A suggested outline of this chapter.
1. The people ask Jeremiah to seek God’s guidance. Jeremiah 42:1-3.
2. Jeremiah promises to pray, and the people promise to obey God. Jeremiah 42:4-6.
3. After 10 days, God replies. Jeremiah 42:7-8.
4. They are commanded to stay in Judah. Jeremiah 42:9-12.
5. The severe warning if they go to Egypt. Jeremiah 42:13-18.
6. A prophecy of destruction for those who go. Jeremiah 42:19-22.
Those who are left in Judah are now afraid of Nebuchadnezzar. They believe there will be repercussions because of the death of Gedaliah. So, they approach Jeremiah and ask him to seek God’s advice on the matter. Their actions will show that they still have a lot to learn with regard to placing implicit trust in God.
Self-interest is still prevalent, they still believe that they know better than God. Basically, they are simply wanting God to approve of the plans that they have already decided upon, that is, to go to Egypt. So sure, are they that God will approve their plans that they actually take an oath to do whatever God tells them to do.
This passage confirms that Jeremiah was among those rescued by Johanan from Ishmael. They didn’t have to go to him, because he was already with them. In Jeremiah 7:16, Jeremiah 11:14 and Jeremiah 14:11, God had told Jeremiah not to pray for the well-being of His people. But now he seems free to do so. And Jeremiah was happy to do so, but on the basis, that God was a God of the people, He was not just the God of Jeremiah.
In verse 3 the people had said, ‘Pray to YOUR God.’ And in verse 4 Jeremiah says, ‘I will certainly pray to the Lord YOUR God.’ Verse 6 has the people saying, ‘Whether it is favourable or unfavourable, we will obey the Lord our God.’
And this promise seems to be very sincere. They are even calling upon God Himself, as a witness against them, if they should fail to keep their promise.
Ten days later Jeremiah gives them God’s reply. They are told that they have no need to fear reprisals from Babylon. God tells them that He will prosper them, but only if they stay in their own land.
Let’s say a little bit more about this statement, ‘Ten days later’. On previous occasions it seems that God answered Jeremiah almost immediately. But here there is a delay of 10 days. Why? One scholar believes that it was to give Jeremiah time to get more news. I can’t believe that that was the case.
I agree with other scholars who believe this was to give time to the people themselves to think about their situation, to pray to God themselves, and to await the arrival of God’s word. If that was the case it certainly didn’t work, because the people were busy preparing themselves to go into Egypt. They were determined to do their own will, and not God’s.
These people would have known that Jeremiah’s messages were from God. They would have known that everything Jeremiah had prophesied came true. The reason that they approached Jeremiah on this occasion was because they knew that God would reveal His will through Jeremiah. It therefore seems incredible that they would stubbornly go to Egypt after all that Jeremiah told them.
How could they be so blindly disobedient to the Word of God?
Jeremiah was telling the people about the promises of God, that were for their good. They would have security and salvation If they were to obey God, he warned them of the dangers of disobeying God, he told them that going to Egypt was a complete no-no, and he warned them about deceiving themselves. God knows the hearts of His people. He therefore knows that they don’t intend to stay in Judah.
Notice in verse 18 that God doesn’t say ‘IF’ you decide to go to Egypt, but ‘WHEN’, when you go to Egypt.
Verse 20 says, ‘you made a fatal mistake,’ they had said, tell us everything that God says, and we will do it. And verse 21 begins, ‘I have told you today.’
This implies that it was not under Zedekiah’s ruling, it was because of their own fears. So, what comes after this is no surprise. They had been warned. Safety doesn’t come with distance. Egypt was no more immune than Judah was. If the people had obeyed God’s word God would have saved them, protected them.
Let’s sum up this chapter. God’s message was:
1. Stay in Judah and God will bless you and look after you.
2. Go to Egypt and you will incur the wrath of God, and you will die by sword, famine and the plague, just as your brothers did at the Fall of Jerusalem.
3. The very things that make you afraid to stay in Judah, will follow you into Egypt.
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."