July 22, 2025 - Jeremiah 38-42

Jeremiah to King Zedekiah:  “Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared” (38:20).  Jeremiah to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian:  “Thus says the Lord of hosts . . . ‘For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord’” (39:15,18).

Obey the Lord and live!  Trust the Lord and live!  Jeremiah gave essentially the same message to two men.  One disobeyed and suffered the consequences; the other obeyed and was saved.  Two men, two different decisions, and two different outcomes.  Always, two paths are set before us.  Every day, every moment, we must decide which we’ll take.  One path leads to death, but the other to life.

The remnant of Israel, which was left in the land by Nebuchadnezzar, faced this choice.  In chapter 42, Jeremiah tells them of God’s instructions to remain in the land.  If they do so, God will build them up.  If, however, they flee to Egypt, thinking to find peace and prosperity there, they will be sorely disappointed.  They will die in Egypt, never to return to their land.  They made the wrong decision. 

Our options:  Disobey and die or obey and live.  Our God is so gracious to those who listen to him, and even when our ears are stopped up, he reaches out to us again and again, even as he did to Israel.  Rightly does the writer of Hebrews encourage us not to be like the Israelites, but to draw near to God in faith, trusting him.

I waited for the Lord my God,

and patiently did bear;

At length to me he did incline

my voice and cry to hear.

He took me from a fearful pit,

and from the miry clay,

And on a rock he set my feet,

establishing my way.   –The Scottish Psalter (1929)