Beth
“Yahweh’s way is
In whirlwinds.
Yahweh’s way is
In storms.
The clouds are
The dust of his feet.”
In classical poetic language, Yahweh was described as being in the whirlwinds and the storms. However, there was a new graphic concept that the clouds were the dust of his feet, in this 2nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Beth.
“Bless the Lord!
Ice!
Cold!
Sing praise to him!
Highly exalt him forever!
Bless the Lord!
Frosts!
Snows!
Sing praise to him!
Highly exalt him forever!
Bless the Lord!
Lightning!
Clouds!
Sing praise to him!
Highly exalt him forever!”
This hymn continued with a blessing of the Lord from the ice, the cold, the frosts, the snows, the lightning, and the clouds. God controlled them, so that they should praise and exalt him forever.
“All the birds
Of the air
Settle
On its fallen trunk.
All the wild animals
Lodge
Among its boughs.
All this is
In order
That no trees
By the waters
May grow
To a lofty height
Or set their tops
Among the clouds.
No trees
That drink water
May reach up
To them
In height.
All of them
Are handed over
To death,
To the world below.
They will be
With all mortals,
Who go down
To the pit.”
The birds of the air will settle on the fallen trunk of this great cedar tree. Wild animals will be among its loose branches. This would be a warning that no other trees that were near water should grow to lofty heights. No other trees should have their tree tops in the clouds or reach up to those heights. All of them would be handed over to death, to go to the world below, the great pit, where all the other mortals go. This personification of the cedar tree was complete, since it would share the afterlife with other mortals in the underworld pit.
“Therefore,
Thus says Yahweh God!
‘The cedar tree
Towered high.
It set its top
Among the clouds.
Its heart
Was proud
Of its height.
I will give it
Into the hand
Of the prince
Of the nations.
He has dealt
With it,
As its wickedness deserves.
I have cast it out.
Foreigners,
From the most terrible
Of the nations,
Have cut it down.
They have left it.
Its branches
Have fallen
On the mountains.
In all the valleys.
Its boughs
Lie broken
In all the watercourses
Of the land.
All the people
Of the earth
Went away
From its shade.
They left it.’”
Yahweh, via Ezekiel, said that this great cedar tree towered high, with its tree top in the clouds. This tree was proud in its heart of its height. Yahweh gave it to the prince of the nations, probably the king of Babylon, who dealt with it because of its wickedness. Yahweh was going to cast it out. Foreigners from the worst nations came and cut it down. They left it lying on the mountains and in the valleys. The fallen broken branches were on the ground and in small streams of water. Everybody went away from its shade, as they left this fallen tree alone.
“Consider a cedar
Of Lebanon!
It has fair branches.
It has forest shade.
It has great height.
Its top is
Among the clouds.
The waters nourished it.
The deep made it
Grow tall.
Its rivers flow
Around the place
It was planted,
Sending forth
Its streams
To all the trees
of the forest.
So it towered high
Above all the trees
Of the forest.
Its boughs grew large.
Its branches were long
From abundant water
In its shoots.”
Yahweh, via Ezekiel, compared Egypt to a tall cedar tree in Lebanon. This majestic tree had fair branches in a forest shade. It was extremely tall so that its top reached into the clouds. Ezekiel seems to be referring to an ancient Babylonian myth about the deep abyss or a dragon from the watery chaos that made trees grow tall. Thus they would enter the heaven of the gods in the clouds. The nourishing water from this deep abyss made this cedar tree grow tall. Streams from this water abyss flowed all around the place where this tree was planted. Even the other trees in the forest were able to grow because of this water. Nevertheless, this high cedar tree towered over all the other trees in the forest, because it had large long branches, due to the abundance of water in its shoots.
“Who has
Gone up into heaven?
Who has
Taken her?
Who has
Brought her down
From the clouds?
Who has
Gone over the sea?
Who has
Found her?
Who will buy her
For pure gold?
No one knows
The way to her.
No one is concerned
About the path to her.”
Next Baruch asked a series of questions about wisdom. Who has ever gone up to heaven and took wisdom away? Who has brought her down from the clouds? Who has gone over the seas and then found her? Who was able to buy wisdom with pure gold? The answer, of course, is no one. No one knows the way to wisdom. In fact, most people are not concerned about the paths to wisdom. There is no broad highway to wisdom.
“Now I will tell you
What I will do
To my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge.
It shall be devoured.
I will break down its wall.
It shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste.
It shall not be pruned.
It shall not be hoed.
It shall be overgrown
With briers.
It shall be overgrown
With thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain upon it.”
Now Isaiah carries this metaphor forward. What should he do with this wild grape vineyard? He decided to remove the hedges and walls that protected this vineyard from other animals and wild growth. He wanted this vineyard to be devoured and trampled on, so that it would go to waste. He was not going to prune or hoe it. He wanted it to be overgrown with wild briers and thorns. He even was going so far as to command the clouds not to rain on this vineyard. That was a stretch.
“By the Lord’s command,
He sends the driving snow.
He speeds the lightning
Of his judgment.
Therefore the storehouses
Are opened.
The clouds fly out
Like birds.
In his majesty,
He gives the clouds
Their strength.
The hailstones
Are broken in pieces.
The voice of his thunder
Rebukes the earth.
When he appears,
The mountains shake.
At his will,
The south wind blows.”
Sirach, like many of the ancient people, including the Israelites, believed that God completely controlled the weather. In fact, we still have some farming communities that pray to God for rain. Today’s TV weather forecast would be that God is sending us rain and a cool temperature, with nothing about a cold front. God’s command sent snow and lightning. The storehouses in the clouds would be opened up by the Lord to let rain, snow, and hailstones fall to earth like birds tumbling out of the sky. Thus precipitation from the sky was like the thunderous voice of God that shock up the mountains. The Lord was also responsible for the south mild winds also.
“The Lord is the one
Who repays.
He will repay you sevenfold.
Do not offer him a bribe!
He will not accept it.
Do not rely
On a dishonest sacrifice!
The Lord is the judge.
There is no partiality
With him.
He will not show partiality
To the poor.
He will listen to the prayer
Of one who is wronged.
He will not ignore
The supplication of the orphan.
He will not ignore
The widow
When she pours out her complains.
Do not the tears of the widow
Run down her cheek?
She cries out against those
Who have caused her to fall.
The one whose service
Is pleasing to the Lord
Will be accepted.
His prayer will reach
To the clouds.
The prayer of the humble
Pierces the clouds.
It will not rest
Until it reaches its goal.
It will not desist
Until the Most High responds.
He does justice
For the righteous.
He executes judgment.”
Sirach reminds us that the Lord repays us justly. No bribe or dishonest sacrifice will change his mind. The Lord is a judge without partiality. He listens to the prayer of those who have been wronged. He does not ignore orphans and especially crying widows who are complaining. He does accept the pleasing service of those whose prayers will go up to heaven. The prayers of the humble will pierce the clouds. They will not rest until they reach the Most High God who will respond with a righteous just judgment.
“Shafts of lightning will fly
With true aim.
He will leap from the clouds
To the target,
As from a well-drawn bow.
Hailstones full of wrath will be hurled
As from a catapult.
The water of the sea will rage against them.
Rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them.
A mighty wind will rise against them.
Like a tempest
It will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth.
Evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.”
The Lord will send aimed shafts of lightning. He will leap from the clouds to hit the target like a good archer. Hailstones will come down as from a catapult launcher. The sea and waters will rage and overwhelm them. A tempest will roar across the land. Lawlessness will destroy the earth as the evildoers will take over the royal thrones. So the judgment has come upon earth.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 