Jeremiah 43:1-13

Jeremiah had been assured by the people that they would obey whatever the Lord told them to do through him.  Jeremiah made it very clear to them that they should remain in Judah and not go to Egypt.  God would bless them and protect them if they stayed in Judah and trusted in His care; but they would be destroyed or taken captive if they went to Egypt.  Demonstrating faith in God is the only means by which we can please Him.  From a human perspective it made perfect sense to flee to Egypt where there was still an army to help protect them from the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar.  Staying in Judah meant being completely exposed without any protection except that of God; which is exactly where God wants us to be.

THE PEOPLE DISOBEY THE LORD’S INSTRUCTION: Despite the people promise to obey whatever Jeremiah said, as soon as they heard him insist they stay in Judah; they accused him of lying.  They could not believe God had told Jeremiah these things and claimed he was promoting the agenda of Baruch, a leader who was also against leaving Judah.  The leaders and all the people who had returned to Judah from other nations as well as the majority of the remnant who had survived kidnapped Jeremiah and Baruch and hauled them off to Egypt with them.  It makes one wonder why they bothered to inquire of the Lord at all, if they were already committed to going to Egypt anyway.  Too often we go to God’s Word in order to defend our decisions as opposed to seek for the Lord’s direction.


JEREMIAH DESCRIBES THE COMING DESTRUCTION: God gives Jeremiah a message to deliver to the people through a vivid illustration.  Jeremiah takes some rocks and places them in the pathway leading to Pharaoh’s palace.  He then proclaims to the people that Nebuchadnezzar’s army will soon be spread out over all of these stones.  They army of Egypt will fall under Babylon’s authority and in the midst of all the war to come; this remnant from Judah would be caught up in the confusion.  Many would be killed in war; many others will be carried off to Babylon and never to be heard from again.  Others would remain in the land only to succumb to the diseases left behind by war.  God is getting ready to judge the gods of Egypt through Nebuchadnezzar and the remnant from Judah have preferred to trust the protection of a pagan king instead of trusting in the almighty God.  It is often easier for us to trust in that which we can see as opposed to trusting the invisible and almighty God.

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