ANOTHER PROPOSITION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. So he called together Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest. He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’”

“However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the Lord your God, and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ then hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As My anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach; you will never see this place again.’”

“Remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything He says and we will do it.’ I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all He sent Me to tell you. So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle.”

Jeremiah 42:7-22

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

You may recall in our study of the Book of Jeremiah that God made a proposition with King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah before the Babylonian invasion and takeover.

The proposition was simple.

As long as Zedekiah surrendered himself to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, his life and the life of members of his family would be spared. Additionally, the beloved, holy city of Jerusalem would not be destroyed.

Of course, if Zedekiah did not accept the terms of God’s proposition, all bets were off and neither Zedekiah, his family, or Jerusalem would be spared.

So what did Zedekiah do?

Well, we know he chose to not accept the Lord’s proposal because as the Babylonians breached the security of Jerusalem by breaking through its walls, Zedekiah and his soldiers fled from the city in an attempt to escape. They made it as far as the plains of Jericho before they were captured by the Babylonians and Zedekiah was returned to face Nebuchadnezzar who promptly slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons in front of him. It would be the last thing Zedekiah would see because scripture tells us that both his eyes were put out before he was shackled and hauled away to Babylon. Jerusalem was then set ablaze, the royal palace and houses of the people torched, while the once formidable walls that protected the city were demolished (Jeremiah 39:1-8).

It all could have been so much different. All Zedekiah had to do was accept God’s proposition.

Well, fast forward now to the scene we left yesterday. The Jewish remnant of Mizpah had approached the prophet Jeremiah, asking him to pray to the Lord to find out where the Lord wanted them to go and what He wanted them to do. You’ll recall the people had experienced calamity in Mizpah as a man named Ishmael, along with several accomplices, murdered Gedaliah, the governor appointed by the king of Babylon to rule over the impoverished Jews who were left behind to work the land and produce wine, summer fruit, and olive oil. Scripture told us that Babylonian soldiers and seventy Jews who came to offer sacrifices and incense at the house of the Lord were also killed in the melee.

Ishmael then took the remaining Jews captive, intending to take them with him to the Ammonites, but he was stopped by a man named Johanan, his army officers, and soldiers who were able to regain custody of the Jewish remnant although they were not able to capture Ishmael who fled to the Ammonites. Johanan and the Jews started to head toward Egypt, afraid of returning to Mizpah because they thought Nebuchadnezzar would punish them for the killing of the governor he appointed as well as his soldiers. It was at this juncture that the Jewish remnant approached Jeremiah to seek the Lord’s guidance and swore their allegiance to answer whatever the Lord proposed with obedience.

So what did the Lord give His people in response to their request?

As we see, it was another proposition and like the one to Zedekiah, the terms were simple and straightforward.

Look again at our passage for today:

Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. So he called together Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest. He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’”

“However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the Lord your God, and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ then hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As My anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach; you will never see this place again.’”

“Remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything He says and we will do it.’ I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all He sent Me to tell you. So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle.”  Jeremiah 42:7-22

God’s word tells us that the Lord replied to Jeremiah’s petition on behalf of the Jewish remnant ten days after it was presented and after receiving God’s word, Jeremiah summoned Johanan, his army officers, and the rest of the Jews who made up the remnant.

The proposition was then presented as follows:

If the Jewish remnant did not go to Egypt and instead stayed in the land, the Lord would plant them and build them up, and not uproot or tear them down. They would not have to fear retribution from Nebuchadnezzar because God promised He would be with them to save and deliver them from the hands of the Babylonian king. Ultimately, the king would exercise the same compassion the Lord would show to His people.

That was it. The people asked God to tell them where to go and what to do, and He delivered just that. They were to stay in Judah and establish residency there. God would be with them and ensure their success and safety.

Easy, right?

And just in case the Jews were maybe tempted to not listen to God and instead proceed to Egypt, God told them of the consequences that would accompany their disobedience and breaking of their oath to comply with whatever God wanted.

For if the Jews went to Egypt with the notion of settling there, they could expect God’s judgment to come upon them. He promised that the sword they feared would overtake them there and famine and plague would come upon them. In other words, if they went to Egypt, they would die there, plain and simple. God promised the Jewish remnant that the same anger and wrath He poured out on Jerusalem would come upon them in Egypt and they would become a “curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach”, never getting to see their homeland again. Finally, just to make sure the Jewish remnant understood what was at stake, Jeremiah reinforced God’s words by warning them that the judgment God promised would happen if they failed to obey His proposition.

So what would the Jewish remnant do?

Would they comply with God’s proposition, remaining in Judah and trusting Him to do what He said He would do?

Or would they repeat the mistake made by Zedekiah and violate the terms of God’s proposition, triggering His judgment to come upon them?

Stay tuned to tomorrow’s devotion to find out.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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