Jeremiah 43--Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

Jeremiah 43
English Standard Version

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt
43 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3 but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the LORD, to remain in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— 6 the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD. And they arrived at Tahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes: 9 “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

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Even though they had said earlier that they would believe whatever the LORD said through Jeremiah and that they would obey it, Jeremiah knew (and we see it to be true here) that there would be a group that would harden their hearts and would continue to rebel against the LORD.  They would do the exact opposite of whatever He commanded.  They are sure that Jeremiah is conspiring with their enemies to keep them from going to what they think is safety and they are sure Jeremiah wants to set them up to all be slaughtered.  Nothing of the sort is true.

These rebellious leaders took everyone (it would seem some of them unwillingly) to Egypt with them.  The LORD gives Jeremiah a message that the LORD will allow Nebuchadnezzar to conquer the Pharaoh of Egypt and make a bigger and stronger kingdom than Egypt.  Egypt will be given over to the pestilence that the people of Judah was cursed with for disobeying the LORD.  Egypt should have never given them aide, comfort, and shelter, for the word of Jeremiah the prophet seems to have been well-known by the other nations in the area.  They will also be killed by the sword, just as the people of Judah were told would happen to them.  Their people will be taken into exile just as the people of Judah were.  Their temples would be torn down and burned with fire, just like the Temple in Jerusalem was.  Egypt will be conquered never again to threaten Babylon or any of the surrounding nations.  It will no longer be a kingdom or an empire.  The obelisks of Egypt would also be destroyed.  Egypt was such a center for paganism and the occult, and the LORD is going to use another nation that is into paganism and the occult to destroy them.  This will be the pattern as one wicked nation will defeat and conquer another (see Daniel's visions in the book of Daniel) until the kingdom of God destroys all these other nations and is the only kingdom left standing.