August 14, 2008

• Jeremiah 42

  Jeremiah 42:1-3 KJV  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,  (2)  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:)  (3)  That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

  Now it all looks and sounds good, doesn’t it? It seems like Johanan is doing the right thing, a good leader, but there is something he says that should tip us off that not all is well. You see, he asks Jeremiah to pray to “YOUR God not OUR God.”

  They will follow God as long as God tells them to go the way they want to go.
  What they should really be saying is, “Jeremiah, we have a plan to go to Egypt.  Ask God to bless that plan because that’s what we’re going to do”
  But instead they ask the prayer request in a way that makes it sound as if they actually want to do whatever God says.

  Sometimes our prayer requests are really all about what “we” want.
  James 4:1-3 NKJV  Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? {2} You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. {3} You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

  We can get to thinking that God is just some great big cosmic “genie” who grants wishes, if He can.
  But He’s not just some big “genie” who does whatever “we” want.  He is the Lord.
  What does the word “Lord” mean?

  It means that you will do whatever He says.

  Luke 6:46 NKJV  “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?

  That’s the most amazing thing about God.  He is the Lord of the Universe, and yet He gives us the freewill to say “no” to Him.

  What He’s looking for is people who will say “yes”.

  Jeremiah 42:4 KJV  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.

  Jeremiah says ok. I will pray to God and will tell you what He says.

  Jeremiah 42:5-6 KJV  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.  (6)  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.

  They say they will obey God. They know Jeremiah is a prophet. He has been 100% accurate. They promise to do what God says.
  
  Jeremiah 42:7 KJV  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

  10 days —- those were 10 long days I am sure.

  Waiting for God’s answer
  It doesn’t always come as quickly as e-mail.

  When Saul became king of Israel, he was given some guidelines on what to do when he needed God’s direction.
  
  1 Samuel 10:8 NKJV  “You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”

  The idea was that Saul would go to Gilgal, wait for seven days, and when Samuel showed up, he would perform the sacrifices and give a word from God to Saul.

  Later on, Saul encountered a problem with the Philistines.  There was a growing threat and the Philistines looked like they were going to attack Israel.  So Saul decided it was time to take action – but first to go through that “waiting” thing.

  1 Samuel 13:9 KJV  And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.

  Saul waited the seven days, but that’s all he waited for.  He was also supposed to wait for Samuel.

  Performing a sacrifice like this was not Saul’s job – that was Samuel’s job.

  1 Samuel 13: 10-11 KJV And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. {11} And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;

  The circumstances looked bad.  Saul didn’t think he could wait any longer.

  1 Samuel 13:12-14 KJV Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. {13} And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. {14} But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

  A “man after his own heart” is a man who will wait for God.

  God is looking for people who will wait for Him.

  Waiting doesn’t just involve putting in “time”.  It means waiting for God’s reply as well.

  Jeremiah 42:8-17 KJV  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,  (9)  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;  (10)  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.  (11)  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.  (12)  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.  (13)  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,  (14)  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:  (15)  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;  (16)  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.  (17)  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.
  
  Jeremiah calls Johanan and all the people together and shares with them God’s will in this situation. He tells them they are not to go down to Egypt, not to run away, but to remain in the land and God would provide for them.

  The choice is theirs. If they remain in the land God will protect them and provide for them. If they go down to Egypt, then they will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. All the things they feared and tried to escape from by going down to Egypt would come upon them. But it is up to them, they have a choice to make, who they are going to listen to, the voice of God or the voice of man, the voice of their flesh!
  
  Jeremiah 42:18 KJV  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.

  They still don’t want to listen to God’s prophet. They promised to do what God says, but they still don’t want to listen.

  Jeremiah 42:19 KJV  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.

  Go back! Don’t go to Egypt!

  Jeremiah 42:20 KJV  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.

  He says you were lying when you said you would do what God says.

  The church today is no different. We have people that honor God with their lips and their hearts are far from God because they refuse to do what God has said to them. Thus, their words are empty and not acceptable before God.
  
  Jeremiah 42:21-22 KJV  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.  (22)  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.

  Egypt = Death.

  Now we are not going really to get into chapter 43 this post, but I just want to read the first few verses to show you their heart, their response to all Jeremiah said to them. Really, all God instructed them to do. We read beginning in verse 1 of Jeremiah chapter 43, “Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, all these words, that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, ‘You speak falsely! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’” Jeremiah 43:1-2.

  That is not only typical of people who lived back then, but even today. God will speak to people and because it goes against what they believe, they refuse to listen. Pride is a terrible thing because it causes people to do things that are contrary to the will and the Word of God. May we be wise and follow what John said in Revelation 1:3. We read “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

  God bless you and draw you close to Him.

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