The people asked Jeremiah to pray to God and ask Him for direction. What should they do? "May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in a accordance with the whole message with which the LORD your God will send you to us. Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God" (Jeremiah 42:5-6). These are the words they spoke to Jeremiah the prophet. Grand words. Great plan. They would listen to God no matter what! Isn't this the greatest attitude? This is the attitude every person should imitate.
The word of the Lord did come to Jeremiah 10 days later, and nothing could be clearer than this message. "Do not go into Egypt!" (Jeremiah 42:19). What does this message mean to you? Does it mean something separately to you than it does to me? Is God ambiguous? God laid out blessings if they stayed in the land and submitted to King Nebuchadnezzar and curses if they went to Egypt. He was very clear.
"But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the LORD their God had sent, had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God--that is, all these words--Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, 'You are telling a lie! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, "You are not to enter Egypt to reside there"; but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.' So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah...and they entered the land of Egypt (for the did not obey the voice of the LORD) and went in as far as Tahpanhes." (Jeremiah 43:1-7)
When I study with people, one of the first things I like to do is establish a base of authority in the holy word of God. Most people agree with me the Bible is the ultimate authority and if we find something in the Scriptures we need to be doing, we need to change to fit the pattern. The basic concept is: "We will listen to the Lord no matter what He says, whether it's pleasant or unpleasant." But then the rubber meets the road and people's real metal is tested. Often it's on things such as baptism for remission of sins, divorce and remarriage, basic issues of morality, etc. that people find really ARE unpleasant to hear. When they SAY they will listen to the Lord no matter what, they really have a preconceived notion of the will of the Lord already and they are comfortable with their understanding right now. If that changes, they will reconsider whether or not following the Lord is REALLY what they want to do. I hope none of us have this attitude.
Nathan