Imperfect People and Perfect Friendship

“So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, [As] the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.” (Jer 38:16 AV)

Note the plural ‘us’ and the singular ‘soul’.  No doubt my writing assistant will have a field day trying to understand that grammar.  Zedekiah was a king appointed by Nebuchadnezzar.  His authority to act was limited.  Jeremiah was thrust into three different prisons.  There was nothing the king could do about that.  It seemed there were other princes who had more authority than he did.  But one thing he could do and that was to protect the life of the prophet.  Zedekiah may not have been the perfect friend, but he was an adequate one.  Being grateful for friends is important.  Regardless of their flaws, they have the means to be a blessing.  I am sure Jeremiah did not lament the fact that Zedekiah failed to act courageously and simply lose Jeremiah completely.  No, I am sure he was grateful that Zedekiah took Jeremiah from the pit of mire and set him in the court of the prison.  It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was what Zedekiah could do.

Close friendships look beyond flaws.  After all, we all have them.  It is not that we ignore the flaws.  Rather, we value friendship far more than we resent flaws.  Zedekiah had his issues.  He ignored the advice of his friend Jeremiah and fled from Nebuchadnezzar.  As a result, he went into Babylon with his eyes put out.  Having seen his children murdered, it would be the last thing he saw.  The city was burned to the ground.  If he would have listened to his friend, he would have been treated with honor and the city would still stand.  In spite of all this, Jeremiah and Zedekiah were still one soul.  They had enough in common to warrant a close relationship.

There is something that also struck me as worthy of more consideration.  The one with the flaws saw the stronger as a closely knit soul.  Yet Jeremiah never disputed his characterization.  The stronger accepted the characterization as genuine.  The man of God did not roll his eyes at the emotional bond which Zedekiah described.  He accepted it as the real deal.  We may be the stronger of the two.  Accepting close relationships may not be as beneficial to us as it is the weaker.  As Paul so eloquently described such a situation in Romans 14, there is a mandate to love the brethren no matter what we may think of ourselves of the benefit we may or may not receive from such a relationship.  Jeremiah and Zedekiah were knit together as one soul because of their separated relationship with God and their love for Israel.  Each had their own set of baggage they brought to the relationship.  That didn’t stop them from being knit as one.  I think the reality of close relationships is fleeting.  The more private we become, the more comfortable we are in our aloneness.  Our standards are too high.  We have all we need in the privacy of our own minds.  That really is too bad.  Somewhere out there are people who need you, and we need them.  We just have to learn to accept their imperfections as they accept ours.