The old man is prideful and rebellious and relies on his own understanding and is not willing to listen to others, nor to the voice of God. Johanan and the captains of armies warned Gedaliah and tried to protect him against evil. But Gedaliah didn’t listen to their words and rejected their words (Jer 40-41). Now, you might think that Johanan and the other captains of the armies would listen to warnings and counsel of others. But since they also belonged to the generation of the old man (fallen man, old creation), we see the same behavior of Gedaliah in their lives.
They consulted the prophet Jeremiah to pray to God
Johanan and the captains of armies departed with the remnant of the people from Gibeon. Instead of returning to Juda, they went to Egypt, because of the Chaldeans. They were afraid of the Chaldeans because Ishamael had slain Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land of Judah.
During their journey to Egypt, they dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt.
They consulted Jeremiah and asked Jeremiah to pray to God and inquire Him, which way they had to go, and the thing that they had to do. They promised that whatsoever thing the Lord would answer they would do. Because if they would listen and obey the voice of God, then all would be well with them.
Jeremiah promised them to pray unto the Lord. After ten days the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah. Jeremiah gathered Johanan, the captains of the armies and the people, and said unto them:
“Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before Him; 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.
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. And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
But if ye 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: 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; 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.
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 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.
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. 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.
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” (Jer 41:16-31:22)
Did Jeremiah speak lies?
After Jeremiah spoke all the words of the Lord to the people, Azariah, Johanan and the captains of the armies accused Jeremiah of speaking lies.
They said, that God had not sent Jeremiah to say that they should not enter into Egypt, but that Baruch the son of Neriah had set him against them to deliver them into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they would put them to death and carry them away captives into Babylon.
Johanan and the captains of the armies and the remnant of Judah didn’t listen to the words of Jeremiah, but rejected his words.
They didn’t know God and therefore they didn’t recognize His words and were not able to trust God and rely on His words, which were spoken through the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah.
And so they didn’t listen to the voice of God to return to Judah and stay there, but they rejected the words of God.
They relied on their own understanding and decided to go their own way. Therefore they went to Egypt with the remnant of the people of Judah, including the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch, and stayed there.
God warned His people several times
During their stay in Egypt, the word of the Lord came several times to the prophet Jeremiah. God warned His people, but His people were not willing to listen to the voice of God and obey Him. They would not hearken unto the words, which Jeremiah spoke in the Name of the Lord and so the people rejected the words of God (Jer 44).
The people decided to turn away from God and burn incense and pour drink offerings to the queen of heaven, just like they and their fathers, kings, and princess did, while they lived in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.
For then they had plenty of food and were well-off and saw no evil.
But since they stopped to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings unto her they lacked everything and had been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
They didn’t see that the evil came upon them, due to their own sins and evil walk and because they sinned against the Lord and had not obeyed the voice of God, nor walked in His law, nor in His statutes, nor in His testimonies.
They were responsible for the mischief and that their land had become a desolation because of all the evil they had done against the Lord.
Instead of repenting to the Lord and ask forgiveness and turn back to God, the people did the exact opposite. They didn’t listen to the voice of God, but rejected the words of God and His law and continued their evil way and sinned against the Lord. Because of that, they brought mischief upon themselves (Read also: ‘The mischief people bring upon themselves‘).
God’s way is not the way of the old man
Johanan, Azariah, and the people decided to go to Egypt and expected that God would confirm their decision. But their way was not God’s way. Because God told His people to return to Judah and rely on His protection.
God does not lead His people in easy ways. But God leads His people in hard ways, to reveal the authenticity of their faith.
Through difficult circumstances, people learn to rely on God and His Word and to stay obedient to God and His Word (Read also: ‘A prisoner of circumstances‘).
All the evil and the sorrow and the lives that were lost could have been prevented if the leaders and the people would have listened to the voice of God and enter the hard way of which they had created a disaster scenario in their mind that was not based on truth.
If they would have trusted God and relied on His words and His understanding instead of their own words and their own understanding, and if they would have listened to His counsel, things would have ended differently
Even in Egypt God showed His mercy and goodness and gave His people the ability to repent. But instead of humbling themselves and repenting to God the people turned away from God and turned to idols and continued to follow their own way.
A wrong image and expectation of God
There are many people, who call themselves Christian, but are still the old creation and have created an image and expectation of God that doesn’t correspond with the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who gave His Son Jesus; His Word and His Holy Spirit.
Since they are carnal and do whatever they want to do, they are ignorant of God’s ways and God’s thoughts and don’t know the will of God.
They serve a God, whom they have created in their minds and thinks, speaks, and acts according to their will (Read also: ‘A counterfeit Jesus produces counterfeit Christians‘).
Because of that many won’t listen to the voice of God and obey the words of God, but reject the words of God from their lives and the church and replace God’s words with their own words.
They don’t consider His words as the truth, because otherwise they would have listened to the words of God and obeyed the words of God and done the words of God in their lives. But they consider their own words and the words of the world as the truth and live according to these words.
Because of the fact that they consider their words and the words of the world as the truth, they accuse God, by their words and actions, of being a Liar. Since they don’t believe His words and do His words, but speak against His words and reject His words.
Is God a Liar?
When God says, that His people should do certain things and they don’t do it, they are disobedient. When God says, that something is wrong and people contradict His sayings by telling the people that it is not wrong and when God says that it does matter how you live and people say that it doesn’t matter how you live than they despise God and accuse Him indirectly of being a Liar and doesn’t speak the truth.
They offend God by their words and behavior and bring mischief and evil upon themselves.
They don’t listen to God when He speaks through His Word. Therefore many carnal believers don’t read the Bible anymore. Since the Word accuses them and they don’t want to be accused and feel condemned. They want to live the way they want to live, without any condemnation, thinking that they are saved from hell.
A false gospel
And so a false gospel has been created, which is preached nowadays in many churches, that meet the needs of the carnal believer. A gospel, in which God serves man instead of man serving God. A gospel of hyper-grace and prosperity, in which people may live the way they want to live and do what they want to do without any consequences. Because Jesus loves you and as long as you believe in Him everything is fine and you are saved from hell.
But as long as people rebel against God and His Word and don’t submit to Him and His Word, but stay carnal and keep walking after the flesh living in sin and do those things, which are an abomination to God, then people are not saved from hell.
They are still bound with chains to hell and sin and death still reigns in their lives. They are still sons of the devil instead of sons of God.
The nature of people reveal to whom people belong
People may say, that they are born again but their lives prove if this is true or not. Because if they still have the same nature and still walk after the flesh having the same carnal lusts and desires as before their repentance, then they are not born again. Nothing has changed, except the fact that they think they are saved.
But we all know the power and influence of the mind and how easily people can manipulate their minds. As long as people think something long enough, eventually, they will believe it and consider it as the truth (Read also: ‘Take authority over your thoughts, before they take authority over you‘)
As long as believers don’t read and study the Word and don’t renew their minds with the Word of God, they stay ignorant and the devil can tell them whatever he wants and keep feeding them with all kinds of lies. Because they have a lack of knowledge of God’s Word and don’t discern good and evil and therefore they shall believe his lies and consider his lies as the truth.
Sons of God vs sons of the devil
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother (1 Jn 3:7-10)
The Word is the truth and says, that the sons do the will of the father. Since the son has the same nature as the father (Jn 8:44, 1 Jo 3:7-10).
A son of God has the same nature as his Father and doesn’t like the things, which are an abomination to his Father and which He hates and displeases Him (Read also: ‘What does Jesus hate?‘).
A son of God is transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. Therefore a son of God is no longer controlled from hell but from the Kingdom of God.
A son of God loves his Father and listens to the corrections and chastisements of his Father. Because the son knows that his Father loves him and wants the best for him, whatever His son is going through.
We see this in the life of Jesus. Jesus listened to His Father lived after His will and followed His way. There wasn’t a single moment that Jesus rebelled against His Father and rejected His words. No, Jesus submitted His life to Him and because of His obedience to His Father, Jesus fulfilled God’s plan on earth.
When people don’t listen to the voice of God
If a believer doesn’t listen to the voice of God and leaves the words of God, the life of the person becomes a desolation and a habitation of devils (demons).
If the church doesn’t listen to the voice of God and leaves the words of God, the church becomes a desolation and a habitation of devils (demons).
When a nation doesn’t listen to the voice of God and leaves the words of God, the nation becomes a desolation and a habitation of devils (demons).
Unfortunately, all of this has been taken place over the past years and the people, churches, and nations have become a desolation of abomination, and a habitation of evil spirits.
The answer to the chaos and problems in the lives of people, churches, and nations
There is only one to all this chaos and the problems in people’s lives, the churches and nations, that the people have caused through the influence of demonic spirits, and that is Jesus Christ; the Word.
When people return to God, and humble themselves, repent and become born again in Jesus Christ and submit their lives to God and live after His will in obedience to His words than the devil shall flee and the desolation shall become a fruitful place, where there is peace (peace of God) and joy. Because the Word of God reigns in the life, church, and nation.
Listen to the voice of God
The Bible; the Word is the voice of God. Those who love God with all their heart, mind, strength, and soul, will love His Word and therefore spend time in the Word.
They will listen to the voice of God and obey the voice of God. They shall not consider His words lies and will not reject His words, like Johanan, Azarja, and the carnal people, who belonged to the generation of the old creation. But they shall believe His words, submit to His words and do His words, and inherit eternal life.
