Bible Lesson: Intercessory Prayer:
Jeremiah Intercedes For Judah's Remnant
Bible Text:
Jeremiah 42:1-22 NLT
(A Warning to Stay in Judah)
1 Then all the guerrilla leaders,
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. They said,
“Please pray to The Lord your God for us. As you can see, we
are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before.
3 Pray that The Lord your God
will show us what to do and where to go.”
4 “All right,” Jeremiah
replied. “I will pray to The Lord your God, as you have asked, and
I will tell you everything He says. I will hide nothing from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May
The Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to
obey whatever He tells us to do!
6 Whether we like it or not, we will
obey The Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For
if we obey Him, everything will turn out well for us.”
7
Ten days later The Lord gave His reply to Jeremiah.
8 So he called for Johanan son of
Kareah and the other guerrilla leaders, and for all the people, from
the least to the greatest.
9 He said to them, “You sent me
to The Lord, The God Of Israel, with your request, and this is His
reply:
10 ‘Stay here in this land. If
you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you
and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have
had to bring upon you.
Verse 10, other
versions:
Jeremiah 42:10
ERV
If you will
stay in Judah, I will make you strong—I will not destroy you. I
will plant you, and I will not pull you up. I will do this because I
am sad about the terrible things that I made happen to you.
Jeremiah 42:10
GNT
If you are
willing to go on living in this land, then I will build you up and
not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up. The
destruction I brought on you has caused Me great sorrow.
Jeremiah 42:10
MSG
If you are
ready to stick it out in this land, I will build you up and not drag
you down, I will plant you and not pull you up like a weed. I feel
deep compassion on account of the doom I have visited on you.
Jeremiah 42:10
NCV
If you will
stay in Judah, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will
plant you and not pull you up, because I am sad about the disaster I
brought on you.
Jeremiah 42:10
NRSV
If you will
only remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you
down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I am sorry for the
disaster that I have brought upon you.
11 Do not fear the king of
Babylon anymore,’ says The Lord. ‘For I am with you and will save
you and rescue you from his power.
12 I will be merciful
to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your
land.’
13 “But if you refuse to obey
The Lord your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here;
14 instead, we will go to Egypt
where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’
15 then hear The Lord’s message
to the remnant of Judah. This is what
The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies,
The God Of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and
live there,
16 the very war and famine you
fear will catch up to you, and you will die there.
17 That is the fate awaiting
every one of you who insists on going to live in Egypt. Yes, you will
die from war, famine, and disease. None of you will escape the
disaster I will bring upon you there.’
18 “This is what The Lord Of
Heaven’s Armies, The God Of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and
fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be
poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of
damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your
homeland again.’
19 “Listen, you remnant of Judah.
The Lord has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this
warning I have given you today.
20 For you were not being honest
when you sent me to pray to The Lord Your God for you. You said,
‘Just tell us what The Lord Our God says, and we will do it!’
21 And today I have told you
exactly what He said, but you will not obey The Lord Your God any
better now than you have in the past.
22 So you can be sure that you will
die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on
going.”
A remnant from
the captivity of Nebuchadnezzar, feared that he would swoop down again
and take them captive. They were gathered together in encampments
ready to head out, to another country, but first they thought they
would entreat the man of God, in an inquiry.as to where to go.
Jeremiah 42:1-6
NLT
1 Then all the guerrilla leaders,
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. They said,
“Please pray to The Lord your God for us. As you can see, we
are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before.
3 Pray that The Lord your God
will show us what to do and where to go.”
4 “All right,” Jeremiah
replied. “I will pray to The Lord your God, as you have asked, and
I will tell you everything He says. I will hide nothing from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May
The Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to
obey whatever He tells us to do!
6 Whether we like it or not, we will
obey The Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For
if we obey Him, everything will turn out well for us.”
Wasn't this
wonderful that the people of God, wished to by guided by The Lord!
Actually, no, it
wasn't wonderful.
It wasn't good,
rather evil!
“Why, how could
that be?”
And it was a sin, we
all must be very careful of when going to The Lord in prayer!
“the guerrilla
leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of
Hoshaiah, and all the people,”
They didn't really want
to know what The Lord wanted them to do, what they wanted was
ENDORCEMENT, of their own selfish desires, that of abandoning Judah and safety in
escaping Nebuchadnezzar.
They refused to
believe the words of Jeremiah, the prophet of God, telling them from
The Lord...
11 Do not fear the king of
Babylon anymore,’ says The Lord. ‘For I am with you and will save
you and rescue you from his power.
12 I will be merciful
to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your
land.’
But the people
called Jeremiah, a false prophet, saying that he had not, heard from
The Lord.
Despite their own
vow to obey The Lord...
“They said, “Please pray to
The Lord your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny
remnant compared to what we were before.
3 Pray that The Lord your God
will show us what to do and where to go.”
4 “All
right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to The Lord your God, as
you have asked, and I will tell you everything He says. I will hide
nothing from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May
The Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to
obey whatever He tells us to do!
6 Whether we like it or not, we
will obey The Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea.
For if we obey Him, everything will turn out well for us.”
So, what was the
result of their hearing The Lord's request?
Jeremiah 43:1-7
NLT
(Jeremiah Taken
to Egypt)
1 When Jeremiah
had finished giving this message from The Lord their God to all the
people,
2 Azariah son of
Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the other proud men said
to Jeremiah, “You lie! The Lord our God hasn’t
forbidden us to go to Egypt!
3 Baruch son of
Neriah has convinced you to say this, because he wants us to stay
here and be killed by the Babylonians or be carried off into exile.”
4 So Johanan and
the other guerrilla leaders and all the people refused to obey The
Lord’s command to stay in Judah.
5 Johanan and
the other leaders took with them all the people who had returned from
the nearby countries to which they had fled.
6 In the crowd
were men, women, and children, the king’s daughters, and all those
whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had left with Gedaliah.
The prophet Jeremiah and Baruch were also included.
7 The
people refused to obey the voice of The Lord and went to Egypt,
going as far as the city of Tahpanhes.
Jeremiah,
interceded, but the people, had a Predetermined Plan, and cared not
for “thus saith The Lord.”
And with what
result?
Jeremiah
44:10-14 NLT
10 To this very
hour you have shown no remorse or reverence. No one has chosen to
follow my word and the decrees I gave to you and your ancestors
before you.
11 “Therefore,
this is what The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies, The God Of Israel, says:
I am determined to destroy every one of you!
12 I will take
this remnant of Judah—those who were determined to come here and
live in Egypt—and I will consume them. They will fall here in
Egypt, killed by war and famine. All will die, from the least to the
greatest. They will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and
mockery.
13 I will punish
them in Egypt just as I punished them in Jerusalem, by war, famine,
and disease.
14 Of that
remnant who fled to Egypt, hoping someday to return to Judah, there
will be no survivors. Even though they long to return home, only a
handful will do so.”
Johanan son of
Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, the military leaders of Judah
and all the people,
got it all wrong,
for someone greater than Nebuchadnezzar had spoken to them, but they
did not hear or know Him.
II Kings
6:16,17 KJV (Three
centuries earlier, Elisha knew the power of...
The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies, The God Of Israel.
Jeremiah 42:15,18/ 43:10)
16 And he
answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that
be with them.
17 And Elisha
prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.
And The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and,
behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round
about Elisha.
When we pray, we
must pray with hearts of purity, humility, and eagerness to do, not
our will, but the will of The God Of All Creation.
Psalm 66:18 KJV
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear me:
Psalm 139:23,24
KJV
23 Search me, O God, and know my
heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Luke 22:42 KJV
(Jesus)
Saying, Father, if thou be willing,
remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but thine, be
done.
