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
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
“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
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.
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?
The poem “The Wife's Lament” the wife is face with being thrown into exile and he urges for he old life where her and her husband can lived in happiness. He journey come about when her husband, who is the Lord, exiles her. His family came between the two of them and inevitable caused their separation, although it isn’t clear in the poem what was the exact event that caused her banishment. The wife is then forced to relocate to the woods and there she spend her days pondering on a life of happiness with her husband. She talks about her husbands feeling towards the situation,saying ”Then I learned my Lord was like myslef”(Wife's Lament 18). She says this about her husband because they both feel betray...
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 Book of Nahum is a prophetic book concerned with pronouncing judgment upon the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, and with detailing its coming destruction at the hands of Yahweh. In light of this concern, it is not surprising that the primary image and expression of Yahweh in this piece is one of a vengeful and wrathful deity, expressing judgment in the form of destruction and desolation. These images combine to portray the character of Yahweh within the book of Nahum as a angry and judgmental God, bent on the destruction of all those who stand against Israel, a reality that readers struggle to comprehend in light of other texts, especially among the prophets, which depict Yahweh as gracious and merciful. What this essay will argue is that it is this larger textual context of the exploration of divine character, especially among the Twelve, through which Nahum should be understood, as well as through comprehension of the mythical allusions made by the author in Yahweh’s theophany. To show this, we will focus in on Nahum 1:2-3, exploring how it describes Yahweh, especially in relation to its use of Exodus 34:6-7, as well as how this compares to other prophetic texts and Jonah in particular. We will then explore the mythic qualities of Yahweh, particularly in Nahum 1:4, and how they relate to our reading of Nahum.
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
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.
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.