Jeremiah 44:1-30--Judgment for Idolatry

Jeremiah 44
English Standard Version

Judgment for Idolatry
44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5 But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. 7 And now thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8 Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not humbled themselves even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

11 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. 13 I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, except some fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. 17 But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 “As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 The LORD could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD , all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the LORD God lives.’ 27 Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28 And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

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While I've focused quite a bit on the fact that the need for the seventy years of exile came because the children of Israel were Sabbath-breakers (not keeping the Sabbath year), we see much with the prophets (as the LORD says here) about how the people that were supposed to be called by the LORD's Name worshiped idols--even bringing idol worship into the LORD's Temple.  The LORD said it is for this reason that He destroyed the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem.  He would have been content to send them all out of the Land for 70 years to let it rest but not killed them if they had not rebelled against Him in their worship of other Gods and their refusal to repent when He sent them His prophets.

Even these Jews (people from Judah) who rebelled by running to Jerusalem are not making sacrifices to the gods of Egypt to continue to provoke the LORD, even after they have seen what kind of judgment the LORD brought upon them in Judah and Jerusalem.  The LORD questions if they are trying to make Him kill all of them so that there will no longer be a remnant of covenant people for Him to fulfil His covenant purposes through.  That certainly is what the devil wanted--for God to break His promises and become a liar.  The LORD wants to save His people, not destroy them, but they must stop committing these abominations that will lead to their destruction.

The LORD promises to set his face against these rebels in Egypt who were worshipers of other gods.  He would destroy them.  He would no longer be concerned with leaving a remnant in Jerusalem and Judah.  He would preserve His remnant within the people that were in Exile (see the books of Esther and Daniel).  Only a few fugitives will escape from Egypt with their lives, but, for the most part, all those who fled to Egypt for safety will be destroyed and consumed by the LORD's judgment.

The rebels refused to believe the voice of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.  They did not repent or obey.  They correct said there was a pattern of generational sin and they were going to continue in it.  They looked at the times of blessings when the LORD held back His judgment and they reasoned they must have been doing the right thing at that time (worshiping all the foreign gods during the time of King Solomon when the nation was very blessed for the sake of King David).  They believe that the judgment of the LORD coincided with cessation of some of their offerings, so they attributed the judgment of the LORD to these idols they worshiped.  That is why they did not believe the voice of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah tried to correct the record that the LORD is longsuffering, but that does not mean that His judgment and wrath would not eventually come.  Since the people hardened their hearts and refused to listen to the LORD's warnings or obey His voice, they would face the judgment that He proclaimed--a judgment meant for the Gentile pagans, but now "His people" were indistinguishable from the pagan Gentiles.