Jeremiah 42

After Gedaliah’s murder, the frightened survivors ask Jeremiah to seek God’s will and promise to obey whatever He says. God answers: stay in the land and He will protect and rebuild them, but go to Egypt and the very things they fear will find them there. Jeremiah then exposes that their promise was not honest.

Jeremiah 42:1-2

Everyone, from army officers to ordinary people, comes to Jeremiah. They are a small, shaken group after the fall of Jerusalem. They ask him to pray for them, and they call the LORD ‘your God’, which hints at a distance in their own hearts.

BSA: remnant (“what is left after destruction, a small surviving group”): They see themselves as survivors of a disaster, which makes them desperate and fearful. petition (“humble request, supplication”): They use the language of humble pleading, though their later actions show little humility.

Jeremiah 42:3

They ask for two things: the way to walk and the thing to do. This is the right kind of request, seeking God’s direction rather than trusting their own plans. The question is whether they truly want an answer, or only an answer they like.

BSA: way (“path, journey”): Life is pictured as a road, and they ask God to point out which road to take.

See also: Proverbs 3:5-6.

Jeremiah 42:4

Jeremiah agrees to pray and promises complete honesty. He will report everything God says and hold nothing back. A true prophet does not trim God’s message to please his hearers, even when the message may be hard.

BSA: withhold (“keep back, hold from”): Jeremiah pledges to hide nothing, whether comforting or difficult.

Jeremiah 42:5-6

The people take a solemn oath. They call the LORD as witness against them if they fail, and they promise to obey whether the word is pleasant or unpleasant. It sounds wonderful. Yet the rest of the chapter shows how easily strong words can hide a decision already made.

BSA: witness (“testifier, one who sees and experiences”): They invite God Himself to watch and testify, which makes their later disobedience far more serious. pleasant (“good or evil”): The Hebrew sets ‘good’ against ’evil’, so they promise to obey whatever God says, however it feels.

Jeremiah 42:7-9

God does not answer at once. Jeremiah waits ten days, then gathers the same people to hear the reply. Waiting on the LORD is often part of seeking Him. Jeremiah reminds them that this message comes from the God to whom they themselves sent him.

BSA: summoned (“called out to”): Jeremiah gathers everyone, so the whole group hears God’s answer together.

Jeremiah 42:10

God’s first answer is a promise. If they stay in the land, He will build and plant them rather than tear down and uproot. These are the same words used of Jeremiah’s own calling. God says He will relent, meaning His heart is moved toward mercy.

BSA: relent (“be sorry, comfort”): The word carries the sense of God being moved with compassion and easing His hand. stay (“dwell, remain, abide”): The call is simply to remain, to trust God where they are rather than flee.

See also: Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 31:28.

Jeremiah 42:11

They fear Babylon’s king, probably because they expect revenge after Gedaliah’s killing. God tells them twice not to be afraid, and gives the reason: He Himself is with them. Safety does not come from avoiding the feared person, but from being near the LORD.

BSA: with (“near, beside”): God promises to stand right beside them, which is stronger than a distant blessing.

See also: Isaiah 41:10.

Jeremiah 42:12

God promises compassion, and even says the Babylonian king will show compassion and let them live in their own land. God can change the hearts of rulers. What seemed the greatest threat could become the means of their rest.

BSA: compassion (“tender love, pity”): The word is warm and deep, pointing to a mercy that comes from the heart.

See also: Proverbs 21:1.

Jeremiah 42:13-14

Now God names the other choice. Their hearts are leaning toward Egypt, where they imagine no war, no trumpet alarm and no hunger. Their reasons are all about comfort and safety. Disobeying God’s voice is the real issue, not the journey itself.

BSA: disobey (“fail to heed”): To disobey is to refuse to listen, and listening is what they had promised to do.

Jeremiah 42:15-17

If they are set on Egypt, the sword and famine they run from will catch them there. God cannot be outrun. The warning is stern: those who go will not survive. A place that looks safe is not safe if God has told us not to go.

BSA: determined (“set your faces, fully intend”): It describes a settled, stubborn resolve, a face turned firmly toward Egypt. overtake (“catch up to, reach”): Their fears are pictured as hunters that follow them all the way.

See also: Psalm 139:7-10.

Jeremiah 42:18

God reminds them what happened to Jerusalem. The anger that fell on the city will fall on them if they go. They would become a curse and a warning to others, and they would never see their homeland again. It is a sober picture of where disobedience ends.

BSA: poured out (“liberally bestowed, abundantly given”): Judgment is pictured as something poured out in full measure, like water from a jar.

Jeremiah 42:19

God’s instruction is now plain and short: do not go to Egypt. Jeremiah tells them to know it for sure, because he has given his warning today. No one can later say they were not told.

BSA: warned (“testified, given witness”): Jeremiah acts as a witness on God’s behalf, so the people stand without excuse.

Jeremiah 42:20-21

Jeremiah says they have deceived themselves. When they asked him to pray, they did not truly intend to obey. They wanted God’s approval for a plan already made. God sees this, and the sad part is that they fooled only themselves.

BSA: deceived (“led astray, gone astray in your hearts”): Their heart had already wandered off while their lips were still asking for guidance.

See also: James 1:22.

Jeremiah 42:22

The chapter ends with a clear and heavy word. The place they long for will become the place of their death, through sword, famine and plague. The choice was theirs. Still, the chapter shows a God who speaks plainly and warns because He wants them to live.

BSA: desire (“wish, long”): Their heart’s longing is named, showing that the problem lies in what they want, not in lack of knowledge.