Today’s passage: Jeremiah 42:1-22
Helpful thoughts:
- Johanan, the captain who had tried to do what was right, wants to know the Lord’s will on what the remnant in Judah is to do next.
- In verses 5-6, the people pledge to obey the Lord’s instruction before they even hear it.
- All of this looks really good so far…until it doesn’t.
- The command is clear, they are not to go to Egypt. But God already knows what they will do. He knows their hearts, their desires and their actions before they even do them.
- In verse 10, God says He will relent (Put a stop to) the judgment Judah was under if they would obey and stay in the land. The only way the judgment would continue is if they disobey and leave.
Questions to consider:
- After the absence of any interaction with God in the previous chapters, what did Johanan’s request look like? Why might we have gotten excited? Was his request genuine? Is everyone who claims Jesus a godly person? How would we know, or how do we find out?
- Since the people promised to obey whatever God says, if they choose to go to Egypt what will they have to claim? They won’t want to break their vow, but they clearly understood the message…who will they have to blame to defend their decision?
- How important are the doctrines of the authority, infallibility and inerrancy of scripture? If we cannot trust the Bible, what can we know? How do these truths concerning the Bible drive us to want to study it all the more?