In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it – Jeremiah 39:1

Today's Scripture Reading (July 21, 2023): Jeremiah 39

Every once in a while, I meet with some of the wise men of the residential area where I live. This meeting of the wise examines the conditions of the city and the various problems that the city has to face. Some of the recent topics included on the agenda for the most recent meetings have included  whether the city has set aside enough money for next year's snow removal (it hasn't), places where money might be saved (one of the current targets is the building of new bike lanes on the downtown streets), the homeless problem of the city (and how it is spilling over into traditional residential area), and a new childcare business that seems to be going forward without proper planning or inspections. Before you begin to raise your expectations about the wisdom of this group, we meet in the alley at about 8 in the evening. But the environment doesn't seem to dampen the conversation, although I recognize that very little is changed by these meetings. But that doesn't stop us from meeting.

The ninth year and tenth month of the reign of Zedekiah brings us to 587 B.C.E. It was in that year that the final chapter of Judah's rebellion against Babylon began to be written. Babylon had had enough of Judah, and they had decided that the city and the people had to go. Notably, the best, brightest, and much of actual royalty had already been removed from the city and were living in Babylon. That means that the ones left in the city were not the best and brightest; they were the ordinary, the poor, and probably a lot of people like the ones I meet with in the alley.

Babylon did what was a common way to attack a walled city. They began a siege. The siege prevented trade and business from getting in and out of the city. The people inside the city had no way to get food; as a result, conditions in the city declined. People begin to get hungry and sick, and there is no way to heal the pain. Eventually, the people within the city give up and walk out, or the outside army is able to weaken the walls and break into the city, and no one inside has the strength left to try and stop them.

Jeremiah lived through these days inside Jerusalem and offers us this view of the circumstances inside the city. 

Because of thirst the infant's tongue
    sticks to the roof of its mouth;
the children beg for bread,
    but no one gives it to them.

Those who once ate delicacies
    are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple
    now lie on ash heaps (Lamentations 4:4-5)

Once significant distinctions between people disappear, everyone shares just one dream, to survive until tomorrow.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 40