if it is only your plan
Jeremiah 42:1-22 (JDV)
Jeremiah 42:1 Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached
Jeremiah 42:2 the prophet Jeremiah and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to Yahveh your God on our behalf, on behalf of this entire remainder (for few of us remain out of the many, as you can see with your own eyes),
Jeremiah 42:3 that Yahveh your God may tell us the way we should go and the thing we should do.”
Jeremiah 42:4 So the prophet Jeremiah said to them, “I have heard. I will now pray to Yahveh your God according to your words, and I will tell you every word that Yahveh answers you; I won’t withhold a word from you.”
Jeremiah 42:5 And they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahveh be a true and faithful witness against us if we don’t act according to every word Yahveh your God sends you to tell us.
Jeremiah 42:6 Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey Yahveh our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us. We will certainly obey Yahveh our God!”
Jeremiah 42:7 At the end of ten days, the word of Yahveh came to Jeremiah,
Jeremiah 42:8 and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.
Jeremiah 42:9 He said to them, “This is what Yahveh says, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to bring your petition before him:
Jeremiah 42:10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you, and I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought on you.
Jeremiah 42:11 Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear; don’t be afraid of him’ – this is what Yahveh declares – ‘because I am with you to save you and rescue you from him.
Jeremiah 42:12 I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil.’
Jeremiah 42:13 “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ in order to disobey Yahveh your God,
Jeremiah 42:14 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,’
Jeremiah 42:15 then hear the word of Yahveh, remainder of Judah! This is what Yahveh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are firmly resolved to go to Egypt and stay there for a while,
Jeremiah 42:16 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.
Jeremiah 42:17 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.’
Jeremiah 42:18 “You see, this is what Yahveh 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.’
Jeremiah 42:19 Yahveh has spoken concerning you, remainder of Judah: ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Know for certain that I have warned you today!
Jeremiah 42:20 You have gone astray at the cost of your lives because you are the ones who sent me to Yahveh your God, saying, ‘Pray to Yahveh our God on our behalf, and as for all that Yahveh our God says, tell it to us, and we’ll act accordingly.’
Jeremiah 42:21 You see, I have told you today, but you have not obeyed Yahveh your God in everything he has sent me to tell you.
Jeremiah 42:22 Now therefore, know for certain that by the sword, famine, and plague you will die in the place where you desired to go to stay for a while.”
if it is only your plan
The leaders of the re-formed alliance in Judah were trying to solidify their hold on the people, so they appealed to Jeremiah. They really were not interested in what the LORD wanted. They simply wanted religious approval of their plans.
Friend, perhaps you have thought for some time that God wanted you or your church to do something — to make some change, and you have prayed to God to open the door for that something to happen. I suggest that you consider whether your plan is really God’s plan. If it is really God’s plan then pray, obey, and make it happen. But if it is only your plan, then don’t be so quick to get God’s approval for it.
Lord, give us discernment!
Devotions 