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 (Jeremiah 42:5).It had happened. Nebuchadnezzar had broken through the wall of Jerusalem and captured the city. He killed Zedekiah's sons and put out his eyes before marching him off to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar installed Gedaliah as governor over Judah and the poorest of the poor who remained, but he had been assassinated and his killer had escaped to Ammon.
Fearing reprisal for the death of this Babylonian appointee, a band of people led by Johanan asked Jeremiah for advice. Should they stay? Should they flee to Egypt? With God as our witness, we'll do whatever you say (Author's Paraphrase, v. 5). Jeremiah assured them that if they remained in Jerusalem, God would preserve and provide for them.
That wasn't the answer they were looking for. Johanan and his compadres accused Jeremiah of lying to them. "God would never say that!" Hey, don't like the prophet's answer? Attack the prophet's character. Not only did they reject Jeremiah's advice, they forcibly removed him to the city of Taphanhes in Egypt, where they continued to disregard his counsel.
Kind of makes me wonder, why did they drag him to Egypt if they were just going to keep ignoring his advice?
What do you do when you pray and don't get the answer you want?
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