The remnant appeared to Jeremiah and asked him to pray to the Lord for them. They wanted to know what the Lord wanted them to do. The events had shown them that they needed to obey the Lord, it was the only hope for them.
The judgement having been executed on Judah, Jeremiah agrees to pray for them.
The Lord speaks to them. Notice that it is a conversation, they didn't just want to be rescued, though no doubt they did want that, but they wanted to know what the Lord wanted. The Lord tells them that if they stay in the Land then He will build them there. He would build them up and plant them. The time of judgement was over. We all go through times of pruning, but the times of pruning do not last forever.
Due to the judgement they now feared the king of Babylon, but God instructs them not to do so. When we go through trials things happen that we find difficult and even put fear in us. We need to learn not to fear these things.
The people still had a choice and an obligation. If they chose to flee to Egypt then they would not have the Lord's protection. They might have been tempted to go there thinking they would be safe and have all that they need, but this would not be the case. For the very things they thought this would save them from would overtake them. We need to be careful of making wrong choices in stressful times. It is very easy to think that we are fleeing to safety when all we are doing is fleeing to danger.
Jeremiah does not seem to have much hope that people will be sensible enough to obey the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment