Voices from the Ruins: Theodicy and the Fall of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible by Rom-Shiloni Dalit

Author:Rom-Shiloni, Dalit [Rom-Shiloni, Dalit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eerdmans
Published: 2021-05-13T00:00:00+00:00

These instructions to the human armies are parallel to the orders given by YHWH earlier in Ezek 9 to the “person clothed in linen” (from the celestial retinue), who is called to act against Jerusalem and who returns to YHWH and proclaims that he completed his mission (9:3–7, 11). 39

d. The human enemy at times appears as but one of the destroying forces that God may activate.

Images of natural forces—storms (Jer 4:13) and predators (lion in 4:7; lion of the forest, wolf of the desert, and leopard by the city gates in 5:6; eagle in 4:13; and similarly in PAN 48:40; 49:22)—reinforce the terror. 40

e. The consequences of war are total destruction of people and city, and an empty land.

Because it is under divine sovereignty, the city, its houses, and its population will suffer a conclusive punishment, which is symbolized in Jer 19, for instance, by both the broken jug and the renaming of the Topheth , the cultic site in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which will be called the Valley of Slaughter (19:6). 41 Among the inflictions that God intends to bring upon the city is its complete desolation, as indicated by 19:8: “And I will make this city an object of horror and hissing [ושמתי את־העיר הזאת לשמה ולשרקה ]; everyone who passes by it will be appalled and will hiss over all its wounds.” 42

These examples show that, in the prophetic framework, everything done by the enemies is simply the manifestation of the divine plan and instructions. The human enemies are tools of war in God’s arsenal, as depicted in the prophecy against Babylon: “YHWH has opened His armory and brought out the weapons of His wrath; for that is the task of my Lord, YHWH of Hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans” (PAN Jer 50:25). The parallels between the descriptions of God’s functions and activity in judgment prophecies against Israel and in prophecies against the nations illustrate that the concept of God as sovereign, meting out punishment, extends throughout the entire universe and is not limited to actions against Israel.

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