Closer Day By Day

Sometimes you just don’t understand the people of Jerusalem.  How is it they cannot see all the examples of failures around them?  Why can’t they not commit the same mistakes as their predecessors did?

I felt like screaming and throttling their necks as I read today’s passage… until I realised that perhaps I was not much different from them.

Bible Passage:  Jeremiah 42-46

In the past chapters of Jeremiah, we had read about how, despite the many warnings of Jeremiah, the people refused to repent of their ways and accept the prophet’s advice to surrender peacefully to Babylon and suffered much because of this.

Their leaders had already been taken captive to Babylon and only a remnant remained in Jerusalem.  But now, terrified of the Babylonians and fearful of the Ammonites who had assassinated the appointed governor Gedaliah, they decided now to flee to Egypt (Jeremiah 41:16-18).

However, before departure, they approached Jeremiah with what seemed a good thing.  They wanted to know through Jeremiah the word of the Lord (Jeremiah 42:1-7).

Now Jeremiah warned them not to go to Egypt but to remain in the land (Jeremiah 42:9-22), but they insisted on leaving (Jeremiah 43:1-7).  And somehow, Jeremiah and his loyal secretary Baruch were also forced to go along.  We are not sure if Jeremiah later returned to Jerusalem because there is no record to show that this happened.

God’s judgment was also on Egypt and Jeremiah prophesied about its downfall (Jeremaih 43:8-13).

Then in Jeremiah 44, God’s attention turned to the stiff necked rebellious people of Jerusalem who refused to heed the prophets’ call to remain in Jerusalem and not flee to Egypt.  The people had no excuse to offer as God openly declared His wrath at their stubborness and worship of idols.

But in the midst of all these doom and gloom stood a message of hope and peace (now where did we talk about this before? ).  Chapter 45 records a special promise of God to Baruch, the good secretary of Jeremiah.  Can you locate it?  Ok, hint… it’s the last verse.

From Chapter 46, it marks the closing of the book of Jeremiah where God pronounces judgment on 9 nations (Jeremiah 46-51).  All the nations mentioned have one way or another contributed to the downfall of Israel as they were all idolatrous and they led the people of God astray.

Are We A Stiff Necked Generation?

Read Jeremiah 43:2

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.

Imagine you were in Jerusalem at this time.

You, along with Azariah and the rest have suffered much in the last few years.  Your leaders have been deported to Babylon. You went through a three year siege of Jerusalem.  You city has fallen to the enemies and suddenly, the governor appointed to take care of Jerusalem has been assassinated.

All bleak and no hope in sight.

Now you have come before Jeremiah to hear the word of God on whether you should flee to Egypt.  And the word that came back is clear … don’t run to Egypt. Stay and be protected by God.

What would you do?

It is hard to imagine that despite witnessing all the prophecies of Jeremiah being accurately fulfilled each time that the people would choose to ignore his latest prophecy and instead accused him of being a liar!

You would have thought that they would have learned by now.  But they did not.

Just like their neighbours who were taken captive into exile, they remained obstinate and rejected God’s counsel.  And we know their end.

They went to Egypt.  They began worshiping idols there.   They flatly told Jeremiah,

“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble.

Jeremiah 44:16-17

So despite everything that has happened, they insisted on their own way to the very end.

Do you do that?  Do you continue to reject God’s word even if it proves true every single time?

This is a a good reminder for me today.

God will not force us to accept His ways.  But He will also not protect you from the consequences of rejecting them.

When we reject God’s words, we show ourselves to be proud and are determined to reject the truth.  But we know…

“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6