Jeremiah 42

V 1–3: APPROACH TO JEREMIAH Commendably, Johanan and the military leaders come to Jeremiah to ask him to approach God for divine guidance about what they should do. So far, so good. V 4: AGREEMENT OF JEREMIAH Jeremiah agrees to consult God and give a verbatim response to those who consult him. V 5–6: ASSURANCE TO JEREMIAH Johanan and his men assure Jeremiah that whatever God says they will do. Later developments will reveal the insincerity of this assurance. V 7–18: AFFIRMATION THROUGH JEREMIAH They receive the same message which Jeremiah passed on to the children of Israel: if they stay in the land and obey the king, they will be safe; if they seek to get out of submission to the king of Babylon, in this case by fleeing to Egypt, they will be destroyed and there will be calamity. Jeremiah faithfully relays God’s message. V 19–22: APPLICATION BY JEREMIAH Good preachers not only present truth; they apply it to their hearers. Johanan is urged not to go to Egypt but to stay in the land, trusting God’s promise. Jeremiah admonishes him for his hypocritical request for God’s directing when he remains unwilling to obey God’s word. Johanan and his supporters will die.