JEREMIAH 42 STARTING A NEW LIFE AFTER DISASTER2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 42 Starting A New Life After Disaster

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. Well, this morning as we spend some time together here in Jeremiah chapter 42, I've titled the message, Starting a New Life After Disaster.

starting a new life after disaster. And where we find the nation of Judah at this time is in the place of absolute disaster. They've reached rock bottom and then gone a little bit deeper. That's how far down they've gone. And it is a place of, well, being in their shoes, it would be hard to imagine that anything good could ever happen again. And

And yet here in Jeremiah chapter 42, there is held out for them the hope and the opportunity of something new, of a new life that God could do and build and grow in them, even amongst the ashes from which they sit. And it's an important thing for us to consider this morning because, well, all of us in this life will face disasters, right?

We will face things that just rock our world and destroy us. There will be many occasions for us to hit rock bottom and then go a little bit further, go down deeper even more in the things that we face in this life.

And so there's many ways for us to be able to relate. And maybe you're not in the midst of a disaster right now, but you know what disaster is like. And you know there will be further challenges and difficulties ahead for you as well. And so there's great truths here for us in that

But also I would encourage you to look on the other side and to consider the example of Jeremiah here in this passage, where not only are we those who experienced disaster, but we are those that God will use to minister to people who are in disaster, to people who have lost everything and are sitting there in the ashes and in the dust and wondering if anything ever could go good again, if there could ever be a smile or laughter or joy again. And

There are many occasions where we will be used by the Lord to be a light and an extension of his love and his care to those in that condition. And so we're considering this idea of disaster this morning. Now I want to walk through the timeline a little bit to help us get a sense of where the nation of Judah is at at this point. Jeremiah the prophet came on the scene around 626 B.C.,

And Jeremiah came on the scene because the nation of Judah had been in rebellion against God for several hundred years.

The prophet Isaiah came before Jeremiah, about 100 years, a little bit longer than that, before him, calling the people to repentance. They were in rebellion before Isaiah. They were in rebellion after Isaiah. When Jeremiah comes on the scene, they've been well entrenched in their resistance to God and their refusal to hear his word. And yet God still in his love and grace continues to reach out to them. And so he pours out his Holy Spirit upon Jeremiah and says, call my people back to repentance.

and gives them one more opportunity before Babylon ultimately will come and conquer Judah and wipe it out entirely. Jeremiah is their last chance, but they've been experiencing much destruction up to this point as a result of their sin.

And so they've been diminished. The nation is barely surviving by the time Jeremiah comes on the scene. There's only a couple strongholds in the whole nation. It's largely unprotected. There's the city of Jerusalem, a couple other cities, but most of the people are vulnerable. Most of the people have been conquered already. It is a desolate situation. And as Jeremiah rises up and calls on behalf of the Lord, the people to repentance, the people continue to resist.

And so God fulfills the words and the prophecies that he gave to Jeremiah and Babylon comes against Jerusalem, lays siege to the city, defeats Jerusalem and conquers the nation. At that time, it's Jehoiakim who is the king of Judah and he is defeated in 605 B.C.,

After about 20 years of Jeremiah's ministry, Babylon comes and conquers Jerusalem, just like Jeremiah declared, fulfilling all of the things that God had said. And it was a call still to repentance because it wasn't at that time that the nation was completely obliterated. No, what Babylon did was they conquered Jerusalem, took some people captives, probably including Daniel the prophet. They took those captives to Babylon, but they set up a new king,

in Jerusalem to carry on the nation and called that king to then be faithful to be a servant of Babylon and to pay tribute to Babylon. And so there at 605 BC, the nation continues, but also many are taken captive back to Babylon. And the 70 year captivity begins at that time. Well, Jehoiachin is now set in place as king by Babylon. And so Jehoiachin reigns for a little bit

Meanwhile, Jeremiah continues to prophesy and calling the people back to repentance. And the people continue to resist and fight against God and ignore what God is saying. And so in doing so, they also rebel against Babylon. And Babylon is forced then to come again against Jerusalem to lay siege for the second time and to conquer Jerusalem. And so in 597 BC, Jehoiachin is defeated. Jerusalem is conquered for the second time.

And this time again, they're not wiped out completely. The majority of the people are taken captive back to Babylon. But the city continues on. The city of Jerusalem, the nation is left with a small number, a remnant that continues. And Babylon sets now Zedekiah as king of the nation, saying, you be a good servant to Babylon. You pay tribute. And so Zedekiah reigns for about 10 years until

All the while, Jeremiah is prophesying, calling the people to repentance and the people resist and continue to insist on following their own paths and their own ways so that Babylon is forced again to come the third time. As they rebel against Babylon, Babylon comes and leads siege to Jerusalem for the third time, conquers Jerusalem for the third time. In 586 BC, Zedekiah is defeated. The city is conquered. This time Babylon says enough is enough.

And they tear down the walls of Jerusalem. So it cannot be inhabited any longer. It's not a stronghold any longer. Zedekiah is taken. The majority of the people are taken. There's just a handful of people that are left now in Judah. But still wanting the land to be productive, Babylon places Gedaliah as governor of the region.

And so governor, now he is, you know, to oversee and to be a good servant to Babylon and to pay tribute and to lead the people in that service to Babylon. But there, as we read this week in our accounts here in Jeremiah, Gedaliah, soon after, he hasn't even really, you know, begun to accomplish anything yet, but Gedaliah is assassinated by Ishmael.

And so this guy Ishmael comes in, he kills Gedaliah. He perhaps wants to take charge himself or he just hates him for siding with Babylon or whatever the case may be. But he kills Gedaliah and then he's dealt with. There's a group that rises up and banishes Ishmael, gets rid of him and kind of overthrows that resistance that rose up. But now here's the people in this state of rock bottom, disaster, disaster.

Because now Babylon has great reason to come and just wipe them all out completely. And so they are terrified. They're freaked out because, well, not only have they resisted Babylon three times as a city and fought against them and forced, you know, this military conquest over and over and over again, but now Babylon

The one that they had placed in charge, Gedaliah, has been assassinated. And so the people are in this condition of everything is lost. Everything is ruined. And the threat of them being wiped out completely is very real and deserved. It's a disaster. And yet the amazing thing as we look at Jeremiah chapter 42 is that God in the midst of this disaster says, I know it looks bad. And you can't imagine anything good ever coming in your life ever again, but

I can do something new. I can rebuild. It's something important for us to take note of because again, we face disasters. In this life today, we face natural disasters. And there are people who experience this kind of devastation, you know, with one storm or with one earthquake or with one fire. You know, there's just, it just rocks the world. It takes everything that they know away. It destroys their life. It's a disaster. Today, people experience financial disaster.

Where everything, you know, that was built up and everything that was saved and everything that was reserved and it's just wiped out, it's taken away, it's drained out slowly perhaps. But the end result is there's this desperate state where it's unthinkable that anything good could ever happen again financially, that there could never be a recovery from this. People experience disaster in their families.

Families torn apart, broken apart, at each other's throats, fighting, or perhaps it's the loss of family or the loss of loved ones. And it brings people to this state of this condition of disaster. People experience disaster in their health. And it's just one phone call and it changes everything. And you hit rock bottom instantly because of the news that is shared and the results that are given.

People experience disaster in their job. People experience disaster that is part of self-destructive behavior and just devastating their own lives. There's many kinds of disasters that we can consider. But the thing for us to pay attention to this morning is that God, for people in those conditions, God offers out the hope, the opportunity of new life. And amidst the ashes can come growth, growth.

new life, fruit, joy, and goodness. And so we're going to walk our way through this chapter, not trying to cover every verse, but looking at some important concepts to understand what is the proper steps to take. What do we do after disaster to start a new life? And it begins in verses one through four with point number one. Here's that point. It says, ask God, ask your God rather, to show you the way.

Ask your God if you want to recover, if you want to have God do something new in your life after disaster has struck.

We begin by asking God to show us the way. Let's read verses one through three again. It says,

that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing which we should do. Here they are in the midst of this disaster. Their new governor has just been assassinated. The threat of Babylon coming to just wipe them out is very real. What do you do in those circumstances? Where do you start? How do you decide what you should do in the midst of that kind of situation? Here, they do the right thing. They desire to get guidance, right?

And so they come to Jeremiah, the prophet of the Lord. And it's interesting to observe how they express their relationship with God to Jeremiah. Notice in verse 2, they tell Jeremiah, Notice their relationship to God at this point. They say, Jeremiah, would you please pray to your God?

We want you to pray to Jeremiah's God. Now, the nation of Judah at this time had been worshiping many false gods. They'd been involved in idolatry. They knew God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, right? But, well, at this time, they are disconnected from God. They refer to him not as my God, not as our God, but Jeremiah, your God. And the first thing that needs to be addressed and needs to be corrected is their connection to God, is their relationship with God.

Again, in verse 3, they say that the Lord, your God, may show us the way in which we should walk. And so they're going to the right place and they're really confessing their disconnection from the Lord. Commentator H.A. Ironside says, there's a sense of distance. They do not feel they can approach him with confidence. Hence, they turn to Jeremiah.

It's always a bad sign when there's a diffidence or a shyness in approaching God. When the petitioner has more confidence in the prayers of a ministering servant than in his own. And that last part, that's an interesting thought to consider. It's always a concern. It's always a bad sign, he says, when you have more confidence in the prayers of somebody else than you have in your own prayers. You say, well, I need

Chico to pray for me because boy he has a close connection to God and his prayers really work and oh man I need him to pray for me and we are called to and instructed to pray for one another but not because Chico has a better connection to God than you that's about our relationship with one another and coming to God together but the connection and the opportunity to reach out to God and to call out to God is not different between us

There's an issue. It's a concern. When you consider the prayers of somebody else to be more effective than your own. When you consider someone else having access to God in a greater degree than you do, it's a sign. It's not that God has moved, right? That's the old saying. If you feel distant from God, guess who moved? It's not God that's moved. He's there. But you're saying, oh, Chico, would you pray for me to your God?

Where you have your own opportunity to know God. And Jeremiah here redirects them back to God and reminds them of their relationship to God. In verse 4, it says, Here, Jeremiah in his response says,

refers to God as the Lord, your God. You're trying to put this on me and, you know, Jeremiah's God. No, no, not Jeremiah's God, your God. I will pray. He is your God, Jeremiah is saying to the people. You're saying he's my God. I'm saying he's your God. And Jeremiah here is insisting that he will not be the one that leads them. He will not be the one who gives them counsel. He will not be the one that they rely upon. He says, look, I will pray to your God and

And whatever he answers, that I will declare and I will not keep anything back. I'm not going to be in between you and God. I'm going to deliver the whole message that he gives to you. I'm not going to stand in the way. I'm not going to filter it. I'm not going to, you know, pick and choose. I'm not going to insert my own thoughts and ideas. I'm going to make sure that whatever God says, that is what you receive. And so Jeremiah here makes this commitment to pray and

and then to declare what it is that God says in response. Now again, we can look at these things in light of our own disasters that we face, but we can also look at these things in light of those that we minister to who are experiencing disaster. And I would encourage you to think about Jeremiah's response. It's significant. Jeremiah does not say, I told you so.

For 40 years, he's been declaring that these things will take place if they continue to rebel against God. I think if I was in Jeremiah's shoes, there would be very strong temptation for me to say, I've been telling you for 40 years that this was coming. I've been telling you. Why haven't you been listening? And instead of...

Giving a response like Jeremiah, I probably would have given a great scolding. Let me give you a piece of my mind because it's been, you know, building up for the past 40 years and you've been ignoring and not paying attention. But Jeremiah is not in that mindset. He's not saying, I told you so. There's no sense of scolding here. He's doing his part to reconnect them to God and committing to, yes, I will go to God. I will pray for you. But whatever God tells me, I'm going to pass it along to you.

You say your God, but I say your God. He's your God and he's there for you. This is a part that we have to play in many occasions in people's lives. And if you're not familiar with it, you need to know that you have access to God by faith in Jesus Christ and your prayers can be effective.

Just as effective. Your connection to God is just as clear or has the potential to be just as clear as anybody else's. Think about what Jesus said in John chapter 16. He told his disciples, that's you and I today, in that day you will ask in my name and I do not say to you that I shall pray to the Father for you for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. It's pretty radical what Jesus says here.

Jesus is saying, look, when I finish my work upon the cross, he hasn't gone to the cross yet in John 16, but when I finish that work in that day, you will ask in my name. But Jesus wants to make sure it's clear. Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying you pray to Jesus and then Jesus prays to the Father for you. Jesus says, that's not what's happening. We know the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us, right? And so in that sense, Jesus is interceding for us. He is praying for us.

but it's not a, you know, a telephone game where I pray to Jesus and then Jesus passes on that to the father. No, Jesus is saying, look, it's not this chain. There is no chain. You have a direct connection to direct access to the father. He says, the father himself loves you. Everybody knows Jesus loves them. That's a common thing. It's an accepted thing, right? But the father loves you. And sometimes we have this, you know, kind of, uh,

idea in our mind that, you know, it's only because Jesus is like holding the Father back that we don't get struck down with lightning, right? But no, no, the Father himself loves you. That's why he sent his only begotten Son. The Father himself loves you because he says, you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. And so here's the criteria by which you have this access to the Father. You pray in the name of Jesus because you love Jesus and have believed in Jesus. When you believe in Jesus, you

You're born again. You have the opportunity to pray to the Father directly, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the everlasting God. Ask God to show you the way. There doesn't have to be any distance. There is no intermediaries. You believe in Jesus and you can ask the Father to show you the way. When you face natural disasters or financial disasters or family disasters, health, job, whatever kind of disaster you might face,

You need to know the Father loves you. He loves you. And he wants to show you the way. And you might think, it might be hard to imagine, there's like nothing good can ever come again. There will be never a smile again, never laughter again. There will never be life. There will never be recovery from this. But God here is going to respond to his people and say, now there is hope. There is opportunity. And we'll see that in just a moment. But first, we're going to continue on now in verses 4 through 6 for point number 2.

Be willing to do whatever God says. So as we come to God and ask him to show us the way, we need to have the proper mindset and attitude in our hearts. And that is a willingness. Lord, what do you want to do? What should we do? What is the right way to go? And whatever you say, however you respond, whatever direction you give, that is what I will do. Looking again at verse four, it says, then Jeremiah the prophet said to them,

I have heard indeed. I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be that whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you. Again, Jeremiah is making a commitment here. He's saying, look, I'm going to be faithful to deliver the whole message. Even if I don't like what the message is, I'm going to give it to you. Even if I don't think you're going to like the message, I'm going to give it to you.

Even if there's parts that I would disagree with or parts that you might wrestle with. No, I'm going to be faithful to give you everything that the Lord says. I'm going to faithfully declare what God says. So the people respond in verse 5. So they said to Jeremiah, let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us. If we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. The people here are committed.

Jeremiah is committed to faithfully deliver the message and the people say, okay, that's your part. Here's our part. We will do whatever God tells us to do. And they call God as a faithful witness between us. It's a very solemn promise that they make. We promise we are going to do whatever God sends us by you. In verse six, it goes on to say, whether it is pleasing or displeasing,

There's a couple things to pay attention to here in these verses. You can see their commitment to do whatever God says. You can see their return to their connection to God. They said in verse 6,

When previously they were saying, Jeremiah, your God, now they're saying our God. They're reminded, they're, yes, all right, you're right. You called us back, reminded us that we have a connection to the Lord. And so, yes, he is our God. And so they commit to obey. They also, though, express their belief, their understanding that God wants good for them. They said, we will obey the voice of the Lord, our God, to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord, our God.

That it may be, we're gonna obey so that it may be well with us. When we obey God, it is well with us. It's for our good. It is what's best for us to obey. And so here they're expressing that, yes, you're right. We're getting back right with God. Yes, he's our God. And he wants what's best for us. He loves us. And we want to experience what he has for us in this life. And so the commitment, three times they say, we will obey. We will do according to everything he says.

that God tells us to do through you. And we will obey and it will be well with us when we obey. And so over and over they commit, they're willing to do whatever God says. It's an important heart for us to have in approaching God. We want God's direction. We want God to show us the way. Sometimes though we want God to show us what he wants so that we can then decide if that's what we want.

But what we need to do is approach God with a sincere, with a genuine heart that says, I really do want to do whatever God wants. In the book of James chapter one, we have that famous passage about trials and you can kind of substitute trials with disasters, right? James says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him.

You're in the midst of a disaster. You're in the midst of a trial. You need wisdom. Lord, which way do I go? He says, come and ask God. He gives to all liberally, freely, generously. God gives wisdom to those who need it. And so there is this opportunity to come to God and receive from God the direction that we need. But James goes on to give a little bit of instruction. He says, let him ask in faith with no doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

Let that man not suppose he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James says, come and ask. God gives generously, willingly, abundantly, but ask with no doubting. And the doubting there, you need to understand, it's not like doubting whether or not God can respond or doubting whether or not God will respond. The doubting is really, it's doubting whether or not you want to respond and do what God says.

Being a double-minded man, he goes on to describe it as, I want to do what God wants me to do. And so I ask God what to do. And then I hear what God wants me to do. And then I don't want to do what God wants me to do, right? That's double-minded. You're changing your mind. You're not doubting whether or not God can respond. You're doubting whether or not you will respond. You're doubting whether or not you should respond. You're doubting whether or not God wants what's best for you. So James tells us, ask. And God gives generously, willingly, abundantly.

But ask with a heart that is ready to do what God instructs you to do. Be willing to do whatever God says. We haven't received the promises of new life yet. That's coming. But in order to achieve that, in order to have those opportunities, we need to come to God and be connected to him and ask him to show us the way with a willingness. Believing that God wants what's best for us. Really trusting him.

and being willing to do whatever he says. Well, moving on to the third point, we find that in verse 7, wait for God to speak. Wait for God to speak. And so in the midst of a disaster, waiting is, well, it's painful and difficult, but it's a necessary step. In verse 7, it says, After 10 days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. After 10 days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

It's interesting to consider. Again, picturing the children of Judah at that time, like they've gone through this horrendous experience. It's just a couple of weeks ago that Jerusalem itself was conquered and devastated. And Babylon came and took, you know, the majority of their friends and family away captive. And there was just a few of them left and Gedaliah was set in charge over them. And now he's been assassinated. And as soon as Babylon hears, oh my goodness, what's going to happen? And there, I'm sure, was a great urgency upon them.

What do we do? How do we do it? There was panic, emergency in their hearts. But after 10 days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. It took some time. It took some time to hear from the Lord. Just as we have to come to God with a willingness to be obedient, trusting that God knows what's best for us and wants what's best for us, we also have to come to God with a willingness to wait for God's timing. That we don't push a button and then he gives us the answer that we want.

You know, we don't type a Google search and get the answer from God instantly, immediately, every occasion that we want. God will deliver us the message that He wants us to have in the timing that He chooses to give it. True obedience bows to God's time as well as His will. His timing, His ways, His will, it's all wrapped together.

I imagine the people of Judah being, you know, like squirming, like really desperate. Like we need an answer. Like we need to decide what do we do? And there's this panic. You have to wait. Sometimes God answers right away. We wish all our prayers were answered like Abraham's servant, right? He's there at the well and he's praying a prayer, asking God to help him find the bride for Isaac. And before he's finished praying, God answers that prayer. It's like, that's the kind of, you know, timing that I want.

But that's not the kind of timing that is often what God chooses. Sometimes He does. Sometimes it takes a couple minutes. Sometimes it takes 10 days. Sometimes it takes 10 years. It's God's timing. It's His choice. He wants what's best. He knows best. We need to learn to wait. Let God speak and direct in His time. In the midst of disaster, that can be really challenging. But it is a great expression of your faith and trust.

To not just act on your own. And the thing we can appreciate about this as well is in Jeremiah's, from Jeremiah's side, as those who are ministering to and speaking with someone experiencing disaster, it can be very tempting to have an immediate response. And the need to have an immediate response pushes us to say what we think, to share our ideas, to share our thoughts. But Jeremiah doesn't do that. He's persistent. He's faithful. He waits. He waits.

the full 10 days until God actually speaks. And then he comes and he brings forth that word. Very important for us. You're ministering to someone who is hurting greatly. We want to relieve the pain. We want to ease and to comfort. We want to provide some help. But we need to be careful not to rush in and try to do that with our own words and thoughts and ideas and concepts. When disaster strikes, what people need most is

is God's word. What does God have to say? And we should be very careful to speak what he has to say and not our own thoughts and ideas. Well, continuing on now, verses 8 through 12, God is now responding to them and now they have the opportunity, point number four, to trust God enough to obey. As God speaks, now they need to really trust him and do what he says. In verse 8,

It says,

We see an amazing demonstration of God's patience and mercy and grace. Here is this people that have been in rebellion against God for hundreds of years. And even this very generation that Jeremiah has been ministering to for 40 years, and yet they have resisted and persisted in their rebellion against God. But God has not given up on them. He's not cast them aside. When they come to him and ask him to show them the way,

They express their willingness to be obedient. They wait for God to speak. And now when God speaks, God says, I can build you again. I can rebuild and replant and give you a new life. I'm not done with you. It's not over. There's still the opportunity. A.J. Ironside says, what riches of grace are unfolded.

If they will not trust him, I'm sorry, if they will but trust him now in their weak, broken state, if they will rely upon his mighty arm, if they will accept the chastisement and bow to his word, then he will build them up and care for them as a husbandman cares for his vintage. God says, I will care for you. I will build you up. I'll protect you. I'll take care of you. Trust me. They now have the opportunity for God to do something new.

to bring new life from the ashes, to take the devastation that has been wrought upon them and to still do something beautiful in the midst of that. God says, look, I've been bringing the consequences to your sin through the nation of Babylon, but it's sufficient now. The slate, it's cleaned, it's even, we're set. I don't have to bring more judgment for your sin. So now you have the opportunity. That's all taken care of.

Now you have the opportunity to start over, to start new, to trust me, and I will build you again. He says, I will build you and not pull you down. I will plant you and not pluck you up, for I relent concerning the disaster that I've brought upon you. This is grace. Think about the timeline. Think about this people that God is addressing here. A stubborn, rebellious, wicked people who have been resisting God a long time.

But God is so patient and gracious. And when we come to him, there is still opportunity. There is still chance for God to work and do something good. The one requirement, God says, you're going to have to trust me enough to obey me. You're going to have to trust me enough to actually do what I'm asking you to do. In verse 11, he says, do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him, says the Lord. For I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand.

God calls them out. He says, look, you are fearful of the king of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar, you think about him, you have nightmares about him. He freaks you out. You're afraid, but don't be afraid. Trust me. Trust me. I'll protect you against him. I'll take care of the king of Babylon. I'll keep him from doing what he wants to do to you. You're afraid of Babylon, but I am with you to save you and to deliver you.

In verse 12, he goes on to say, and I will show you mercy that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land. God says, I'm going to protect you. I'm going to take care of you. And here's how I'm going to do it. I'm going to make Nebuchadnezzar merciful. You're going to experience my mercy through him. He will show you mercy and bring you back and establish you in your own land. God is big enough to move the hearts of kings because the greatest, I mean, Nebuchadnezzar was

the height of power in the world. The greatest power in all the world was King Nebuchadnezzar. He was the ruler of all, and he had more authority than any others before or after him in that time in history. We'll read more about that in Daniel the prophet. We'll get there soon. But here's King Nebuchadnezzar, and God says, you're going to experience my mercy through him. I'm going to make him merciful towards you. All you got to do is trust me enough to obey.

It's hard to trust God in the midst of disaster. It's hard to trust God in the midst of pain and agony and suffering. But God is saying, I can do it. I'll build you. I'll care for you. I'll heal you. I'll do something new. Trust me. Well, moving on to verses 13 through 22, we get the fifth point for this morning, the final point for the morning, and that is do not disobey God. Here's another key element to starting a new life after disaster.

If you want that new life, you want God to do a new work, you want that life to sprout and grow and there to be joy and hope and goodness again, do not disobey God. Verse 13, Jeremiah continues to relate the message from God. He says,

But we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell. Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt and go to dwell there, then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt."

The famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt. And there you shall die. Here God presents his people with a real choice. He's done this many times in their history. He does this continually. He lays before us life and death. And then he calls us. He says, please choose life that you may live. Here's your choice. Stay in the land and trust me. And I'll take care of you and I'll protect you and I'll build you again. But if you choose to not stay in the land...

and you choose to run to Egypt and disobey my voice, well, then he goes on to lay out what the consequences will be. And the tragedy here of this account here in Jeremiah is that these people, as you read on into chapter 43, they give in to their fears and they run to Egypt. They don't trust God enough to obey him. And it ends in their disaster, just as God promised.

Paul the Apostle tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 that these things that we read about in the Old Testament, these things are recorded for our sake. He says in verse 6, these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And then in verse 11, he says, now these things happened to them as examples and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Chapter 42 here in Jeremiah is written for our admonition.

Their actions, the nation of Judah, what they decided, it's written for us to learn from their example what not to do. They were caught up in a delusion. God gives us some insight into what was happening in their minds and in their imagination in verse 14. He says, you run to Egypt, you're saying, no, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell. They have built this fantasy in their minds.

If we go to Egypt, we won't have to battle anymore. Now, this is a generation that has experienced war their whole life, essentially. They've been under siege and under the threat of Babylon. And

Oh, it's like, oh, there's Egypt. And if we just get there, oh, it's going to be peace. There will be no war, no battles. We won't have to be starving anymore. We won't be hungry. We won't hear the trumpet. You know, some other emergency has happened and we got to run and try to fix that. And we won't be in this constant state of panic if we go to Egypt. That's what they're convinced of. It's not the reality, but it's the fantasy that they have in their minds. It's the delusion that they're holding on to.

And if you choose to believe your fantasy more than you believe God's word, you go down to Egypt, God says. Now, verses 15 through 18, I'm not going to go through those, but God lays out for them all the things that you feared, all the things that you're thinking you're escaping by running there. That's actually where you're going to experience those things. And your running to Egypt is going to cause you to experience the things that you're trying to get away from. You stay here and trust me, I'll protect you.

I'll take care of you. I will build you and restore you. But if you run, if you disobey God, you will experience everything that you're fearful of, everything that you're trying to get away from. In verse 20, God highlights another aspect of their heart. He says, for you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God saying, pray for us to the Lord our God. And according to all that the Lord your God says,

so declare to us and we will do it. God says, you were hypocrites in your hearts. You had this clear, bold statements. We will trust God. We will do whatever he says over and over. You repeated it and you were hypocrites in your hearts. You said it, you declared it, you expressed it, you promised it, but you didn't actually mean it.

I like what H.A. Ironside says about this. He says, in the most solemn way, they declare that they will abide by the word of the Lord, whatever it may be. And no doubt, like many another in a similar place, they really thought they would. But they had settled it in their hearts to go into Egypt. And they counted upon the Lord's endorsement of their fleshly determination. Did they realize and understand that they were hypocrites? Probably not. When they promised and said, we will obey.

They were probably convinced that they would. They probably thought, we will obey. That's our, we've determined, we've decided. Because of the fantasy and delusion in their minds, the iron side says, because they counted on the Lord's endorsement of what they had already decided. They were sure, for sure, God's going to tell us, go to Egypt, which is great because that's what we want to do. So yes, we will do anything that God says. You know, they were convinced that

God was going to tell them to do what they really wanted to do. And that is a challenging thing when we come to God and ask him to show us the way, the willingness to do whatever God says. Sometimes we're not as willing even as we think that we are. And we need to ask God for help to make sure that we're not just trying to say the right words and be flattering and be hypocritical in our hearts. We really just want God to bless our fleshly endeavors.

and endorse what it is that we've decided. Are we really willing to do what God wants us to do? In verse 21, he goes on to say, and I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God or anything which he has sent you by me. Now, therefore, know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell. Here, Jeremiah is faithful. He holds up his end of the bargain. He's not going to

He delivers the full message of the Lord. And that includes this very strong and clear warning. Here's your options. Choose life that you may live. But if you choose to run to Egypt, this disaster, it's going to get worse. This disaster will result in your end and you will die there. And all the things that you're running from will catch up with you there and you'll experience death.

even a greater disaster than you've experienced thus far. This is important for us to understand. God is real. And his word really is the truth and what's best for us. And he lays before us what is best and he calls us to be obedient to him for our own good. And when he says, do not do that, it is also for our own good. And to obey God is

Well, we experience his blessing, his rebuilding, his new life. Even after great disaster and extensive rebellion, we can experience the goodness of God at work in our lives. But from that place, if we disobey God, from any place, when we disobey God, you need to understand the wages of sin is death. Matthew Poole says it this way, we must expect nothing but utmost disappointments from

upon actions done in disobedience to the revealed will of God. Expect nothing but the utmost disappointments when you disobey God. Do you know what God's saying to you? Has God been speaking to you? Where does he want you to go? How does he want you to live? What has he been guiding you in? Jeremiah is faithful and clear. Do not go that way. It will be to your harm.

In a similar manner, the Lord brings forth to us this morning, do not go that way. It will be the utmost disappointments to disobey God. You might be in the position of disaster and think, well, how could it get any worse? Listen, disobedience to God will make it worse, whatever it is. You might be comparing and analyzing like, well, I know what God's

saying, I know what God says about this situation, but I just can't handle, I can't stomach this. I can't imagine how that would go well. This will be better, but it's that fantasy of Egypt. It's going to just be peace and never hunger and all this wonderful things that we're deluding ourselves. God's word is what's best for us. God's will is the way to experience life and rebuilding and goodness once again. God can help us to start a new life and

after disaster. So ask God to show you the way. You don't need an intermediary. You believe in Jesus. You have access to the Father. Ask him to show you the way with a willingness. Lord, whatever you want. I know you know what's best. I know you want what's best for me. So whatever you want me to do, that's what I will do. And wait for God to speak. Don't rush ahead.

Don't just go forward with what you think is best or what you plan or what you desire, what you want. No, wait, wait, even if it takes 10 days or 10 weeks or 10 years. Wait for God to speak. Let him show you his ways, his plans. And when he does, then trust him enough to obey. Really believe him and hold on to his word. Don't negotiate with that. Do not disobey God. That will be to your own hurt and your own destruction.

And for those occasions that we have the opportunity to minister to those who are in disaster, we can see the example of Jeremiah to represent God and ministering his heart to them. Man, it's hard when, especially when it's those who are close to us and we told them if they went down this path, it'd be, you know, destruction to them, but they went anyways and now they come back to us and it's easy for us to scold. It's easy for us to misrepresent God to the ones that we love so much. But that's not our job.

Our job is to represent God, to demonstrate his patience and mercy and grace. Our job is also to be faithful, to represent God, to speak forth the whole message, to lay before life and death, the clear options, the call to choose life, the encouragement to reject death, the warnings, the blessings. We need to be faithful, to speak on behalf of God to those that God sends us to. Let's pray. Lord, I...

Pray for all those who are experiencing and facing disaster even now as we spend this time with you. Lord, I pray that you would minister to their hearts. Lord, where there is that loss of hope, that hopelessness, God, and that downcast, depressed condition of the heart, I pray, God, that you would bring a spark of life and a reminder of the hope and the promises that we have in you. And Lord, even today,

when our disasters are self-inflicted, we've brought things upon ourselves by our insisting on our own ways and our rebellion against you. Lord, you're not done. You haven't given up. And you still hold out to us the opportunity for a new life. Help us, God, to grasp hold of that opportunity, to call out to you, to look for your guidance, to trust you enough to obey you as you speak to us. Lord, would you rebuild, replant,

bring new life and joy and goodness for those who have experienced disaster. And I pray, God, for those who are not in the midst of disaster at the moment, but ministering to those who have experienced it or are experiencing it. Would you teach us, Lord, your love, your grace, your compassion, Lord, that we would be faithful to seek you on their behalf, faithful to bring forth your word and your truth in a way that represents your heart and your character.

Would you lead us by your Spirit, I pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.