Carson on Jeremiah 42

I've been reading Jeremiah recently, which has been very sobering and a timely reminder of what real gospel faithfulness looks like. The events of Jeremiah 42 take place in the aftermath of the destruction of Jereusalem by Nebuchanezzar in 587 BC. Gedaliah, the governor put in charge of what's left of the people in Judea, has been assassinated. The people are already on their way to Egypt taking Jeremiah with them, but they make a pretence of seeking the will of God through Jeremiah, saying all the right phrases: 'Whatever God says we will do', but blatantly desiring to flee to Egypt. God's message through Jeremiah is: Stay in Judah and God will protect you, go to Egypt and God's wrath will pursue you. Predictably, the people say in response 'You're lying, that's not what God is saying'. Carson makes some insightful comments on what it means to seek the will of God:

"Most movements that spring up from the fertile soils of Christendom appeal, in one way or another, to the will of God. Few probe the will of God very deeply. God is for evangelism; therefore he is for the way we are proposing to do evangelism, and we will invoke his will to sanction our methods. God is love; therefore he is against church discipline except in the most egregious cases (which either never arise, or if they do, by the time they do they too are covered by the love of God) and we invoke God's will to sanction our determined niceness. God wants his people to be separate and holy; therefore we must withdraw into huddled isolationism and lob hateful barbs against all who disagree with us, and we invoke God's will to authorize our tearless harshness and ruthless condescension. These wretched pits are terribly easy to fall into. All it takes is resolution, and no more real interest in the will of God than what we need to sanction our preferences." (Don Carson, For the Love of God, Volume 2, August 14th).

This has made me think that often I too can be on my way to Egypt, and be looking to God to sanction my preferences. Real seeking God's will means not going down any path until you know. It means humbly and faithfully beginning with the revealed truth of God's Word and not going beyond it. It means examining myself and my natural default settings. It takes a purposeful resolution in the opposite direction: for Jesus to be King and not me. This made long for a deep and determined probing of what God really wants and desires.