Commentary by Michael VandenBerg
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the Allies and Germany called a cease-fire, bringing an end to World War I. This was to put an end to the war that ended all wars. But of course we know from our vantage that this was not then nor ever has been the case. The First World War had no victor they simply agreed to stop fighting to end the killing. This marked the beginning of Armistice Day, now called Veterans Day. We remember those closest to the conflict who in our stay have fought to assure our freedoms.
General Douglas MacArthur said, “The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” But what kind of peace do we pray for? The peace of Armistice Day was merely s cease fire, a truce, a brief stoppage of killing. In contrast, the Hebrew word, “Shalom,” means a total well-being, embracing justice, charity, a spirit of wholeness and the overall health. It is holding up others in the very best of light and desiring for them the very best that God has to offer. This is why God instructed Jeremiah the prophet to tell the people that; rather than despair at their plight, rather than resent one another, rather than even simply praying for a stop in the violence and war, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which they now found themselves and more than that, pray to the Lord for it.
If we do this we are told, God will provide for our own prosperity in the midst of the prosperity of those around us. This Veterans Day, we honor those fallen in war, those who serve their county and fellow man, but we should also join them in prayer that we may find within all, the Shalom of God for the world.
