A Promise to Obey

Whether Pleasing or Displeasing

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The second son told his father, “I go, sir,” but he did not go (Matthew 21:30). Long before, in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, a whole crowd of people made a promise to God like that.

A frightening time. The army of Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem. A small group of people was left in the land, and the leader Babylon had put over them had been killed (Jeremiah 41:2). The people were afraid of what Babylon would do (41:18).

A request. A leader named Johanan and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 42:1). They asked him to pray that the Lord would show them where to go and what to do (42:2-3).

Jeremiah agrees. Jeremiah promised to pray. He said he would tell them everything God answered and keep nothing back (42:4).

The people's promise. Then they made a big promise. Whether God's answer was pleasing or not, they said, they would obey the voice of the Lord their God (42:6).

They sounded sure. They even asked the Lord to be a true and faithful witness against them if they did not do everything He said (42:5).

Ten days. After ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah (42:7). He called all the people together to hear it (42:8).

God's answer. God told them to stay in the land. If they stayed, He would build them up and not pull them down (42:10). He told them not to be afraid of the king of Babylon, because He was with them to save them (42:11).

A hard answer. Many of them wanted to go to Egypt, where they thought there would be no war (42:14). God warned them that the trouble they feared would follow them there (42:16).

The test. This was the very kind of answer they had promised to obey, pleasing or not. Now their promise would be tested.

We make promises too. Sometimes we tell God we will do whatever He says. Then His answer is hard, and we want our own way. Every one of us has broken our word to God, and the Bible calls that sin.

The One who kept His word. Jesus never broke His word to His Father. He went to the cross to die for our sins and rose again the third day. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

What to do. When obeying God feels scary, remember what God told those people: He was with them. Ask Jesus for courage to trust Him and obey.

Matthew 21:30 describes a son whose “I go, sir” never became going. Jeremiah 42 tells of a whole community that made the same kind of promise to the Lord.

After the fall. Jerusalem had fallen to Babylon, and Gedaliah, the governor Babylon had set over the land, had been murdered (Jeremiah 41:2). The people who were left were afraid of what Babylon would do (41:18).

The request (42:1-3). Johanan and all the people, from the least to the greatest, asked Jeremiah to pray that the Lord would show them the way they should walk and the thing they should do.

Nothing held back (42:4). Jeremiah promised to pray and to tell them everything the Lord answered, keeping nothing back.

The vow (42:5-6). They called on the Lord to be a true and faithful witness against them if they failed. Whether His word was pleasing or displeasing, they said, they would obey the voice of the Lord their God, so that it would go well with them.

Shama. The Hebrew word for obey here is shama (say: shah-MAH), which means to hear. In Hebrew, to obey is to hear in a way that acts. They promised to listen all the way into action.

Ten days (42:7-8). After ten days the word of the Lord came, and Jeremiah gathered everyone to hear it.

The word (42:10-12). If they stayed in the land, God would build them and not pull them down, plant them and not pluck them up. He told them not to fear the king of Babylon, for He was with them to save them, and He would show them mercy.

The warning (42:13-17). If instead they refused to stay and went to Egypt, where they expected to see no war, the sword and the hunger they feared would overtake them there.

The test. God's answer was the displeasing kind. It asked them to trust Him in the place that felt most dangerous. Their vow was about to show what it was worth.

Our own vows. Many people promise God complete obedience in a hard moment and then pull back when His answer costs something. Every broken promise to God is sin, and no one keeps them all.

God's faithful Yes. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Jesus kept every word to His Father, died for promise-breakers and rose again the third day.

Application. When God's word to you is the hard kind, remember that He tied a promise to His command: I am with you. Obey on the strength of His promise, not on the strength of your own vow.

Written on the Heart

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The people had promised to obey God whether His answer was pleasing or not. Now they knew what God wanted: stay in the land, and do not go to Egypt.

Jeremiah's warning. Jeremiah reminded them that God had clearly told them not to go to Egypt (Jeremiah 42:19). He warned them that they had not been honest in their hearts when they asked him to pray (42:20).

The people's answer. Some proud men answered Jeremiah. They said he was not telling the truth and that God had not sent him to say this (Jeremiah 43:2).

They did not go God's way. Johanan and the leaders did not obey the voice of the Lord (43:4). They took all the people and went to Egypt, and they even took Jeremiah with them (43:5-7).

I go, sir. Like the second son, they had said yes to God with their words. When the time came, they did not go God's way.

Why? God had named the reason: they were afraid of the king of Babylon (42:11). Their fear was stronger than their trust in God.

A heart problem. The people did not need a bigger promise. They needed a new heart, and God had promised to give His people new hearts.

A heart to know Him. Through Jeremiah, God promised to give His people a heart to know Him. They would be His people, He would be their God, and they would return to Him with their whole heart (Jeremiah 24:7).

A new heart. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promised, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Written by the Spirit. Paul told believers that they were like a letter from Jesus, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone but on their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). God Himself helps His people obey.

How it comes true. Jesus died on the cross for our broken promises and every other sin. He rose again the third day. When we trust Him, God forgives us and puts His Holy Spirit in us.

A real yes. Then our yes to God is more than words. God changes our hearts so that we want to go His way.

What to do. If you have told God yes and not done it, tell Him the truth. Ask Him for a new heart, and then take one step of obedience today.

Jeremiah 42 ended with the Lord's answer: stay, do not fear, I am with you. What the people did with that answer showed what their vow was worth.

Plain words (42:19-20). Jeremiah reminded them that the Lord had said, Do not go to Egypt. He told them they had deceived themselves in their hearts when they sent him to pray.

The reply (43:2). Azariah, Johanan and all the proud men told Jeremiah he was speaking falsely and that the Lord had not sent him. A truth they did not want was called a lie.

The road to Egypt (43:4-7). They did not obey the voice of the Lord. They led the people to Egypt, as far as the town of Tahpanhes, and took Jeremiah and Baruch with them.

The second son's pattern. “I go, sir,” but he did not go (Matthew 21:30). The vow of 42:6 sounded sincere, and it was made in public. It failed at the first hard command.

Fear and the heart. God had named their fear in 42:11: they were afraid of the king of Babylon. A promise made by a frightened heart could not carry them through.

Lev. The Hebrew word for heart is lev (say: LEHV), the center of a person's thinking, choosing and loving. It is the word God uses when He promises a new heart (Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel 36:26). The problem in Jeremiah 42 was not their words but their heart.

A heart to know Him (Jeremiah 24:7). Jeremiah had already announced God's answer to that problem. To the exiles God promised a heart to know Him, that He is the Lord; they would be His people, He would be their God, and they would return to Him with their whole heart.

Ezekiel's promise. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

So that they may walk. Ezekiel gave the purpose of the new heart: that they may walk in His statutes and keep His judgments and do them (Ezekiel 11:19-20). God promised not only commands but the power to keep them.

Fulfilled in Christ. Jesus died for the sins of promise-breakers and rose the third day. Everyone who trusts Him is forgiven and receives the Holy Spirit. Paul called believers a letter from Christ, written by the Spirit of the living God on tablets of the heart (2 Corinthians 3:3).

Application. Stop trying to fix a weak yes with a louder vow. Confess where you have not gone, ask God for the new heart He promised, and then go.

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