10/02/2007
Jeremiah 42:1-6(NRSV)
1Then
all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Azariah son of
Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached
2the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Be good
enough to listen to our plea, and pray to the LORD your God for us—for all
this remnant. For there are only a few of us left out of many, as your eyes
can see.
3Let the LORD your God show us where we
should go and what we should do.”
4The prophet Jeremiah said to them, “Very
well: I am going to pray to the LORD your God as you request, and whatever the
LORD answers you I will tell you; I will keep nothing back from you.”
5They in their turn said to Jeremiah,
“May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act
according to everything that the LORD your God sends us through you.
6Whether it is good or bad, we will obey
the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, in order that it may
go well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”
By this time, Nebuchadnezzar has overrun Jerusalem. He has taken the king captive and appointed a local governor in Jerusalem. A prince of Jewish royal blood then assassinated the governor and began terrorizing the land. A band of vigilantes then runs the prince off, but they fear that Nebuchadnezzar will hear of the assassination and come to Jerusalem and kill everyone. They are pleading with Jeremiah to tell them what to do.
It has been said “there are no atheists in foxholes.” This reflects that when people find themselves in desperate situations, they will seek any refuge available. The Jews were in a desperate situation. But to this time, The Jews have been worshiping “the queen of heaven”, a female deity that they have been repeatedly told to abandon. Nevertheless, they ask Jeremiah to seek an answer from God as to where they should go to avoid the sword of Nebuchadnezzar – good or bad, they say, they will obey.
This seems like a noble offer, but how does it play out?
Jeremiah comes and tells them what God has said – that if they stay in Jerusalem, they will be safe, but if they flee to Egypt (also an enemy of Babylon), they will all die.
The band of vigilantes don’t like this answer. Although they said they would do whatever God instructed, His answer was not what they wanted to hear and they turn their backs on him and walk to their doom in Egypt.
How many times are we like this group of Jews? We fall to our knees before God and say “I’ll do whatever you ask.” Yet when we get the answer, we say “That isn’t what I wanted you to ask.”
God wanted the Jews to trust Him. Staying in Jerusalem appeared to be certain death, and indeed, only the hand of God could protect them. But rather than trust in God, they chose their own way. How many times are we like that? Are we able to yield ourselves to God and then trust Him?
Trusting in God means that we accept His word and stand firm believing that He will do what He has said – no questions, no exceptions. Can you do that?
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2007 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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