The same people who came to Jeremiah requesting him to pray for
them and to seek God for guidance had already made up their minds to go to
Egypt. They were not prepared to hear any other counsel. So as soon as Jeremiah
revealed the plan of God for them, a plan that was totally different from what
they wanted to hear, they went into a tirade. Jeremiah 43:1-7 tell us what
happened after the prophet disclosed to them what God would have them to
do.
Led by Azariah and Johanan, the
presumptuous and angry remnant totally rejected Jeremiah's words from the Lord.
They started to accuse him of lying to them saying, “You are telling a
lie! The Lord our God has not sent you
to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there.’” Continuing with their
accusation, they even charged him for conspiring with Baruch to hand them over
to the Babylonians to kill them or to take them into exile in Babylon.
Baruch as we know was
Jeremiah’s trusted and loyal scribe whom the prophet counted on to record his
prophecies. They turned on Baruch and charged him with being a spy for the
Babylonians to influence Jeremiah. Refusing to listen to the voice of God,
Johanan with the commanders of the forces and the remnant left behind by the
Babylonians forcefully took Jeremiah and Baruch with them and left for Egypt.
They went as far as Tahpanhes.
The key lesson: when we are
seeking God for direction, we must come with a heart set to obey. Don’t come to
God with a pre-conceived plan. If we come up with a set of pre-conceived plans,
we will only be fooling ourselves. Accept that His thoughts are not always our
thoughts, nor are His plans always like ours. God wisdom always far outweighs
ours. What we have in mind very often doesn’t fit into God's agenda for our
lives. Don’t presume on God. His plans for us are recorded in the
Bible. They are divine truths that cannot be found elsewhere. Don’t ignore it,
but most importantly, obey it.
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