Jeremiah 42
Jeremiah 42 begins after the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, when the remaining people of Judah come to the prophet Jeremiah and ask God to pray for them. They promise to obey whatever God’s will may be. Jeremiah waits for God’s response for ten days, and then tells the people of Judah that God says they should not flee to Egypt, but stay in that land. God promises to protect them if they remain in Judah, but warns them that if they flee to Egypt, they will face calamity, war, and famine. At the heart of this chapter is a message about the people’s fear, their crossroads of choice, and the need to trust in God’s guidance.
1verseThen all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,
2verseand said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, even for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us,
3versethat the LORD your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the things that we should do.”
4verseThen Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it will happen that whatever thing the LORD answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”
5verseThen they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
6verseWhether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”
7verseAfter ten days, the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah.
8verseThen he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
9verseand said to them, “The LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says:
10verse‘If you will still live in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you.
11verseDon’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says the LORD, ‘for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
12verseI will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.
13verse“‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land,” so that you don’t obey the LORD your God’s voice,
14versesaying, “No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there we will dwell;”’
15versenow therefore hear the LORD’s word, O remnant of Judah! The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there,
16versethen it will happen that the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, will follow close behind you there in Egypt; and you will die there.
17verseSo will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. None of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.’
18verseFor the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’
19verse“The LORD has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, ‘Don’t go into Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have testified to you today.
20verseFor you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’
21verseI have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed the LORD your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you.
22verseNow therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”
Overall Meaning and Lesson
Chapter 42 may appear to center on a conversation between Jeremiah and the people, but underneath, it contains the human crossroads of fear and trust. The people seek God’s will in their desperation, yet they reveal that, in reality, they are hoping for things to go the way they want. Through repeated words, God teaches that trust and obedience should come before human fear. If the people trust God and remain in the land, He will protect them; but if they try to run to Egypt according to their own will, it will lead to even greater hardship
Points for Reflection
- When I seek God’s will, I check whether I am truly ready to obey it, or whether I have a desire to push my own thoughts forward.
- At the crossroads of difficulty and safety, I reflect on whether the standard I choose is trust in God’s promises and guidance, or whether it is swayed by my own realistic fears.
Try Applying It to Me
- In every moment of decision, I ask myself whether I seek God’s will and whether I can obediently follow it gladly even if it differs from what I expect.
- When a decision is needed, praying together is necessary, and it is also necessary to put into practice in daily life an attitude that trusts God’s promises and lays down fear.
