For a moment, picture the
following:
There is a mighty king, renowned for his power and victories. Wherever
he fights, he comes away victorious, burning the enemy city and carrying away
hundreds of captives. This king is now coming against your nation, and you are
totally unable to defend yourself. There is only one place to go where you can
escape this king’s invasion. Would it not be wise to flee?
The tribe of Judah faced
this decision (Jeremiah 42-43). King Nebuchadnezzar was coming to fight against
Judah
and they were unable to defend themselves. The nation that they thought was the
habitation of safety was Egypt .
Before taking the journey down to Egypt , however, they came before
Jeremiah the prophet and asked him to seek God (Jeremiah 42:1-3). They assured
Jeremiah, “Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of
the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we
obey the voice of the LORD our God.” (Jeremiah 42:6)
God gave Judah two options: 1)
Stay in the land and be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, or 2)
Flee to Egypt for and be overtaken by the sword and famine. God’s will was for
the remnant of Judah to stay and be delivered into the hand of Babylon.
The thought process of Judah was
understandable. Egypt appeared to be
quiet and free from fear, whereas staying in the land and living through King
Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion was not an appealing alternative. They were faced
with a choice: obey God and stay in the land, or disobey God and flee to Egypt.
Which did they choose? They chose Egypt: “for they obeyed not the voice of
the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.” (Jeremiah 43:7) What was the
result? Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled,
“And when [King
Nebuchadnezzar] cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as
are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as
are for the sword to the sword. And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the
gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he
shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his
garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace. He shall break also the
images of Beth-she'mesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the
gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.” (Jeremiah 43:11-13)
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| Photograph by Amanda T. |
What can we learn from Judah’s
example?
1) Obedience is not simply
saying, “I will obey” (like Judah did in Jeremiah 24:6), but in actively
obeying.
2) Obedience is not always easy –
in fact, to obey might mean to let go of our way of thinking and follow God –
even when things do not seem to make
sense.
3) There is safety in obeying
God. Had Judah obeyed God and stayed in their land, God would have saved them,
delivered them, and guided King Nebuchadnezzar to have mercy on them (see
Jeremiah 42:11-12).
4) God loves us too much to allow
us to continually disobey Him. He will bring correction if we willfully disobey
Him (see Jeremiah 46:28).
Sometimes we face tough choices
like the tribe of Judah did. Will we take the easy route and disobey God’s
commands, or will we follow Him, no matter what the cost?
~~~
Until God shows her a different path, she enjoys teaching piano and music theory, hymn-arranging, photography, writing, spending time with her siblings, and home economics. In the past few years, Proverbs 3:5-7 has been a passage that God has used in her life, showing her how vital it is to trust Him in any issue. You may visit her blog: withajoyfulnoise.blogspot.com
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