JEREMIAH CHAPTERS 40-42
Jeremiah
God’s Promises usually mean little to a person until they are personally affected.
1. It becomes evident, even if people don’t admit it.
**Certain promises are more like verdicts – i.e., it doesn’t matter what you do
about them, they will still happen. Rom. 4:21, Titus 1:2, Heb. 6:12, 10:23, 12:26
A. To Ebed-melech. (Jer. 39:16-18)
B. To the children of Israel.
– To the dead rulers. (Jer. 39:6)
– The remaining soldiers. (Jer. 40:6-8)
C. To the Believer, Jeremiah. (Jer. 39:11,12)
D. To the enemies of Israel. (Jer. 40:1-3)
2. God doesn’t always answer immediately. (Jer. 42:7)
A. This provides the lost and weak a reason to doubt. 2 Peter 3:4
B. Daniel’s 21 day fast. Daniel 10:3-5
3. God doesn’t always answer according to our will, but according to His promises.
Phil. 4:19 *Paul finally came to know this. 2 Cor. 12:9
4. God’s promises are reliable to the end.
*He doesn’t want us to be foolish in our dealings with the world – accepting
their views but not God’s.
– Must know what the enemy does and can do.
2 Cor. 2:11…Creates imitations. Matt. 13:25
– Must deal wisely at all times. Matt. 10:16 “Wise as serpents”
Cautious, always looking, but confident, not paranoid.
Depending on our intellect, sight, and abilities to discern all circumstances will result in severe problems and the chastening hand of the Almighty !
1. Gedaliah’s assumption.
**That everyone in the same boat had the same goals.
A. His rejection of more bad news. (He had “heard enough already”)
(Jer. 40:14-15)
B. His disbelief in the corruption of a fellow survivor. (Jer. 40:16)
Luke 10:3, 1 Cor. 11:19
2. Johanan’s assumption.
*He prayed for God’s help – (Jer. 42:1-3) – But was he willing to accept it in the
way God wanted to give it ?
A. Chaldeans – the enemy – can’t be trusted. (Jer. 43:3)
B. God’s Word couldn’t be true. (Jer. 43:2) Luke 1:37, 18:27
C. He assumed that his own logic was more truthful than the Word of God
coming through another man.
– This is a sign of pride. (Jer. 43:2) Proud men. Pro. 16:18, 1 John 2:16
3. Your assumptions (?)
A. In prayer – God can do anything, but I don’t know if He will.
B. If a person says they are saved, they must be.
C. Things are so bad in the world that nobody is interested in getting saved.
