“They also led away all the men, women and children and king’s daughters who Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.”
~ Jeremiah 43:6
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you arrogant kids? Are you insolent kids? Are you supercilious kids? A kid who is arrogant, insolent and/or supercilious thinks that he or she knows more than his or her dad and/or ma, teacher, coach and even more than God. Adult guys and gals can be arrogant, insolent and/or supercilious, too. Jeremiah – in Jeremiah 43, called the guys arrogant who were calling him a liar. Azariah and Johanan were the leaders of the guys who Jeremiah called arrogant. These arrogant guys wanted to relocate from the land that God gave to them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . back to Egypt – which is the country that God in His divine way had taken them out of 800 years or so earlier to . . . because God did not want any of His specially chosen guys and gals to go back to a country that had ill-treated them for years, God sent Jeremiah to tell Azariah, Johanan and all the other guys who wanted to go back to Egypt to not to do it. Jeremiah by this time was a recognized prophet spokesman for God. Instead of listening to what Jeremiah was telling them – which were God’s words for them to hear, the guys who Jeremiah called arrogant simply disobeyed the words that God told Jeremiah to tell them. The guys who Jeremiah called arrogant told Jeremiah that he was not really speaking for God but that he was instead repeating the words of Baruch – who was another prophet spokesman for God. Your grandpaa is sure that God – because of God being sovereign, would have stopped His specially chosen guys and gals from going back to Egypt if . . . your grandpaa thinks that God was constantly teaching life lessons through what He was having His specially chosen guys and gals go through in order for the guys and gals who He especially elected before He put into place the firmament to learn from so that no guy or gal will ever have an excuse of not knowing who God is and what His ways are when he or she shows up at hell’s door at his or her God-ordained appointed moment.
A misguided guy or gal who allows self-interest or self-preservation to control a decision that he or she thinks that he or she has to make will invariably incur hurt on other guys and gals. When Azariah, Johanan and all the other guys who had decided to make the move back to Egypt from the land that God gave them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . verse 6 identifies guys, gals and kids who were affected by this decision to return to Egypt, “They also led away all the men, women and children and king’s daughters who Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.” When Egypt welcomed God’s specially chosen guys and gals back into their cultural world of norms and mores, God – through Jeremiah, sent a message to Egyptian guys and gals telling them that their sacred pillars, obelisks, temples to their gods and temple to the sun that were in their city – which was the city of Heliopolis, would be totally razed one day by the Babylonian people groups army. In 586-587 B.C. – while King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army were making a punitive expedition into Egypt, King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army totally razed the city of Heliopolis. Even though King Nebuchadnezzar had become the leader of an enemy people group country which would decimate the land area that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . and who would take away as exiles God’s especially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, from the land area that He gave to them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . God chose King Nebuchadnezzar to be a special emissary for Him. God – through Jeremiah, called King Nebuchadnezzar a servant of His. Your grandpaa doubts though that King Nebuchadnezzar had the kind of relationship with God that would have had him pass through the faith/grace gate into heaven but . . .
Your grandpaa hopes that you will never try to figure out why God allows what He allows to take place on planet Earth. Invariably something else will take place as God is unfolding His perfect plan that He made before He created planet Earth that will surprise the guy or gal who is trying to figure out what He is doing. The second year that your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn were in Bolivia your dad asked if he could go to Tambo. Tambo was a New Tribes Missions boarding school for missionary kids like your dad. Tambo was located about halfway between Santa Cruz, Bolivia – which was where your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn were living and Cochabamba. Your grandmaa and grandpaa told your dad that he could go to Tambo if . . . because your grandmaa and grandpaa still owed money to the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center for the school year that your dad and Aunt Lynn were students there plus Tambo expected a deposit from your grandmaa and grandpaa before your dad could go there, your grandmaa and grandpaa told your dad that he needed to pray for money to be given to your grandmaa and grandpaa so that . . . until your dad asked your grandmaa and grandpaa if he could go to Tambo, your grandmaa and grandpaa had not considered having your dad go to a boarding school. When your grandmaa and grandpaa received a completely unexpected gift that was enough to pay what your grandmaa and grandpaa still owed Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center and enough to make the initial deposit at Tambo . . ., your dad going to Tambo made it easier two years later for your Aunt Lynn to also go to Tambo. Because both your Aunt Lynn and dad were at Tambo, your grandmaa and grandpaa could live at the rural resident Bible center that they initiated in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez. To sense God’s blessings, you need to have Him always be the ‘boss’ of your lives.
Jeremiah 43 (624)