Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 798. Bible Study: Jeremiah 40, 41 and 42 (Obeying God vs Being a Hypocrite- Consequences)

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798. Bible Study: Jeremiah 40, 41 and 42 (Obeying God vs Being a Hypocrite- Consequences) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 40 from the book of Jeremiah.
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Dear Lord, please be with us as we read through this chapter and
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let the Holy Spirit open our eyes and ears to what you want
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us to take away from this. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
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The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebu Zoraidan,
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commander of the Imperial Guard, had released him at Rama.
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He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the other
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captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried
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into exile to Babylon. When the commander of the guard
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found Jeremiah, he said to him, The Lord your God decreed this
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disaster for this place, and now the Lord has brought it about.
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He has done just as He said He would.
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All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord
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and did not obey Him. But today I am freeing you from
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the chains on your wrist. Come with me to Babylon if you
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like, and I will look after you. But if you do not want to, then
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don't come. Look, The whole country lies
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before you. Go wherever you please.
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However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzzaraydin added, Go
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back to Gidalia, son of Ahikam, the son of Shafan, whom the king
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of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live
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with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.
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Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let
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him go. Don't you think that's weird?
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I mean, that he gave them provisions and a present and let
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him go. I mean, maybe there's something
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cultural about that, but he picks Jeremiah out and it just
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seems interesting. Like, again, God can assist
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things in happening or can make things, you know, influence
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people to do certain things. So Jeremiah went to Gaddelia son
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of Ahikum at Mizpah, and stayed with him among the people who
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were left behind in the land. When all the army officers and
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their men who were still in the open country heard that the king
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of Babylon had appointed Gadalia son of Ahikum as governor over
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the land and had put him in charge of the men, women, and
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children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been
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carried into exile to Babylon, they came to Gadalia at Mizpah.
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Ishmael son of Nathania, Johannan and Jonathan the son of
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Karya, Seriaya son of Tahumith the sons of Ephiah the
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Neidophathite and Jazania the son of Makethite and their men.
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Gadalia son of Ahikum, the son of Shafan, took an oath to
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reassure them and their men. Do not be afraid to serve the
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Babylonians, he said. Settle down in the land and
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serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.
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I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the
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Babylonians who come to us. But you are to harvest the wine,
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summer fruit, and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars,
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and live in the towns you have taken over.
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When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all other
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countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in
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Judah and had appointed Gadalia son of Ahikam the son of
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Chaffan, as governor over them, they all came back to the land
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of Judah, to Gadalia at Mizpah from all the countries where
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they had been scattered, and they harvested an abundance of
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wine and summer fruit. Jonathan son of Korea and all
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the army officers still in the open country, came to Gadalia at
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Mizpah and said to him, Don't you know that Bailes, king of
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the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nathania to take your
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life? But Gadalia's son of Ahikim did
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not believe them. Then Johannan son of Karia said
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privately to Gadalia in Mizpah, Let me go and kill Ishmael son
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of Nathania, and no one will ever know it.
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Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are
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gathered around you to be scattered, and the remnant of
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Judah to perish? But Gadalia son of Ahikam said
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to Johannan, son of Karia, don't do such a thing.
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What you say, what you are saying about Ishmael is not
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true. And that's the end of chapter
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40. So I will read chapter 41 and
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we'll continue on that. Well, actually I'll do the
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questions and answers 1st and then we'll go through chapter 41
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also. So for chapter 40, how did
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Jerusalem get caught after? How did Jeremiah get caught
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after being released? The events of chapter 40
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probably occurred before those in chapter 39.
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Throughout the book of Jeremiah, the sequence of events is
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difficult to reconstruct. The writers and editors of the
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Hebrew Scriptures were not as concerned about chronology as we
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are today. They were more concerned about
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the message. Sometimes they used events as a
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literary device by arranging narratives with the most
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important events first or by placing the most important event
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last. There is no right or wrong way,
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just different cultural methods. How did the Babylonians know God
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was behind Jerusalem's fall? The Babylonians heard about the
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God of Israel and his reputation.
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They'd also heard Jeremiah's message from the prisoners they
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had captured or from the people who had surrendered.
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Since they believed they there were many gods throughout the
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earth, they could easily believe that the God of Israel was
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permitting them to punish Jerusalem.
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How much of the population of Judah had fled?
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The people of power and influence and minority were
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primarily the ones who have had the means to escape.
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Most of the poor, however, would not have been.
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It would have been unable to flee.
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Though they probably wanted to avoid the dangers of war, they
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had to take their chances with the invading army.
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Where was mizpah? Mizpah means watchtower or
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lookout point. There was several locations with
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this name. This was probably the Mizpah of
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Joshua from chapter 18, verse 26.
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Located in the territory belonging to Benjamin.
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It was apparently the site of a religious shrine and had been a
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Center for administration or government.
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Why did Ishmael work for the Ammonites?
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Ishmael's rampage is a sad and tragic story of deceit and
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intrigue. His name suggests he may have
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been a Jew, but this cannot be proven.
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He may have been loyal to Zedekiah, the Last King of
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Judah. He may also have been an
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Ammonite, A Moabite, or an Edomite.
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His actions, apparently prompted by political opportunism, made
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him a failure in the long run. Why was Gaudelia so naive?
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We aren't told why Gaudelia chose to ignore the warnings he
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received, nor are we told how Ishmael managed to deceive him
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so completely. Perhaps Gaudelia assumed that
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his own standard of behavior based on the Law of Moses was
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the standards others lived by as well.
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Cadalia seems to have been a decent, trusting person, but
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that made him an easy mark for an unscrupulous person like
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Ishmael. That's something that to think
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about also that I did look this, I was looking up something else
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about this group of people, about this incident that
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happened. And actually I don't even know
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if I saved it. I think I might have deleted it.
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OK, so no, I did have it. So about Ishmael, the son of
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Nathaniel. He was.
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This is what I looked up and found.
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He was a royal commander from the House of David who
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assassinated Gaddalia, the Jewish governor appointed by the
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Babylonians. His actions were part of a plot
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possibly instigated by the king of the Ammonites and LED to
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further chaos and instability in Judah after the Babylonian
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conquest. It says he was of royal
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background and he was of royal lineage, a descendant of King
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David. The assassination he and 10 men
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came to Gadalia at Mizpah under the pretense of a friendly meal,
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but then murdered him and all the Judeans and Babylonian
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soldiers who were with him. As far as the motive goes, his
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actions were driven by resentment against Babylon rule
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and Gadalia, whom he saw as a collaborator.
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Aftermath, Ishmael took captives and fled, but he was pursued by
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another military leader, Johannan, son of Korea.
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Ishmael was eventually defeated and escaped to the Ammonites
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with a small number of followers.
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And he is not to be confused with Ishmael, the son of
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Abraham, who lived centuries earlier.
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So moving on to chapter 41, the set in the seventh month,
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Ishmael son of Nathaniel the son of Elisha Mama, who was of royal
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blood and had been one of the King's officers, came with 10
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men to Godalia son of Ahikum at Mizpah.
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While they were eating together there, Ishmael son of Nathaniel
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and the 10 men who were with him, got up and struck down
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Gadalia son of Ahikum the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing
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the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over
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the land. Ishmael also killed all the men
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of Judah who are with Gadalia at Mizpah, as well as the
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Babylonian soldiers who were there.
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So we can see he wasn't part of Babylon and he also was against
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these other people that were his own.
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Really. The day after Gaudelli's
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assassination, before anyone knew about it, 80 men who had
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shaved up their beards, torn their clothes, and cut
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themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, bringing
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grain offerings and incense with them to the House of the Lord.
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Ishmael son of Nathania went out from Mizpah to meet them,
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weeping as he went. When he met them, he said Come
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to Gidalia son of Ahikum. When they went into the city,
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Ishmael son of Nathania, and the men who were with him,
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slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.
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But ten of them said to Ishmael, don't kill us.
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We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey hidden in a field.
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So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others.
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Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had
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killed, along with Cadelia, was the one King ASA had made as
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part of his defense against Basha, king of Israel.
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The Ishmael son of Nathaniel filled it with the dead.
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Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in
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Mizpah, the King's daughters, along with all others who were
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leftover, whom Nebu Zuraidan, commander of the Imperial Guard,
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had appointed Gadalia son of Ahikim.
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Ishmael son of Nathaniel took them captive and set out to
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crossover to the Ammonites. When Johannon son of Korea and
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all the army officers who were with him heard about all the
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crimes Ishmael son of Nathania had committed, they took all
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their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nathania.
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They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon.
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When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johannan's son of
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Korea and the army officers who were with him.
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They were glad all the people Ishmael had taken captive at
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Mizpah turned and went over to Johannan's son of Korea.
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But Ishmael son of Nathania, and eight of his men escaped from
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Johannan and fled to the Ammonites.
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So it's interesting because he was with 10 men originally, and
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then he had eight. So I don't know what happened to
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two of them. So then Johannon son of Korea
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and all his army officers who were with him, LED away all the
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people of Mizpah who had survived, whom Johannan had
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recovered from Ishmael son of Nathania, after Ishmael had
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assassinated Gadalia son of Ahiyakim.
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The soldiers, women, children and court officials he recovered
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from Gibeon and they went on stopping at Guruth Kimim near
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Bethlehem on their way to Egypt to escape the Babulonians.
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They were afraid of afraid of them because Ishmael, son of
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Nathaniel, had killed Gaddelia son of Ahikim, whom the king of
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Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.
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And that's the end of chapter 41.
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I'll read the questions and answers for this chapter 2.
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How many are? How did only 11 men overpower so
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many? Ishmael used Gadalia's trusting
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nature to his best advantage. He increased his chance for
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success with the surprise attack.
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He may also have gained an edge over Gadalia's forces by
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attacking during a banquet, when some may have put their weapons
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aside to indulge in food and wine.
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Why did they shave their beards, tear off their clothes, and cut
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themselves? While we dress in black in our
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culture to express sorrow, people in the ancient Near East
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express sorrow in other ways. Since a beard signified a man's
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maturity and dignity to shave, it was to suggest humility and
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great loss. To tear one's clothing, which
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was handmade and more valuable in their culture than ours,
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demonstrated the depth of a tragedy greater than mere
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clothing. Cutting oneself was forbidden by
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the law according to Leviticus 19 and 21 those chapters.
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But it's not too surprising that some adopted this Pagan custom
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just as others adopted the worship of idols.
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Was the House of the Lord still standing?
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When Jerusalem fell in 586 BC, the Temple was destroyed with
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the rest of the city, but the temple site, though covered with
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debris, was still considered the House of the Lord and therefore
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sacred. Even before the Temple was
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built, David had offered a sacrifice at that exact spot to
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halt the plague against Israel. Some think it was the same
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location where Abraham had prepared to sacrifice his son.
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Why did Ishmael put on the weeping act as he as he had done
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before in verse 3, Ishmael used deception and surprise to gain
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the advantage over his unsuspecting victims.
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By pretending to join the 80 mourners in their sorrow, he was
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able to win their confidence and catch them off guard.
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How were cisterns used as a military defense?
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Water, typically scarce in Judah, was an even greater
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necessity during times of war. Cisterns were dug to collect the
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runoff of rainwater, or the flow of water from a spring.
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Cisterns that supplied the army and their animals with water
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were critical to the defense of the land.
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Cisterns were also essential for storing water during times of
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siege, when access to water was often cut off.
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How could captives simply walk away?
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Ishmael is and his men probably recognized they could not defeat
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the band of rescuers led by Johannon.
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Concerned primarily with their own escape, they apparently left
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their prisoners unguarded. 2 of Ishmael's original 10 were not
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able to get away. OK so that's what it says verse
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verse 2 and 15. So I let's see verse 2, it just
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talks about the 10 men in verse 15 it talks about eight.
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Yeah, that's just, you don't know what happened to them.
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It doesn't really say that they went, but I guess that's an
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assumption there that two were missing.
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I you know, the, the Scripture doesn't say what happened to
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them. So anyway, that is the end of
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chapters 40 and 41. I maybe you have time to read 42
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also. I'll do I'll go ahead with that
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one. OK, so then, then all the army
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officers including Johannon son of Korea and Josania son of
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Hoshey Aya, and all the people from the least to the greatest
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approached Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, Please hear our
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petition and pray to the Lord your God for this entire
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remnant, for as you now see those, well we were once many,
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now only a few are left. Pray that the Lord your God will
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tell us where we should go and what we should do.
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I have heard you, replied Jeremiah the prophet.
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I will certainly pray to the Lord your God as you have
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requested. I will tell you everything the
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Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.
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Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true and faithful
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witness against us if we do not act in accordance with
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everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us, whether it
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is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God to
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whom we are sending you so that it will go well with us for we
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will obey the Lord our God. So that's really interesting
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that we see here. First of all, they're, they're
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asking God, they're making a vow, they're actually committing
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their, I mean, they're showing their seriousness about their
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vow, but if they break it, they're going to have punishment
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against them on this based on what they said.
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And they're saying that they're going to going to obey God.
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So here's what happens. 10 days later, the word of the Lord came
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to Jeremiah. So they had to wait, they had to
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have patience, because Jeremiah didn't get an answer right away,
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continuing at verse 8. So he called together Johannon's
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son of Korea and all the army officers who were with him, and
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all the people from the least to the greatest.
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He said to them, This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to
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whom you sent me to present your petition, says.
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If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you
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down. I will plant you and not uproot
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you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have
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inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of
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Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him,
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declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and
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deliver you from his hands. So this is going to make them
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have to trust God again, and God's saying he's going to be
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with them. And this is another thing that
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is very common with God. Do not be afraid.
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And the Holy Spirit gives us, you know, there's No Fear when
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we have the Holy Spirit. So he gives courage to people
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and then God further says in verse 12, I will show you
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compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore
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you to your land. Now here's the here's the catch
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here. However, if you say we will not
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stay in this land and so disobey the Lord your God, and if you
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say no, we will go and live in Egypt where we will not see war
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or hear the trumpet, or be hungry for bread, then hear the
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word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah.
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This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says.
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If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go settle
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there, then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the
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famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will
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die. Indeed, all who are determined
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to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine
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and plague. Not one of them will survive or
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escape the disaster I will bring on them.
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This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says.
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As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in
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Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you.
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When you go to Egypt. You will be a curse and an
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object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach.
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You will never see this place again.
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Remnant of Judah, The Lord has told you, do not go to Egypt.
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Be sure of this. I warn you today that you made a
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fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said,
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Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything he says and
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we will do it. I have told you today, but you
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still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to
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tell you. So now be sure of this.
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You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place
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where you want to go settle. So this continues on and I will
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read the questions and answers for this.
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So it is. Yeah, that's to say anything to
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God to make a vow like that has consequences.
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There was or where was Jeremiah during Ishmael's attack?
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Jeremiah's whereabouts during Ishmael's violent rampage are
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not mentioned. Some speculate that Jeremiah may
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have been one of the captives held by Ishmael and freed by
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Johanna and Gibbian. Why did the people ask for
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divine guidance if the decision was already made?
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Apparently they assumed God wanted them to escape to Egypt.
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They probably came to Jeremiah to discover not whether to go,
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but how to go. Perhaps they wanted to be
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assured God was with them. That's something that we could
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definitely learn from, that we should try not to act by our own
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thoughts and make sure it's from God and not just something we
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want to do and something we're trying to justify because it,
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you know, God's will prevails. And if God says it, it's going
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to happen. And these people are learning
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that. And that's another thing that
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God does these things to cause people to repent.
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But if they don't, they're just refusing him.
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They're rebellion. They don't care about him.
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So God is also a God of justice. So what was their fatal mistake?
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Promising to listen to God when they had already decided what
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they were going to do. They would only obey God if He
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endorsed their plans. Since His instructions
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conflicted with their desire to head to Egypt, they changed
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their tune. They were hypocrites.
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They said one thing and did another.
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They had planned to go to Egypt all along, with or without God's
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approval. How did Jeremiah know their
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minds were made-up? Jeremiah probably sensed their
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restless mood, even though they had not not yet responded
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verbally. He could see the expressions and
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read their body language. Or when the word of the Lord
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came to Jeremiah, God may have told Jeremiah what their
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response would be. And that's the end of chapters
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up to chapter 42.