Jeremiah 42:1-9

Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our petition come before you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, that is for all this remnant; because we are left but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, that the Lord your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.” Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which the Lord will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you.” Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”^[1]

It is always interesting to see and hear people who want someone to pray for them, but when the answer is not seen as favorable to them they turn away from the Lord. The people came to Jeremiah and asked Him to carry their petitions before the Lord and promised that whatever the answer, they would submit to it and obey it. Such a promise always sounds great when in trouble. We make grandiose promises, that perhaps we meant at the time we made it, but have little follow-through. If you read down through verse 22 you will note that all their promises were empty and false.

Sadly, these verses describe the manner in which many still approach the Lord. The fear they have over their circumstances, though very real, is not nearly as acute as the fear they have for losing their lifestyles. So prayer becomes little more than magical incantations muttered to ward off impending disaster, and somehow, some way God is still expected to answer. Jeremiah tells his readers that God has already answered. If they stay in the land God will relent of His anger toward them and cause them to prosper. But if they retreat to Egypt in hopes of finding safety when God has expressly told them to stay where they are then everything of which they are afraid will overtake them. We should not be surprised or confused. God has not stuttered when He has spoken, nor has He ever gone back on His Word. His Word is true and the consequences for walking in rebellion against Him are clear. Let us, therefore, heed and honor His Word by walking in obedience to it.

Gracious Heavenly Father, You are awesome in majesty, power and might. We cannot begin to number the ways in which You bless us and yet we continue to thank You with rebellion and disobedience. We are heartily sorry for the ways in which we have manipulated Your Word for our own personal benefit. Forgive us for our deceptive practices and our attempts to redeem our situations with false promises. Give us another chance to walk in integrity and obedience and we will forever bless Your name. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Je 42:1–6.