Prevailing During Perilous Times

“Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the Words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these Words, that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, ‘You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say do not go to Egypt to dwell there. But Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.” Jeremiah 43:1-3

The proud men rejected God’s counsel. Jeremiah had humbled himself before the Lord. Jeremiah 42:7 says, “And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah.” Jeremiah had waited patiently before the Lord until he was sure that he had heard from God, and then, gave these men God’s answer. All his prophecies have come to pass thus far, so why did they reject his counsel? God’s answer was not the answer they wanted.

Are we receiving and embracing God’s counsel to us? In 2 Timothy 3:1, Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” We are in the last days.

We need to beware of pride. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Pride is the mother hen under which all other sins are hatched.” James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.” Jesus said in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

The proud men said to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely.” “Baruch has set you against us.” Pride leads us to reject what God says and to stick with our own ideas.

Jeremiah experienced the humiliation that so many who speak for God experience. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:13, “Being defamed, we intreat.” Jeremiah was trying to help not hurt them.

“So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been driven—men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as Tahpanhes.” Jeremiah 43:4-7

The proud men led people to return to the land that formerly enslaved them. God had tried to stop them, but they would not submit to His guidance. They were their own worst enemies.

What about us? Whose road map are we following? Jeremiah 17:5, says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.” The saying, “In God, we Trust,” is more than a nice sounding motto, it is the way to live.

After traveling 200 miles, they arrived in Tahpanhes. Tahpanhes was located on the frontier of Egypt nearest to Israel. While there, the Lord gave Jeremiah another message for them...

“Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ‘Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes; and say to them, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them. When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword.” Jeremiah 43:8-11

The Lord gave Jeremiah an object lesson to share with them. This time the objects were large stones in a brickyard near Pharoah’s house. Jeremiah used them to illustrate that Babylon’s king would eventually rule over Egypt. That which they feared would happen. So often, the bad things that the devil convinces people to think against God are the very bad things that he is planning for them. He is a deceiver. With fear he led Johanan and his proud men to flee from the Promised Land, but it was outside the Promised Land that their fears would come to pass.

The bricks in this passage allude to Israel’s slavery in Egypt. The Egyptians had “made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor.” Would such a nation save them?

Pharoah’s palace was being built or repaired with bricks at that time. Thus, bricks were laying around. Eventually, King Nebuchadnezzar would have the Pharoah making bricks for him.

The treasures of Egypt were destined to become King Nebuchadnezzar’s compensation for destroying Tyre. In Ezekiel 29:18-20, God said, “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre; every head was rubbed bare and every shoulder made raw. Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth. He will loot and plunder the land as pay for his army. I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for Me, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

‘I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. He shall also break the sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” Jeremiah 43:12-13

In Ezekiel 30:13, the Lord God said of Egypt, “ I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.”

Nebuchadnezzar burned Egypt’s temples to the ground and stole her idols. Egypt’s idols were made of precious woods, gold and other metals. Nebuchadnezzar would wear Egypt’s wealth. He would do so in peace means that this proud nation would be subdued by him.

Now, that Jeremiah was in Egypt what should he do? Should he tell refugees that the land they fled to for refuge would be destroyed? He did! It was the truth. He continued to warn them to repent because he loved them. He even used an object lesson to make his point.

Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

“This prophecy was fulfilled in 568 BC when Nebuchadnezzar came to Egypt. According to Josephus... all the Jews living in Egypt were then deported to Babylon.” [1]

“Many people deny that the Bible is God’s Word. They have their own ideas about what God is like, and they judge the Bible according to their own standards. They read what it teaches about God’s wrath against sin, for example, and they say, ‘Oh, no, our God would never say something like that. Our God is a God of love; He would never punish sin.’” [2]

“In Heaven, many things that seemed risky at the time will turn out to be perfectly safe, whereas in Hell many things seemed that safe will prove to have been fatal. Obeying the revealed will of Christ is always the safest thing to do.” [3]

So, what should we do? Let’s follow Jeremiah’s example! Humble ourselves before the Lord. Say unto our Heavenly Father, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”

We are living a time very much like Jeremiah’s. There are wars, famines, floods, earthquakes, and diseases. There are proud people who deny and defy God. Many are being destroyed. What can we do? We can humble ourselves before the Lord. He does more than we can ask or imagine in answer to our prayers.


[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 314-315

[2] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 617-619

[3] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 619-622