The Reason to Remain

At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. Then he summoned Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die. All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them. (Jeremiah 42:7-17 ESV)
Jeremiah and those with him in Judea had seen the worst - corrupt leaders, the ravages of war, the collapse of their society.  Many were ready to run, lest they be killed or exiled like the others. But God said "stay."  Jeremiah's words of warning are this: "the way we got into this mess is by not listening to the Lord, not obeying His Word.  Let's not respond to this disaster by creating another, and refusing to listen to Him again."  Knowing when to stay or scoot can be a stressful, difficult decision, unless we are truly in tune with what He says.  Let's listen up so that when that hour comes (not if...) we will continue to listen to Him.