Jeremiah;- The big question (ch42)

Jeremiah ch42 vv1-6

In the previous chapter, Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the governor appointed by the king of Babylon, had been murdered. A large group of captives released by the Babylonians had been in his care. They had been taken captive again by the man who murdered him, then rescued by a combination of surviving bands of Jewish guerrillas. The whole party were now encamped near Bethlehem, proposing to seek refuge in Egypt because they feared the reaction of the king of Babylon.

But then they approached Jeremiah, who was himself one of the released captives, and asked him to pray to the Lord to show them where to go. They promised to obey the voice of the Lord, whether it favoured their plan or otherwise. They even said “My the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don not act according to the word which the Lord your God sends you to us.” This is a very formal and solemn oath.

Vv7-22

This is the Lord’s answer. If they remain in the land, he will build them up and plant them. He “repented of the evil”; that is, the act of judgement was now complete and could be discontinued. There was no need to fear the king of Babylon. The Lord would deliver them out of his hand, by inducing him to be merciful. I don’t suppose the king would be conscious of the persuasion, but it would be effective.

If they refused to remain in the land, that would be an act of rebellion. The disasters of sword and famine, which they were trying to escape, would follow them into Egypt. There would be no remnant or survivor.

In fact the wrath of the Lord, originally poured out upon Jerusalem and Judah, would continue to be poured out in their new location. They would become “an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt”. That is, their fate would be long remembered and quoted as a warning to others, or as a fate wished upon the enemies of other people. They would never see their own land again. At the end of the chapter, Jeremiah is reminding them that they asked him to seek the will of the Lord, “and I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God”. Evidently the arguing had already started. Therefore they would definitely fall victim to the classic trio of “sword, famine and pestilence”, as already experienced by Jerusalem.

Ch43 vv1-7

The leaders of the war-bands, led by Johanan the son of Kareah, rejected his advice. retorting bluntly that Jeremiah was telling a lie. He had been told to say these things not by the Lord but by Baruch, who wanted them to be killed or taken into exile by the Chaldeans. These bands had never fallen into Babylonian hands, so they might have better reason to fear that they would not be released like the civilians. The previous references to Baruch have been giving us the impression that he was just the faithful servant of Jeremiah. This new image of him as the manipulative man behind the scenes is rather startling. Yet they may have detected in him, and exaggerated, genuine hopes for greater influence in the land if Jeremiah’s mission prospered. For we find it recorded (ch45 v5) that the Lord asked him in the time of Jehoiakim “Do you seek great things for yourself?” Anyway, if they were not going to burn their boats and reject the Lord explicitly, they had to find some sort of excuse for rejecting what Jeremiah said on the Lord’s behalf.

So the whole party pressed on into Egypt and arrived at Tahpanes, on the frontier.

early example of people not wanting another's opinion, but wanting their own opinion repeated back.

I would love to have a Prophet of God advise me.

what a shame.

It's a distraction from the real story that is your life, to know life that did not yet exist back then was bad while fearing what might and might not be here anymore might repeat itself. I am here, The Lord is, offended, blamed but also seeking. You hear, you listen and you know. God might be a flower in the garden you despise but its smell will draw you near while you see the beauty of it.