August 31 / Every Day God: Warnings, Promises and Lies...

Jeremiah 42-43Amplified Bible (AMP)

42 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah [Azariah] son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest came near

2 And said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beseech you that you will let our supplication be presented before you and that you will pray to the Lord your God for us, even for all this remnant [of the people of Judah]; for whereas we were once many, there are but a few of us left, as you see with your [own] eyes.

3 [Pray] that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words; and it will be that whatever thing the Lord will answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you.

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do according to all the things that the Lord your God sends you to tell us.

6 Whether it is good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to Whom we are sending you [to inquire], that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.

7 And after ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

8 Then he called Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

9 And said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to Whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him:

10 If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pull you up; for I will relent and comfort and ease Myself concerning the evil that [in chastisement] I have done to you [and I will substitute mercy and loving-kindness for judgment].

11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are fearful [with the profound and reverent dread inspired by deity]; be not afraid of him, says the Lord, for [he is a mere man, while I am the all-wise, all-powerful, and ever-present God] I [the Lord] am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

12 And I will grant mercy to you, that he may have mercy on you and permit you to remain in your own land.

13 But if you say, We will not dwell in this land, and so disobey the voice of the Lord your God,

14 Saying, No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,

15 Then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are fully determined to go to Egypt and you do go to dwell there temporarily,

16 Then the sword which you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt and in it, and there you shall die.

17 So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there temporarily; they will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; none of them will remain or survive the evil that I will bring upon them.

18 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and My wrath have been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My wrath be poured forth upon you when you enter Egypt. You shall be a detested thing, an astonishment andhorror, a curse, a thing lightly esteemed and a taunt and a reproach; you shall see this place no more.

19 The Lord has said to you, O remnant of Judah, Do not go to Egypt. Know for a certainty that I [Jeremiah] have warned and testified to you this day

20 That you have dealt deceitfully against your own lives; for you sent me [Jeremiah] to the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, declare it to us and we will do it.

21 And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything that He sent me to tell you.

22 Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place [Egypt] where you desire to go to dwell temporarily.

43 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God—everything for which the Lord their God had sent him to them—

2 Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the proud and insolent men said to Jeremiah, You are not telling the truth! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, Do not go into Egypt to dwell there temporarily.

Has this happened to you? Someone pretended to sincerely ask your opinion. And when they didn't like what you had to say, they became angry and called you a liar. You are not alone! Jeremiah was a well respected prophet! And yet when he prophesied stuff they didn't like, they called him a liar!

Jeremiah 44:20-28Amplified Bible (AMP)

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people—to the men and to the women and to all the people who had given him that answer—

21 The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land—did not the Lord [earnestly] remember [your idolatrous wickedness] and did it not come into His mind?

22 The Lord could no longer endure the evil of your doings and the abominations which you have committed; because of them therefore has your land become a desolation and an [astonishing] waste and a curse, without inhabitants, as it is this day.

23 Because you have burned incense [to idols] and because you have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law and in His statutes and in His testimonies, therefore this evil has fallen upon you, as it is this day.

24 Moreover, Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt,

25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have both declared with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her. [Surely] then confirm your vows and [surely] perform your vows! [If you will defy all My warnings to you, then, by all means, go ahead!]

26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all [you people of] Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the Lord, that My name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord God lives.

27 Behold, I am watching over them for evil and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine until there is an end of them and they are all destroyed.

28 Yet a small number who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah who came to the land of Egypt to dwell temporarily shall know whose words shall stand, Mine or theirs.

What a disappointing way for Jeremiah's ministry to end! With people calling him a liar and completely ignoring his warnings that were straight from God.

Hey, if people you care about continue to ignore you, just move on to someone who will listen. 

God recently took someone out of my life. She said God was leading her and her family to another church. I love her dearly and normally would have been disappointed. But, to be honest, I was relieved. I totally believe God was leading her right out of my life, because my counsel obviously was NOT working for her. And I actually THANKED God. And I am moving on. If she chooses to come back into my life, I will gladly start up where I left off, of course. The door swings both ways! 

"Dear Jesus, help us all! Help us to listen to Your word being preached on Sunday! Or Wednesday! Or even on Facebook! Wow, one day I was struggling with forgiveness. And wouldn't you know, I opened up Facebook to the very advice I needed! About forgiveness! It was a hard pill to swallow, and I choked a little, but I swallowed it! And I imagine You were chuckling as you watched me struggling. I just love how You work! Thanks so much for continuing to give me the same counsel over and over in different ways. Just like with the disobedient children of Israel. The difference is I am striving to be obedient. Unlike them. Praise You, O Great and Terrible God of the Angel Armies! I pray all this in Your name, Jesus, AMEN."