This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! – Jeremiah 37:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 23, 2014): Jeremiah 37

Recent developments in the Ukraine have highlighted the interconnectedness of our world. Our reality is that we really do need each other. And the ties between Russia and the Ukraine have to stay strong. For those in the Ukraine who would like to leave the days that they spent tied to Russia in the U.S.S.R. somewhat buried in the past, the idea is unrealistic. Russia’s focus is on the Ukraine, and to be honest, the focus of the Ukraine is on Russia. It has to be. As one Ukrainian worker put it, whenever he looks behind him, he sees the lives of his father and grandfather – and in those memories, Russia is there. That tie is important. Whenever they look into the past what they see and hear is Russia. And the reality is that Russia will not be going away any time soon.

Jeremiah sends a message to the king that is very similar, telling the king that the focus of Babylon is on Judah. In the case of Babylon, it is not a shared history that has caused this focus – it is God. Jeremiah’s message to the king is that whenever he looks at God, he sees Babylon. Whenever he listens to God he hears Babylon. The focus of the two nations are on each other. And neither nation is going away any time soon. Even though Egypt rides out to support Judah (not out of a love for Judah, but out of a fear of Babylon and a belief that the best thing for Egypt’s future was an independent Judah that could provide a buffer zone between the two empires) Egypt would be unsuccessful. Babylon was not going away.

As much as we desire to spend effort on changing our physical realities, that time would be better spent in trying to understand our realities and how we can live within them. I am Canadian. We are defined by saying “eh” (which just so you know is rarely actually said in Canada anymore), and for our apologetic, gentle nature. We take issue with the citizens of the United States being called Americans because we are Americans too, we are full citizens of the North American Continent. But we also try to distance ourselves from the Americans that live to the South of us. We are different from them. When we travel abroad we sew Canadian flags into our stuff so that people will know that we are Canadian, and equally so that people will know that we are not from the United States. We have our own character. But our reality is much like that of the Ukraine. When we look backward we see the United States. These Americans are our brothers and sisters, often quite literally. We share history with them and we are influenced by them. And Canada knows that the United States is not going away – it would be foolish to think that they were. So our task is in defining ourselves as a people in our own right and developing a good relationship this these people who are also called “Americans.”

Jeremiah’s basic instruction to the king is simply that Babylon is not going away. The best thing – and the most God honoring thing - for the king to do was to figure out what life looks like in the new reality and in relationship with Babylon. To do anything else would be foolish – and God never instructs us to act the part of the fool.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 38