Ashes
1
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
2
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.
3
Fire devours in front of them,
and behind them a flame burns.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
but after them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
4
They have the appearance of horses,
and like war-horses they charge.
5
As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
6
Before them peoples are in anguish,
all faces grow pale.[a]
7
Like warriors they charge,
like soldiers they scale the wall.
Each keeps to its own course,
they do not swerve from[b] their paths.
8
They do not jostle one another,
each keeps to its own track;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
9
They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls;
they climb up into the houses,
they enter through the windows like a thief.
10
The earth quakes before them,
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
11
The Lord utters his voice
at the head of his army;
how vast is his host!
Numberless are those who obey his command.
Truly the day of the Lord is great;
terrible indeed—who can endure it?
12
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
14
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord, your God?
15
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
17
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Joel 2 comes present. With the international news every day, there is a growing sense, of gathering doom, that the Day of the Lord is indeed at hand, and what will be left is ashes. Ashes and bones. Ashes drifting across barren land in chill wind. Not the first time in heilsgeschichte that evil has been a tool of the deity.
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
2
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.
Ash Wednesday for me begins with sirens, sudden and unexpected, sirens wailing and long like the old time air raid warning to take cover immediately, or the long undulating siren that tells of an approaching tornado. It was the biblical forty years ago, one of the most effective, no it was chilling, Ash Wednesday services I ever attended. At our parish in Pennsylvania. The rector regarded liturgy as art and an opportunity for his creative genius, which was very real, and we had theater, emotional, shuddering drama. The Ash Wednesday evening that began in the shadow of darkness and apprehensive silence, as, seemingly from hundreds of miles away, a siren began from grinding, deep groan, rising slowly to its high pitch and holding, steady, screaming. Fear, shivers down my spine and a sense that it was too late forever, my mind expecting a distant flash, the muffled thump of an explosion, the shock wave, and to be swept away by the blast of nuclear wind. The Day of the Lord.
Fire devours in front of them,
and behind them a flame burns.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
but after them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
4
They have the appearance of horses,
and like war-horses they charge.
5
As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
6
Before them peoples are in anguish,
all faces grow pale.[a]
7
Like warriors they charge,
like soldiers they scale the wall.
Each keeps to its own course,
they do not swerve from[b] their paths.
8
They do not jostle one another,
each keeps to its own track;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
9
They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls;
they climb up into the houses,
they enter through the windows like a thief.
10
The earth quakes before them,
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
11
The Lord utters his voice
at the head of his army;
how vast is his host!
Numberless are those who obey his command.
Truly the day of the Lord is great;
terrible indeed—who can endure it?
12
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
14
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord, your God?
15
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
17
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Joel 2 comes present. With the international news every day, there is a growing sense, of gathering doom, that the Day of the Lord is indeed at hand, and what will be left is ashes. Ashes and bones. Ashes drifting across barren land in chill wind. Not the first time in heilsgeschichte that evil has been a tool of the deity.