The Times We Are In Series
by Eileen Maddocks
THEN / NOW
THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN / ARE WE LISTENING?
My area of study as an independent researcher and writer is the Hebrew Bible, aka the Old Testament. I’ve been drawn to this subject because of the many parallels between the times of the ancient Israelites and our own. A repetition of religious history is unfolding.
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
I believe that the Hebrew Bible is the word of God, including the myths and fictive histories that are actually allegories with deep spiritual meanings. The Hebrew Bible also gives hints and fleeting glimpses of human prehistory and our ultimate destiny. By word of God, I do not mean His ultimate word but the spiritual foundation for the divine teachers who followed Abraham and Moses.
Like most people in the United States and elsewhere, I’ve had much to ponder during these difficult months of jarring headlines. My “go-to” reassurance is knowing that God has always had a long-range plan for humanity’s spiritual evolution, including unsettling events that move the process along. I see a parallel between God’s plan for the ancient Israelites and His plan for us today, including quite unsettling events.
At the time of the ancient Israelites, the Middle East was exclusively polytheistic. Idols of stone and wood were worshipped and beseeched for victory in battle, adequate rain for crops, and fertility for domestic animals and women. The Hebrews in the land of Canaan had been chosen to receive the revelation of Moses, which meant rejecting polytheism and its idols and embracing a moral code whose like had never before been seen. The commandments and laws given to the Israelites were not just civil rules but also a moral framework for cultivating a just and compassionate society. The Ten Commandments, together with an honest and fair judiciary, prohibition of human sacrifice, and provisions for widows and orphans, underscored the divine aim: for humanity to evolve toward God’s sense of balance, equity, and mercy.
However, there was tremendous tension within Hebrew society between the divine teachings and an unwillingness to follow them—to listen. The Hebrew prophets—such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Zephaniah, and Micah—served as the conscience of the kings, priests, and people of their time. They warned in no uncertain terms that if the Israelites did not abandon idolatry and follow the Lord, there would be severe repercussions. The prophet Isaiah was warned of those who would hear but never understand, who would see but never perceive, whose hearts were closed.
In the book of Jeremiah, there are 58 references to the effect that the people would not listen. The writings of Jeremiah and other prophets ranged from acerbic anger to offerings of hope if only the people would listen and return to God. The renowned rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote:
“The prophet is a man who feels fiercely. God has thrust a burden upon his soul, and he is bowed and stunned at man’s fierce greed. Frightful is the agony of man; no human voice can convey its full terror. Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profaned riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man. God is raging in the prophet’s word.”
The prophets also sometimes used a softer approach: Micah said:
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Isaiah offered this well-known verse:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
Put succinctly, the people were given a choice.
If they turned from idolatry and sought God, He would be their God and they would be His people and they would live in prosperity in their land. However, if the people did not repent, they would be severely punished. As history tells us, the people did not repent. The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, and the Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom of Judah in 586 and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple of Solomon. This was beyond catastrophic for the Israelites; the kingdom of Judah was no more. However, in retrospect it is clear that the next five or six decades in the Babylonian Exile provided a much-needed pause, a time for reflection. The Exile served as a filter. Some people chose to assimilate into idolatrous Mesopotamian culture; others repented and worked to preserve their Hebrew heritage and renew their obedience to the Mosaic teachings. Much scholarship was undertaken during these years and oral religious history preserved on scrolls. A renewed spirit of devotion to the Lord went with the Jews who returned to Jerusalem in the late sixth century.
This renewal was accomplished the hard way through calamitous suffering. There’s a sardonic comment that says when all else fails, read the manual. The Hebrew manual had been there all along!
These and other divine manuals have always been available! The immortal teachers Moses, Jesus, Muḥammad, and Bahá’u’lláh left manuals for individual spiritual progress, and then for societal and global progress. But have we been listening?
Examining the society I live in, I would say “no”, we have not been listening. Our idols are not dissimilar to the old ones: materialism, corruption, and greed. Western society has added two unique idols––individualism and irreligion. By irreligion I mean indifference or hostility to religion, or lack of religious belief. By religion I mean remembrance of God and reverence for His moral and spiritual teachings, not traditional religious rituals. Social ills generally issue from irreligious attitudes. Indeed, our spiritual inheritance of divine guidance has been increasingly eclipsed by irreligion for decades, and this process has recently been speeded up and become much more obvious.
The divine rules of cause and effect do not change. I believe that we are due for calamity and then a pause to reflect in sorrow. Individuals, societies, and nations must learn to listen to divine truths.
The Hebrew Bible is not solely a chronicle of the ancient Israelite experience; it is also a mirror reflecting “then” and “now”. Are the challenges of today—wars, inequality, prejudice, greed, and corruption—so different from those back then? The Hebrews paid the price of immense suffering, but they eventually became an esteemed people known for literacy, scholarship, and ground-breaking accomplishments in the arts and sciences. And they returned to their homeland, which subsequently became the best educated and most prosperous and advanced country in the Middle East. I believe that we also are facing a price of immense suffering designed to show us our way, if we listen.
P.S. I’m currently presenting an eight-week summer series on Clearwater Bahá’ís on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. The series is called Kings and Prophets and focuses on the prophecies of the Hebrew prophets about Bahá’u’lláh and the Bahá’í Faith. The first three sessions on Bahá’í Explorations can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/c/ClearwaterBahais.
In addition, my series with Peter Terry, The Pentateuch, can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJTw1CWXTEfnm6NzeOCk6DVDa_YETaAtw
About The Author
Eileen Maddocks is an independent researcher, writer, and podcaster who lives in Vermont. She alternates her cerebral lifestyle with ballet and tap dancing. She is the author of 1844: Convergence in Prophecy for Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith and the three-volume series The Coming of the Glory: How the Hebrew Scriptures Reveal the Plan of God. Her books are discounted to readers that buy from the publisher:
The Coming of The Glory Volume I with a 15% discount: https://soopllc.com/product/the-coming-of-the-glory/
The Coming of The Glory Trilogy with a 20% discount: https://soopllc.com/product/the-coming-of-the-glory-collection-offer/
The Eileen Maddocks Legacy Offer with a 25% discount: https://soopllc.com/product/eileen-maddocks-legacy-offer/
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