Jeremiah 42

They Would Not Hear

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ‘As mMne anger and My fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall My fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.’  “The LORD hath said concerning you, ‘O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt:’ know certainly that I have admonished you this day.  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying,” ‘Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.’   “And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which He hath sent me unto you.  Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.”
Jeremiah 42:18-22

These were a remnant of the people of Judah, that were left in Jerusalem to keep it for the Babylon.  They were the poor that that did not go into captivity, but could have had freedom.  They knew all of God’s words spoken by the prophet had come to  pass just as they had been spoken.

The prophet accepted their request for prayer “to seek the will of the LORD,” probably expecting that they,  had already been instructed to stay in Jerusalem, and nearby towns, and cities.  It seems they had made up their minds even before asking Jeremiah to pray to find the will of God.

If you follow up by reading the 43rd and 44th chapter you will find out more of what happens.  Jeremiah prays for ten days, gets an answer from God; and God says, “Stay in this land.”  The tell Jeremiah is lying, and that God did not say, “Stay in Jerusalem.”

Christian, have you ever went to God trying to get approval for doing something you wanted to that you knew, within your heart that it was out of His will; for one example consider a Christian business man that wants to take on a partner, but the person he has in mind is not a Christian.  So he prays to seek God’s will, then he is searches in the Scriptures and finds the verse that says, “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers,” but he goes ahead with his plan any way.  Then, he starts having all kinds of trouble with fraud, and other crimes, and he wonders, “Why God allowed it to happen.,”

When God says to not do something, then, it is up to us to not do that thing.  When God has given us His word to do something, then, it is good to do that thing, and it will be quite a blessing and rewarding.

May we as Christians hear and do the word, and the will of God.  There are somethings we should not need to ask what God’s will is.  We need not ask if it is His will for us to pray, to read and study and apply His word in our lives.  Do not in pretense ask for prayer when you have already made up your own mind.  The end result will be  a disaster.

Believe what God says, and do it.

 

 

The Place You Desire To Go

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Do we listen to the word of the LORD? Do we hear the word of the LORD? Do I really want to know the will of God? Do you? When we know the will of God, do I do it?

Are we like the people in the following verses of Scripture in Jeremiah? They came to the prophet asking him to pray for them concerning staying in Judea, and whatever God told them through the prophet they would do.

Hear the word of the LORD.

Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, “Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) that the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.” Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, “I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.” Then they said to Jeremiah, “The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, and said unto them, “Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before Him; if ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent Me of the evil that I have done unto you.  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him,” saith the LORD: “for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. but if ye say, ‘We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God, saying,’ No;’ ‘but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:’ and now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.”
For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; “As Mine anger and My fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall My fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.” The LORD hath said concerning you, “O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt:” know certainly that I have admonished you this day.  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.’  And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which He hath sent me unto you. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.”
Jeremiah 42:1-22

 

Abide In This Land

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

…And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah. Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, and said unto them, “Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before Him;  ‘If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him,’ saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land…’ ”
Jeremiah 42:7-12

When You Ask…

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, and said unto them, ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before Him; ‘If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull down, and I will plant you, and not pluck up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.’ ” Jeremiah 42:7-12 (KJB)

First of all when you ask do not already have your mind made up what you are going to do.

That is apparently what the remnant of those left in Judah to care for the land, and the cities. With hypocritical hearts and minds they feigned wanting the will of God, so they go to the prophet Jeremiah asking him to seek the LORD’S counsel on His will.

The above verses are God’s answer to Jeremiah for the people.  It is a message of hope and promise if they will stay in the land. It is a promise that they need not fear Babylon their captors. What they need to do is do what the LORD says, and they will be protected and greatly blessed.

When we ask God’s counsel for something do we already have our minds made up of what we are going to do?  It does not matter what God says in His word we often do what we want to do.  That is a sad commentary on the life of a Christian, and it robs us of the promise, protection, and provision of the LORD our God.

When we ask, let us ask that the will of God be done.  Let us ask for the courage, faith, and power of the Spirit of God in us to walk in His way; not our own. When God says “Stay”, let us stay.  When God says “Go” let us go.

Our rest, our hope lies only in the Son of God who is Jesus Christ, God who became flesh, and dwelt among us. He died on the cross for ours sins, was buried, and He rose again.

“Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).