FRAMEWORKS:
Jeremiah 42: Jeremiah brings a word to
the remnant
[Preliminary
Comment: The survivors now ask Jeremiah to intercede
for them with the Lord and when the word comes from the Lord it
is to warn them to remain in the Land and be blessed or continue
to Egypt and die. Jeremiah knows they will not heed his warning
and will go to Egypt and die.]
v.1-3
The group ask Jeremiah to pray for them
v.1
Then
all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah
son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest
approached
v.2
Jeremiah
the prophet and said to him, ‘Please hear our petition and pray
to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see,
though we were once many, now only a few are left.
v.3
Pray
that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what
we should do.'
v.4
Jeremiah agrees to pray and listen to the Lord for them
v.4
‘I
have heard you,' replied Jeremiah the prophet. ‘I will certainly
pray to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell you
everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.'
v.5,6
They declare whatever the Lord says they will obey
v.5
Then
they said to Jeremiah, ‘May the Lord be a true and faithful witness
against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the
Lord your God sends you to tell us.
v.6
Whether
it is favourable or unfavourable, we will obey the Lord our God,
to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for
we will obey the Lord our God.'
v.7-9
It takes ten days for Jeremiah to hear from the Lord
v.7
Ten
days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
v.8
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.
v.9
He
said to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom
you sent me to present your petition, says:
v.10-12
The Lord counsels them to stay and He will bless them
v.10
“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.
v.11
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.
v.12
I
will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you
and restore you to your land.”
v.13,14
He confronts them with the possibility of their refusal
v.13
‘However,
if you say, “We will not stay in this land,” and so disobey the
Lord your God,
v.14
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,”
v.15-17
If they are determined to go to Egypt, they will all die there
v.15
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,
v.16
then
the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you
dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.
v.17
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.”
v.18
If they go they will experience the same wrath that came on Jerusalem
v.18
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.”
v.19-22
Jeremiah knows they will not heed his words and will go and die
in Egypt
v.19
‘Remnant
of Judah, the Lord has told you, “Do not go to Egypt.” Be sure
of this: I warn you today
v.20
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.”
v.21
I
have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your
God in all he sent me to tell you.
v.22
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.'
Continue
to Chapter 43