 23:22.759 --> 23:25.029 gears. So much so that once again 23:25.027 --> 23:27.687 scholars say it must be an interpolation. 23:27.690 --> 23:30.280 But again, I would warn that dramatic shifts in tone and 23:30.284 --> 23:33.164 theme are not that uncommon in the prophetic books and we have 23:33.161 --> 23:35.881 to be careful. But in this third chapter, 23:35.876 --> 23:38.386 God is described as a warrior god. 23:38.390 --> 23:40.820 He thunders from the east, he hurls his spear, 23:40.822 --> 23:43.202 he seeks vengeance on Israel's oppressors. 23:43.200 --> 23:46.650 It may be that this is some editor's attempt to respond to 23:46.648 --> 23:50.038 Habakkuk's skepticism that Yahweh will bring justice--and 23:50.036 --> 23:52.936 bring it soon-- that he's waiting: how long? 23:52.940 --> 23:54.170 why is this taking you so long? 23:54.170 --> 23:55.670 Why are you not acting? 23:55.670 --> 23:59.630 And this image of an avenging warrior God answers Habakkuk's 23:59.632 --> 24:02.792 opening question: How long will God stand by and 24:02.789 --> 24:06.079 watch while the Babylonians rape and pillage? 24:06.079 --> 24:08.519 But on the other hand, it's possible that it's 24:08.523 --> 24:11.403 Habakkuk himself and again the book exhibits that same 24:11.401 --> 24:14.771 paradoxical tension we've seen through so many of the prophetic 24:14.768 --> 24:16.418 books. Specifically, 24:16.419 --> 24:20.959 he holds out the paradoxical view that God's justice is slow 24:20.955 --> 24:25.405 in coming but the righteous must have complete faith in its 24:25.414 --> 24:27.264 ultimate execution. 24:27.259 --> 24:31.219 But he's raised the issue of theodicy, the problem of evil, 24:31.217 --> 24:33.057 the problem of suffering. 24:33.059 --> 24:36.209 Ultimately, he sees the problem's resolution only in 24:36.207 --> 24:38.797 some vision of the future--an avenging God, 24:38.798 --> 24:40.648 when justice will be done. 24:40.650 --> 24:43.070 That is typical of some texts that we will see later, 24:43.070 --> 24:44.840 particularly apocalyptic literature, 24:44.839 --> 24:48.099 which is going to emphasize patient waiting for an end time 24:48.096 --> 24:51.296 when there will be a cataclysmic final act that will bring 24:51.296 --> 24:52.696 justice and judgment. 24:52.700 --> 24:55.500 Now the prophet, who lived at the time of the 24:55.495 --> 24:58.985 final destruction of Judah, saw the fall of Jerusalem at 24:58.990 --> 25:03.120 the hands of the Babylonians in 587 was the prophet Jeremiah, 25:03.120 --> 25:06.040 another long prophetic book. 25:06.039 --> 25:08.059 So we have our three long prophetic books, 25:08.055 --> 25:10.805 Isaiah of the Assyrian crisis, Jeremiah of the Babylonian 25:10.809 --> 25:13.589 crisis, and Ezekiel writing from exile 25:13.592 --> 25:16.852 in Babylon. Jeremiah was born of a priestly 25:16.851 --> 25:20.201 family in a village near Jerusalem, Anathoth, 25:20.202 --> 25:24.242 and he began prophesying while he was still a boy. 25:24.240 --> 25:28.110 Now, he was a contemporary of King Josiah and so he saw the 25:28.109 --> 25:31.579 renaissance that briefly occurred under his guidance: 25:31.578 --> 25:34.938 the sweeping reform, the eradication of Assyrian 25:34.943 --> 25:38.343 influences that had been welcomed by King Manasseh, 25:38.339 --> 25:41.359 the renewal of the covenant, all of these activities that 25:41.357 --> 25:43.887 are so highly favored by the biblical writer. 25:43.890 --> 25:46.760 And when Josiah died, Jeremiah also lamented his 25:46.761 --> 25:49.511 passing, along with the rest of the nation. 25:49.509 --> 25:53.899 Jeremiah witnessed the final destruction and the exile. 25:53.900 --> 25:58.450 The Book of Jeremiah is a collection of very different 25:58.452 --> 26:00.172 types of material. 26:00.170 --> 26:01.690 There's really no clear organization, 26:01.687 --> 26:04.297 there's no clear chronological order, not the kind of thing you 26:04.301 --> 26:06.791 can just sort of sit down and read from beginning to end and 26:06.789 --> 26:07.969 hope it'll make sense. 26:07.970 --> 26:11.220 There are prophecies, there are oracles and diatribes 26:11.216 --> 26:14.166 against foreign nations, there are stories, 26:14.168 --> 26:17.418 biographical narratives, there's some poetry, 26:17.417 --> 26:21.767 and at the very end a little brief historical appendix which 26:21.773 --> 26:24.803 really resembles 2 Kings: 24 and 25. 26:24.799 --> 26:28.449 So the literary history of the book itself is also quite 26:28.451 --> 26:31.971 complex because there's great variation in our ancient 26:31.970 --> 26:33.940 witnesses. The Septuagint, 26:33.941 --> 26:38.181 which is the Greek translation of the Bible--third century BCE 26:38.179 --> 26:41.719 Greek translation of the Bible--its Jeremiah is much 26:41.722 --> 26:45.892 shorter than the Hebrew version of Jeremiah and it's arranged 26:45.890 --> 26:49.210 differently; internally, the arrangement is 26:49.214 --> 26:51.244 different. There are also significant 26:51.241 --> 26:54.221 differences between the Hebrew text that we have now and some 26:54.222 --> 26:57.202 fragments of Jeremiah that have been found among the Dead Sea 26:57.204 --> 26:59.724 scrolls. So this attests to the very 26:59.717 --> 27:03.587 open-ended nature of written compositions in antiquity. 27:03.589 --> 27:06.399 We find three main types of material, however, 27:06.396 --> 27:08.986 in Jeremiah. (1) The poetic oracles that 27:08.985 --> 27:11.395 generally are attributed to Jeremiah; 27:11.400 --> 27:15.850 Then (2) biographical anecdotes and narratives about him, 27:15.850 --> 27:20.380 which are attributed to his amanuensis and assistant whose 27:20.379 --> 27:23.319 name I don't think I put up here. 27:23.319 --> 27:26.759 Baruch ben Neriah, ben simply meaning son 27:26.762 --> 27:29.112 of, so Baruch, the son of Neriah, 27:29.105 --> 27:33.495 whose name comes up quite a bit in the Book of Jeremiah. 27:33.500 --> 27:36.970 And he is a scribe who assists Jeremiah, and it's thought that 27:36.966 --> 27:40.146 perhaps the biographical narrative sections were composed 27:40.149 --> 27:41.569 by Baruch ben Neriah. 27:41.569 --> 27:44.819 Then we also have (3) certain editorial notes about Jeremiah 27:44.823 --> 27:47.803 that are in the style of the Deuteronomistic historian, 27:47.801 --> 27:49.291 Deuteronomistic editor. 27:49.289 --> 27:52.159 Jeremiah, in general, seems to have very close 27:52.163 --> 27:56.253 connections with the language and the ideology of Deuteronomy. 27:56.250 --> 27:59.530 So if we look quickly at the structure of the book, 27:59.529 --> 28:02.349 for the most part, the first 25 chapters, 28:02.349 --> 28:06.109 Jeremiah 1 through 25 contain an introduction and an account 28:06.111 --> 28:09.351 of Jeremiah's call, but then also poetic oracles 28:09.347 --> 28:13.207 with some biographical snippets thrown in there as well. 28:13.210 --> 28:15.370 Not snippets narratives--biographical 28:15.374 --> 28:17.724 narratives as well as poetic oracles. 28:17.720 --> 28:22.760 In 26to 29 we have stories of his encounters--I should say 28:22.763 --> 28:27.813 run-ins--with other prophets and with authority figures of 28:27.807 --> 28:32.127 various types. Chapters 30 to 33 are oracles 28:32.133 --> 28:36.553 of hope and consolation; 34 to 45 are more prose 28:36.551 --> 28:41.751 stories, and these stories center around and after the time 28:41.750 --> 28:44.260 of the final destruction. 28:44.259 --> 28:49.249 Then we have several chapters, 46 to 51 that contain oracles 28:49.248 --> 28:51.458 against nations. Some of these, 28:51.461 --> 28:53.731 scholars think, might be from other writers and 28:53.734 --> 28:56.364 then again, as I say, it concludes with this 28:56.355 --> 28:59.805 historical appendix about the fall of Jerusalem that's 28:59.813 --> 29:01.513 extracted from 2 Kings. 29:01.509 --> 29:05.459 Now, Jeremiah preached the inevitable doom and destruction 29:05.460 --> 29:09.410 of the nation because of its violation of the covenant, 29:09.410 --> 29:12.350 which was the very charter for her existence, 29:12.351 --> 29:16.431 and his descriptions were quite vivid and quite terrifying. 29:16.430 --> 29:20.160 He denounced Israel's leaders, the professional prophets in 29:20.155 --> 29:23.105 particular with whom he has many encounters. 29:23.109 --> 29:25.649 The professional prophets are liars, he says, 29:25.654 --> 29:27.394 because they prophesy peace. 29:27.390 --> 29:30.720 He has some negative references to priests as well, 29:30.715 --> 29:34.835 but he's especially critical of King Jehoiakim who's the son of 29:34.838 --> 29:37.518 Josiah. He can be compared to Micah 29:37.523 --> 29:41.793 because he also attacked this idea, this popular ideology of 29:41.791 --> 29:43.891 the inviolability of Zion. 29:43.890 --> 29:47.180 As long as injustice and oppression are practiced in 29:47.180 --> 29:50.470 Judah, the presence of the temple is no guarantee of 29:50.471 --> 29:53.461 anything. Judah will suffer the fate that 29:53.460 --> 29:56.860 she deserves for failure to fulfill her covenantal 29:56.859 --> 29:59.709 obligations. So God tells Jeremiah to go 29:59.710 --> 30:03.400 stand at the gate of the temple and speak these words, 30:03.400 --> 30:06.640 and this is a passage that's often referred to as the "Temple 30:06.640 --> 30:08.970 Sermon." It's from chapter 7: 30:08.970 --> 30:11.920 Thus said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: 30:11.924 --> 30:14.774 Mend your ways and your actions, and I will let you 30:14.766 --> 30:16.126 dwell in this place. 30:16.130 --> 30:18.140 Don't put your trust in illusions and say, 30:18.143 --> 30:20.453 "The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, 30:20.452 --> 30:22.812 the Temple of the Lord are these buildings." 30:22.809 --> 30:25.809 No, if you really mend your ways and your actions; 30:25.809 --> 30:28.709 if you execute justice between one man and another; 30:28.710 --> 30:30.940 if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, 30:30.944 --> 30:32.944 and the widow… You hear the language of 30:32.941 --> 30:33.601 Deuteronomy right? 30:33.599 --> 30:35.639 Those three are always together in Deuteronomy, 30:35.644 --> 30:37.604 drawing very heavily on the same language. 30:37.599 --> 30:39.759 If you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, 30:39.764 --> 30:41.904 and the widow; if you do not shed the blood of 30:41.901 --> 30:44.741 the innocent in this place; if you do not follow other 30:44.741 --> 30:48.061 gods, to your own hurt --then only will I let you dwell in 30:48.055 --> 30:50.585 this place, in the land that I gave to your 30:50.589 --> 30:51.809 fathers for all time. 30:51.809 --> 30:54.899 See, you are relying on illusions that are to no avail. 30:54.900 --> 30:57.450 Will you steal and murder and commit adultery and swear 30:57.452 --> 30:59.352 falsely,… Again, allusion to the 30:59.351 --> 31:00.171 Decalogue, right? 31:00.170 --> 31:02.160 Those four terms in the Decalogue. 31:02.160 --> 31:05.010 Will you steal and murder and commit adultery and swear 31:05.011 --> 31:08.171 falsely, and sacrifice to Baal, and follow other gods whom you 31:08.169 --> 31:10.869 have not experienced, and then come and stand before 31:10.870 --> 31:13.870 Me in this house, which bears My name and say, 31:13.870 --> 31:15.310 "We are safe"? [Safe] 31:15.311 --> 31:17.591 to do all these abhorrent things! 31:17.589 --> 31:19.779 Do you consider this House, which bears My name, 31:19.783 --> 31:20.953 to be a den of thieves? 31:20.950 --> 31:23.410 As for Me, I have been watching--declares the 31:23.412 --> 31:25.752 Lord. So he attacked this doctrine of 31:25.747 --> 31:28.287 the inviolability of Zion and that would have been 31:28.288 --> 31:29.998 iconoclastic to say the least. 31:30.000 --> 31:34.370 But he pointed to history as proof for his assertion. 31:34.369 --> 31:37.209 He cites the example of Shiloh as an example. 31:37.210 --> 31:39.840 You remember during the period of the Judges when the Ark of 31:39.843 --> 31:42.793 the Covenant was peripatetic and would stay at different places, 31:42.789 --> 31:46.449 but for some time it came to rest at Shiloh with the priest 31:46.450 --> 31:47.650 Eli and his sons. 31:47.650 --> 31:50.270 And in that time, the Philistines managed to 31:50.272 --> 31:53.752 destroy the sanctuary and capture the Ark and carry it off 31:53.750 --> 31:55.580 into Philistine territory. 31:55.579 --> 31:58.569 So the presence of the Ark of the Covenant is no guarantee of 31:58.565 --> 32:01.695 anything, and the belief that God would not allow his temple, 32:01.700 --> 32:04.790 his city, his anointed ruler to be destroyed, 32:04.794 --> 32:06.834 Jeremiah says, is a deception. 32:06.833 --> 32:08.313 It's an illusion. 32:08.309 --> 32:12.759 His political message resembles very much the message of his 32:12.758 --> 32:15.498 predecessors. He says that the nation's 32:15.504 --> 32:19.444 pathetic attempts to resist the great powers and to enter into 32:19.443 --> 32:22.993 alliances with the one against the other--these were all 32:22.994 --> 32:24.484 completely futile. 32:24.480 --> 32:28.500 And to dramatically illustrate the destruction and the slavery 32:28.503 --> 32:31.723 that were inevitable, he paraded around Jerusalem, 32:31.718 --> 32:34.688 first in a wooden yoke and then in an iron yoke. 32:34.690 --> 32:37.640 He does this in chapters 27 and 28. 32:37.640 --> 32:40.890 This is a symbol of the slavery, the yoke of the master 32:40.887 --> 32:43.987 that is to come. In chapter 27:6 he claims that 32:43.988 --> 32:47.888 God has power over all the Earth and has given the Earth to 32:47.890 --> 32:50.850 Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, God's servant. 32:50.849 --> 32:54.089 As you can imagine, referring to the destroyer of 32:54.094 --> 32:57.614 the nation as God's servant would have been shocking, 32:57.609 --> 32:59.299 not to say dangerous. 32:59.299 --> 33:01.509 You can imagine parallels in our own time, 33:01.510 --> 33:04.750 where people would see the God most commonly understood to be 33:04.746 --> 33:08.136 the God of most Americans being the one who orchestrated attacks 33:08.143 --> 33:11.023 against us. It would have that same kind of 33:11.015 --> 33:14.035 feel and power to people, and in several passages 33:14.043 --> 33:18.083 Jeremiah exhorts the king to submit to the Babylonian forces. 33:18.079 --> 33:21.579 This is acceptance of God's will, the forces that are 33:21.583 --> 33:23.203 surrounding Jerusalem. 33:23.200 --> 33:27.530 To ensure the preservation of his words, which were not 33:27.531 --> 33:31.781 popular, Jeremiah had his amanuensis Baruch write down 33:31.782 --> 33:34.752 everything that God spoke to him. 33:34.750 --> 33:38.160 Chapter 36 gives us an insight into this process. 33:38.160 --> 33:42.520 It's kind of interesting because Jeremiah's words are 33:42.516 --> 33:45.566 transcribed. God specifically tells Jeremiah 33:45.569 --> 33:47.649 how to do this. "Get a scroll," he says, 33:47.653 --> 33:50.113 "and write upon it all the words that I have spoken to 33:50.113 --> 33:52.953 you--concerning Israel and Judah and all the nations--from the 33:52.945 --> 33:55.725 time I first spoke to you in the days of Josiah to this time" 33:55.730 --> 33:57.640 (36:2). Now it's the time of 33:57.637 --> 34:01.467 KingJehoiakim and then in verse 4 we read, "So Jeremiah called 34:01.471 --> 34:04.451 Baruch son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote down in the 34:04.446 --> 34:07.586 scroll, at Jeremiah's dictation, all the words which the Lord 34:07.587 --> 34:08.737 had spoken to him." 34:08.739 --> 34:11.619 Now, Jeremiah is in hiding at this time because he's 34:11.621 --> 34:14.741 politically very unpopular, so he instructs Baruch to take 34:14.739 --> 34:17.699 the scroll to the temple and to stand there and to read it to 34:17.699 --> 34:19.859 the people. The king's officials are there. 34:19.860 --> 34:24.210 They report to the king about the subversive message which has 34:24.206 --> 34:26.126 been delivered by Baruch. 34:26.130 --> 34:30.470 So Baruch goes into hiding; the scroll is torn into strips 34:30.471 --> 34:33.111 and burned. God orders Jeremiah to get 34:33.113 --> 34:36.583 another scroll and repeat the process, and he does. 34:36.579 --> 34:40.139 Verse 32 of chapter 36, "So Jeremiah got another scroll 34:40.139 --> 34:43.369 and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. 34:43.369 --> 34:46.109 And at Jeremiah's dictation, he wrote in it the whole text 34:46.114 --> 34:48.814 of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned; 34:48.809 --> 34:50.869 and more of the like was added," – so, 34:50.873 --> 34:53.873 and then some. They came back with even more. 34:53.869 --> 34:57.469 So it's possible--some scholars suggest--that what was written, 34:57.469 --> 35:00.949 would have been the contents of chapters 1 to 25 which really 35:00.953 --> 35:03.743 contains the oracular material, the oracles. 35:03.739 --> 35:06.589 But in any event, this story gives us some 35:06.594 --> 35:09.314 insight into the process of prophecy. 35:09.309 --> 35:11.909 It doesn't appear to have been really off the cuff. 35:11.909 --> 35:14.299 The compositions of the prophets were literary 35:14.300 --> 35:16.690 compositions that were committed to memory; 35:16.690 --> 35:19.320 they could then be dictated again. 35:19.320 --> 35:22.120 And on an archaeological note, I should point out that one of 35:22.117 --> 35:26.097 the most exciting finds, I think, is a clay--in 1975 35:26.096 --> 35:32.346 they found a clay bulla which is like a clay imprint of Baruch 35:32.347 --> 35:35.387 son of Neriah, the scribe – that's what it 35:35.387 --> 35:36.547 says on the clay imprint. 35:36.550 --> 35:38.630 Another one was found in 1996. 35:38.630 --> 35:40.740 It was said to be found in a burnt house in Jerusalem, 35:40.740 --> 35:43.090 which would have been around the time of the destruction. 35:43.090 --> 35:45.110 And it just showed up on the antiquities market, 35:45.114 --> 35:47.144 so some question whether it's genuine or not. 35:47.139 --> 35:49.599 The second one that was found has a fingerprint on it and 35:49.599 --> 35:51.619 people say, well, that could be the fingerprint 35:51.620 --> 35:52.850 of Baruch son of Neriah. 35:52.849 --> 35:55.309 Anyway, this is the fun stuff you get to do if you do 35:55.308 --> 35:57.998 archaeology, but there are plenty of people who think that 35:58.004 --> 36:01.224 these probably are the seals of the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, 36:01.219 --> 36:04.739 that he would have used to stamp anything that he would 36:04.736 --> 36:06.686 have transcribed or written. 36:06.690 --> 36:10.780 So Jeremiah was rejected; he was despised; 36:10.780 --> 36:12.930 he was persecuted by fellow Judeans. 36:12.929 --> 36:15.909 Naturally, they would have seen him as a traitor. 36:15.909 --> 36:18.279 He was flogged, he was imprisoned. 36:18.280 --> 36:21.830 Often in his life he was in hiding, he was a very troubled 36:21.832 --> 36:24.702 person and he lived in very difficult times. 36:24.699 --> 36:28.499 But we also get an insight into his emotional state which we 36:28.504 --> 36:31.024 don't from any of the other prophets. 36:31.020 --> 36:35.180 He suffered immensely; he weeps over Jerusalem in 36:35.176 --> 36:38.536 chapter 8 and 9. We get a sense of the turmoil 36:38.536 --> 36:41.156 that he suffers, particularly because of a group 36:41.156 --> 36:44.606 of passages that are referred to as the Confessions of Jeremiah 36:44.613 --> 36:48.073 and these are sort of scattered throughout--some in chapters 11 36:48.069 --> 36:49.899 and 12, 15,17, 18,20, 36:49.898 --> 36:54.088 but these are passages that reveal his inner state. 36:54.090 --> 36:56.270 Some people question their authenticity, 36:56.269 --> 36:59.679 but in any event they paint a very fascinating portrait of the 36:59.679 --> 37:02.209 prophet. He curses the day that he was 37:02.206 --> 37:04.696 born; he accuses God of deceiving 37:04.702 --> 37:09.402 him, of enticing him to act as God's messenger only to be met 37:09.396 --> 37:13.696 with humiliation and shame, but he can't hold it in. 37:13.699 --> 37:17.139 God's words rage inside him and he must prophesy. 37:17.139 --> 37:21.999 It would be better had he not been born at all than to suffer 37:21.998 --> 37:23.778 this ceaseless pain. 37:23.780 --> 37:27.810 Chapter 20:7-18, just selections from there: 37:27.809 --> 37:30.649 You enticed me, O Lord, and I was enticed; 37:30.650 --> 37:33.360 You overpowered me and You prevailed. 37:33.360 --> 37:35.770 I have become a constant laughingstock, 37:35.770 --> 37:37.210 Everyone jeers at me. 37:37.210 --> 37:39.420 For every time I speak I must cry out, 37:39.420 --> 37:42.250 Must shout, "Lawlessness and rapine!" 37:42.250 --> 37:44.060 For the word of the Lord causes me 37:44.060 --> 37:46.460 Constant disgrace and contempt. 37:46.460 --> 37:48.480 I thought, "I will not mention Him, 37:48.480 --> 37:50.160 No more will I speak in His name"-- 37:50.159 --> 37:52.299 But [His Word] was like a raging fire in my 37:52.302 --> 37:54.642 heart, Shut up in my bones; 37:54.639 --> 37:57.199 I could not hold it in, I was helpless. 37:57.199 --> 37:59.069 I heard the whispers of the crowd-- 37:59.070 --> 38:01.210 Terror all around: "Inform! 38:01.210 --> 38:02.790 Let us inform against him!" 38:02.790 --> 38:04.560 …Accursed be the day That I was born! 38:04.560 --> 38:06.960 …Accursed be the man Who brought my father the news 38:06.960 --> 38:09.030 And said, "A boy / Is born to you," 38:09.030 --> 38:10.400 And gave him such joy! 38:10.400 --> 38:12.510 Let that man become like the cities 38:12.510 --> 38:14.810 Which the Lord overthrew without relenting! 38:14.809 --> 38:17.029 …Because he did not kill me before birth 38:17.030 --> 38:19.090 So that my mother might be my grave, 38:19.090 --> 38:22.330 And her womb big [with me] for all time. 38:22.329 --> 38:24.309 Why did I ever issue from the womb, 38:24.310 --> 38:28.330 To see misery and woe, To spend all my days in 38:28.329 --> 38:30.529 shame! Nevertheless, 38:30.526 --> 38:35.816 despite all of his very harsh criticisms of the establishment 38:35.817 --> 38:38.807 authorities, the royal house and even 38:38.808 --> 38:43.118 scribes, other prophets who are labeled as liars by Jeremiah, 38:43.119 --> 38:47.619 his words were preserved by scribes, by the Deuteronomistic 38:47.623 --> 38:50.223 editors. Shortly after the fall of 38:50.221 --> 38:53.501 Judah, Jeremiah was taken forcibly to Egypt. 38:53.500 --> 38:55.610 And he lived his final years out in Egypt. 38:55.610 --> 38:57.350 He didn't give up his job though. 38:57.350 --> 38:58.620 He kept denouncing people. 38:58.619 --> 39:02.289 We have records of his denouncing his fellow Judean 39:02.290 --> 39:06.330 exiles down in Egypt for worshipping the Queen of Heaven 39:06.328 --> 39:10.328 and as before, it seems very few heeded him 39:10.329 --> 39:12.669 there. But like the earlier prophets, 39:12.671 --> 39:15.511 Jeremiah also balanced his message with a message of 39:15.514 --> 39:17.724 consolation, and there are some very 39:17.715 --> 39:20.975 interesting and unique features of Jeremiah's message of 39:20.979 --> 39:23.589 consolation. These passages are found 39:23.587 --> 39:27.807 particularly in chapters 30 to 33 where we have more hopeful 39:27.808 --> 39:30.998 prophesies. He envisages a restoration; 39:31.000 --> 39:34.630 the exile will come to an end, and in fact Jeremiah is the 39:34.628 --> 39:38.378 first to actually set a time limit to what we might refer to 39:38.384 --> 39:40.744 as the dominion of the idolaters; 39:40.739 --> 39:43.599 the idolaters holding sway over God's people, 39:43.599 --> 39:46.329 and that time limit he says is 70 years. 39:46.329 --> 39:50.409 Jeremiah writes a letter to the first group of deportees, 39:50.406 --> 39:53.096 so remember the first siege in 597? 39:53.099 --> 39:56.329 You have the king killed, his son and many people taken 39:56.326 --> 39:57.756 into exile in Babylon. 39:57.760 --> 40:00.670 Jeremiah, from Jerusalem, writes a letter to that first 40:00.674 --> 40:03.054 group of exiles and it's quite remarkable, 40:03.050 --> 40:06.170 it's found in chapter 29, and it's quite remarkable for 40:06.166 --> 40:09.626 its counsel, its advice to the exiles to settle down in their 40:09.630 --> 40:12.170 adopted home and just wait out the time. 40:12.170 --> 40:13.770 There is an appointed end. 40:13.769 --> 40:16.979 He warns the people not to listen to prophets who say you 40:16.982 --> 40:19.222 will return shortly, it's just a lie. 40:19.219 --> 40:22.949 The Israelites have to serve the king of Babylon and by doing 40:22.954 --> 40:24.204 so they will live. 40:24.199 --> 40:27.999 So in Jeremiah 29:4-7, "Thus said the Lord of Hosts, 40:27.997 --> 40:31.567 the God of Israel, to the whole community which I 40:31.570 --> 40:34.400 exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon," 40:34.400 --> 40:38.010 --he's writing to the exiles: Build houses and live in 40:38.014 --> 40:40.484 them, plant gardens and eat their fruit. 40:40.480 --> 40:43.280 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; 40:43.280 --> 40:45.810 and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to 40:45.809 --> 40:48.109 husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. 40:48.110 --> 40:49.990 Multiply there, do not decrease. 40:49.989 --> 40:53.339 And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled 40:53.341 --> 40:55.461 you..." Instead of seek the welfare of 40:55.460 --> 40:58.630 Jerusalem, seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled 40:58.633 --> 41:00.873 you "and pray to the Lord in its behalf; 41:00.869 --> 41:03.869 for in its prosperity you shall prosper. 41:03.869 --> 41:06.929 In other words, you're in for the long haul. 41:06.929 --> 41:10.379 And you shouldn't be deceived by the idle dreams or the false 41:10.380 --> 41:13.140 prophets who tell you that return is imminent. 41:13.140 --> 41:14.550 God has other plans. 41:14.550 --> 41:17.340 They are plans for welfare, not for evil, 41:17.335 --> 41:20.465 and they will give you a future and a hope. 41:20.469 --> 41:22.819 At the end of 70 years, Jeremiah said, 41:22.817 --> 41:26.427 there will be a great war of all the nations and Judah and 41:26.434 --> 41:29.104 Israel will be returned to their land. 41:29.099 --> 41:32.749 Zion, he declared, would be acknowledged as the 41:32.745 --> 41:36.465 Holy City and a new Davidic king would reign. 41:36.469 --> 41:39.739 A new covenant would be made with Israel as well. 41:39.739 --> 41:41.439 And this time, Jeremiah says, 41:41.443 --> 41:44.363 it's a covenant that will be etched on the heart, 41:44.364 --> 41:46.864 encoded as it were into human nature. 41:46.860 --> 41:50.820 Jeremiah 31:31-34: See, a time is 41:50.822 --> 41:54.052 coming--declares the Lord--when I will make a new covenant with 41:54.052 --> 41:56.452 the House of Israel and the House of Judah. 41:56.449 --> 41:58.699 It will not be like the covenant I made with their 41:58.695 --> 42:01.445 fathers, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the 42:01.445 --> 42:03.865 land of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, 42:03.868 --> 42:06.378 so that I rejected them--declares the Lord. 42:06.380 --> 42:09.600 But such is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel 42:09.596 --> 42:12.706 after these days--declares the Lord: I will put My Teaching 42:12.706 --> 42:16.026 into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. 42:16.030 --> 42:19.050 Then I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 42:19.050 --> 42:21.930 No longer will they need to teach one another and say to one 42:21.931 --> 42:24.111 another, "Heed the Lord"; for all of them, 42:24.106 --> 42:26.726 from the least of them to the greatest, shall heed 42:26.730 --> 42:29.760 Me--declares the Lord. So this is a remarkable idea. 42:29.760 --> 42:33.130 It seems to express some dissatisfaction with the element 42:33.128 --> 42:35.648 of free will, which is otherwise so crucial 42:35.654 --> 42:38.484 to the biblical notion of covenant and morality: 42:38.481 --> 42:41.791 the idea that humans freely choose their actions. 42:41.789 --> 42:44.819 After all, when you think about some of the major themes set out 42:44.819 --> 42:47.459 in the Hebrew Bible at the very beginning in the opening 42:47.464 --> 42:50.624 chapters, this would seem to be a 42:50.619 --> 42:53.699 cardinal principle: choice. 42:53.699 --> 42:56.379 But free choice does mean of course that there will be bad 42:56.384 --> 42:58.744 choices and there will be disobedience and evil, 42:58.739 --> 43:02.089 and people can get tired of that and Jeremiah was. 43:02.090 --> 43:06.190 So his utopian ideal is inspiring, but it does eliminate 43:06.194 --> 43:08.214 the element of free will. 43:08.210 --> 43:11.470 It seems to describe a situation in which humans are 43:11.467 --> 43:14.147 almost hardwired to obey God's covenant. 43:14.150 --> 43:17.220 That's a tension that will also be developed in some later 43:17.219 --> 43:19.819 texts. I just note it here. 43:19.820 --> 43:23.810 In a very beautiful passage, Jeremiah describes a future 43:23.809 --> 43:27.579 restoration of the temple, the bringing of offerings 43:27.580 --> 43:31.970 again, the singing of psalms and praise, and this is in contrast 43:31.966 --> 43:34.326 to chapter 25. There, in chapter 25, 43:34.334 --> 43:37.324 he warned that God will banish "the sound of mirth and 43:37.323 --> 43:39.633 gladness, the voice of bridegroom and 43:39.631 --> 43:42.171 bride," leaving the land a desolate ruin. 43:42.170 --> 43:45.630 Now in his oracle of consolation Jeremiah says, 43:45.630 --> 43:48.160 Again there shall be heard in this place… in the 43:48.158 --> 43:51.098 towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, 43:51.099 --> 43:52.829 without man, without inhabitants, 43:52.834 --> 43:55.494 without beast--the sound of mirth and gladness, 43:55.489 --> 43:58.169 the voice of bridegroom and bride, the voice of those who 43:58.168 --> 44:00.128 cry, "Give thanks to the Lord of Hosts, 44:00.130 --> 44:02.710 for the Lord is good, for His kindness is 44:02.711 --> 44:04.781 everlasting!" as they bring thanksgiving 44:04.778 --> 44:06.298 offerings to the House of the Lord. 44:06.300 --> 44:09.870 For I will restore the fortunes of the land as of old--said the 44:09.868 --> 44:13.588 Lord [Jer 33:10-11]. So just to kind of summarize 44:13.586 --> 44:18.396 these prophets leading up to the time of the destruction (because 44:18.402 --> 44:23.222 next time we'll be talking about the exile and later the return): 44:23.218 --> 44:27.658 The fall of Jerusalem shattered the national and territorial 44:27.658 --> 44:31.118 basis of Israel's culture and religion. 44:31.119 --> 44:33.739 The Babylonians had burned the temple to the ground, 44:33.742 --> 44:36.212 they carried away most of the people to exile, 44:36.210 --> 44:39.730 to live in exile in Babylon, leaving behind mostly members 44:39.730 --> 44:43.560 of the lower classes to eke out a living as best they could. 44:43.559 --> 44:48.029 And it was the completion of a tragedy that had begun centuries 44:48.033 --> 44:52.513 earlier and it was interpreted as a fulfillment of the covenant 44:52.506 --> 44:54.816 curses. It was the end of the Davidic 44:54.821 --> 44:57.551 monarchy, although the Deuteronomistic historian does 44:57.550 --> 45:00.470 close with this note, that the son of Jehoiakim was 45:00.471 --> 45:03.741 alive and living in Babylon, kind of holding out hope that 45:03.738 --> 45:06.258 the line hadn't actually been killed out, 45:06.260 --> 45:09.750 hadn't been completely wiped out. 45:09.750 --> 45:13.120 But the institution seemed to have come to an end for now. 45:13.119 --> 45:15.039 It was the end of the temple, the end of the priesthood, 45:15.035 --> 45:17.825 the end of Israel as a nation, as an autonomous nation, 45:17.832 --> 45:21.832 and so the Israelites were confronted with a great test. 45:21.829 --> 45:25.139 As I've stressed before, one option would be to see in 45:25.143 --> 45:28.773 these events a signal that Yahweh had abandoned them to, 45:28.769 --> 45:31.799 or had been defeated by, the god of the Babylonians, 45:31.802 --> 45:35.372 and Marduk would replace Yahweh as the Israelites assimilated 45:35.369 --> 45:37.449 themselves into their new home. 45:37.449 --> 45:40.919 And certainly there were Israelites who went this route, 45:40.919 --> 45:44.519 but others who were firmly rooted in exclusive Yahwism did 45:44.515 --> 45:46.495 not, and they're the ones who left 45:46.498 --> 45:47.568 us their literature. 45:47.570 --> 45:51.710 How could this faith survive outside the framework of 45:51.707 --> 45:56.077 Israelite national culture, away from the temple and the 45:56.084 --> 45:58.714 land, uprooted and scattered? 45:58.710 --> 46:01.640 Could Israelite religion survive without these national 46:01.641 --> 46:04.411 foundations and institutions and on foreign soil, 46:04.409 --> 46:07.479 or would it go the way of other national religions? 46:07.480 --> 46:10.570 You hear the pain and the despair that would have been 46:10.567 --> 46:13.827 experienced at this time in the words of the Psalmist, 46:13.829 --> 46:16.839 Psalm 137 which is written at this time: 46:16.840 --> 46:19.170 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, 46:19.170 --> 46:22.040 sat and wept, as we thought of Zion. 46:22.040 --> 46:24.770 There on the poplars we hung up our lyres, 46:24.769 --> 46:28.009 for our captors asked us there for songs 46:28.010 --> 46:29.850 our tormentors, for amusement, 46:29.851 --> 46:32.201 "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." 46:32.199 --> 46:33.609 How can we sing a song of the Lord 46:33.610 --> 46:36.570 on alien soil? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, 46:36.570 --> 46:39.880 let my right hand wither; let my tongue stick to my palate 46:39.880 --> 46:43.370 if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep Jerusalem in 46:43.365 --> 46:46.525 memory even at my happiest hour. 46:46.530 --> 46:49.540 It was the message of the prophets that helped some 46:49.536 --> 46:53.196 Israelites make sense of their situation in a manner that kept 46:53.203 --> 46:56.273 them distinct and invulnerable to assimilation. 46:56.269 --> 46:59.039 And this was probably the reason for the preservation of 46:59.040 --> 47:02.060 the prophetic writings, even though they had often been 47:02.062 --> 47:04.622 despised or unheeded in their own lifetimes. 47:04.619 --> 47:07.799 Yahweh hadn't been defeated, they claimed. 47:07.800 --> 47:10.690 The nation's calamities were not disproof of His power and 47:10.687 --> 47:12.407 covenant, they were proof of it. 47:12.409 --> 47:15.079 The prophets had spoken truly when they had said that 47:15.081 --> 47:18.161 destruction would follow if the people didn't turn from their 47:18.164 --> 47:20.634 moral and religious violations of God's law. 47:20.630 --> 47:23.220 So that rather than undermining faith in God, 47:23.215 --> 47:26.555 the defeat and the exile when interpreted in the prophetic 47:26.563 --> 47:29.083 manner, had the potential to convince 47:29.083 --> 47:32.643 Jews of the need to show absolute and undivided devotion 47:32.637 --> 47:36.367 to God and His commandments, so that paradoxically the 47:36.365 --> 47:40.365 moment of greatest national despair could be transformed by 47:40.367 --> 47:44.297 the prophets into an occasion for the renewal of religious 47:44.300 --> 47:47.120 faith. The great contribution of the 47:47.120 --> 47:51.240 prophets was their emphasis on God's desire for morality as 47:51.241 --> 47:53.871 expressed in the ancient covenant. 47:53.869 --> 47:57.799 The great contribution of Jeremiah was his insistence on 47:57.802 --> 48:01.022 God's everlasting covenant with his people, 48:01.019 --> 48:04.419 even outside the land of Israel and despite the loss of national 48:04.415 --> 48:08.435 religious symbols--the temple, the Holy City, the Davidic king. 48:08.440 --> 48:12.000 And this insistence that the faithful person's relationship 48:11.996 --> 48:15.206 with God wasn't broken, even in an idolatrous land, 48:15.208 --> 48:18.378 when added to Jeremiah's notion of a new covenant, 48:18.380 --> 48:22.280 provided the exiles with the ideas that would transform the 48:22.275 --> 48:25.495 nation of Israel into the religion of Judaism. 48:25.500 --> 48:29.010 Next time we're going to turn to two post-destruction prophets 48:29.007 --> 48:32.227 who also helped the nation formulate a viable response to 48:32.227 --> 48:34.467 the tragedy that had befallen them. 48:34.469 --> 48:38.989 This is a point at which we can begin to use words like 48:38.994 --> 48:40.004 "Judaism."