Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 42:20

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 42:20. For ye dissembled in your hearts — What a most miserable and incorrigible people! Ingratitude, hypocrisy, rebellion, and cruelty seem to have been enthroned in their hearts! And what are they still? Just what their fathers were, except in the mere article of idolatry; and that they do not practise because they are indifferent to their own religion and to that of all others. Examine their devotions and their lives, and see whether Charity herself can say they believe in the God of Abraham!

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jeremiah opposes going to Egypt (42:1-22)

As Jeremiah had been living at Mizpah, he was probably among the people who had been captured by Ishmael and who were now thinking of fleeing to Egypt. These people therefore asked him to seek God’s guidance for them (42:1-3). Jeremiah agreed to their request, and they promised to do whatever God said, whether it pleased them or not (4-6).
After ten days Jeremiah received God’s answer, and quickly passed it on to the people (7-9). God’s directions were clear. The people were to stay in the land and were not to fear Babylon. God would give them protection and provision (10-12).
If the people disobeyed, thinking that by going to Egypt they would escape war and hardship, they would be disappointed. God would punish them by bringing upon them in Egypt the war and hardship they had tried to escape (13-17). As the people in Jerusalem had been punished for disobeying God, so would these people, if they rejected God’s word through Jeremiah (18).
Jeremiah knew that the people had already decided to go to Egypt before they asked him for God’s guidance. He therefore warned them of the terrible consequences of their stubbornness (19-22).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

CERTAIN DOOM AWAITS THEM IN EGYPT

"Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day. For ye have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according unto all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. And I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which he hath sent me unto you. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn there."

"Ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah" Some scholars object to this statement and suppose that by bringing in Jeremiah 43:1-3 prior to this paragraph they might improve the sense. This is not necessary at all, for two reasons: (1) these words are not simple past tense, but the prophetic tense in which the future is spoken of as having already occurred, so certain is the fulfillment of God's Word; and (2) by reason of the people's rushing headlong to get ready for their departure to Egypt during that ten days in which the prophet had waited for the word of Jehovah, Jeremiah had already learned their answer. They were fully determined to go to Egypt, no matter what the Lord might say. "Jeremiah's answer here was from God, "from Him who knows the hearts of men."Matthew Henry's Commentary, p. 659. This word from the holy prophet is similar to that of Moses in his final address to Israel, who told Israel, "I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck, and that you will corrupt yourselves" (Deuteronomy 31:27; Deuteronomy 31:29).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Ye dissembled in your hearts - Or, “ye have led yourselves astray,” i. e., your sending me to ask counsel of God was an act of self-delusion. You felt so sure that God would direct you to go into Egypt, that now that He has spoken to the contrary, you are unable to reconcile yourselves to it.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

He now adds another circumstance, that they had sent him under the pretense of rare piety, as though they were in every way ready to render obedience to God. But he first says that they had deceived themselves, or had been deceived. The verb תעה, toe, from which the Hithpael comes, means to err or go astray. But interpreters do not agree; for some give this explanation, that they deceived the Prophet in their hearts, that is, that they craftily retained their perverse design of going to Egypt, and at the same time professed that they were ready to obey. But as the Prophet’s name is not mentioned here, this explanation seems unnatural. I therefore prefer the other explanation, that they deceived themselves; and ב, beth, is here redundant, as in many places: Ye deceived, then, your own souls, when ye sent me, he says, to Jehovah The Prophet intimates that when they sought to act craftily they were deceived; for God is wont to discover the astute, and when they devise this or that, they only weave snares and toils for themselves; and we see that craftiness ever brings the ungodly to ruin. The Prophet, according to this sense, derides that perverse affectation of astuteness, when the ungodly seek to deceive God; and he says that they deceived themselves, as we see also daily. Then he says that they themselves had been the authors of the evil, for they had brought themselves to ruin by their astute and crafty counsel, when they sent him to Jehovah. The כי , ki, is to be taken here as an adverb of time, When ye sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us. ⁽¹²⁹⁾

He reproves them not only for perfidy, but also for sacrilege, because they wickedly profaned the name of God. For it. was not to be endured that they should pretend a regard for religion, and testify that they would be obedient to God, and should at the same time cherish in their hearts that perverse intention which afterwards they discovered. And hence he not only relates that he had been sent, but that he had also been solicited to intercede for them. It was then a twofold sacrilege, for they had asked what would please God, and afterwards disregarded the prophecy, — and then they offered a prayer, and when God gave them an answer by his servant., they counted it as nothing! We now perceive why Jeremiah so expressly mentioned these two things.

Pray for us to our God, and according to all which Jehovah our God shall say, relate thou to us: the people seemed to act with wonderful sincerity; they exhorted the Prophet to dissemble nothing, to add nothing and to diminish nothing’. What better can be wished than that men should lay aside all ambiguity and all evasions, and not wish God’s words to be corrupted? And this the Jews expressed in high terms, Whatever Jehovah our God shall answer, declare thou to us Here they seemed to have more zeal than Jeremiah himself; for they enjoined a law, that he should add nothing and diminish nothing, but that he should be a faithful interpreter of God’s will. They seemed then to be half-angels. They afterwards testified that they would do whatever God should command them.

(129) All the versions and the Targum differ as to the construction of these two verses, the 19^th and the 20^th, and modern authors too. I offer the following rendering, —

19.The word of Jehovah to you, the remnant of Judah, is this, Enter not into Egypt; knowing, know (or, surely know,) that I make this pro-

20.test to you this day. Verily, ye do go greatly astray against your own selves; for ye sent me to Jehovah your God, etc., etc.

The first clause is according to the Vulg. The express message was, not to enter into Egypt. What they were to know and remember was the protest he made to them. Then in verse 20^th, he charges them with inconsistency, that they went astray from their own professions, and afterwards he specifies what they had promised. There is, according to this view, a consistency in the whole passage. The word soul is often taken for the person: “against your own selves,” is literally “against your own souls.” The meaning of the phrase is, that they belied themselves, as it is evident from what follows. The past tense in Hebrew may often be rendered by the present, as it refers to time up to the present and including the present. The future also in Hebrew may be rendered by the present, because it refers often to what is now and continues to be. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 42

So in chapter 42:

Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, they came unto Jeremiah, and said unto him, We beg you, that you will accept our supplication, and pray for us unto the LORD [or unto Jehovah] thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are just a few of the many, as your eyes behold us:) ( Jeremiah 42:1-2 )

In other words, "There's just a few of us left. Now pray to the Lord your God for us."

That the LORD [or Jehovah] thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do ( Jeremiah 42:3 ).

So they're asking now that Jeremiah will seek the Lord for guidance. Now notice that they are saying, "The Lord thy God," or, "Jehovah thy God." And when Jeremiah answers them, he said,

I will pray unto the LORD your God ( Jeremiah 42:4 )

They are saying to Jeremiah, "Pray to Jehovah thy God," not really acknowledging Jehovah as their own God in the request. But Jeremiah turns it around and says, "I will pray unto Jehovah thy God." And then later on he mentions Jehovah our God. So he said, "I will pray unto Jehovah your God."

according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatever Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will not keep anything back from you. Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us. Whether it is good, or whether it is evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God ( Jeremiah 42:4-6 ),

So they acknowledged Jehovah. And of course, this is when you... this is what it's all about, when obedience, when He is Jehovah your God then that it just has the intimation of obedience. That's what worshipping or serving God is all about. That is submission to God as Lord of our lives. And God being a title is the title of that master of your life. What is it that masters your life? That's your God. People say, "Well, I don't believe in God." That's not true. Everybody is mastered by some principle, some idea. And whatever it is that masters your life, that is your God. So when you acknowledge God, you're acknowledging whatever force or guiding or directing principle there is in your life. And you're always obedient to that guiding force or principle of your life.

So inquire. Now here they are. "Look, we promise we will obey. Whatever the Lord tells us. If it's good or if it's bad, we'll obey it. The Lord judge between us. We're going to obey it."

And it came to pass after ten days ( Jeremiah 42:7 ),

Now this is interesting to me because Jeremiah, no doubt, had a pretty good connection. You know, we read all the way through how the word of the Lord was coming to Jeremiah in so many different situations. And here he is coming to the Lord now for a specific purpose--to receive instruction and guidance from God for these people who are asking him to seek the Lord for them. And it's interesting to me that he did not hear for ten days.

How often when we come to God are we looking and expecting for an immediate response. And if God doesn't speak in the first five minutes that I give Him the opportunity, well then I'll try something else, you know. After all, I've waited here for five minutes to give God a chance to talk to me. And yet here is Jeremiah waiting for ten days to hear the word of the Lord. God's timing does not always coincide with mine. I so often look at a situation and I say, "Well, Lord, as I see it You have just about five hours to take care of this situation. And if in the next five hours You don't do something, it's down the tubes. It's too late. So You got five hours to do Your work, Lord." And then I come back, say, "Well, Lord, sixty minutes. It's about all You got. Lord, You've got about five minutes. Oh Lord, You're too late. You had Your chance. Too bad. Now I'm going to have to step in and do something, Lord, because You didn't make it." And there are so many cases where I was so certain that God missed His chance. And yet I found out later that I was just ahead of God's schedule. I was going by my watch and He was going by His eternal clock. And God worked and God did it and I thought it's too late. He can't do it now. There have been times when I was sure, "It's just too late, Lord. Oh God, You could have done it. Why didn't You do it, Lord? Now it's too late."

You know, oftentimes God delays the answers to prayer in order that He might give more. You remember when Hannah had gone with her husband Elkanah in order to offer their sacrifices unto the Lord. And Elkanah looked at her and he says, "How come you're so depressed?" She said, "Oh, your other wife and I have been having a real time." She said, "You give me a son." He said, "Am I God that I can give you a son?" The other wife was having lots of kids. She couldn't have any. That was a disgrace in that culture. And it was obvious that Elkanah loved her more than he did his other wife. I can see that polygamy would have all kinds of problems. Who can handle one? And these wives were at each other. And this other one was really getting to Hannah because she didn't have any children. And so she said, "Give me a son or I perish." He said, "Am I God that I can give you a child?" He said, "But look, you've got me. Aren't I worth many sons to you?" It didn't work. She didn't answer him, but her silence said a lot.

So when they came to the house of the Lord, she was in such bitterness over this whole issue. But she was there on the temple steps or on the steps, the temple wasn't built then, but there on the step of the court of the place of worship, tabernacle, and she was pouring out her soul to God in deep bitterness, and so much so, that she wasn't even uttering the words. Just her mouth was moving but she wasn't uttering the words. And Eli the priest came by and looked at her there in that, you know, just tense and strained condition and he said, "Woman, you better leave the bottle alone. It will take you to the bottom." She said, "I'm not drunk, sir. I'm not a woman of wine." She said, "My soul is bitterly grieved before God." And he said, "Go your way, God grant your request."

Well, what she was praying was, "God, if You'll just give me a son, I'll give him back to You all the days of his life." Well, you see, the condition of Israel was so low that God couldn't find any man to lead the people. God needed a man. God couldn't find a man so he had to find a woman in order to get a man. And he got her attention by closing up her womb and making her childless. And no doubt she had prayed many, many times that God would give her a child, take away the disgrace of her barrenness. But God waited, God delayed the answer. God was intending all the time to answer her prayer. But God needed a man. And so He delayed the answer until her prayer came into harmony with the will of God. "Lord, if You'll just give me a man child, I'll give him back to You." All right! Now you're in harmony with the purpose of God. And she bore a son and she called his name Samuel. And he became one of the greatest leaders of Israel, leading them out of sure tragedy in that particular period of history and became a marvelous prophet and priest of God. God delayed the prayer, answering the prayer in order that He might give more. God oftentimes does that for us.

Jeremiah waited for ten days.

and the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. And so he called Johanan, and all of those captains that were with him, and all of the people together ( Jeremiah 42:7-8 ),

Down near Bethlehem, there on the road towards Egypt.

And he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; If you will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down; and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you ( Jeremiah 42:9-10 ).

And, again, here the idea of repent is a term that we use of God because we describe the actions of God in human terms, but we read that, "God is not a man," Deuteronomy, "that He should repent" ( 1 Samuel 15:29 ). Hath He not spoken? Shall He not perform? But yet God is saying, "I have changed from the evil, or I have completed the evil that I've purposed upon you and I'm not going to bring any further evil," basically, is what God is saying.

Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. And I will show mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land ( Jeremiah 42:11-12 ).

Now don't be afraid of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. You don't need to fear him. You are afraid of him, but you don't need to be afraid of him. For I will have mercy upon you and I will give you mercy in his eyes that he'll return you to the land.

But if you say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God, saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell ( Jeremiah 42:13-14 ):

So this is what was in the back of their minds in going to Egypt. "We'll be able to escape war. We won't hear the sound of trumpet." That is, the trumpets that are calling the troops to battle. "We'll not have hunger, and there will we dwell." So their going to Egypt was a case of convenience. It was a peace-at-any-price kind of a thing. "We'll escape from war, the sounds of the trumpets of war. And there we'll have peace. We'll eat bread and have plenty."

And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If you wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which you feared, will overtake you; and the famine, which you are afraid, will follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you will die. So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when you enter into Egypt: and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more. The LORD hath said concerning you, O remnant of Judah; Go not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day. For you have dissembled in your hearts, when you sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and whatever our God says, or declares to us, that we will do ( Jeremiah 42:15-20 ).

You were deceitful. You were not telling the truth when you vowed to obey the voice of the Lord.

And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn ( Jeremiah 42:21-22 ).

Now here is a classic example of proper counseling by a minister or by a pastor. As pastors, we really are not here to give you legal advice. Nor are we here to give you medical advice. Nor are we here to give you psychological counseling. We are here to give spiritual counseling to people and to talk to them concerning their spiritual problems, and that's all that we're qualified to do. And if a person comes for counsel and their problem is legal, then all we can do is send you to an attorney. If it's medical, we can send you to a doctor. If it's a deep psychological problem, then we can send you to a psychologist. We're here to counsel people on the spiritual things and to give to you the Word of the Lord on spiritual issues. Now, we cannot force your action. All we can do is give you the alternatives. "Here's what the Lord says about this. If you stay here, then this is what God is going to do for you and this is what God has promised to do. If you go down there, then this is what is going to happen. And this is what the Lord says will happen if you go down there." That's all we can do is lay out the alternatives from a spiritual standpoint and what the Word of God says about the alternatives. But you have to always make your own choice and own decision of what you are going to do. And really we can't tell you what to do. All we can do is give you the Word of the Lord and lay your alternatives, lay the alternatives before you and then you make your decision on what you want to do. The choice is always yours. All we can do is lay out the choices and the results of the choices. And then you must decide which path you're going to take.

So look how effectively Jeremiah did that. "Now look, if you stay in the land, you don't need to be afraid of Nebuchadnezzar because God will plant you here. And God will be with you and He'll give you mercies and you'll find mercies before Nebuchadnezzar and all. And you're going to prosper; you'll be blessed. If you go down to Egypt, because you think that you can escape war down there, you think that you can have plenty of bread and you think it's going to be well down there, the very things that you're trying to escape are going to follow you down there. The sword will follow you there. The famine will follow you there. War and the famine that you're worried about here, they'll follow you there and you'll die in Egypt. You'll never come back to the land again. You're going to perish in Egypt. It's all over if you go down there. That's it, it's over for you." And so he told them what the Lord had said. And the Lord just gave to them the various choices and the consequence of each choice.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah added that his hearers should understand that the Lord was clearly telling them not to go to Egypt. He also reminded them that they had asked him to secure God’s directions for them in prayer, and had promised to do whatever He commanded.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For ye dissembled in your hearts,.... Did not honestly and faithfully declare their intentions; they said one thing with their mouths, and meant another in their minds; they pretended they would act according to the will of God, as it should be made known to them by him, when they were determined to take their own way. Some render it, "ye have deceived [me] in your hearts" z; the prophet, so Kimchi; by that which was in their hearts, not declaring what was their real intention and design: or, "ye have deceived your souls" a; you have deceived yourselves and one another; I have not deceived you, nor the Lord, but you have put a cheat upon your own souls: or, "you have used deceit against your souls" b; to the hurt of them, to your present ruin and everlasting destruction:

when ye sent me unto the Lord your God; the prophet did not go of himself, they desired him to go:

saying, pray for us unto the Lord our God; to be directed in the way they should go; so that the prophet did nothing but what they desired him to do:

and according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do [it]; they pressed him to a faithful declaration of the will of God to them, and promised they would act according to it. Now he had done all this; he had been wire God, prayed unto him as they requested, and had brought them his mind and will, and made a faithful relation of it, and yet they did not attend to it; so that the deceit was not in him, but in them, as follows:

z התעיתם בנפשותיכם "seduxistis [me] animis vestris", so some in Vatablus; "fefellistis me", Munster. So Ben Melech. a "Fecistis errare animas vestras", Pagninus; "fefellistis", Calvin. b "Seduxeritis vos contra animas vestras", Schmidt.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.   8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,   9 And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;   10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.   11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.   12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.   13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,   14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:   15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;   16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.   17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.   18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.   19 The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.   20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.   21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.   22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

      We have here the answer which Jeremiah was sent to deliver to those who employed him to ask counsel of God.

      I. It did not come immediately, not till ten days after,Jeremiah 42:7; Jeremiah 42:7. They were thus long held in suspense, perhaps, to punish them for their hypocrisy or to show that Jeremiah did not speak of himself, nor what he would, for he could not speak when he would, but must wait for instructions. However, it teaches us to continue waiting upon God for direction in our way. The vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak.

      II. When it did come he delivered it publicly, both to the captains and to all the people, from the meanest to those in the highest station; he delivered it fully and faithfully as he received it, as he had promised that he would keep nothing back from them. If Jeremiah had been to direct them by his own prudence, perhaps he could not have told what to advise them to, the case was so difficult; but what he has to advise is what the Lord the God of Israel saith, to whom they had sent him, and therefore they were bound in honour and duty to observe it. And this he tells them,

      1. That it is the will of God that they should stay where they are, and his promise that, if they do so, it shall undoubtedly be well with them he would have them still to abide in this land,Jeremiah 42:10; Jeremiah 42:10. Their brethren were forced out of it into captivity, and this was their affliction; let those therefore count it a mercy that they may stay in it and a duty to stay in it. Let those whose lot is in Canaan never quit it while they can keep it. It would have been enough to oblige them if God had only said, "I charge you upon your allegiance to abide still in the land;" but he rather persuades them to it as a friend than commands it as a prince. (1.) He expresses a very tender concern for them in their present calamitous condition: It repenteth me of the evil that I have done unto you. Though they had shown small sign of their repenting of their sins, yet God, as one grieved for the misery of Israel (Judges 10:16), begins to repent of the judgments he had brought upon them for their sins. Not that he changed his mind, but he was very ready to change his way and to return in mercy to them. God's time to repent himself concerning his servants is when he sees that, as here, their strength is gone, and there is none shut up or left,Deuteronomy 32:36. (2.) He answers the argument they had against abiding in this land. They feared the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 41:18; Jeremiah 41:18), lest he should come and avenge the death of Gedaliah upon them, though they were no way accessory to it, nay, had witnessed against it. The surmise was foreign and unreasonable; but, if there had been any ground for it, enough is here said to remove it (Jeremiah 42:11; Jeremiah 42:11): "Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, though he is a man of great might and little mercy, and a very arbitrary prince, whose will is a law, and therefore you are afraid he will upon this pretence, though without colour of reason, take advantage against you; be not afraid of him, for that fear will bring a snare: fear not him, for I am with you; and, if God be for you to save you, who can be against you to hurt you?" Thus has God provided to obviate and silence even the causeless fears of his people, which discourage them in the way of their duty; there is enough in the promises to encourage them. (3.) He assures them that if they will still abide in this land they shall not only be safe from the king of Babylon, but be made happy by the King of kings: "I will build you and plant you; you shall take root again, and be the new foundation of another state, a phoenix-kingdom, rising out of the ashes of the last." It is added (Jeremiah 42:12; Jeremiah 42:12), I will show mercies unto you. Note, In all our comforts we may read God's mercies. God will show them mercy in this, that not only the king of Babylon shall not destroy them, but he shall have mercy upon them and help to settle them. Note, Whatever kindness men do us we must attribute it to God's kindness. He makes those whom he pities to be pitied even by those who carried them captives,Psalms 16:46. "The king of Babylon, having now the disposal of the country, shall cause you to return it to your own land, shall settle you again in your own habitations and put you in possession of the lands that formerly belonged to you." Note, God has made that our duty which is really our privilege, and our obedience will be its own recompence. "Abide in this land, and it shall be your own land again and you shall continue in it. Do not quit it now that you stand so fair for the enjoyment of it again. Be no so unwise as to forsake your own mercies for lying vanities."

      2. That as they tender the favour of God and their own happiness they must by no means think of going into Egypt, not thither of all places, not to that land out of which God had delivered their fathers and which he had so often warned them not to make alliance with nor to put confidence in. Observe here, (1.) The sin they are supposed to be guilty of (and to him that knew their hearts it was more than a supposition): "You begin to say, We will not dwell in this land (Jeremiah 42:13; Jeremiah 42:13); we will never think that we can be safe in it, no, not though God himself undertake our protection. We will not continue in it, no, not in obedience to the voice of the Lord our God. He may say what he please, but we will do what we please. We will go into the land of Egypt, and there will we dwell, whether God give us leave and go along with us or no," Jeremiah 42:14; Jeremiah 42:14. It is supposed that their hearts were upon it: "If you wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and are obstinately resolved that you will go and sojourn there, though God oppose you in it both by his word and by his providence, then take what follows." Now the reason they go upon in this resolution is that "in Egypt we shall see no war, nor have hunger of bread,; as we have had for a long time in this land," Jeremiah 42:14; Jeremiah 42:14. Note, It is folly to quit our place, especially to quit the holy land, because we meet with trouble in it; but greater folly to think by changing our place to escape the judgments of God, and that evil which pursues sinners in every way of disobedience, and which there is no escaping but by returning to our allegiance. (2.) The sentence passed upon them for this sin, if they will persist in it. It is pronounced in God's name (Jeremiah 42:15; Jeremiah 42:15): "Hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah, who think that because you are a remnant you must be spared of course (Jeremiah 42:2; Jeremiah 42:2) and indulged in your own humour." [1.] Did the sword and famine frighten them? Those very judgments shall pursue them into Egypt, shall overtake them, and overcome them there (Jeremiah 42:16; Jeremiah 42:17): "You think, because war and famine have long been raging in this land, that they are entailed upon it; whereas, if you trust in God, he can make even this land a land of peace to you; you think they are confined to it, and, if you can get clear of this land, you shall get out of the reach of them, but God will send them after you wherever you go." Note, the evils we think to escape by sin we certainly and inevitably run ourselves upon. The men that go to Egypt in contradiction to God's will, to escape the sword and famine, shall die in Egypt by sword and famine. We may apply it to the common calamities of human life; those that are impatient of them, and think to avoid them by changing their place, will find that they are deceived and that they do not at all better themselves. The grievances common to men will meet them wherever they go. All our removes in this world are but from one wilderness to another; still we are where we were. [2.] Did the desolations of Jerusalem frighten them? Were they willing to get as far as they could from them? They shall meet with the second part of them too in Egypt (Jeremiah 42:18; Jeremiah 42:18): As my anger and fury have been poured out here upon Jerusalem, so they shall be poured out upon you in Egypt. Note, Those that have by sin made God their enemy will find him a consuming fire wherever they go. And then you shall be an execration and an astonishment. The Hebrews were of old an abomination to the Egyptians (Genesis 43:32), and now they shall be made more so than ever. When God's professing people mingle with infidels, and make their court to them, they lose their dignity and make themselves a reproach.

      3. That God knew their hypocrisy in their enquiries of him, and that when they asked what he would have them to do they were resolved to take their own way; and therefore the sentence which was before pronounced conditionally is made absolute. Having set before them good and evil, the blessing and the curse, in the close he makes application of what he had said. And here, (1.) He solemnly protests that he had faithfully delivered his message, Jeremiah 42:19; Jeremiah 42:19. The conclusion of the whole matter is, "Go not down into Egypt; you disobey the command of God if you do, and what I have said to you will be a witness against you; for know certainly that, whether you will hear or whether you will forbear, I have plainly admonished you; you cannot now plead ignorance of the mind of God." (2.) He charges them with base dissimulation in the application they made to him for divine direction (Jeremiah 42:20; Jeremiah 42:20): "You dissembled in your hearts; you professed one thing and intended another, promising what you never meant to perform." You have used deceit against your soul (so the margin reads it); for those that think to put a cheat upon God will prove in the end to have put a damning cheat upon themselves. (3.) He is already aware that they are determined to go contrary to the command of God; probably they discovered it in their countenance and secret mutterings already, before he had finished his discourse. However, he spoke from him who knew their hearts: "You have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God; you have not a disposition to obey it." Thus Moses, in the close of his farewell sermon, had told them (Deuteronomy 31:27; Deuteronomy 31:29), I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck, and that you will corrupt yourselves. Admire the patience of God, that he is pleased to speak to those who, he knows, will not regard him, and deal with those who, he knows, will deal very treacherously,Isaiah 48:8. (4.) He therefore reads them their doom, ratifying what he had said before: Know certainly that you shall die by the sword,Jeremiah 42:22; Jeremiah 42:22. God's threatenings may be vilified, but cannot be nullified, by the unbelief of man. Famine and pestilence shall pursue these sinners; for there is no place privileged from divine arrests, nor can any malefactors go out of God's jurisdiction. You shall die in the place whither you desire to go. Note, We know not what is good for ourselves; and that often proves afflictive, and sometimes fatal, which we are most fond of and have our hearts most set upon.