Our small group has been going through a study of Jeremiah. It’s been an incredibly rich, if not sobering study. In chapters 38-44, Judah is overrun by Babylon in fulfillment of God’s prophecy to allow his people to endure exile as a punishment for their idolatry and unfaithfulness. In Chapter 42, the leaders in Judah approach Jeremiah with an idea. Perhaps they should flee to Egypt where perhaps they might find food and shelter and a bit more freedom. The plan seems really good from their perspective. But Jeremiah, speaking for God, warns them strongly not to go to Egypt. God warns them that if they go to Egypt, their families will suffer, many will be killed, and they’ll not escape Babylon because Nebuchadnezzar will soon be marching on Egypt and will conquer Pharoah’s army. What’s more, the people of God would invite God’s wrath and lose his protection. So, this is a bad idea.
Well, the leaders don’t want to hear it. They accuse Jeremiah of being aligned with Babylon. They instead sought out other religious leaders who told them what they wanted to hear. And they go, taking their vulnerable women and children with them. A tragic decision that cost their families and their communities. All because they didn’t listen to the prophet Jeremiah and rebelled against God. The main lesson here is that going against the Word of God always results in despair. Even when you think This one time it will be different.
There are a lot of other lessons here from this rich passage of Scripture. One of them is a lesson about leadership. The leaders in Israel refused to have folks in their inner circle who could question their decisions. They were set in their opinions and refused to hear any other perspective. I wrote about this here but I want to dig in a bit more on a reason many leaders don’t often get access to good information to make good decisions.
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