For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it. – Jeremiah 14:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 10, 2017): Jeremiah 14

Earlier this week China sent a stern warning to the United States about what could turn into the provocation for an arms race that no one can win on the Korean Peninsula. The target is the missile defense system that the U.S. is starting to install in South Korea following the North Koreans continued pattern of ignoring United Nations resolutions and moving toward being a nation that is in possession of Nuclear weapons. From China’s point of view, the defense system also raises the possibility that they (China) would be unable to react if a conflict developed (like the one currently raging in the South China Sea) between it and the U.S.

I have no idea what conversation is presently taking place between the two countries behind the scenes, or even what the proper diplomatic response might be to China’s assertion, but I know what I would want to say to China if I was the U.S. “We have begged you to reign in North Korea. We have asked you to stop selling them supplies; to add your weight to the sanctions that the world has taken against them. And at each point, you have refused. If it were not for China, North Korea would not be able to pursue the path that they are currently following. The placing of a missile defense systems on the Korean Peninsula is the last resort, one that we (the U.S.) are sad to take. But at this point, we don’t know what else to do. The ball is still in your court. All this can still change.”

Jeremiah begs God not to break his covenant with Judah. But it would seem that the same comments might apply to Judah. God had pleaded with Judah to come back to him. It was not God who broke the covenant, as Jeremiah seems to state, it was Judah. And all that was about to follow was laid out in the contract that God had made with Judah. Now was simply the time for the covenant terms to be fulfilled.

We understand that every action has a reaction. Every step in one direction carries us someplace, and it is not always to a place where we want to be. But this is life. And preparing for the unknowns of the future are a part of that life – whether it is a military build-up on the Korean Peninsula or maybe it is decisions that we make in our daily lives. Every action carries either a blessing or a curse, no matter how minor. Even small blessings and little curses can add up to something more major. We can see it being played out in Korea, and Jeremiah watched the same principle become a reality in Judah in the 6^th Century B.C.E. It is a result that cannot be avoided.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 15