‘Egypt’ was to be a place of punishment. Lord, You speak to those who remain in the the place of rebellion. You say to them, ‘I will punish you in this place.’This is Your Word of warning. We don’t need to remain in the place of rebellion and punishment. We can ‘return’ to ‘Judah’, the place of obedience and blessing (Jeremiah 44:28-29). This is not about places we will find on a map of the world. It’s a call to look into the secret places of our hearts. Teach us, Lord, to search our hearts. What will You find when You look into our hearts? Will You find rebellion? Will You find obedience? You want us to leave the place of rebellion and punishment. You want us to return to the place of obedience and blessing. ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart!... See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!’ (Psalm 139:23-24).
‘Is there any Word from the Lord?’ - ‘Yes! There is a Word from the Lord.’ Lord, Your Word wasn’t exactly what the king wanted to hear - ‘You will be handed over to the king of Babylon’ (Jeremiah 37:17). You were going to bless Your people - but they would have to be patient: Things were going to get an awful lot worse before they would get much better! Before their restoration - “I will bring them back and restore them to this place’, Your people faced captivity - ‘They will be taken to Babylon.’There was bad news - a captivity of ‘seventy years.’There was good news - the captivity wouldn’t last forever (Jeremiah 37:27:22; 29:10-11)! Lord, You speak of Your blessing - ‘It will certainly come’, but You also say, ‘Wait for it’ (Habakkuk 2:3). Help us to listen to all that You say to us - and not ‘only hear what we want to hear’!