And if they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: "'Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.' – Jeremiah 15:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 27, 2023): Jeremiah 15

I recently had a conversation with a homeless woman. She was a mother of a young child who had been kicked out of her parent's house. As a result of being homeless, her child was taken away from her. And now she was starting the long path back, hoping to stabilize her life and get her child back. I didn't know her, but I felt sorry for her. And I would have loved to have been able to talk more to her about her story. What was the reason for her ejection from her parent's house? Was there a path back, things that she could do to invite her parents into the process of repairing the relationship? But fixing that parental relationship might have been the easiest way to get back on the right path.

But I also recognized that that might not be possible. I have no idea whether this young mom's parents were exercising tough love with their daughter, if there was some substantial issue that had arisen between them, or if some other unassailable obstacle had come between them. But the woman impressed me with her intelligence and communication skills. And I must admit, by the end of our conversation, she had me cheering for her, hoping that she could put her life back together and get her child back under her care.

God had told Jeremiah that Judah was about to be evicted from their land. And then, God predicted the question that the people would ask next; if we must leave Judah and Israel, where will we go? Some might have wondered if there was another forty-year wandering in the desert that was in their immediate future. But God wanted Jeremiah to know that their future wasn't that rosy. What was coming was death, war, famine, and exile.

For Israel, death was on the way in the form of plague and disease, death from war and the sword, death would also come as a result of famine and starvation, and for those that lived through this time of crisis, they would live in exile; either a forced captivity in Babylon or a voluntary exile in Egypt. And Jeremiah now understood there wasn't a way out of this eventuality. In the long run, there would be an opportunity to put the relationship back together. But until that happened, there would be significant pain in the future of God's children.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 16