The Reject is Sought

 

    People are fickle.  They may hate you one day, need you the next, then love or just respect you.  It can be difficult to navigate.  You could hold things against them or you can let it go and move forward.  It is hard to forgive and forget.  We just have to remember the choice that Jesus made on the subject.

    Jeremiah spent his years prophesying which made people angry.  They hated and rejected him for speaking the truth.  When it all went down most probably just wanted to forget about him, but some may have blamed him.  Then after came.  The remaining Jews were helpless, but they had a governor that tried to make the situation work respectfully with integrity.  The governor Gedaliah was good to Jeremiah, but he was assassinated within three month.  Now the nation was truly unsettled.  It was a mystery to the Jews what would happen next.

    When Gedaliah was killed, Jeremiah was there.  He was close enough to know and see the persecution.  The people that made fun, teased, and persecuted Jeremiah were now coming to him for help.  They wanted Jeremiah to pray for them about what they should do or where to go now.  They wanted him to pray for guidance because they had strayed so far that they didn't know how to pray to God or maybe they just didn't know His voice.  Jeremiah could have rejected them and left them to uncertainty, but he chose to be faithful to God more than the people.

    The people had nothing to lose and now they trusted God faithfully.  Sometimes we have to lose everything to really see what matters in life.  God is always faithful, so He responded.  Jeremiah prayed and promised to report everything God said to them.  He would not withhold anything.  They promised that they would be faithful to everything God said.

    It took 10 days for God to respond: God wanted the people to stay and live without fear.  He would protect them.  It was time to rebuild.  It was time to receive God's compassion.  This is not what they wanted to hear.  They wanted to go to Egypt to escape from the current situation.  

    The people that would flee to Egypt would always be looking over their shoulder, living in fear of death.  They would never find peace because they would still be living under God's judgment,  They would still be judged for disobedience.  

Jeremiah 42