Jeremiah 42: False Solutions
Monday, September 29, 2025
A number of years ago a friend of mine pointed out the tactic that many of us use to go around an obstacle in our path. She called it the geographic solution: When the going gets tough, our instinct is to get out of town. We want to avoid the problem at all costs so rather than sort through the tangled threads of the dilemma, we avoid it and hope that the conflict will magically disappear. This is, of course, false logic. If no one addresses difficulty, we know it will not be overcome. Another friend adds: When you run, you take your problems with you. This is the same warning we hear today from God who speaks to the people of Judah through the prophet Jeremiah: If you remain quietly in this land I will build you up, and not tear you down; I will plant you, not uproot you . .
We enter Jeremiah’s story at the time that the people living in the southern portion of David’s kingdom are frightened. They have witnessed the deportation of those living in the north and, hoping to have bought themselves a bit of safety, they have made unholy alliances with the pagan nations that surround them. To their disappointment, not only do they find themselves threatened by these warring neighbors, they also find that their willingness to accept and even participate in pagan rites and ceremonies has cut them off from Yahweh who had so many times saved them. They have distanced themselves spiritually, mentally and physically from God and rather than take a hard look at an effective reform of their own beliefs and behaviors, they seek the geographic solution. They have begun to believe the myth that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. We remind ourselves, as my friend frequently intones, that: We can run, but we take our problems with us. The people in today’s story do not believe or understand this. Having the benefit of historical perspective, we see that the people of Judah have abandoned their belief that God can and will save them. They do not see what we see – that running from their problems will not improve their predicament.
Jeremiah conveys God’s word: If you disobey the voice of the Lord, your God, and decide not to remain in this land, saying, “No, we will go to Egypt, where we will see no more of war, hear the trumpet alarm no longer, nor hunger for bread; there we will live” . . . the sword you fear shall reach you in the land of Egypt, the hunger you dread shall cling to you no less in Egypt, and there you shall die.
They have forgotten Yahweh’s promise . . . For I am with you to save you, to rescue you . . .
Perhaps they believe they are beyond redemption. If so, they have forgotten another one of Yahweh’s promises . . . For I regret the evil I have done you . . . I will grant you mercy . . .
As we hear the dialog between the Creator and his creatures, we may want to take this opportunity to reflect on our own strategies for problem solving. When a disturbance erupts we do not have to run away or even hide; there are options. We can turn away in embarrassment. We can deflect the cause or culpability to someone else. We can become defensive or passive aggressive. We can remove ourselves forever from the people and situation. But none of these actions will solve anything. None of this will bring us true peace for there is only one road to true harmony.
We must rely on God and step forward to both forgive and be forgiven. We must ask for God’s intervention and begin the process of healing. We must be willing to begin anew with God at the center of the storm, and we must remember this: There is no geographic solution that works. And we take our problems with us.
A re-post from September 4, 2011.
Image from: http://tomorrowsreflection.com/grass-greener/
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