A Petition For Justice
Stories
Object:
Contents
"A Question of Hospitality" by Keith Hewitt
A Petition for Justice
by Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 18:1-11
The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him (Jeremiah 18:4)
When Jeremiah told his story of the potter and the clay, he was making it clear that if God didn't like the way the people and their rulers were observing God's law, the Divine Potter could collapse the work in progress and start over. God expected the people to observe divine justice! And that meant justice for everyone: the rich and the poor, overseers and workers.
Jeremiah prophesied for over forty years, beginning with the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC). Josiah called the people to repentance and a return to Biblical ways.
Did it work? At least at first? One has to wonder. Perhaps a small clue can be found in a broken piece of pottery from the seventh-century BC. It was not unusual, after pottery fell and broke, for people to use the shards for things like business receipts, letters, and petitions to government officials.
This particular piece of broken pottery was found during the 20th century at a site where the archaeologists were digging through the remains of an ancient fortress, in an area that was considered Judean territory only during the time of King Josiah. The shard had broken further into six pieces. Five pieces were found in the fortress guardroom, and the other was found outside the guardroom.
After they were painstakingly put back together they told a fascinating story. It was a petition written by a common laborer who felt he has been cheated by his supervisor. The supervisor seems to have confiscated the worker’s tunic, evidently because he felt the worker hadn’t completed the required amount of work in a timely fashion.
The worker appealed for the return of his garment to a local official translated as “Lord Governor.” The petition is incomplete, but enough remains to make it fairly clear what happened. Here is a translation.
My Lord Governor, hear the word of his servant. Your servant was reaping at Ha-Saar-Asam and your servant reaped. And your servant reaped and all was completed and stored before the face of the Sabbath. The work was all done and reaped, and while I was sleeping Hoshayahu Ben Shabbay took your servant’s cloak when it was hot ... But I had finished on time but he took away my cloak. And all the ones who harvested with me in your harvest will speak for me. [Please return] my cloak and I appeal to my Lord Governor that it be returned ... show pity to ... to your servant and do not remain silent ...
The poor in that era did not have extra clothing. To have had a cloak or tunic confiscated meant not only the loss of property but experiencing sharp cold at night and blistering the heat of the day without any protection.
Although a worker’s garment might be confiscated if the work was not completed, this anonymous petitioner insists that he has done his work and others can witness to this, and that he is being unfairly treated.
Though we do not know how the Lord Governor responded, it is evident that the worker felt that he had a case, and that he deserved fair treatment despite his lowly economic status. Consider the examples of Leviticus 19:13 (....you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.) or Leviticus 19:15 ( You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.) Hebrew law demanded justice for the poor as well as the rich.
The very fact that the anonymous author of this petition thought he might get his cloak back may indicate that the justice for the poor commended in the Torah was available at least during the reign of King Josiah, who ruled over that area temporarily.
(Want to know more, or read different translations? See: “The Inscription from Mesad Hashavyah: Complaint of a Reaper of the Seventh Century B.C. J.D. Amusin and M.L Heltzer, Israel Exploration Journal, v. 14, n. 3, 1964,” and “Redressing Wrong,” Biblical Archaeological Review, January/February 2014, 45.)
Frank Ramirez is a native of Southern California and is the senior pastor of the Union Center Church of the Brethren near Nappanee, Indiana. Frank has served congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennie share three adult children, all married, and three grandchildren. He enjoys writing, reading, exercise, and theater.
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StoryShare, September 4, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"A Question of Hospitality" by Keith Hewitt
A Petition for Justice
by Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 18:1-11
The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him (Jeremiah 18:4)
When Jeremiah told his story of the potter and the clay, he was making it clear that if God didn't like the way the people and their rulers were observing God's law, the Divine Potter could collapse the work in progress and start over. God expected the people to observe divine justice! And that meant justice for everyone: the rich and the poor, overseers and workers.
Jeremiah prophesied for over forty years, beginning with the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC). Josiah called the people to repentance and a return to Biblical ways.
Did it work? At least at first? One has to wonder. Perhaps a small clue can be found in a broken piece of pottery from the seventh-century BC. It was not unusual, after pottery fell and broke, for people to use the shards for things like business receipts, letters, and petitions to government officials.
This particular piece of broken pottery was found during the 20th century at a site where the archaeologists were digging through the remains of an ancient fortress, in an area that was considered Judean territory only during the time of King Josiah. The shard had broken further into six pieces. Five pieces were found in the fortress guardroom, and the other was found outside the guardroom.
After they were painstakingly put back together they told a fascinating story. It was a petition written by a common laborer who felt he has been cheated by his supervisor. The supervisor seems to have confiscated the worker’s tunic, evidently because he felt the worker hadn’t completed the required amount of work in a timely fashion.
The worker appealed for the return of his garment to a local official translated as “Lord Governor.” The petition is incomplete, but enough remains to make it fairly clear what happened. Here is a translation.
My Lord Governor, hear the word of his servant. Your servant was reaping at Ha-Saar-Asam and your servant reaped. And your servant reaped and all was completed and stored before the face of the Sabbath. The work was all done and reaped, and while I was sleeping Hoshayahu Ben Shabbay took your servant’s cloak when it was hot ... But I had finished on time but he took away my cloak. And all the ones who harvested with me in your harvest will speak for me. [Please return] my cloak and I appeal to my Lord Governor that it be returned ... show pity to ... to your servant and do not remain silent ...
The poor in that era did not have extra clothing. To have had a cloak or tunic confiscated meant not only the loss of property but experiencing sharp cold at night and blistering the heat of the day without any protection.
Although a worker’s garment might be confiscated if the work was not completed, this anonymous petitioner insists that he has done his work and others can witness to this, and that he is being unfairly treated.
Though we do not know how the Lord Governor responded, it is evident that the worker felt that he had a case, and that he deserved fair treatment despite his lowly economic status. Consider the examples of Leviticus 19:13 (....you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.) or Leviticus 19:15 ( You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.) Hebrew law demanded justice for the poor as well as the rich.
The very fact that the anonymous author of this petition thought he might get his cloak back may indicate that the justice for the poor commended in the Torah was available at least during the reign of King Josiah, who ruled over that area temporarily.
(Want to know more, or read different translations? See: “The Inscription from Mesad Hashavyah: Complaint of a Reaper of the Seventh Century B.C. J.D. Amusin and M.L Heltzer, Israel Exploration Journal, v. 14, n. 3, 1964,” and “Redressing Wrong,” Biblical Archaeological Review, January/February 2014, 45.)
Frank Ramirez is a native of Southern California and is the senior pastor of the Union Center Church of the Brethren near Nappanee, Indiana. Frank has served congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennie share three adult children, all married, and three grandchildren. He enjoys writing, reading, exercise, and theater.
*****************************************
StoryShare, September 4, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
