FRIDAY, 8 DECEMBER 2023
TEXT:
Jeremiah 42:1-22
1:
Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of
Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached
2:
Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the
Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once
many, now only a few are left.
3:
Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should
do.”
4:
“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray to the
Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the Lord says
and will keep nothing back from you.”
5:
Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness
against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God
sends you to tell us.
6:
Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom
we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord
our God.”
7:
Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
8:
So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were
with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.
9:
He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me
to present your petition, says:
10:
‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will
plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I
have inflicted on you.
11:
Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of
him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you
from his hands.
12:
I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore
you to your land.’
13:
“However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the Lord
your God,
14:
and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or
hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’
15:
then hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and
you do go to settle there,
16:
then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will
follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.
17:
Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the
sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I
will bring on them.’
18:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath
have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be
poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of
horror, a curse and an object of reproach; you will never see this place
again.’
19:
“Remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of
this: I warn you today
20:
that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said,
‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do
it.’
21:
I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all
he sent me to tell you.
22:
So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the
place where you want to go to settle.”
(New
International Version Holy Bible)
TOPIC:
THE ANSWERS TO YOUR PRAYERS MAY NOT COME IMMEDIATELY
When
King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, he spared some people, especially the
poor and peasant farmers, and made Gedaliah governor over the remnants. But
Gedaliah was assassinated by Ismael, son of Nethaniah, and his band of ten men.
The
people were afraid of Nebuchadnezzar's reaction and asked Jeremiah to pray to
God to tell them what to do as they were nursing the idea of escaping to Egypt
for safety.
Jeremiah
prayed but the Lord's response did not come immediately. This tested the
patience of the remnants.
Unlike
false prophets, Jeremiah refused to manufacture an instant response. And when
the answer finally came, it was not what the people had anticipated.
Many
times, our patience is tested when we await God's answer to our prayers.
Sometimes, the answer may not be what we anticipated but God knows what is best
for us.
QUESTION:
Are you patient enough to wait on God?
PRAYER:
Forgive my impatience, Oh God, during the period of my waiting. Give me the
grace to always patiently wait on You, in Jesus name. Amen.
Remain
Blessed
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