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 walls 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 you wonder, why did they drag him to Egypt if they were
just going to keep ignoring his advice?
TODAY’S MEDITATION
What do you do when you
pray and don’t get the answer you want?
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