"And to this people you shall say: Thus says the LORD: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans, who are besieging you, shall live and have their lives as a prize for war."
(Jeremiah 21:8-9)
In STAR TREK lore, whenever the Borg communicated with some entity/ship/race that they came up against, they always ended the transmission with: "resistance is futile!" Was it a claim of hubris... or words of wisdom & prudence? (Well, the Borg usually backed up that claim, so it was prudence!)
The prophet Jeremiah has a difficult message to proclaim to the people of Israel: 1) They're about to be attacked by the Chaldeans, 2) Resistance is futile! Well, they can choose to resist if they want. But God will not save them. In fact, they'll die. God wants them to surrender & go willingly into exile.
Such a hard message to hear. Even for us today. We're taught to "stand up for ourselves," to "never give up," and to "fight the good fight." But not here. Not for Jeremiah. God wants the Israelites to humbly submit and go into exile. Why? Well, God knew that they couldn't keep living the way they were. They needed change. BIG TIME! They had a lot of character work that God needed to do in their lives. Exile was needed. Not resistance.
Sometimes God needs us to submit - even to something that seems "wrong" at the time - so we can truly be changed. Resistance is futile. But God is faithful.
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