SIEGE (Jeremiah 39)

In the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with his entire army and laid siege to Jerusalem. In the eleventh year and fourth month, on the ninth day of Zedekiah’s reign, they broke , MSG)through into the city. (Jeremiah 39:1-2, MSG)

October 2009 to April 2011--easier for me to calculate than "10th month of the 9th year and the 4th month of the 11th year."

The Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem for 18 months.

Eighteen months.

The famous siege of Masada in the first century, where all the residents killed themselves rather than be captured, only lasted a few months. Two pregnancies. No new supplies for a year and a half. This was a city, after all. House gardens wouldn't provide the grains and produce without the surrounding countryside.

No grain or livestock for the daily sacrifice.

Surviving eighteen months of dwindling resources and the threat of annihilation would ordinarily rouse admiration for their courage. We would admire the king who look to their leaders for our heroes.

Instead, Jeremiah told them to go to the Babylonians and end the siege. And Zedekiah is remembered as the last king of Judah.

Are you facing any long-term problems? Where would you like to be in eighteen months? Do you do the right thing by fighting towards that goal, using all of your resources and then some more?

Or is God calling you to give up that battle and to move on to the next stage of your life?

Is the future God wants for you something other than that seems obvious to you?

It's worth thinking about.