Commentary - Jeremiah 42:1-6

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we find the tattered remnant of Judah putting on a great show of piety. Having seen Jerusalem destroyed and their appointed governor assassinated, they are in a state of panic, and they approach the prophet Jeremiah with a very solemn request. They ask him to inquire of the Lord what they should do and where they should go, and they bind themselves with a fearsome oath to obey whatever the Lord says, whether they like the answer or not. On the surface, this is a model of godly submission to the revealed will of God. But the context reveals the profound hypocrisy of their request. Their bags are already packed for Egypt, and they are not asking for directions so much as they are asking for a divine signature on a travel itinerary they have already written. This is a classic biblical picture of the deceitfulness of the human heart, which is capable of wrapping a rebellious agenda in the most pious-sounding language.

The central lesson here is a warning against the kind of prayer that seeks to manipulate God. These men were not coming with open hands, but with clenched fists. They wanted God's blessing, but on their own terms. Jeremiah, as a faithful prophet, agrees to be their intermediary, promising to deliver the whole counsel of God without editing. This sets the stage for the tragic confrontation to come, where the people's pious vow will be shattered by their own stubborn disobedience, proving that it is one thing to say you will obey God no matter what, and quite another to do it when His command cuts across your fears and desires.

Outline

Context In Jeremiah

The historical situation is chaotic and desperate. The Babylonian army has already destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and has carried off the majority of the people into exile. Nebuchadnezzar had appointed a man named Gedaliah as governor over the poor remnant left in the land. However, a nationalistic zealot named Ishmael assassinated Gedaliah, creating a power vacuum and throwing the people into a panic. They rightly fear that Nebuchadnezzar will hear of this rebellion and send his armies back to wipe them out completely. Led by a commander named Johanan, the remnant is now gathered near Bethlehem, poised on the brink of fleeing to Egypt for safety. It is at this critical juncture, with the decision to go to Egypt all but made, that they approach Jeremiah to "inquire of the Lord." Their request for guidance is not an open-ended question; it is a last-ditch effort to get God to approve of the plan they have already settled on out of fear.

Key Issues

Asking for Directions You Won't Follow

There is a kind of prayer that is not prayer at all. It is a form of spiritual posturing, an attempt to use God as a rubber stamp for our own preconceived notions. It is like asking a friend for his honest opinion on a terrible business idea you have, not because you want his counsel, but because you want his co-signature on the loan application. You are not seeking wisdom; you are seeking an accomplice. This is precisely what is happening in this chapter. The remnant of Judah is terrified, and in their terror, they have decided that the only rational course of action is to flee to the seeming safety of Egypt. But they are a covenant people, and they know they ought to consult the Lord. So they go through the motions. They put on their most pious faces, approach the prophet of God, and make the most solemn promises of obedience. But it is all a sham. Their hearts are already set, their minds are already made up. They are asking God to show them the way, but they have already punched "Egypt" into their GPS.

This is a permanent temptation for the people of God. We often come to the Lord asking for His will when we have already determined our own. We ask, "Lord, should I take this job?" when we have already been seduced by the salary. We ask, "Lord, should I marry this person?" when we have already given our hearts away. This is not seeking guidance; it is seeking justification. The story of this remnant in Jeremiah 42 is a stark warning to us. God is not mocked. He sees the hypocrisy behind the pious words, and He will hold us accountable not just for our actions, but for the oaths we make and then break.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-2 Then all the commanders of the military forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication come before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, that is for all this remnant, because we remain but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us,

The first thing to notice is the unanimity of the request. This is not a splinter group. It is "all the commanders" and "all the people both small and great." The leadership and the populace are united in this appeal. They come to Jeremiah with a show of great humility, asking him to bring their "supplication" before the Lord. They appeal to his pity by highlighting their pathetic state; they are just a small "remnant," a few survivors of a great catastrophe. But notice the subtle and telling phrase they use: "pray for us to Yahweh your God." Not "our God," or "the God of our fathers," but "your God." This creates a little bit of distance. It is as though they are saying, "You're the prophet, you have the connection to this God. You go talk to Him for us." It is a transactional approach to God, treating Jeremiah as a spiritual contractor hired to get a message from the divine realm.

3 that Yahweh your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”

On the surface, this is an exemplary request. What could be more righteous than asking God to reveal His will for your life? They want to know "the way" and "the thing." This is the language of total submission. They are presenting themselves as a blank slate, ready for God to write His instructions upon them. But as the subsequent events will prove, this is a pious lie. They do not want to know the way; they want God to approve of their way. They already know the direction they want to walk, and it is south, toward Egypt. This is a prayer not for revelation, but for confirmation. They are hoping God will say, "Yes, your plan to flee to Egypt in direct contradiction of my previous commands is a splendid idea. Off you go."

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to Yahweh your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which Yahweh will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you.”

Jeremiah, as a true and faithful prophet, agrees to their request. He does not question their motives at this point but takes them at their word. He promises to pray for them. But he also gives them a solemn warning, embedded in his promise. He will tell them the whole message. He "will not keep back a word." This is the mark of a man of God. He is not a court chaplain whose job is to flatter the king and bless his plans. He is a messenger, and his duty is to deliver the message exactly as it is given to him, whether it is palatable or not. Jeremiah is promising to give them the unvarnished truth, which is the last thing a hypocrite actually wants to hear.

5 And they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which Yahweh your God will send you to us.

Here the people double down on their piety. Perhaps sensing the implicit challenge in Jeremiah's words, they escalate their promise into a formal, self-maledictory oath. They call upon God Himself to be the witness against them and to judge them if they fail to obey. This is high courtroom drama. They are essentially saying, "May God strike us dead if we don't do exactly what He says." They are trying to prove their sincerity through the extremity of their vow. But what they are actually doing is piling up the fuel for their own condemnation. When you make such a solemn oath with no intention of keeping it, you are not demonstrating faith; you are demonstrating a terrifying capacity for self-deception.

6 Whether it is good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Yahweh our God to whom we are sending you, so that good may come to us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God.”

This is the capstone of their hypocrisy. They explicitly state that they will obey even if the news is "bad." What do they mean by "good or bad"? In their minds, "good" means God tells them to go to Egypt. "Bad" means God tells them to stay in Judah and trust Him to protect them from the Babylonians. They are promising to obey the "bad" news, the command that runs contrary to their fears and their plans. And they even provide the correct theological reason for their promised obedience: "so that good may come to us." They rightly connect their well-being to obedience. They have all the right words. They have the doctrine down pat. But their hearts are a thousand miles away, already setting up camp by the Nile. This is a perfect illustration of a religion that is all form and no substance, all words and no heart.

Application

The temptation to engage in this kind of pious fraud is not limited to a band of desperate refugees in the sixth century B.C. It is a constant temptation for every one of us. How many times have we approached God in prayer, asking for His will, when our will is already firmly set? We ask God for guidance, but what we really want is agreement. We want the Holy Spirit to be our yes-man.

The lesson from this passage is a call to radical honesty before God. We must learn to come to Him with genuinely open hands. True prayer of supplication says, "Lord, I want to go to Egypt. I am terrified of staying here. My every instinct tells me to run. But you are God and I am not. Your will be done, not mine. If you tell me to stay, give me the grace to obey, because I cannot do it on my own." That is the prayer of faith. The prayer of hypocrisy says, "Lord, tell me what to do, and I promise I will do it," while secretly thinking, "and you had better tell me to do the thing I already want to do."

The root of their problem was fear, which led to unbelief. They could not bring themselves to trust that God's "bad" plan of staying in Judah was actually for their ultimate good. The gospel frees us from this kind of fear. In Christ, we know that our Father in heaven works all things together for our good. We can trust His guidance, even when it leads us down a path that seems frightening or counter-intuitive. Because Jesus walked the ultimate path of "bad" news, the path to the cross, we can be confident that whatever path our Father lays out for us, it is a path that leads to life and blessing. The gospel gives us the power to mean it when we say, "Whether it is good or bad, we will obey."