August 26, 2013 – Jeremiah 38

I noticed one thing.  The king wants Jeremiah to council him and Jeremiah says he doesn’t want to because the king will have him killed and won’t listen anyway.  Look at what the king promises.  He convinces Jeremiah to tell him and assures him that he will not kill Jeremiah.  He never promises that he will listen and obey what Jeremiah says.  I talked earlier as to why you would want to hear advice that you are not going to heed, but that is what the king is doing.  He cannot promise to do what God wants because he probably knows that he won’t.  Not only does he know he isn’t going to do it, but he tells Jeremiah that he can’t tell anyone what they talked about.  Can you imagine asking someone for advice, then telling them not to tell anyone because you don’t want anyone to know you had good advice and ignored it?  Should I rob this bank?  Oh, you don’t think I should.  Well, don’t tell anyone you told me not to.