From the Narrow Desert

Some months before all this owl business started, one of my students noticed that racecar spelled in reverse is racecar. I told her that this was called a palindrome and gave another example: the sentence "Mr. Owl ate my metal worm."

The orcas, like the owls, are animals considered devoid of any higher consciousness by the watchdogs of our consensus reality. But nonetheless they are showing up as totems at an important moment, they are presenting themselves as a beautiful example of this attuned symbolic power. This wasn't a dream vision of orcas, they were physically there, playing the role of escort for something sacred on its journey home.

I dreamed that I was setting up a "Jeremiah room" -- a dedicated room specifically for the study of the works of the prophet Jeremiah. I had put up a large blond-wood bookcase and was putting a few books on it -- books that had absolutely nothing to do with Jeremiah. My wife asked me about two of the books and I gave strange descriptions of them, different from anything I would say in real life.

In "Phonics with Jeremiah, and the grapes of wrath," I proposed an interpretation of Jeremiah's strange expression "a shout, as they that tread the grapes" (25:30). Given the many places in the Bible where treading or pressing grapes is used figuratively to refer to bloodshed, I suggested that this metaphor may have been become so embedded in the language that they that tread the grapes referred primarily to soldiers (figuratively treading the "grapes of wrath") and only secondarily to literal workers in a vineyard. I felt that this interpretation was supported by the context of Jeremiah 25, of which I quote some relevant passages below.

For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me: "Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them."

Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me: . . . [a long list of nations follows]

Therefore thou shalt say unto them, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you."

And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink."

For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.

Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, "The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord" (Jer. 25:15-17, 27-31).

Given the extended metaphor in which drinking from the "wine cup of fury" represents being punished by violence and slaughter, I thought a martial understanding of they that tread the grapes made sense, and that it was soldiers, not wine-makers, that were proverbially associated with shouting.

Having just listened to Jeremiah 48, though, I am forced to reconsider that reading and conclude that people in Jeremiah's time literally used to shout when they trod the grapes to make wine.

O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab, and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting (Jer. 48:32-33).

This seems pretty clearly to be referring to viticulture, not war. The wine failing from the winepresses is paired with joy and gladness being taken from the plentiful field. Those who tread the grapes shout, and no shouting means there has been no grape harvest.

Searching the Bible for similar references, I found a few possibilities.

Psalm 78:65 reads, "Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine." I had always assumed this referred to a drunken man shouting, and that still seems the likeliest interpretation, but a "treading the grapes" reading is also possible. The next verse has the Lord smiting his enemies, which is often connected in the Bible with such imagery.

Here's a very clear reference in Isaiah.

Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease (Isa. 16:9-10).

As in Jeremiah 48, the "vintage shouting" is here clearly connected with joy and plenty, not with war and bloodshed.

It seems inescapable that it really was the custom to shout while treading the grapes. My hunch is that it may have been a bit of sympathetic magic, to endue the wine with greater potency. I will be on the lookout for this now when I read other ancient authors.

I was creating illustrations for a children's phonics book, the bit about the a-consonant-e spelling of the "long a" sound. Since this is hardly work that fully engages my brain, I was at the same time listening to the Bible read aloud, as I have been doing on and off recently. (I started with Genesis back in August and have got as far as Jeremiah.)

I had already prepared a list of 20 words, in truly-random order courtesy of random.org. As it happened, the word grapes had been put in first place, with gate in second.

As I started drawing some grapes, Jeremiah said, "He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth" (25:30).

As I was illustrating the word gate, Jeremiah said, "Then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house" (26:10).

Well, obviously that kind of thing can't continue for very long. Even the synchronicity fairies have to respect the laws of probability! I did the next dozen or so illustrations without any prophetic counterpoint.

The 16th word on my list was blaze. No sooner had I begun sketching the flames of a massive conflagration than Jeremiah chimed in: "And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire" (37:8).

(Next after blaze came the name Dave -- but, alas, Jeremiah's last reference to David was back in 36:30, just 10 verses before the burning with fire.)

I don't think these kinds of synchronicities mean anything in particular in terms of their specific content; I just take them as a general sign that I'm on the right track, in touch with the harmony of Creation.

⁂

Having had Jeremiah 25:30 brought to my attention, I'm wondering now: Why should shouting be proverbially associated with treading the grapes? Is this a reference to some long-forgotten agricultural custom or pagan ritual? A more likely interpretation, I think, is that "treading the grapes" would have been understood by Jeremiah's contemporaries as a kenning-like way of referring to the bloodshed of war, and that the reference is to the war-cry of soldiers going into battle. We see something similar in Revelation 19:15, where smiting the nations with a sharp sword is juxtaposed with treading "the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The metaphor may in ancient times have been such a stereotyped one that "soldiers" came to be the primary meaning of they that tread the grapes -- just as for us bloodletting now has "violent bloodshed" as its primary meaning, although this was originally a metaphorical use of a word that referred primarily to a now-obsolete medical procedure.

On my way to work this morning, I thought, "I should stop for a cup of almond tea -- my prophetic drink." So I did.

Why is almond tea "my prophetic drink"? I can't exactly say, but I've thought of it that way for a long time. I believe the ultimate source of the idea is the story in Jeremiah 1:4-12 of the calling of that prophet.

[4] Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [5] "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

[6] Then said I, "Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child."

[7] But the Lord said unto me, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. [8] Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord."

[9] Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, "Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. [10] See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."

[11] Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "Jeremiah, what seest thou?"

And I said, "I see a rod of an almond tree."

[12] Then said the Lord unto me, "Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it."

It would be hard to explain why that rod of an almond tree has always stuck in my mind, or how I came to associate it with drinking almond tea, but there it is.

There was an LED advertising board behind the counter at the shop. I looked up at it and saw the Tricolor and the words "Made in France" -- Maid in France -- which got my attention. Then the screen changed, and I saw what it was advertising: a brand of glassware called Cristal d'Arques. "Made in France" notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure d'Arques isn't real French; but if it were, it would be a homophone of d'Arc. (Incidentally, my post on Joan of Arc was illustrated with a portrait of that saint by my sister Kat, whose given name is actually Crystal.)

⁂

Checking my email, I saw a message with the subject line "so what did happen on Jan 8 - ideas?" -- about my (apparently failed) prediction that something pivotal would happen on that date. I started thinking how my focus on the date itself was probably a mistake all along, that it had just been meant to draw my attention to the Battle of New Orleans and thus to the Maid, and how I should have known better than to attempt a dated prophecy, since those always fail.

And then, stubbornly determined not to learn from experience, my brain said: 121.

Some 16 or 17 years ago, I spent a lot of time playing around with what I called Simple English Gematria (S:E:G:). Basically, you read A as 1 and Z as 26, add up the values of words, and (my specialty!) notice coincidences.

A few numbers quickly established themselves as specially significant, the most important being 74. Each of the three words Simple English Gematria adds up to 74, for a total of 222 for the phrase. Jesus adds up to 74, as do Messiah, cross, and gospel. So do many other significant words, such as Tarot, the USA (74 = 7/4), and, I notice now, Pucelle.

Then there's 121, the value of revelation, apocalyptic, second coming, seven seals, and antichrist. Today, I realized for the first time that it could also be read as a date: 1/21 -- January 21, or January '21, or both.

The number 121 is 11 squared. I remembered that yesterday I had happened to read a reference to a record company called eleveneleven. Then I remembered a vivid dream I had once had, in which I saw the prophet Jeremiah composing the Book of Lamentations by contemplating an 11-by-11 magic square. This dream had greatly impressed, appropriately enough, a Frenchman.

As much as I should know better by now than to speculate about specific dates, I can't help but wonder. January 21 is the day after inauguration, which fits well with the prophecy that, even though Trump wins in the end, he will also "invite Joe Camel [i.e. Biden and Harris] to the White House."

I have found three plausibly Messianic passages in Jeremiah.


Jeremiah 23:5-8

[5] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. [6] In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The Messiah will be a king, David's heir, and will restore the Israelite nation to independence and safety. (Jeremiah wrote during the Babylonian captivity.) At first it seems that the name "The Lord Our Righteousness" is being applied to this Davidic king, but in fact I think "he" refers to Israel, for reasons that will be explained below.

[7] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; [8] But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

Jeremiah takes up Isaiah's theme that the restoration of Israel will be a second and greater Exodus -- and the Messiah, by implication, a second and greater Moses.


Jeremiah 30:4-9

[4] And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. . . . [8] For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: [9] But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Nothing very new here. The Messiah is spoken of as the return of King David, and he will release Israel from captivity.


Jeremiah 33:14-18

[14] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. [15] In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. [16] In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

This is closely parallel to 23:5-6, but the differences in wording (the use of the feminine "Jerusalem" rather than the masculine "Israel") make it clear that in both passages the name "The Lord Our Righteousness" is being applied to Israel/Jerusalem and not to the Messiah himself.

[17] For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; [18] Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

This sounds less like the promise of a single personal Messiah and more like a promise that the Davidic dynasty will be restored. In fact, "a righteous branch" of the House of David most naturally refers to a genealogical line rather than to a single person.


Applicability to Jesus

I don't see anything here that is directly applicable to Jesus at all. In fact, I tend to think that Jeremiah was not predicting the coming of a particular individual at all, but simply the restoration of the Davidic monarchy.