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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I left you yesterday waiting, do you remember? When’s the last time you spent a long period of time praying and waiting for God to give you a much-needed answer for guiding your life? That’s what the old prophet Jeremiah was doing… praying and waiting.
But Jeremiah was not the only one waiting! Jeremiah’s petition for God’s guidance wasn’t for himself, but rather for a large group of weary Israeli refugees fleeing disaster, do you remember who they are? These had been the last to leave destroyed, demolished Jerusalem after its destruction by the Babylonian army in 586bc. (Jeremiah 40:6) They’d heard Mizpah was a safe place so went there, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem and spent several months there. Thousands of other war refugees also came to Mizpah having heard it was safe there. (Jeremiah 40:11,12) And it was, until a terrorist attack killed the benevolent leaders and ruthlessly took charge of this war weary group of refugees which included Jeremiah the prophet. (Jeremiah 41:1-3)
A short while later a rescue party came and rescued these refugees from the ruthless terrorists which held them captive and that is when Jeremiah and these refugees started migrating south, looking for a new safe place. (Jeremiah 41:16,17) Some of those now in leadership had come to Jeremiah asking him to seek God’s guidance. Should they stay in the land of Judah, not far from Bethlehem where they had paused their migration, or should they continue and maybe even seek refuge in Egypt? (Jeremiah 42:4) So Jeremiah prayed and waited to hear from God.
Jeremiah’s record tells us Jeremiah prayed for 10 days until finally he received his response message from God. 10 days my friends! Are you as impatient as I sometimes can be?
Now it’s important for us to remember that those who had asked Jeremiah to seek God’s guidance for these people had also made a significant promise: “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we are sending you…” (Jeremiah 42:5,6) Oh my! Have you ever tried to negotiate with God, perhaps offering to do something extravagant if God would answer your prayer or come to your aid?
So, after 10 days of prayer, Jeremiah returned to those who had sent him to inquire of God. His message is fairly lengthy, and he records it for us in Jeremiah 42:7-18. In brief God’s message was simple… “If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you…Do not be afraid of the King of Babylon, for I am with you…”
I imagine as Jeremiah spoke, he was met with frowns and scowls. This was not what these refugees wanted to hear. They had seen all the destruction of the powerful Babylonian army everywhere in Israel and it seemed wise to flee to another country, Egypt, and seek refuge and safety there. Have you ever done that, my friends, when God seems to be giving you an answer to your prayer that is different or even contrary to what you wanted to hear from God? What did you do?
Jeremiah saw the reluctant looks on their faces and so he continued with the second part of God’s message: “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the LORD your God, and if you say, ‘we will go and live in Egypt where we will be safe…’ then hear the word of the LORD, you remnant of Judah: ‘if you do go and settle in Egypt, then the sword you fear will overtake you there and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt and there you will die.” (Jer. 42:13-18)
Oh my! God’s message was very clear… ‘TRUST ME to protect you, provide for you, bless you and build you up.’
Oh, how I wish I could tell you the people praised God and thanked Him, trusted God and began settling down right where they were. Sadly, like so often we do, the people said “NO”! They thought they could make a better plan, even though they had promised Jeremiah they would fully obey whatever God told them to do!
Jeremiah records their words and actions this way: “When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God…the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are lying!” (Jer. 43:2,3) Oh how that must have deeply hurt Jeremiah who had spent 10 days interceding with God for them! Instead, Jeremiah records that: “The officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land…and they took Jeremiah the prophet along with them. So, they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD…” (Jeremiah 43:4-7)
Sadly, my “Walking with Jesus” friends, living in Egypt with rebellious Jewish refugees is where Jeremiah’s life came to an end. We don’t know exactly when or how, but we do know Jeremiah wrote yet several more messages from God, both for the Jewish exiles and proclaiming God’s judgment on Babylon and other nations which had warred against Israel. Also, the Bible book of Lamentations is a series of laments Jeremiah wrote as he grieved about what he had experienced and witnessed as the messages from God, which Jeremiah had faithfully delivered to the Jewish kings and people, for more than 40 years, where almost always rejected by the people as they turned their backs on God.
Sometimes Jeremiah is called ‘the weeping prophet’ since so much of his life was spent grieving at the refusal of God’s people to hear or respond appropriately to God’s messages. But Jeremiah is one of the great heroes of the Bible because he was always faithful to bring God’s message, exactly as he had received it, to the people God loved even in their rebellion.
He’s a challenge to me and I hope to you, my friends.
How faithful are we to honor God with our lives at all times, no matter what the circumstances?
How faithful are we to speak God’s truth in the face of so much untruth and distortion?
How faithful are we to be people of prayer, even praying for those who reject God?
Thank you, Mr. Jeremiah, for all you’ve taught us. You’ve been a model for me, for us, of faithfulness to God in difficult times. I’ve found a great song sung by the young people of Fountain View Academy, and tomorrow we’ll go to Babylon to see what has been happening with Daniel while we’ve been with Jeremiah. For now, let’s worship friends…
Today’s Scripture: Jeremiah 42:7-43:7.
Choose below to read or listen.
Jeremiah 42:7-43:7 Jer.42
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Jer.43
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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