Saturday, September 10, 2011

Day 199: Jeremiah 41-44

Some of the Israelites who were left behind when the rest were taken into exile were pretty zealous to keep the few who were left from being destroyed. They killed some of the officials who were put in place by Nebuchadnezzar and were going to flee to Egypt for protection. They decided to consult with Jeremiah to see what God would have them do...
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. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God..." (Jeremiah 42:5-6)
Sounds good, doesn't it? Sounds a lot like me. I ask God for direction and have every intention of doing whatever that may be...but deep down I think I already know what His answer is going to be. I think that's what happened with these guys because when they heard that God wanted them to stay in Palestine and that He would protect them but that if they went to Egypt they would surely be destroyed...well here's their response:
When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything the LORD had sent him to tell them—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.’ But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.” (Jeremiah 43:1-3)
It says they were "arrogant". And they were.

The thing is, they knew that they were disobeying God...but they didn't care!
Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 44:15-17)
Wow! I'm glad I'm never so arrogant as to do whatever I want in the face of God's direct command to do otherwise! ...I would never do that...ever...not once...

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