Safety Promised in Judah - Jeremiah 42

Jeremiah 42:10 "If ye will still abide in the land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up, for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you." See here.

Repent: turn from

In summary: Jerusalem has fallen and the king of Babylon has left Gedaliah governor. Baalis sent Ishmael to kill Gedaliah and he did so. Johanan went after Ishmael with a group of men and rescued those he had taken but Ishmael got away.

In this chapter, the people are gathered together and they have asked Jeremiah to ask the Lord what they should do and promised that they would do it.

Jeremiah's message is for them to remain in Judah and the Lord would protect them. Johanan and others do not accept the message and so set their faces to go into Egypt.

v15-16 "And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die."

The Lord is willing to let the remnant remain in Judah and to bless them there and pretty much begs them not to go down to Egypt. They are altogether turned from the Lord in their hearts by this time. Fear and idol worship drive them as we will see later.

v19 "The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt; know certainly that I have admonished you this day."

In the next chapter we will see the response of the leaders of the remnant to Jeremiah and thus to the Lord. I know it broke his heart.

It seems that they no longer trusted the prophets words to them from the Lord.

v22 "Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn."

As parents, we often make this speech to our have grown children. "You are headed into trouble by doing those things that you should not do."