Poor Angels of Sodom, a Lesson for You

By Sybille Ngo Nyeck
Saturday, April 26, 2003
 

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Go to that great city of Niniveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Niniveh will be overturned." The Ninivites believed God. They declared a fast and all of them, from the greatest to the last, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Niniveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Niniveh:

"By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we'll not perish." When God saw what they did, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. But God said to Jonah: "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"

"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." (Jonah 3 and 4)

And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. (Matthew 11: 23)

How do we treat a sick person when we only know who he/she is and not who he/she isn't? This could have been the hardest question Jonah tried to answer after his forced landing on Niniveh's shore.

The Assyrian was, in the collective consciousness of the Jews, the source of various threats. He was definitely not a person with whom a Jew could have tried to build a friendship. The Assyrian was the persecutor, the trouble-giver and the plunderer of Israel. Jonah, therefore, was convinced that all efforts to contain the expansionist zeal of this superpower would be useless and immoral, in light of the ambition of the Assyrian empire to keep Israel under its yoke. But Jonah was courageous and willing enough to move halfway from his own prejudices.

Jonah, the Prophet of Convergences

"Go to that great city of Niniveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."

A new message is given to Jonah as soon as he reaches Niniveh. The first message, "Go to the great city of Niniveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me," was virulent in form and ideology. The second message is not accusatory, not explicit and not religious at all. The experience of baptism in the sea had given Jonah a new conception of the divinity and the relationship he may have with human beings. From the concept of "the ill-tempered God," he moved forward to a concept of "a loving and saving God/de." If Jonah avoided the direct use of the word "sin," it is obvious he was bold in his warnings of the threat of destruction of Niniveh. The suppression of a violent, stigmatizing and judgmental language in his discourse reveals some heavy compromises for this prophet who could have not succeeded otherwise. We can say that it's at the heart of the mystical transforming experience that Jonah found the freedom to adjust to his new world, where the sources that tended to legitimate hateful discourse in the name of a vengeful god against his enemies were drying up. With delicacy, Jonah reformed the language in order to transform people and institutions. The renunciation of hatred and of the biased use of "sin" made Jonah look at Niniveh from a different angle that generated new attitudes, because "where there is no sin, there could not be the victimization due to sin." Where there is no sin, there is no law -- the sting of sin. No moral evil, no punishment is known where there is no sin. If sin is what separates us from God/de and others, it becomes evident that sin is a fantasy and a construction often based on fear of the other. But Jonah knew how to avoid throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

If it's true that men/women relate to religion in a way that is connected with their language, then it seems in the light of the text that we, too, should start thinking of a non-sexist, non-racist, non-homophobic, non-ageist and, especially, a humble language that can benefit the church and the entire society. An all-embracing language that can gather human beings around a common spiritual and social project is needed. The world that is perpetually on the move invites the church to the same mobility in the forms of her discourses and "canons." It will be of no help if we continue to veil our faces. Women and homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people, the indigenous and their culture, blacks and Arabs, Palestinians and Jews, children and old people are waiting for a genderless, ageless, raceless, generative invitation from the church, building more solidarity and love. The humanist gospel from Jonah trusted and passionately cherished the future, the universal with the most personal.

The new "word from the Lord" adjusted the message and the person of Jonah to new socio-political realities of the Assyrian empire which he had until then ignored. Coming from a theocratic system of governance, Jonah met in Niniveh another system that, even though it was monarchical, tended to be more democratic than Israel. We recognize in Niniveh some characteristics of democracy: tolerance, kindness, assistance and philanthropy. These characteristics were common to the people of Sodom who welcomed Lot and his family.

The Ninivites believed in the individual's mission to intervene in the course of public affairs and they succeeded in pressuring political leaders to make official the voices of the people. This is exactly what people did in Sodom, because it was the duty of people to worry, to question, to formulate all kinds of demands, and it was also the duty of the "elites" to satisfy these demands. Lot was among the elite of Sodom. He had been given the right to "elect" a residence in Sodom's land.

One man succeeded in doing in Niniveh what two "angels" lamentably failed to do for Sodom. This is the missing miracle: The "angels" apparently were too careful about their stomach and rumors than about the people. We know from experience that the absence of communication is most of the time the symptom of a preexistent discomfort or the expression of an ongoing frustration. At the origin of frustration usually lies some kind of violence, even though the frustration itself may not end up in acts of violence. Fasting is therefore not only the privation of water and food but of pride and indifference too. Fasting is an act of openness and partaking in the joys and the sufferings inherent to our fellowship with God/de and creation. Taken from this angle, fasting opposes privatization (of ideas and goods), accumulation, monopolies and over-consumption.

The flexibility in Jonah's discourse established links of words and actions between the people and their leaders and considerably helped to discourage the expansionist zeal of war politics.

Are the people of the U.S. going to achieve the same success for both Iraq and the U.S.? Could the opposition to war really be taken into consideration? Could the people of America be reconciled with their democracy? Could they free themselves from unreason? This citizens' revival that could probably lead to another intellectual and spiritual revolution will not happen without uprooting old beliefs, such as the invincibility of the U.S. and its role as world policeman and the model for independent and free states.

Even though Jonah continued to oppose the external politics of Assyria, it's also true that the welcoming of his message and his person deeply overturned his world. His success largely depended on his methods. The history did not end up there. So far, there is no reason for any hasty triumphalism from Jonah.

Jonah, the Prophet of Ruptures

In eyes of the visionary prophet, the great national repentance had emancipated Niniveh but true liberation was still incomplete. The colonialist system that fed its mice with cereal snatched from the mouths of second-world and third-world children was still in place. The fast of the people was sincere while that of the politicians was subject to question. The artwork was left unfinished. The result was a masquerade, a counter-model of what the prophet dreamed about. The fast of politicians seemed to have been a political takeover. The spiritual sword had killed the beast in the people while the temporal sword continued to oppress Israel. Decolonization was aborted and this situation upset the prophet. The politicians said to Jonah: "Thank you very much for entertaining us for awhile but our economy suffered a lot from that." The fast that Jonah imposed on the macro-economy of Niniveh was the same that the people imposed on the micro-economy of Sodom. The "angels" sent to Sodom preferred the festivity in Lot's house to the hospitality of the street that would have welcomed them with more joy. Streets create their own angels that learn to survive through solidarity, mutual assistance and good management of scarce materials.

Jonah was expecting one thing but he received something else. The visionary prophet mounted a moral and a physical resistance to the persistence of his people's slavery. His reaction is not sentimental or egoistic, but the prophet (he who has knowledge) is fully aware of his people's rights, which makes him feel like not all the answers to human problems should come forth from heaven. In his revolt, the prophet tried to find the solution to human problems through reason. It's because he is a revolutionary that he is condemned as a heretic. His vision is beyond his time, identifying his actions as part of human history and the struggles of nations.

The course of events proved Jonah right. The politicians didn't wean themselves from the pride, voraciousness and fatness that three days of fasting failed to cure. The economy was flourishing, but it became more and more difficult to control the vassals' territories. To prevent any attempt of rebellion or resistance, the empire proceeded in a sort of ethnic cleansing in the colonies, forcing populations from their territories with the aim of weakening their national and ethnic identities. Jonah's ministry took place between 785-775 B.C.E. In the year 722 B.C.E., the emperor of Assyria sent Israel into exile within its borders. But in between:

Pul, king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. (2 Kings 15:19)

In the time of Pakah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth, Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria. (2 Kings 15:29)

Shamanaser, king of Assyria. came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmanaser's vassal and had paid him tribute… The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king captured Samaria and deported the Isrealites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. (2 Kings 17:3, 5-6)

The conspiracy and political assassinations; the siege and colonialism of Israel by asphyxiating its economy; the nomination of Assyrian military advisors as leaders of Israel; the difficulty of Israel in building a national unity and, worse, the creation of an ethno-fascist state were different steps of the imperialist program in the conquest of Israel.

Officially, the war against Israel was for a good purpose because it seems to have been full of good intentions. Assyria wanted to modernize and develop Israel's territories. The whole motto was: Destroy for a better reconstruction.

In the footsteps of Jonah, prophets such as Amos, Oshea and Michea denounced the occupation and colonization of Israel, victim of the geo-strategic expansion of Assyria. Might making right, the preachers' protest fell on deaf ears.

The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, from Hamath and from Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in the place of Israel; they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. . . They did not revere the Lord, but the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them. . . They informed the king: 'The people you deported and settled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.' (2 Kings 17:24-28)

Is it not pretensious to believe that one can make or build a nation without its people, who err because of the exile? How can people come together and recognize themselves as a nation without their culture, the cement of this unity?

Jonah foresaw this situation as a revolutionary-visionary and he felt sad. The only alternative he could see was armed resistance.

Jonah, the Armed Prophet

No matter how long the colonialism lasted, history testifies to the fall of the Assyrian empire overcome by the Babylonians, who made them drink from the same cup they had given Israel. The song of victory was sung not by Jonah but by Nahum (2:8-1).

Reading the Book of Jonah is full of interest. He succeeded in shaping an approach that is still thought-provoking in modern days -- the the same challenge we find in great modern and revolutionary biographies. His religion had freed people from intermediaries by connecting them directly to the divinity. But Jonah is an exception in his day, concerned with the political effects of his message as well as its contents. He is not bringing new principles but he's wondering about the meaning of new social disorders. For it's the duty of each one of us to be vigilant concerning our present-day social changes and to respond to them. In his social context, the revolt of the prophet is understandable and we share his frustration when in a democratic society, democracy goes wrong and becomes oppressive for some people or nations. Jonah, our "doctor," was a great man because he found what the sick person is not at all: a damned person.

Our hero deserves our praises. We could only reproach him for his waste of time and energy in his grief and letting defeatism overcome him. But, what we should know first is that the Book of Jonah is a sort of autobiography, and autobiographers never know how the end looks. Nobody could judge by himself the good or bad quality of his/her story. Nevertheless, in our different/common lives, we can trust in good companionship, and God/de is a faithful friend. Friends' methods and attitudes might sometimes amaze or frustrate us, and sometimes we're hurt, but it's often the mutual confidence that helps us to stay in the relationship. Even close friends never react in the same way when we're going through a difficult period. Was the Beloved of Israel not a pillar of fire over the heads of the exhausted people and a dry land under their feet after coming out of Egypt? By following the column of light they kept progressing. By digging under their feet they found water for their bodies and souls. To precede the column could have been fatal to Israel in the wilderness. Each time they tried to dig somewhere else, they faced the resistance of surrounding nations. But Jonah preceded the divinity in the manifestation of Her/His repressive power. The lion within him roared so violently that Jonah became a threat for himself. Luckily, God/de stood beside him as an unfailing friend. If the "angels" of Sodom had not preceded God/de and consequently lost the rhythm of Her/His progression, Sodom would have still been alive!

Sharing love and suffering, taking time to know one another and to cry and laugh intimately together is ten thousand more heroic than war crusades against an army of demons. What the angels failed to do, Sodom is still waiting for within the church. God/de is the model and She/He stood before Abraham and Abraham before God/de, the same as with Jonah, hoping against all hope. Dear angels of Sodom, here is some food for thought for you.

[Ed. Note : This article was written in early 2003, prior to the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.]

Sybille Ngo Nyeck is a native of Yaounde, Cameroon. She is a regular columnist for The Witness online. She can be reached at theshekina1@yahoo.com.
 

Published by The Witness (www.thewitness.org), April 26, 2003.

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