Prophet Incognito

You enticed me, O Lord, and I was enticed.  You were stronger than I, and You prevailed.  I became a laughingstock all day long, all of them mocking me.  Jeremiah 20:7  Robert Alter

Laughingstock – We examined this verse some time ago, noting that the verb translated here as “enticed” can also mean “seduced.”  Robert Alter’s note reminds us:

The switch to poetry here signals the beginning of a new prophecy.  Its urgent autobiographical content is a trait that sets Jeremiah apart from the other prophets.  The verb represented “enticed” could also mean “seduced” in the sexual sense.  Jeremiah was drawn into his prophetic calling because he heard God addressing him, but prophecy has brought him nothing but misery, as the harsh treatment at the hands of Pashur that was just reported painfully illustrates.[1]

Jeremiah was “forced” into the job, powerless to resist God’s overwhelming motive.  That’s the implication of the verb pātâ.  But, as Alter notes, prophecy has consequences—and not appealing ones.  We must find it amusing in the religious world today when the title “Prophet” is flaunted as a mark of spiritual success.  History tells us something else.  A prophet is unwelcomed and often exterminated.  As Jeremiah confesses, he’d rather not be born than have to live in this role.

And that should remind us of someone else God “seduced.”  Job.  Neither man had a choice.  Jeremiah was conscious of the call.  Job wasn’t.  But the result was the same.  Used by God for His purposes as He saw fit.  In this sense, perhaps we should treat Job with the same respect we have for Jeremiah.  His message might not be couched in prophetic terms (like “Thus says the Lord”) but it is equally revealing and equally personal.  What does the prophet Job teach us?  Well, first we learn about suffering at the hand of God.  Second, we learn that explanations might not always fit the actual circumstances.  Third, we discover the feeble arguments of theology in the face of apparent injustice and trauma.  Fourth, we learn that questioning is not sin.  And finally, we realize that the emotional connection with God is probably more important than any of our intellectual affirmations.  Experience trumps rationality.

If we read Job as a prophet, all these things would jump to the forefront long before we encountered the usual wrestling over good and evil.  We might even learn that Job’s concern speaks more deeply to us than any of his friends’ rationalizations.  Maybe, in the end, that’s really what matters.  Job gives voice to what it truly means to be called by God, even if that calling is incognito.  And the results?  Well, apparently  being called by God carries some disastrous consequences.  Perhaps Job’s role as a prophet is simply to prepare us.

Now we might have to rethink Isaac whose name is from the same root as laughingstock (ṣāḥaq).

Topical Index: prophet, laughingstock, seduced, pātâ, ṣāḥaq, laugh, Jeremiah 20:7

[1] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Vol. 2 The Prophets, p. 927, fn. 7.