Jeremiah 42

“Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us.” (Jeremiah 42:5, ESV)

Some people know how to say just the right words. After Gedaliah was assassinated, Johanan became the leader of the Jews remaining in Judah. They were afraid of the Babylonians and Johanan was worried that he would be blamed for the death of the governor. They appealed to Jeremiah to seek the LORD to know the way that they should go. They promised to do whatever God wanted them to do. After all, they were desperate! But words are cheap. Some people are willing to serve God as long as He tells them what they want to hear.

My pastor used to say that submission is never submission until you are told to do something you don’t want to do. The people promised Jeremiah that they would do whatever the LORD commanded, but they were masking their true intentions.

After ten days, Jeremiah received the word of the LORD:

“If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand.” (Jeremiah 42:10–11, ESV)

Now that seems pretty clear, doesn’t it? God would bless them, build them up, and protect them from all harm. If God is for us, then who can be against us? They sought the LORD, and He heard them, and promised them good things. All they had to do was to remain in the land and trust in the LORD. But God showed Jeremiah that they were determined to run away to Egypt.

“For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and according to all that the LORD your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’” (Jeremiah 42:20, NKJV)

They said all the right words, but God knew their hearts. They feigned loyalty to the LORD, but their hearts were set on their own desires.

In the end we will all be weighed, not by our words, but by our deeds. Let us be doers of the word and not mere hearers who deceive themselves (James 1:22).