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"Then lshmael carried away captive all the residue-of
the people that were in Mizpah.
even the kíng's daugh–
ters,
and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard [from Babylon]
had committed to Gedalié).h ... and carried them away
captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites" (J er.
41 :10).
Ah! Did you catch it? Read that passage again. Among
these Jews were
the king's daughters!
Daughters of Zede–
kiah, king of J udab, and of David's dynasty!
King Zedekiah had died in prison in Babylon (Jer.
52:11 ). All his sons had been killed. All the nobles of Ju–
dah had been killed. All possible heirs of Zedekiah to Da–
vid's throne had been
killed- except the king's daugh–
ters!
Now we see why J eremiah went to Mizpah!
Jeremlah Escapes
Soon a man named Johanan replaced lshmael as leader.
And in fear of reprisals from Nebuchadnezzar and the
Chaldean army, Johanan and thc captains appealed to the
prophet "and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we be–
seech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and
pray for us unto the Lord thy God ... that the Lord thy
God may shew us the way wherein we may walk" (J er.
42:2-3). T hey were like so many professing Christians to–
day. They cometo God's minister with solemn assurances
that they surely do want to know God's will; they promise.
as did these, "we will obey the voice of the ETERNAL our
God" (verse 6).
But did they mean it? Such people seldom do. Human
nature wants to
be
good-or
think
it is good- but it does
not want to
do
good.
T he word of the Lord carne to Jeremiah, and He told
them not to fear, that He would protect and deliver them.
But the people wanted to tlee to Egypt. T his the Lord
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1979
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•
BeEr-slleba
Atad
KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR
and his army conquered !he soulh–
ern kingdom of Judah and carried ils people caplíve lo Baby!o–
nia-far lo !he soulh of !hose areas lo which lhe norlhern lribes
had earlier been taken by !he Assyrians
warned them not to do.
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f thcy did, the sword of Nebu–
chadnezzar which they feared would overtake them there,
and they would die. " l f ye wholly sct your faces to enter
into Egypt," God said, "and go to sojourn there; then it
shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall
overtake you there ... and there yc shall die" (J er. 42:15-
16).
But, as people usua lly do, thcy rejected God's warn–
ing. "Thou speakest falsely," Johanan answered. " The
ETERNAL our God hath not sent t hee to say, Go not into
Egypt" (Jer. 43:2-3). "So J ohanan ... and all the
people, obeyed not the voicc of the ETERNAL" (verse 4).
People who loudly
profess
to want to do God's will
usually will not accept God's Word as being His will,
unless it is
their
will!
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