The Fear of Freedom

“And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which [were] upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land [is] before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.” (Jer 40:4 AV)

This is one of the difficult “what if’s” moments.  According to verse one of this chapter, the above statement, although offered by a Babylonian prince, was the word of the LORD to Jeremiah.  It appears the LORD was giving Jeremiah complete liberty to choose where to live.  He would be free from the captivity of which his brethren suffered.  He did not have to go to Babylon if he chose not to.  Jeremiah was under the protection of the Babylonians as long as he remained within their domain.   Or, so it was supposed to go.  What Jeremiah decided was to stay under the jurisdiction of the Egyptians while ministering to the remnant in Mizpah.  The Chaldeans left Mizpah to the Egyptians to govern under their power.  It was still Babylonian territory.  But Egypt was the force left to govern it.  A rebellion took place and the governor charged with protecting Jeremiah was killed.  Consequently, Jeremiah was taken to Egypt where he would eventually be assassinated.  The “what if” is: What if Jeremiah had chosen to go to Babylon with the rest?  He would have been under the direct protection of the power that be and may have fared much better.  In fact, that was the advice Jeremiah gave to king Zedekiah.  Submit to Babylon and you will be ok.  I am not so sure I would have made a different choice.  His cash cow just came in.  He has liberty like never before.  But sometimes, liberty is not a good thing to have.

Sometimes, too many choices are not a good thing.  It reminds me of someone fresh out of high school.  He wakes up the next morning and realizes that life is before him with endless possibilities.  The problem is, with every choice there is a consequence.  Without a plan, many young people fall into serious trouble.  Without focus, choices can be made that derails goals and plans, which over time, one might attain.  But the road to getting there becomes much harder.

What Jeremiah may have wished he had done was to pray about how to use his new-found liberty.  Perhaps it was to stay in Mizpah and die a martyr’s death.  But perhaps it was to go into Babylon.  When faced with too many choices, the wisest thing is to get counsel!  It still may turn out the same.  But at least one would know that was God’s perfect will for his life.