Two groups of people, centuries apart, faced precarious circumstances and asked a prophet to pray for guidance. In both cases, they promised to follow the Lord’s guidance. One group obeyed and found protection. The other rebelled and found destruction.
After the Babylonians conquered the city of Jerusalem for the second time, carrying many of its people to Babylon as prisoners, the king of Babylon appointed a man named Gedaliah to be governor over the few people who remained (Jeremiah 40). Gedaliah was assassinated, and the assassins were driven away (Jeremiah 41). The new leader, Johanan, thought it was not safe to remain in the land of Judah. He wanted to lead the remaining people to Egypt for safety. He asked Jeremiah to pray about the plan, “that the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do” (Jeremiah 42:3). Jeremiah agreed, and the people committed to follow the counsel of the Lord, whatever it might be:
The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.
Jeremiah 42:5-6
Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.
Ten days later, Jeremiah called the people together to share what he had learned. If they chose to remain in Judah, the Lord said, He would protect them. “Then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up” (Jeremiah 42:10). But if they relocated to Egypt, they would experience precisely the afflictions they were trying to avoid: the sword, famine, and pestilence (Jeremiah 42:13-18).
This was not the answer they wanted to hear, though, and they rejected it. “Thou speakest falsely,” they said. “The Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt” (Jeremiah 43:2). They accused Jeremiah of conspiring with a man named Baruch to have them all taken captive to Babylon. Not only did they go to Egypt, but they forced Jeremiah to go with them.
In Egypt, they justified idolatry by arguing that they had prospered when they worshipped idols back home and that destruction had come only when they stopped the practice. Jeremiah corrected their history: they had been conquered and scattered because of their idol worship, and the same fate awaited them in Egypt. He said, “all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine,” except for a small number of survivors who would return home. At that time, they “shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs” (Jeremiah 44:27-28).
Hundreds of years later, a group of people in the Americas faced a similar danger. After being converted by the teaching of Ammon and his brothers, they had promised never to fight again, and they had been slaughtered in multiple attacks by their neighbors. Ammon told the king that he feared the people would be destroyed. He wanted them to relocate to his homeland of Zarahemla and trust in the kindness of his people, the Nephites (Alma 27:4-5).
The king was skeptical. “Behold, the Nephites will destroy us,” he said, “because of the many murders and sins we have committed against them.” But Ammon replied, “I will go and inquire of the Lord, and if he say unto us, go down unto our brethren, will ye go?” The king agreed. “Inquire of the Lord, and if he saith unto us go, we will go; otherwise we will perish in the land” (Alma 27:6-7, 10).
The Lord instructed the people to relocate, and they did. The Nephites welcomed them and offered land and protection (Alma 27:11-15, 21-24).
Both groups pledged to follow God’s instructions. Both received guidance that was different from their inclinations. One group courageously complied; the other stubbornly rebelled. In the end, both groups learned that God’s instructions were right.
Today I will follow the guidance I receive from God. I will do so especially when it differs from my preferred approach, because of my faith that His words will stand in the end.
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