Read 1 Samuel 5-6, Jeremiah 43.
This devotional is about Jeremiah 43.
In yesterday’s reading, Jeremiah 42, the remnant of people left in Judah were scared and didn’t know what to do. They vacillated about going to Egypt or staying in Jerusalem. Finally, they asked Jeremiah to pray and ask God to reveal his will. But before Jeremiah prayed, they assured him that they would take whatever God said and do it. Their words were, in Jeremiah 42:5, “‘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. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, 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.’”
And God responsed! He promised blessings to them if they remained in the land! What a great answer to prayer!
But was that their reaction? What did the people, who pledged so eloquently to “obey the Lord our God” “whether it is favorable or unfavorable,” say in response to God’s answer?
That’s what we read here in Jeremiah 43 verse 2: “Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, “You must not go to Egypt to settle there.”’”
What did they do? “…all the people disobeyed the Lord’s command to stay in the land of Judah…. So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the Lord” (v. 4). Our sinful hearts look for ways to sidestep God’s word, reinterpret what it says, claim that it doesn’t apply to us, and find some way to do what we want to do in disobedience to his will. Ultimately, though, we harm ourselves, because breaking God’s laws will bring consequences.
Do you have a heart to accept God’s word, even if “it is favorable or unfavorable?” Can you remember a time when you did what was right even though you wanted to do what was wrong? How did that turn out for you?
