Ryan's Journal

I read my pocket Bible whenever I sit around and wait for something, usually on the subway. It's kind of casual reading, but looking over Jeremiah 42 today caught my eye.

Jeremiah is discussing the fate of the remnant of God's people who have been left behind in Jerusalem while everyone else was captured and carted off by the Babylonians. They go through this exchange: "Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." "I have heard you," replied Jeremiah the prophet. "I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you." Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God."

They start out talking to Jeremiah about "the LORD your God," but he throws it back at them as "the LORD your God." They pick up on it and respond with "the LORD our God." And while the last thing they say sounds pretty good ("Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey"), you get the sense they don't really mean it - they won't even claim God as their own. Jeremiah explains what they can do right and what they can do wrong.

But he ends with condemnation, telling them that God knows they're already going to do the wrong thing. That's a frightening thought. Favorable or unfavorable, will I obey? Unfavorable as anything might be, I guess keeping the end on my mind means 'unfavorable' really means 'temporary discomfort.' There's a heaven the discomforts of life can't touch.

You must login to leave a comment