day and night

February 25, 2017

Cry for Zion (Lam 2:18-2:18)

Cade

“Cry aloud

To the Lord!

O wall

Of daughter Zion!

Let tears

Stream down

Like a torrent,

Day and night!

Give yourself

No rest!

Give your eyes

No respite!”

This author wants daughter Zion and her wall to cry to Yahweh. Their tears should stream down like a torrent of water, day and night. There was to be no rest. Their eyes should always be crying. This verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Cade. Each verse after this will use the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in this acrostic poem.

December 29, 2016

The covenant about future kings and Levites (Jer 33:19-33:22)

“The word of Yahweh

Came to Jeremiah.

Thus says Yahweh.

‘If any of you could break

My covenant with the day,

If any of you could break

My covenant with the night,

So that day and night

Would not come

At their appointed time,

Only then could

My covenant

With my servant David

Be broken.

Thus he would not

Have a son

To reign on his throne.

My covenant is

With my ministers,

The Levites.

Just as the host of heaven

Cannot be numbered,

Just as the sands of the sea

Cannot be measured,

So I will increase

The offspring

Of my servant David.

I will increase

The Levites

Who minister to me.’”

Once again this is an oracle of Yahweh to Jeremiah. Yahweh seems to say that if you can make day and night not appear at the correct time, then he would break his covenant with David. Otherwise, David would have a son to reign on his throne. It was very clear that no one could become king without a Davidic background. He also includes the Levite ministers, when he compares the numerous heavenly hosts and the immeasurable sands of the sea that cannot be measured or counted. Thus there would be offspring of David and Levites to minister to him.

November 15, 2016

The reason for Yahweh’s judgment (Jer 16:11-16:13)

“Then you shall say to them.

Says Yahweh.

‘It is because your ancestors

Have forsaken me.

They have gone after other gods.

They have served them.

They have worshiped them.

They have forsaken me.

They have not kept my law.

However you have behaved worse

Than your ancestors.

Here you are,

Every one of you,

Following your stubborn evil will.

You refuse to listen to me.

Therefore I will hurl you

Out of this land,

Into a land

That neither you,

Nor your ancestors,

Have known.

There you shall serve other gods

Day and night.

I will show you no favor.’”

Jeremiah received his explanation of why this disaster was to come from Yahweh. The problem was twofold, their ancestors and they themselves. First of all, their ancestors had forsaken Yahweh, since they served and worshipped other gods. They did not keep Yahweh’s law. However, the current Israelites were even worse than their ancestors. Jeremiah’s contemporaries refused to listen to him. Instead they followed their own stubborn evil ways. The result of this was that the current people of Judah and Jerusalem would be thrown out of this Promised Land into another country. There they would serve other gods, day and night, in a land that was foreign to them and their ancestors. Yahweh was in no mood to show any favors.

August 28, 2016

Prayer of suffering (Isa 38:12-38:15)

“My dwelling is plucked up.

My dwelling is removed from me

Like a shepherd’s tent.

Like a weaver,

I have rolled up my life.

He cuts me off from the loom.

From day to night,

You bring me to an end.

I cry for help

Until morning.

Like a lion,

He breaks all my bones.

From day to night,

You bring me to an end.

I clamor

Like a swallow,

Like a crane.

I moan

Like a dove.

My eyes are weary

With looking upward.

O Lord!

I am oppressed!

Be my security!

But what can I say?

He has spoken to me.

He himself has done it.

All my sleep has fled.

Because of the bitterness of my soul.”

Second Isaiah has King Hezekiah suffering a lot. He has lost his dwelling so that all he has is a tent, like a shepherd. His life has been rolled up so that he is like a weaver who cannot get to his loom. He suffers both day and night as he cries all night. His bones are broken as if from a lion’s attack. He clamors like a swallow or a crane and moans like a dove. He is weary from looking up. He wanted Yahweh to be his security because he was oppressed. What can he say? Yahweh has told him about what he has done to him. He cannot sleep because of his bitter soul. This king is depressed.

August 20, 2016

The eternal fire in Edom (Isa 34:8-34:10)

“Yahweh has a day of vengeance.

He has a year of vindication

For Zion’s cause.

The streams of Edom

Shall be turned into pitch.

Her soil turned into sulfur.

Her land shall become a burning pitch.

Night and day,

It shall not be quenched.

Its smoke shall go up forever.

From generation to generation,

It shall lie waste.

No one shall pass through it forever and ever.”

Isaiah says that Yahweh will have his day of vengeance and a year of vindication for Mount Zion. The water streams of Edom will be turned into oily pitch, while the land will become like sulfur. Thus the whole land will become a burning pitch of fire and brimstone. Both day and night, forever, this fire with its smoke will not go out. For generations to come, this land will lay wasted so that no one will ever pass by there again. Its sounds like some kind of deserted smoking volcano, suffering the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis, chapter 19.

August 11, 2016

The great storm flood (Isa 28:17-28:19)

“Hail will sweep away

The refuge of lies.

Waters will overwhelm

The shelter.

Then your covenant with death

Will be annulled.

Your agreement with Sheol

Will not stand.

When the overwhelming scourge

Passes through,

You will be beaten down by it.

As often as it passes through,

It will take you.

Morning by morning,

It will pass through.

By day and by night,

It will pass through.

It will be sheer terror

To understand the message.”

Isaiah remarks that as for the lies of the former rulers, their refuge and shelters will be destroyed and swept away by hail and flooding. Their covenant with death, mentioned above, will be annulled. Their agreement with Sheol will fall apart. This storm scourge will beat them down as it goes through each day and night. The sheer terror of this storm will help them to understand this message.