Originally posted: 6/12/2021
Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which the Lord will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you,” (42:4).
It seems a good time for a brief recap. God had repeatedly spoken through His prophet, and His Message hadn’t changed; and Jeremiah continued in warning His people of what was coming as a result of their sin and rebellion against the Lord the God of Israel: Jerusalem would be destroyed by Babylon.
And God had also repeatedly offered them, through His prophet Jeremiah, the opportunity to repent and return to Him so as to escape His coming wrath. But there were others, so-called prophets, who kept insisting that God was on their side. And the people repeatedly chose to listen to a message that promised what they wanted to hear rather than listening to His Whole Message, Unchanging.
And so it happened; the Babylonians did indeed capture Jerusalem, release the prophet to enjoy his freedom, and set up Gedaliah as their governor. But then, Ishmael comes and assassinates the new governor. But Johanan rescues the remnant who had been taken captive by Ishmael, and now the people come under the leadership of Johanan.
Now, it sounds as though they have learned their lesson; it sounds like all they want is to do the right thing (we will find out tomorrow). And under Johanan’s lead, the remnant come to Jeremiah, asking him to pray and seek God on their behalf so that they would know exactly what they should do; promising to do everything God tells them to do.
Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our petition come before you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, that is for all this remnant; because we are left but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, 3 that the Lord your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do,” (42:1-3).
And the faithful man of God assures them that he will do just as they have asked, and whatever answer he receives from the Lord, he will not hold one word back. And the people sound so earnest in their commitment to listen and obey, even if what they hear is unpleasant. They sound so convincing in their assertion that obedience to His Whole Message will be their only hope for their welfare.
Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. 6 Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God,” (42:5-6).
And tomorrow, we will find out if their commitment was genuine, but as our desire is always to see Him increase, today we will consider His Whole Message given to Jeremiah for the people of that day. And as we pay attention to what He reveals through His prophet, we will see His Whole Message. And it is the same Message He has proclaimed since the creation of man; His Whole Message, Unchanging, and always directing our attention to His Son.
Consider His Whole Message, Unchanging
- His Whole Message, Unchanging in His Provision through believing faith.
- and said to them, “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land…’” (42:9-10).
- “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him,” (John 3:16-17).
- and said to them, “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land…’” (42:9-10).
- His Whole Message, Unchanging in His Promise to build us up.
- “…then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you,” (42:10).
- Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude, (Colossians 2:6-7).
- “…then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you,” (42:10).
- His Whole Message, Unchanging in His Life-Giving Salvation and Deliverance.
- “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,” declares the Lord, “for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand,” (42:11).
- Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name, (John 20:30-31).
- “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,” declares the Lord, “for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand,” (42:11).
- His Whole Message, Unchanging in His Compassion and Restoration for all who believe.
- “I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil,” (42:12).
- Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, (Hebrews 2:17 KJV).
- “I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil,” (42:12).
- His Whole Message, Unchanging in His Warnings to those held captive by deception.
- But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 14 saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; 15 then in that case listen to the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your mind to enter Egypt and go in to reside there, 16 then the sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there,” (42:13-16).
- See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ, (Colossians 2:8).
- But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 14 saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; 15 then in that case listen to the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your mind to enter Egypt and go in to reside there, 16 then the sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there,” (42:13-16).
- His Whole Message, Unchanging in His Judgment on those who set their minds on their own desires and refuse to believe His Word.
- “So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them,” (42:17).
- He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed,” (John 3:18-20).
- “So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them,” (42:17).
How do we respond to His Whole Message, Unchanging?
His Whole Message has been the same since the garden. Walk with Him through His provision in believing faith, trust Him to build us up in His Truth, receive His Life-Giving Salvation and Deliverance, rest in His Compassion and Restoration, heed His Warnings and learn His Truth to detect deception, and set our minds and desires on His desires by believing everything He tells us.
His Whole Message is Unchanging, because He Is Unchanging.
“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed,” (Malachi 3:6).
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, (Hebrews 13:8).
Oh, that we would desire to know our Unchanging God more and more as we diligently seek Him in every line on every page of His Holy Word, that we would be changed by His Whole Message, Unchanging.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect, (Romans 12:2).
He has given us His Whole Message, Unchanging, that in the midst of the changing times we live in, we would be enabled to stand secure, anchored in the hope we have in Jesus, our Unchanging High Priest.
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, (Hebrews 6:17-20).
Let us take hold of His Whole Message, Unchanging, that we would be forever sanctified unto our God in faith and obedience and forever changed!
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth,” (John 17:17).