This account of the fate of the small remnant left in decimated Judah demonstrates how blatantly dismissive the people were of God’s directives to them. They found themselves in a mess, unsure which way to go and they even sought God’s word from Jeremiah. But when Jeremiah delivered God’s directive to them they found a reason to do what they wanted to do anyway in defiance of God’s word. After the assassination of Gedaliah the small community of Jews in Judah faced a dilemma. The Babylonians would surely return to avenge these killings and it seemed unlikely that in doing so they would distinguish between them and the rebel party. Their inclination was to flee to Egypt, but they thought they would seek divine guidance through Jeremiah first. And this is what they got. But when Jeremiah told them to do something counterintuitive they found reason, as I have said, to do what they wanted to do anyway. Before we seek to learn more about God’s will we should examine ourselves to discern how willing we are to do what God wants. More knowledge of truth will only further incriminate us if it turns out that we are not willing to act in accordance with it. So, before you open the Bible, always ask yourself: Am I willing to change and do what this says even if it goes counter to everything I might naturally want?
Reflect on the question I posed here.
Read Jeremiah 41:16-43:7
