Hananiah and Jeremiah: Prophecy in the Age of COVID-19
It is challenging and holy work, this development of literacy in reading the signs of the times during a violent and deadly season of global pandemic while people cry for racial justice and an end to violence against the oppressed. As we seek to read with understanding, a cacophony sounds, voicing diverse understandings of “truth.” People and nations argue about the way to reopen economies and how the decision of one country will nudge others toward safety or peril; the role of racial bias in policing, health care, education, and wealth production and maintenance; how to address devastating, long-lasting impacts of our racist past and an all-too-prejudiced present; and the nature of freedom for all.
There is a biblical story of two prophets, whose differing views sound familiar in our time. Hananiah and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28) proclaimed opposed understandings on the calendar for freedom from exile, anticipation of the Babylonians’ downfall, and just how easy it would be for the returned children of Israel to get back to normal. Hananiah proclaimed an end date—just two years away—for Israelite suffering. He stated that the hated Babylonians would be broken, and all the Temple wealth would be returned. We can assume that many who heard this prophecy wanted so badly to believe that they came to see it as true.
Jeremiah responded that if all that came to pass, that would be great—and he would wait to see the data. We can hear echoes of the frustrated responses of Hananiah’s followers today among those tired of health department directives, anxious about economic projections, and ready to be done with conversations local and global on how to redress and repair past injustice in public and private policies and practices, and to address those in the present.
This time of economic disruption amid massive levels of grief and loss has exposed the lie of what the Accra Confession called economic ideologies claiming to be the only possible alternative, while demanding endless sacrifice from both the poor and creation. The emptiness of the false promises made by these ideologies of salvation through wealth and prosperity, while claiming sovereignty over life and demanding total allegiance, have been unmasked by the emergence of a virus that has forced us to realize human frailty and to face painful truths about both the problems created by the economic systems in which we have put our trust, and the limits of these systems to save the world.
Hananiah came to face the penalty for making people trust in a lie. Many nations, including some in the CANAAC region, are living through the fallout and damage of lies told by leaders more interested in their political futures than in the health and welfare of the people. What do we do after prophecies on which we have relied turn out to be false?
This season offers us opportunities to reflect on the gracious covenant God has made with creation, which centers on God’s partnering with those who are poor and marginalized and is built on economic justice and peace. With the realization of the dishonesty and damage for communities and people that have been built into our economic life, we must discern new economic models that will move us to unity and the inclusion of all. What features must be part of these models to sustain the creation and to ensure the dignity and well-being of all people together?
Seeking answers will require us to read the signs of the times, seeking out prophets speaking words that move and equip us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. COVID-19 has opened our eyes to abuses and inequities which we have accepted as required for much too long. We have been granted an opportunity to see, to repent, to confess, and to move toward renewal in our obedience to Jesus and our witness to his call to justice, love, and peace. Prophets who help us do this difficult and holy work can help us learn anew to read the signs of the times.
—Cynthia Holder Rich, MDiv, MCE, PhD
Lecturer in Theology
Tumaini University Makumira
Usa River, Arusha, Tanzania
Lecturer in Theology
Tumaini University Makumira
Usa River, Arusha, Tanzania