entitlement - 17th week Friday 2014

Jeremiah was almost killed by the mob when he dared to say the unthinkable - that what happened to the shrine in Shiloh many years before will also happen to Jerusalem, the holy place, most sacred to the Jews.  Shiloh was the first shrine where the ark of the covenant was placed in a tent just after they entered the promised land.  Jerusalem was not yet founded by King David and there was no temple yet except the sanctuary in Shiloh.  It was in Shiloh that the Israelites met a brutal defeat.  Their armies were totally routed and the ark of the covenant was taken by their enemies the Philistines.  To say that Jerusalem will become another Shiloh is to say that Jerusalem, the temple and the ark of the covenant itself will be destroyed.  To say that Jerusalem will become another Shiloh, is to say that Jerusalem will become nothing but ruins.  How could God allow such a thing to happen?  This is his temple, this is his abode, we are his chosen people – how could he allow our destruction and the destruction of Jerusalem?  And this made the Jews turn in anger towards the prophet Jeremiah they almost killed him. 

This is a kind of anger which has for its root cause the sense of entitlement.  I am angry because I feel I am superior, I am chosen and therefore special and therefore I deserve special treatment, to be treated better than the rest, I deserve to be given special privileges, I deserve to be respected and obeyed.  And so when we are criticized we feel that we are being assaulted and shattered.  It is sometimes referred to as narcissistic anger, an anger borne out of too much love and focus on the self.