Holy Shit | Wayfarer

I will throw you on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.
Ezekiel 32:4 (NIV)

A number of years ago I read a fascinating book that has become one of my favorite all-time reads. The book is called Holy Sh*t by Melissa Mohr, and it’s subtitled “A Brief History of Swearing.” I have always been fascinated by words and phrases and their histories along with culture’s mores and taboos regarding what is acceptable and unacceptable to say.

In her book, Mohr explains that there are basically two categories of swear words in the history of English. There are swear words that have to do with that which is sacred (e.g. “Holy”) and then there are swear words that have to do with body parts, bodily acts (especially sex), and excrements (e.g. “Shit”). Mohr goes on to explain that through history these two categories waxed and waned with regard to which was more prominent and fashionable.

I thought of Mohr’s book this morning as I read today’s chapter which contains the final two of Ezekiel’s seven prophetic messages regarding ancient Israel’s former enslaver and millennial nemesis, Pharaoh and his Egyptian empire.

In the first of the final two, Ezekiel writes another song of lament, a funeral dirge, in which God tells Pharaoh that He:

will throw [Pharaoh] on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.

What is easily lost on casual modern readers is the fact that the Egyptians, especially the Pharaohs, had an entire religious belief system around death and the afterlife. All those Egyptian mummies we see in museums come from a highly orchestrated process that was rooted in Egyptian religion. The Egyptians preserved the bodies, the organs, and then buried the Pharaoh with all of his treasures, worldly goods, and sometimes even with dead and mummified servants because they believed that Pharaoh would need all of those things in the ancient Egyptian version of the heavenly afterlife.

When God through Ezekiel proclaims that Pharaoh’s dead body will be thrown into an open field where all of the carrion fowl and wild beasts can feast on his flesh, it means there is nothing to preserve and mummify. God is going to rob Pharaoh of the heavenly afterlife he believes he’s going to have according to his own faith system.

The second and final message to Pharaoh is addressed to both Pharaoh and “his hoards.” God through Ezekiel tells the Egyptian king that he will be drug down to “the pit, the realm of the dead.” When he gets there, he’ll find out that he is joining the leaders and military hoards of a bunch of regional nations like Assyria, Elam, Meshek, Tubal, Edom, and the Sidonians. All of these kingdoms were devastated and destroyed. Pharaoh would have known this.

Instead of ascending to a cushy afterlife with all of his servants and treasures, Zeke’s prophetic messages are telling Pharaoh that just the opposite is going to happen. He will find himself in a very different afterlife with all of the other fallen kings and their empires who had gone before. He’s headed down to the pit. The realm of the dead.

In short, Zeke’s prophetic message is really an ancient form of the same colloquialism that we still use interpersonally today with enemies or individuals with whom we’re angry. . He’s telling Pharaoh “Go to hell” in a much more creative way. I would argue, however, that it would have been just as blunt in Pharaoh’s mind when he received the message.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that history teaches us lessons about evil and about tyrants and dictators and emperors bent on conquest and power. They don’t respond to polite requests to be nicer. Any offer of a joint counseling session to work out the issues and find reconciliation will be rejected, mocked, and laughed at. Those who try the appeasement approach quickly find themselves the next victim. Evil only responds to direct force, and God through Zeke is delivering a direct, forceful message. One of the things that I have learned through the study of both theatre and mass communication is that in certain human situations the use of a well-timed, well-turned expletive is a powerful tool in getting through thick heads and hard hearts.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. Philippians 3:8 (NLT)

One of the books on my summer reading list is a fascinating treatise entitled Holy Sh*t, A Brief History of Swearing, by Melissa Mohr. I am intrigued by the subject matter on a number of levels. At least part of my motivation when I picked up the book sprang out of my role as President of our local community theatre. Most popular plays and musicals contain at least some swear words. Our organization regularly engages in conversation weighing the options of presenting a script as written (knowing that we will offend some of our audience members) or changing the script to eliminate some or all of the offensive words (knowing that in doing so we are breaking the law and our contractual obligations to the playwright and publisher). When people hear certain words they get offended. Then, they write letters. It’s my job to respond.

What most modern Americans do not realize is that the Bible is full of language that most people would consider harsh or obscene. After studying it for over thirty years, I’ve always understood this. In her book, Mohr does a great job of laying it out in a literary, social and historical context. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament was originally written in Greek. The authors sometimes used words, phrases and euphemisms which, literally translated, would offend most religious people today. The verse above (Philippians 3:8) from today’s chapter is a great example. Paul was trying to make a strong point. All of the things that he once thought worth-while (e.g. being extremely religious, keeping all of the Jewish laws and customs, zealously persecuting anyone who didn’t agree with his religious view, and etc.) he now considers worth-less. But, Paul didn’t write it that way in his letter.

When Paul wrote that all of his former religiosity was “worthless” he used the Greek word that is transliterated in English: skubalon. It is the only place in the New Testament this Greek word is used. Literally translated in today’s language it means “shit.” When translators write this verse in English they choose to use a more acceptable English word such as “rubbish” or “worthless” so as not to offend. But make no mistake about it, Paul considered all of the religious trappings of his life prior to meeting Jesus as nothing more than a pile of shit. And, he wasn’t afraid to say so.

Today, I’m thinking about words, phrases and euphemisms. They are little metaphors. A sound we make or symbols we write which represent something else without using “like” or “as.” One of the little known, rarely taught aspects of God’s Message is that it often uses words and word pictures that are offensive to those with fragile social sensibilities. Truth offends, and Paul clearly understood that sometimes Truth must be spoken in words that communicate its harsh realities.