Session 11 | Jeremiah 42:7-22
the consequences that would follow if the people rejected the choice God had offered them.
13 “But if you say,
‘We will not stay in this land,’
in order to disobey the LORD your God,
14 and if you say,
‘No, instead we’ll go to the land of Egypt
where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger
for food, and we’ll live there,’”15 “then hear the word of the LORD, remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
‘If you are firmly resolved to go to Egypt and stay there for a while,
16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt,
and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels there to Egypt,
and you will die there.’”17 “All who resolve to go to Egypt to stay there for a while
will die by the sword, famine, and plague.
They will have no survivor or fugitive from the disaster I will bring on them.”18 “For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem’s residents,
so will my fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt.
You will become an example
for cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace,
and you will never see this place again.’”
point out that this happened after the city was destroyed in 586 BC.
Note that Jeremiah was still living among the exiles,
who came to him to find out if God wanted them to go to Egypt.
describe the choice Jeremiah communicated in these verses
and the consequences that went along with this second choice.
Emphasize that God did not force the people to obey Him.
The Lord gave them a choice,
but He also explained the consequences of the choices.
This reminds us that God’s character never changes.
Before Jerusalem was destroyed, God gave His people the choice to obey or disobey.
Now, after the city had been devastated, He still gave His people a choice.
God never changes, and God never forces us to honor Him.
The people heard the consequences of disobedience described.
Even more, they had witnessed firsthand where disobedience could lead them.
Yet they still considered ignoring God’s directions and trusting in their own plans.