Day 927: Jeremiah 43- Rejecting God's Word Leads To Ruin

When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3 but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah.5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— 6 the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at Tahpanhes.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes:9 “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

​Meditation
Welcoming God’s word and work will restore. Rejecting God’s word and work will ruin.
 
God desires to reveal Himself through His word and work. Jeremiah proved this by speaking God’s word to the remnant remaining in Judah. Rather than believe God’s word and remain in Judah for rest and rejuvenation, the people rejected God’s word and condemned Jeremiah as a false prophet. Fear and feelings directed the discernment to reject God’s word- a recipe for ruin.
 
The “insolent men” called Jeremiah a “liar!” (seqer), the exact word Jeremiah repeatedly called the false prophets. Rejecting God’s word, the people returned to Egypt where their forefathers had been slaves (1-7). Tahpanhes was a city in the NE corner of the Nile Delta and the place of the prophet’s final visual prophecy. Jeremiah laid stones promising Babylon’s throne would rule over the space. In 567 BC this prophecy became reality (Ezekiel 29:17-20), proving the prophet’s authenticity. The people’s desire to reject God’s word led to the ruin of being conquered by Babylon.
 
All of us identify with the “insolent” people who rejected the word of the prophet. From God’s great love, Jesus gave Himself to be conquered by the Roman empire, killed on the cross for insolent people like you and me, so that God’s righteousness can be imputed through faith. The work of Jesus gives grace for believers to return from ruin resulting from rejecting God’s word, to be restored through renewed relationship with Him. Jesus gives us a new opportunity to find restoration in God’s revelation!
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you about the rejection of God’s word and the promised ruin to follow?
 
-Where do you identify with the “insolent men” who called Jeremiah a liar? This is to ask, where do you reject God’s word and exchange His truth for lies of our culture?
 
-How can you respond to God’s grace through welcoming God’s word and the restoration that is promised to follow? Be specific.
 
Key Verse
2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’