WILLFUL DISOBEDIENCE

PROCLAMATION

“When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of The Lord … Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are lying!  The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’  But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.’  So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed The Lord’s command to stay in the land of Judah.”  Jeremiah 43:1-4) (NIV)

EXPLANATION

After the remnant of the Israelites had returned to Judah, they sought out Jeremiah and asked him to pray to God for them saying, “May The Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything …” (Jeremiah 42:5-6)  When Jeremiah told them what The Lord God had said they called him a liar.  They said that he was trying to get them killed or captured, so they disobeyed the word of God and went to Egypt. (Jeremiah 43:1-7)

APPLICATION

Some of the bad times that we go through in this life are part of our punishment as a direct result of our willful disobedience to The Word of God.  We have heard God’s Word preached to us, but the preacher was not saying what we wanted to hear so we ignored it.  The Bible says that the time will come when men will not want to hear sound doctrine but will prefer to hear teachers who say what they like. (2 Timothy 4:3)  If what the preacher is saying is consistent with that which is in The Bible, it would be in our best interest to listen to him.  Read The Bible for yourself and verify that what has been said is the truth.  If it is true, then do it.  Christ said, “If you love me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15 and 14:23)