Jeremiah: When God Calls You to Hard ThingsMfano

Day 6: We Cannot Save Ourselves

The Babylonians captured Jerusalem and carried many of the Israelites into captivity. However, a remnant of Israelites was left behind. Soon, a faction of the remnant revolted and assassinated their Babylonian-appointed governor, taking military prisoners and slaughtering many, including fellow Judeans.

When an Israelite military leader, Johanan, heard of the faction’s revolt, he gathered his army and defeated them. Although he liberated the captives, he feared reprisal from the Babylonians and thus planned to escape to Egypt with the remnant. But first, he sought Jeremiah’s counsel and pledged to obey whatever God commanded.

God’s answer was not what the remnant expected. He had a different plan in mind. God urged them to stay put and promised that he would cause the Babylonians to have compassion on them and allow them to remain and be established in Jerusalem. But he warned that if they fled to Egypt, they would die in the very place they thought would save them.

When the remnant heard God’s message, they accused Jeremiah of lying. He then warned them a second time, but they refused to listen. Many of them were worshipping Egyptian gods, and their hearts were hard and arrogant.

Tragically, the remnant rejected God’s last chance for them to settle in their own land. They rebelled and chose to rely on foreign gods and their own hubris. Instead of remaining and flourishing, they fled, and soon afterward, they were completed annihilated when the Babylonians attacked and destroyed the Egyptian kingdom.

It is heartbreaking to read how the remnant missed out on God’s goodness. They could have been saved! God offered them a way out, a way to peace. Instead of allowing him to be Lord over their lives, they chose to rule over themselves, and it only led to destruction and death, the very thing from which they were fleeing.

Not that we should seek out suffering, but there are times when God asks us to stay and persevere. Sometimes he is saying, “Do not fear. Stand firm. Trust Me,” because he is going to make a way for us through trials, and he has the long-term vision to see what awaits us on the other side. Humility is recognizing that God’s ways are higher than ours. When we believe that God has our good in mind, we can then trust and obey his will for our lives.