"The Lord has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, 'Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.' (Jeremiah 42:19-20, NIV)
The remnant which is left in the land of Judah comes to Jeremiah (42:2) and pleads to him to pray to the Lord on their behalf so they will know what to do and where to go since they were once many, but now are few! This request for prayer seems to be sincere, but as we read on we can tell that this request was actually done in vain! Their hearts were not in it, and they weren't going to listen to everything the Lord told them. Have you ever prayed like this: "Lord, let me do whatever it is that will glorify you and bring praise to your kingdom but.....?" The one three-letter word that can shoot down everything is but! "Lord, I was going to do this, but...." or maybe "Lord, I want to do your work and glorify you, but...." Just a warning: When you get ready to submit yourself to God and to His works, you better leave the "buts" out of it! When God is ready to move and do something with your life, you won't have any excuse but to jump on board and let him lead!!
Jeremiah later gathers the whole remnant together and tells them what the word of the Lord has spoken to him (Jeremiah 42:9-18). It seems to me that because there would be no war nor would they be hungry for bread, the remnant people had already made up their mind that they were going to Egypt to live regardless of what the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. They asked that Jeremiah intercede in prayer for them and find out what would please God, and afterwards totally disregarded it as nothing! Just another warning: When God tells you to do something, do it!
Since the people disregarded the word of the Lord and chose to pursue their own happiness in a land with no war and where they would not be hungry for bread, they were told they would die by the sword, famine and plague! All of their plans may have worked out for them in Egypt, but they specifically asked for the Lord's guidance and then ignored it. They were going to settle in Egypt without the one major thing they needed: God's Blessing!!
If you're ever at a point in your life when you need God to move and you begin to pray for his guidance, don't ignore the answer when it comes! Asking God to guide your steps and then moving in the other direction will bring consequences with it! Just as the remnant people of Judah were told they would die by the sword, famine and plague, God will deal justly with us if we ask for something, then ignore his answer! Don't question it---just do it!
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