“…and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying!” The Lord has not sent you to say, “you must not go to Egypt to settle there.”
“We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!”
It is one thing for someone to not hear you well and ask you to say it again. It is a whole other can of worms when someone flat-out does not listen on purpose. As parents, we walk that line with our children. Did they not hear me, or are they choosing to ignore me? Two very different states of mind and two very different outcomes.
We find the last remaining people in Judah being warned by Jeremiah to follow the Lord and do what He says. Just like children, they choose to ignore the warning. In short, the Babylonians have been taking people into exile for a while now. This is the last group to go. King Zedekiah flees and gets caught. The Babylonians kill his family, gouge out his eyes, and take him off to Babylon. The commander of the imperial guard even tells Jeremiah that this has been brought on themselves because of their disobedience to the Lord God.
The Babylonians appoint Gedaliah as governor of the land. He is soon assassinated by a bunch of rebels. The group responsible for catching these rebels is led by Johanan, son of Kareah. Johanan convinces the remaining remnant in Judah to flee to Egypt. Before they do, they ask for a word from the Lord through Jeremiah. After ten days, Jeremiah hears from the Lord in chapter 42. If they stay in Judah, God will bless them. God tells them:
“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. 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. I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land.” (Jeremiah 42:10-12)
The Lord then makes it clear what will happen if they are determined to go to Egypt. He says in verses 15 and 16 of chapter 42:
“…if you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.”
You know you’re off when even your enemy is telling you that you should have listened. Jeremiah catches the last remaining ones in Judah before they choose to leave and go to Egypt. This is a bad idea because the Lord has told them not to go there. Their response to the word of the Lord? “You are lying!” and “We will not listen.”
Being “sold out” for Christ means giving Him your all. All of your everything goes through Christ first, not second. Your day starts with Christ. Your conversation starts with the realization that Christ is listening. What you do when no one is around is done because you know Christ sees everything. Your all means your all. These last few people in Judah refused to listen to the Lord. Instead, they were going to flee to Egypt.
Egypt is a picture of the world. It appears to have all you need when, in reality, it takes everything from you. It promises you everything only the Lord can provide.
Today, you might be in the same spot as the people of Judah, frustrated, fearful, tired of waiting on God, having no explanation for why all this crap is happening to you. You might even be refusing to listen to anything the Bible has to say. You have closed out God and shut the door on Him because while you were just living your life for yourself, everything was good, and the moment you said “OK” to Christ, your life turned into a pile of poo.
If this is you, listen to the Lord! Pulling all the weeds out of your garden may disturb the dirt and maybe even pull up something you planted, but let the Lord clean you up.
“I would rather be doing something for God even if it is messing up rather than to live my life without Him.” (Mike Warnke)
Don’t go to your Egypt! Stay the course the Lord put you on and stand firm.
Prayer: Father, Egypt always looks appealing. It looks enticing to the eyes. It draws you in, but while you are there, it takes everything from you. I pray that I am aware of the Egypt in my life and make a decision not to go to Egypt. I will stand firm where the Lord has me because He promises to prosper me when I obey Him. I pray I heed the direction of the Holy Spirit and not let the entanglements of sin into my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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