My Dear Little Gnudren

Many of us have been stunned by the scale of the dreadful earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The picture above is of the city of Kahramanmaras, [now in Turkey – until 1920 it was regarded as belonging to Armenia as was the whole of what is now Eastern Turkey] which was at the epicentre of this 7.8 quake.

Kahramanmaras, or Marash as it was known to the Armenians who once lived there is the home city of the Topalian dynasty. Great grandpa, Hamparchoom Topalian, was a senior provincial administrator of the district; and old Gnu has a map of Marash from 1900 on which is marked “The Topalian Residence”. The family were leather merchants and owned land. Old Gnu had hoped to visit Marash before he departed this life and go to see if the Topalian residence was still standing. There were some obstacles. He was warned that the Turkish authorities were highly suspicious and hostile to Armenians trying to visit what was once their homeland, but is now part of Eastern Turkey. Well, now it is highly unlikely that that old building is standing. What happened to the 55,000 Armenians who lived in Marash and its environs? Only 5,000 survived. The rest were killed in the Armenian Genocide – see Mr. Waki Pedia if you really want the gruesome details.

Old Gnu was pleased that the lady Rabbi who was doing Radio 4’s Thought for the Day on 7^th February, challenged us all to think about how we react and what we do in such situations. She pointed us to Elijah on Mount Horeb [Sinai] – in 1 Kings 19 – and the earthquake he witnessed there. She then told us that Elijah, having witnessed the earthquake, was asked by God: “What are you going to do about it?” But that is not what the Hebrew text says!  The text reads:  מַה-לְּךָ פֹה אֵלִיָּהוּ    “What are you doing here Elijah?” [Little Gnudren, don’t forget to read the Hebrew right to left or you’ll get very confused]. The good Rabbi’s translation a very far cry from the meaning and context of 1 Kings 19.

In 1 Kings 19 Elijah is rather fed up with the idolatrous Ahab and Jezebel who have murdered the faithful prophets of the Lord and very few are left according to Elijah.

And Elijah wants God to smash their heads in so to speak and get revenge. Mind you he himself has just murdered a number of the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, but that doesn’t count as murder because they were false prophets. So, many others through successive centuries have followed his example, killing those who are in their opinion’s false prophets and leading people astray…the Spanish Inquisition … the Reformation … and so on and so forth.

For boys and girls under 10: Which of these pictures is of Elijah killing the prophets of Baal, and which one is the Spanish Inquisition?

But we have grown up hopefully and respect people’s private beliefs but obviously speak out against religious persecution.

In response to Elijah’s predicament God gives him a tremendous display of power. But God disassociates her/himself from the violence of the earthquake, the wind and fire – “The Lord was not in the wind… earthquake… (or) fire.” [1 Kings 19:11-12]

And one more very important point. God’s response to Elijah’s statement about the slaughter of faithful followers is not a still small voice, as found in many older English translations, but God responds with sheer silence – [our understanding of Hebrew now tells us that still small voice is an incorrect and misleading translation, (see 1 Kings 19:12 New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Orthodox Jewish Bible, Revised English Bible etc…) i.e., God ignores Elijah’s supposed predicament.]

Please pause and take a breath and think:

How many passionate sermons have been preached on The Still Small Voice through the centuries that stirred people into godly action? What frightened Elijah was God seemingly ignoring his complaint about good people being put to death.

But we digress. What 1 Kings 19 is telling us is a far cry from helping victims of a devastating earthquake. But no matter, the good Rabbi is stirring us up to show the compassion of God in our reaction to the dreadful state of affairs in Turkey and Syria at the present time. Down through the centuries countless sermons have been preached, including some really dreadful ones by old Gnu, where the Bible text has been misappropriated. But many have responded to them in Christ-like acts. Jesus said, By their fruits you shall know them, and mercifully not by their Bible exposition. If you’ve got this far reading this blog, your head may hurt and you may need a stiff drink to bring you round.

Cheers! Have a nice day!

Vetus Pater Gnu
Academiae Musicorum et Theologia
Turris LA
VII  Mensis Februarius MMXXIII