Jeremiah 42:1-22 Guidance
Jeremiah is with the people who were rescued from Ishmael after he killed Gedaliah. Johanan is determined to find God’s guidance about where to go next.
When this group gathered to start with, they had already decided what they wanted to do. They wanted God’s ‘rubber stamp’ of approval on their decision. They were afraid to remain in the land, in case Nebuchadnezzar blame them for Gedaliah’s death. They would never consider going to Babylon and surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar. The only option THEY thought they had was to go to Egypt.
This group of people were not the same People that Jeremiah had been sharing God’s words with for YEARS. These people had escaped Israel and gone into neighboring nations for safety from Nebuchadnezzar. They came beck when they heard that Gedaliah was governor over the people.
There is something that strikes me in their plea. They wanted Jeremiah to ask HIS God for guidance. It wasn’t until they made their “promise” to obey whatever THEIR God told them to do that they claimed Him as their own. They asked Jeremiah to pray to “your” God.
Jeremiah told them right away that he would pray to God on their behalf; “the Lord your God” (verse 4b). He put them right back into the Lord’s hands. And in the second half of their PROMISE to obey, they too claimed to be God’s children. “Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the voice of the Lord our God” (verse 6).
Jeremiah took their request very seriously. He prayed to God on their behalf. It took ten days for him to receive the answer. I would not be surprised to learn that he had been in prayer ALL that time. He promised to tell them EVERYTHING God said to him regarding their future. And he would!
I don’t know why the delay in answering but their decision to ‘claim’ God as their own didn’t fool God one bit. When He gave His answers, He clarified Who He was. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel” (verse 9b) and “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel” (verse 15b). The God who had been with their fathers from the beginning. Who had punished them for their sins and would reward them for their faithfulness. And the God Who KNEW which path they were going to follow before they even asked for His direction.
After all this time and ALL the chances God had given HIS people, He gave this group one more chance. If they took Him up on His offer, ALL their suffering would be done and their ‘lessons’ would be over. “Just stay here with Me and I will protect you and make things wonderful between us again. Show me that you truly trust me and that you WILL obey My voice.”
What a choice! To run or to be restored. I know which one I would have wanted. We will see next time which direction they would choose; to listen to the Lord their God or to follow their own plans.
When we come to God with our requests, are we asking Him to ‘rubber stamp’ our ideas or are we actually asking for direction? He has answers for us but we have to FIRST be willing to ask with an open heart and mind. We also have to acknowledge that He is OUR God. Not some other person’s God, but ours. For He cares for HIS children. If you are NOT His, you have no standing to ask in the first place. Yes, it is probably just the way they spoke in that time, but to me, it showed where their hearts were. God’s children listen to His voice. And they claim Him as their Father; their God. Jesus said, “If you deny me before men, I will deny you before My Heavenly Father.” He is MY God. Is He yours too?
Father God, I LOVE You and I want to go where YOU send me. I might thing my plans are good, but I KNOW Yours are BEST. And I want the WHOLE WORLD to know that YOU are MY God! Not simply ‘a’ God, but “THE” God of ALL creation and Lord of MY heart.
Help me follow YOUR paths; the paths that lead to life and not death. The ones You laid out for me before the foundations of the earth.
