SCRIPTURE: JEREMIAH 43
Johanan and all the people did not believe in what Jeremiah had told them not to go to Egypt. They were very angry and accused Jeremiah of being incited by Baruch to hand them over to Babylon or to kill them. So, Johanan and all the army officers disobeyed the Lord’s command to stay in the land of Judah. They led away all the remnants of Judah and entered Egypt in disobedience to the Lord.
Then the Lord told Jeremiah to do this: “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance in Pharaohs palace in Tahpanhes. Then say to them. “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over theses stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd wraps his garment around him, so will he wrap Egypt around himself and depart from there unscathed. There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.” (vs. 9-13)
THOUGHTS:
Everything Jeremiah prophesied had come true but they called him a false prophet. Baruch and Jeremiah endure the painful slander of the people. A faithful servant of the Lord will always have to experience sufferings.
God told the Israelites that their trip to Egypt would be a dead march. The army from which the Jews fled in Judah would come to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt in 568-567 B.C. Egypt rebelled against Babylon and was being crushed. So, remember to keep God’s Word and walk according to the will of God.