The Prophet Jeremiah, Prophecy, and the Seventy Year Exile Prophecy
Prophecy
Before specifically addressing the Prophet Jeremiah, specifically, it might be good to take a brief glance at the question and issue of “prophecy” in general. Having experienced a few precognitive spiritual experiences, one of which was a notarized and very detailed stream of consciousness - a warning - titled the “What a Nightmare! - Mustard Seed” spiritual-psychic experience, prophecy has been an issue which I have personally found to be fascinating. I have had several discussions about prophecy both with Lutheran pastor Kris as well as Anglican Priest Tom.
In one of my discussions with pastor Kris mentioned that a member of the congregation had asked him if Nostradamus was a prophet, and asked me what I thought. Early in my experiences, a psychologist told me to write down my predictions. I tried that for a short while and a couple of my predictions were uncanny and interesting. After turning the question over in my mind for some time, I reached the conclusion that “Making predictions to make predictions” didn't really make any sense, psychologically, spiritually, not to mention physiologically - and there needed to be some purpose involved. In fact as the years progressed, I cam o realize that "purpose" is pivotal in spiritual-psychic experiences.
That is, for instance, in animal behavior alarm calls are prevalent in many species - calls to warn of threats to the group. From research into the psychics such as Edgar Cayce, Jeane Dixon, as well as Nostradamus, all of them had a very high rate of failures when they made predictions to make predictions. I am not a scholar of the documented psychic Edgar Cayce, who was active roughly form 1925 to 1945, but, from over-viewing his "readings," my impression is that when he was giving readings for specific individuals he was better than when he was asked to make global predictions. In one reading of global earth changes, he mad a long list of "earth change" predictions, which would all come true by 1998, including a prediction that Japan would sink into the sea - all of which were wrong. In contrast my impression was that when he gave readings for WWII soldiers he gave more accurate 'predictions' of the course of WWII. The bottom line is that when "psychics", "healers", and "mediums" are helping others they do much better.
It is important to understand that - contrary to folklore, no psychic is perfect. They all make mistakes, including the Old testament prophet Ezekiel who, as the theologian Tim Callahan pointed out, was a bit off in his prophecy that the city of Tyre would be destroyed utterly by the Babylonians. Historically what happened is that Tyre made a deal with the Babylonians and the Babylonians lifted their siege without destroying the city of Tyre. For the record, I asked Tom, an Anglican priest, if prophets are perfect. He answered, "No!"
So, I responded to Pastor Kris that Nostradamus was not a "prophet" because he didn’t preach the Word of God in any way. After that discussion, I went home and looked up “prophet” in “Theopedia,” which stated that Prophecy is “speaking the Word of God.” On top of that the position that God puts prophets on earth to “make predictions” would be, on the face of it, a rather ludicrous proposition. However, unfortunately, that does appear to be a common misconception.
Christians do appear, at times, to be a little bit myopic when it comes to prophecy. Christian leaders tend to narrowly focus on the prophecies that appear to predict or prophecy the coming of the Messiah. For instance, Isaiah states that “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Or again, Isaiah says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1)
Christian leaders believe that Christ fulfilled these prophecies and quote what Christ says, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18). Debbie McDaniel, in her article, 10 Bible Verses That Prophesy Christ's Birth, states that "Throughout the Scriptures, weaved through verse after verse in the Old Testament, are prophecies that speak of the Christ who was to come.... God alone is the only One who could plan those specific details and ensure they all come to pass. Jesus is the fulfillment of Scripture. He is the Word. He is the Light. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life." It is for this reason that many Christians unequivocally equate prophecy with "prediction" - because they are 'taught' that prophecy - relative to Christ - is entirely about "prophesying-predicting" the coming of the Messiah - Christ: "Jesus is the fulfillment of Scripture." That being said, it would seem a very important point would be that, in teaching that Christ is justified by the prophecy - the Word of God - they are detracting from what Christ said - to worship God in "Spirit and Truth" (John 4: 23-24).
That is, rather than focus "Christians" on "Spirit and Truth" they focus attention on a "Transcendental God" and also reduces Christians' sense of autonomy, Will, and sense of agency by implying - wrongly - that God will take care of "Everything." To my knowledge Jesus Christ never even hinted or suggested that Christians had to do nothing and God would take care of everything. In my view, it is bad psychology because it justifies Jesus Christ on the basis of a Transcendental God as opposed to the Teachings of Christ, for example Christ's commandment to "love" - which from my perspective makes some Christians "ungrounded" and detached, in a way, from the real world - which makes "Truth" solely and entirely a "Transcendental Truth." I And, if Truth is only a "Transcendental Truth, then what good is it?
The Prophet Jeremiah
The Prophet Jeremiah (“jeremiah” means Yahweh establishes) lived in Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah roughly from 627-586 B.C. Jeremiah dates the beginning of his ministry (627 B.C.) when he had his vision of the almond branch and the tipping cauldron which conveyed the message of a threat from the “foe from the north!” An interesting comment about Jeremiah’s first prophecy would be that there is a play of words of the Hebrew word for almond which has its roots in the Hebrew word for “watching” and Jeremiah’s comment that God was “watching.” Another important nuance of the first prophecy is that Jeremiah speaks about God asking Jeremiah what he saw – which has an entirely different meaning from a ‘prophet coming down from the mountain and making “proclamations or pronouncements.” Jeremiah is often called the Weeping Prophet because he lived through witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Jeremiah The Fighter
Because Jeremiah’s message was so critical of the Jewish people and his country of Judah, Jeremiah aroused some bitter resentment and animosity against him, and there was even a plot to kill him – in which even his family appeared to have a role. “His unpopularity grew, and brought upon him jeering, ostracism, and cursing (15:10-11, 17; 17:15; 20:7).” (p. 101 book of jer) Often, Jeremiah cried out for justice against these people who were hurting him and hindering his mission. In the end, he was very bitter, and after the widespread destruction of Judah (confirmed by archaeologists), he was taken forcibly to Egypt to escape the wrath of the Jewish “Super-Patriots” who wanted revenge for Jeremiah having spoken out against the Jewish leaders.
What I like about the Prophet Jeremiah is that he was a fighter. In a public “prophetic display” Jeremiah broke a pottery vessel at Jerusalem’s gate of shards to symbolize how the Jewish people would be broken by God the same as Jeremiah broke the pottery vessel. In another public “prophetic display” Jeremiah revealed his prophecies condemning Jewish practices of worshipping idols in his “Temple Sermon.” For prophesying, Jeremiah was publicly humiliated by the head priest, put on public trial after his Temple Sermon, and just before the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, thrown into a pit in a dungeon and left to die.
It is crucial to understand the prophecy of Jeremiah that Jeremiah’s “message” changed (which also changed the “narrative”) from one of Jews incurring God’s wrath because of their faithlessness in turning away from the Ways of God and worshiping idols, to a message of reconciliation and hope. Here is Jeremiah 32:36-37: 36 "You are saying about this city, 'By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.
The Prophecy of the Seventy Year Exile
It should be noted that the first Babylonian attack and deportation happened in 597 B.C. In an effort to convince the people of Judah that Babylon was now their new master, they began a process of forcing key residents into exile, as early as 605 B.C. More deportations took place in later years, culminating with the wholesale destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 B.C. Jeremiah spoke twice about the length of time the deported Jews would remain in exile. The first reference is in Jeremiah 25:11 which appears to be a part of a summary (Jeremiah 25:1-14) Jeremiah 25:13 reads: “And this whole land shall be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.” As I mentioned before, archaeologists’ excavations have demonstrated that during that particular historical period, numerous cities in Judah were in fact destroyed and there was widespread destruction. The Jewish captivity ended in 539 BC, when Cyrus, a leader of Persians and Medes, conquered Babylon and brought an end to its empire. Cyrus then gave the captive Jews the freedom to return to their homeland.
John A. Thompson, the Australian Old Testament scholar and biblical archaeologist, observed in his voluminous book about Jeremiah, that different scholars calculate the number of years of the historical exile in different ways. For instance, one method of calculation takes the number of years in between the fall of the Assyrian capital in 612 B. C. to the fall of Babylon in 539 B. C. which comes to seventy-three. That is really close to the seventy years as prophesied by Jeremiah – though as Thompson points out, not “exact.” (p.514)
However, on the face of it, the Exile itself should be the gauge since Jeremiah is addressing the Jews in his prophecy and so any analysis should be directed at the situation of the Jews and not the Assyrians or Babylonians. For the Jews, the exile went from the first defeat of Judah with the capture of Jerusalem and the deportation of a substantial number of important Jewish leaders and artisans in 597 B. C. to the edict liberating the Jews issued by Cyrus in 538 - which gives one a sum of 59 years.
To understand the message and the narrative of Jeremiah’s prophecy it is crucial to grasp that at the beginning of the Exile, the “false prophets” were prophesying that the exiled Jews that their redemption was around the corner, and that very soon they would be returning home. I’m sure, since Jeremiah would have known they were dead wrong would have incensed Jeremiah – especially since it would produce bad fruit as it were. That would appear to be really bad psychology – telling people something will happen soon and then that not happening could be pretty destructive to the morale of the people. So, Jeremiah took a stance and made a stand and prophesied that the Jews would return to their homeland in seventy years. Jeremiah’s message to the Exiled Jews was, essentially to ‘settle down in that redemption would be long in coming – but that redemption – and reconciliation would indeed take place.’
Conclusions about Jeremiah
I must say, in my view, Jeremiah did Exactly what he was supposed to do. He provided leadership and guidance. And provided a framework of what would occur in the future. To quibble over the fact that Jeremiah didn’t get the precise number of years down on the Exile would be, in my mind like criticizing Jeremiah for having his shoes untied. To my knowledge no one has ever predicted the exact date of an event, except perhaps for the assassination of Caesar, about which there is some historical debate. As the Biblical scholar, Thompson observed, “if we regard it [the number seventy] as a symbol for “many” (Judge 1:7; 8:14; 1 Sam. 6:19; 2 Sam. 24:15; Ps. 90:10; etc.), it will serve the purpose which Jeremiah probably intended.” (p.514) 58 years translates to me as a "long time" and Jeremiah was correct - it was a long time. What impresses me was that Jeremiah not only knew that the Exile wouldn't end anytime soon but he stood up and "challenged" the false prophets. My argument is that prophecy is a narrative and that in this particular prophecy, Jeremiah created a narrative that, in the end, worked very well in shaping consciousness and the future. In my view Jeremiah got the job done – very well actually.
While I am not a religious scholar, the only writing about prophecy as a topic in and of itself is Spinoza’s argument that prophets like Moses are “Exemplars,” which are defined as “a person or thing serving as a typical example or excellent model.” My argument is that prophecy is both a message and a narrative or story. Further it would seem rather evident that between the message and the narrative prophecies shape human consciousness which in turn shapes the future as it were since how we think and act would largely determine the future.
T
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References and Footnotes
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