Don’t Ask God If You’ve Already Decided — Jeremiah 42:1–22

The recording, chapter markers and searchable transcript appear here once the Sunday video is available.

In this message

A request can sound sincere and spiritual while hiding a settled decision to disobey.
God’s guidance is not given to endorse a hidden agenda but to be obeyed.
Selective or delayed obedience is still disobedience, even when it wears religious language.
Hearing God’s Word without doing it leads to collapse when the storm comes.
The most dangerous place is pretending to seek God while resisting what He has already said.

The passage

The verses Lee stops on. Read Jeremiah 42 in full.

Jeremiah 42:1–3

1Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached 2Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. 3Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

The remnant of Jews left in Judah came to Jeremiah and said, “We now realize you were right all along. Now please seek the Lord for us.” This sounds very nice, doesn’t it? You would think that these people would actually walk with God now. They promised to obey the voice of the Lord.

Don’t ask God for guidance if you’ve already decided you won’t follow what He says.

What we have seen

Their request to Jeremiah sounded sincere and spiritual, but there was deception in the hearts of the leaders, including Johanan.

What is really happening in Jeremiah 42?

Jeremiah 42 is about people asking for God’s will while already intending to go to Egypt. They promise obedience and ask Jeremiah to seek the Lord, but deception is in the hearts of the leaders, including Johanan. They are seeking God’s approval for a decision they already made, not God’s direction. The chapter shows how easily people can hear God’s Word and still refuse to do it.

Why did Johanan and the remnant want to go to Egypt?

Johanan and the officers believed fleeing to Egypt was the best way to escape Babylonian reprisals after the murder of Gedaliah. Their plan was driven by fear and a sense of strategy, even though God’s direction to them was to stay put and not be afraid. The issue was not mainly Egypt versus Babylon, but whether they would obey the voice of the Lord. They chose what looked safer instead of what God said.

What does Jeremiah 42 teach about asking God for guidance?

Asking God for guidance while resisting His answer is a hypocritical way to pray. It is a tragic mistake to ask for God’s direction with no intention of following it, because God cannot be deceived. The pattern can show up when people go from counselor to counselor looking for someone to agree with their hidden agenda. Real discernment begins with surrender before the answer comes.

Why did it take Jeremiah ten days to hear from the Lord?

Jeremiah waited to bring God’s word until he was sure of it himself. John Courson noted that the ten days both encourage and convict: even Jeremiah didn’t have immediate understanding, and yet people often give up quickly if answers don’t come fast. The delay highlights patience and carefulness rather than impulse. The point is not speed, but faithfulness in delivering what God actually says.

What is the danger of looking for teachers who tell you what you want to hear?

Searching for voices that simply echo what you already want leads you away from truth. J. Vernon McGee warned that when the pulpit majors in positive thinking and ignores the negatives, it becomes weak and turns into a sounding board for what people want to hear. The passage was tied to 2 Timothy 4:3–4 to show that people can heap up teachers for itching ears and turn away from truth. Jeremiah is presented as the opposite: speaking plainly, without manipulation or softening.

Is selective obedience really that serious?

Selective obedience is rebellion wearing religious clothes. People can become skilled at self-justification, renaming fear as wisdom, disobedience as strategy, and compromise as practicality. The warning in the chapter is that delayed obedience is still disobedience. Jeremiah 42 presses that the issue is surrender, not just clarity.

Why does the passage warn that going to Egypt will bring the very trouble they’re trying to avoid?

Running toward Egypt was presented as an attempt to escape consequences while still refusing God’s word. The warning is that they would be no more successful fleeing from God’s presence by going to Egypt than Jonah was fleeing toward Tarshish. Jeremiah tells them the tragedy they hoped to escape would meet them there. The chapter frames this as the fruit of disobedience, not a lack of information.

Does Jeremiah 42 show God as wanting to bless or wanting to burden people?

God’s heart is presented as wanting to build and plant after His people had been chastened. The message says God assured them He would not continue to judge them if they would obey Him. The claim was that God’s desire is not to burden, restrict, or make life miserable, but to make life wonderful, and that God wants to bless. Judgment was described as His strange work.

How does Jeremiah 42 connect to Jesus’ warning about hearing but not doing?

Jeremiah 42 ends with people hearing God’s word and still refusing to obey it, and that pattern was linked to Matthew 7:24–27. Jesus’ warning was used to say that hearing without doing is like building on sand, so when the storm comes the house collapses. Taking notes, underlining verses, or writing in a journal can still fall short if nothing is enacted. Luke 8:18 was also cited to press, “Take heed how ye hear,” because God is serious when He speaks.

If disaster follows disobedience, is it always God directly judging, or can it be self-inflicted?

Disaster was described here as the result of a curse they brought upon themselves by not obeying the Word they heard. The people heard Jeremiah, but when the message was revealed they didn’t apply it. The point is that ignoring God’s direction carries real consequences, even when people believe their plan is more practical. Proverbs 14:12 was cited to warn that a way can seem right and still end in death.

Where else scripture speaks

Every passage Lee reaches for. The ones he teaches from open here; the rest link out.

Passages picked up elsewhere in the series:

2 Timothy 4:3–4 — Prayer Without Obedience
Proverbs 14:12 — The Justice of God’s Judgment
Matthew 7:24–27 — Prophets in 2025?, How to Spot a False Prophet
Luke 8:18 — Jerusalem Under Siege

Take this with you

Jeremiah’s entire ministry consisted of speaking the Word of the Lord to the people – and then being ignored by the people.