Historical accounts of Jerusalem throughout time portray God as being present and actively involved during the city’s development. From the city’s evolution into a significant religious center under King Solomon to the Babylonian Empire’s decimation of the city hundreds of years later, God is referenced as an engaging participant at every event. His involvement in the city manifests itself through different means depending on the situation but His presence is nonetheless always there. The Biblical authors depict God as a continually active force in Jerusalem in order to establish a relationship between God and the state of the city at a given moment in time. As the Biblical authors depict the construction of King Solomon’s Temple, they …show more content…
In Babylonians’ time of power, the empire exiled the Israelites from Jerusalem and brought utter devastation to the land, only leaving behind only the poorest citizens. In the aftermath of the Babylonian attacks, the writer notes “How like a widow she has become” (Lamentations 1:1). The city of Jerusalem is compared in this account to a weak woman who’s been abandoned by her husband, alone in the world with no one left to support or comfort her. She is the stagnant figure who has been forsaken while the husband, who in this metaphor is God, is the active force that has left her behind. The Babylonian Empire’s period of power has detrimental consequences for Jerusalem, which are then blamed on the peoples’ disregard for God’s commandments. During this time the Israelites worshipped foreign idols and built altars in their names after they had promised God that they would remain faithful and obedient. The breaking of those vows is similar to the destruction of a marriage, which is why the widow metaphor is so appropriate. The Israelites have destroyed their relationship with God, which has resulted in Him allowing the Babylonians to come and ravage the city. In the Book of Psalms it is shown that at one point in time, God was willing to step in and destroy the enemy of Jerusalem’s behalf but now that their union is gone so is His support. Now, in the Book of Lamentations it is shown that God is actively choosing to ignore the Israelites’ needs for a savior, abandoning them as they are doing to Him. The Lord’s actions during this time are compared to “trodd[ing] as in a wine press, the virgin daughter Judah” (Lamentations 1:15). This metaphor shows God acting as an active force of destruction against Jerusalem. In the act of grape stomping, all that is left in the aftermath of squeezing out the
“It is only right that the filth of her sinful delight/ be purged by the bitter severity of her plight” (Hrotsvit of Gandersheim 135). In this one sentence, the play of Abraham can be summed up perfectly. A young woman, Mary, pledges herself to the Lord and guidance of Abraham and Effrem, defies all three by committing a sin and loses her virginity. Due to the detour from her required path, Mary becomes a lost soul, a woman who will be damned for eternity for falling into the devil’s web of temptation. Since she left the protection of Abraham and Effrem, she faces unfavorable consequences. The only way in which her soul is redeemed is by Abraham’s effort to rescue her from herself because Mary is now damaged. In Katharina M. Wilson’s translation of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim’s Abraham, middle diction, internal rhyme, and allegory are used to demonstrate how, without the
The devastating plagues were imposed on specific nations of group of people who displeased God. He asserted that the present economic condition is not some sort of wrath of God. They need to help themselves and their ability to recover from this situation does not need an act of God, but this is their own act and determination that will get them out of this situation. He also pointed out that the money chargers are not kind and honest in their practices; the word money chargers refers to those who take interest on the loans. He blames the bankers and the financial institutions for the economic problems of the
He is depicted as angry with the people “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;” (Line 2). He is destroying the “vintage”, the old. The “grapes of wrath” is referencing gods temper, the grapes is everything on earth specifically humans. During the American Civil War there was vast amount of people who believed the war was God’s punishment for using the fellow man despite his differences in color. The verse ends with “His truth is marching on” (Line 4). The summation of the first stanza is God is on the side of the truth. The poet lived in the North with her husband, who was a sanitary inspector. They (North) believed it was on the side of the righteous. Howe is setting up the remainder of the stanzas of Jesus “marching on” the battlefield. Furthermore, the next verse is about the people and their tribute to
In this verse, we must ask, what is the peace of Jerusalem? Certainly it isn't the state of affairs today. So should we pray for half of the city to be given to the Arabs? Will that bring peace? History shows that it will only increase the conflict. Ok… what about giving Jerusalem over to the Vatican or the United Nations, they can certainly keep the peace, maybe that is what we should pray for. Is God's inheritance a mere political football? Can man govern what God has ordained as His?
Trible has three main focuses in her article that include, “the inferiority, subordination and abuse of women in ancient Israel”, “the counter literature that is itself a critique of patriarchy”, and “the stories of terror about woman” (Trible). Each one sums a different oppression that women in the Bible faced. These ideas suggest that the overall purpose of her article is to identify that while women were viewed as a “helper” to men, God viewed them as much more (Trible).
The palace eunuch and the infertile woman were described to be useless and worthless (1st two sentences in lines 268-285). Also, the man and the woman who refused consummate their marriage were told to be weeping, the woman was told to be weeping over a reed mat and the man was weeping over a rope (lines 268-285). On the next scene, the lines 286-303 shows those who have died. The leprous man, a man eaten by a lion, a man who fell to his death, a man without any funerary offerings, a man who died in battle and the stillborn children. All of them were suffering except the man who died in battle and the stillborn children who play on a table of gold and silver. The only thing mentioned about the man who died in battle is that his parents are not there for him and his wife is left to weep over his dead husband. In comparison, the man with no funerary offering is left to eat scraps and bread tossed in the street (Middle of lines 286 – 303). The text shows that those who left behind a family do not suffer as much as those who do not. Those who have no funerary offerings are left to eat trash. These sufferings can be avoided by friendships and procreation in the family. With more friends comes more funerary offerings, with more sons, comes a better afterlife, and a lasting
The Assyrian Crisis in Judah appears, from the surface, as a time of great luck for the people of Jerusalem. However, by examining the situation with a more powerful lens, one can see the powerful religious infuence such an event could have on a resident’s theology. If I were a Judean during this time, my faith would have faced the toughest test of my life. Going into such a conflict with a nation as strong as Assyria, I could not help but be afraid. My bones would tremble at the thought of destruction of the Holy City of Jerusalem, of the people of Judah, and of my own being. Although I would have believed in God, I would still be filled with fear. This fear would escalate when I heard a messenger for the king of Assyria, as stated in Isaiah 36, mocking God, insulting His power and doubting His saving grace on Jerusalem. He goes on to try and convice us, the people of Jerusalem, that Hezekiah is not trustworthy, and that we will not find help in Egypt because they are not reliable. Finally, knowing the path of destruction that Assyria has already created, and their hunger for more, in addition to the messenger’s statement that the Lord has commanded Assyria to go and destroy Jerusalem, my feelings of fear and doubt would uncontrollably well up inside me. We are, after all, only human, and fear is a common feeling, despite where we stand with God. No man lives without fear, but though fear our faith is tested and strengthened.
In the short story Babylon Revisited, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals Charlie Wales’ struggles to regain his pride alongside dealing with internal conflicts after coming to terms with his alcoholism and the death of his wife. When Charlie begins to put his life back together he is in constant remembrance of all the negative things he did in his past. Fitzgerald characterizes Charlie through diction, imagery and syntax to convey his impact of the overall theme of the past cannot be escaped through constant struggle.
When reading into the title God Dies by the Nile, it can almost be considered a metaphor for religion and patriarchal class. Sex is used as an instrument of power, a way to gain things, physical and religious, from women. The Mayor’s affair with the daughters of Kafrawi, Nefissa and Zeinab. His hold on them reflects the material power of the ruling class, which serves as a source of the sexual exploitation of women. When considering the Mayor’s sexual exploitation of women, “He’s got strange tastes where women are concerned, and if he likes a woman he can’t forget her.
Again starting with the first two lines of the poem, the speaker is asking to be battered, however they go on to say that God is not one who physically hurts but instead He, “knocks”, “breathes”, and “shines”, those actions are the opposite of what the speaker wants done to him. He also goes on and compares himself to a town that has been overthrown or seized by an enemy: “I, like an usurped town to another due.” There is a metaphor that is not obvious at first but after slowly re-reading it, it reveals itself. He speaks of Reason being a captive, which is impossible because reason is an idea not a physical thing that can be kept in a prison and chained. A second metaphor that is not obvious is the one of the speaker being “betrothed unto Your enemy”, this is also impossible because the enemy of God is
In the poem “Wife’s Lament”, the wife goes through a series of emotions that has occurred due to her isolation between her and her husband and also being unaware of why she is put in the position of being alone. She begins to reminisce on events from her past and often adds input on how it correlates to what she is feeling now. Although this poem is filled with sorrow, yearn and isolation, I believe this is a poem about repentance towards her husband. During this time period, women were only submissive to their husbands and that was the way things had to be. Women had no say in where and how they live their lives, where ever their husband went so did they.