Articles
What The Lord Says We Will Do
What The Lord Says We Will Do
After Babylon took control over Judah and the government of the Jews they made Gedaliah the governor of the land. As is usual in such situations there were pockets of rebellion still existing who did not want Babylon to rule. They kill Gedaliah (Jer. 41) and THEN ask Jeremiah what they should do (Jer. 42).
Jeremiah had been telling them for some time that Babylon was God's instrument to punish Judah for their unfaithfulness. Jeremiah had given them the simple advice to surrender and live under Babylonian control. Their rejection of this advice is what brought about the total destruction of their city and the ending of their kings. "Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the Lord your God sends you to us. Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God" (Jer. 42:5-6).
Such was a good thought except they had not real inclination to do that! They were willing to do whatever the LORD would say IF it agreed with what THEY THOUGHT. Such is not obedience but self-willed rebellion. The moment God said they should submit to Babylon and live under its government, they said no.
Men often lie to themselves about their dedication unto God and His ways. Whatever He says we will do. THEN they don't. Whether it is the teaching on marriage, baptism, the work of the church, or whatever, if what God says doesn't agree with what they WANT then they don't obey God. God is not their king, their Lord, their teacher, or their God. They serve their own selves.
Yet again the lesson of man's ways verses God's ways will be taught. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death" (Proverbs 14:12).
The result will always be that men end up in a bigger mess. God's ways are for our good. God's ways are the only ways that work to accomplish God's will. I pray that we can not only say "whatever He says we will do", but that we will then do whatever He says.
Hugh DeLong
