Faith or Fear
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 42-43
Today’s Scripture text consists of two chapters. A lengthy read, but it is necessary to see the context of what is happening. In brief, Babylon was winning and the remnant in Jerusalem had begun to believe that their best hope of saving themselves was to flee to Egypt and establish a kingdom in exile. Before they made the move, they asked Jeremiah to pray and get a word from the Lord.
As it turned out, they didn’t want to know God’s will as much as they wanted God to confirm their plans. They ended up rejecting the word Jeremiah brought to them and did what they had intended to do all along. Of course, it had disastrous consequences as they had been warned it would.
So, why did they reject the word of the Lord and God’s will in favor of their own schemes?
Verses 11 and 16 give us the answer to that question. It was fear. They feared the king of Babylon. They feared the armies of Babylon. They feared famine. They believed they could escape the things they feared by going to Egypt.
Set against what they could see (a Babylonian king, the Babylonian armies, and a dwindling food supply) was what they couldn’t see – the peace, safety, and security that were promised by God. They had a choice to make between trusting in the promise and word of God or their own schemes. One was visible and the other invisible.
In the end, it was fear and faith wrestling for predominance in their hearts. In their case, fear won the day and they lost their lives.
I think these kinds of spiritual battles happen more often in us than we realize. We are surrounded by things to fear. We see them. They are threatening. We are simultaneously given the promises of God. And so, we must choose between fear and faith.
