Jeremiah 47
English Standard Version

Judgment on the Philistines
47 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.

2 “Thus says the LORD:
Behold, waters are rising out of the north,
    and shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow the land and all that fills it,
    the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
    and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
    at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers look not back to their children,
    so feeble are their hands,
4 because of the day that is coming to destroy
    all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
    every helper that remains.
For the LORD is destroying the Philistines,
    the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
5 Baldness has come upon Gaza;
    Ashkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
    how long will you gash yourselves?
6 Ah, sword of the LORD!
    How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
    rest and be still!
7 How can it be quiet
    when the LORD has given it a charge?
Against Ashkelon and against the seashore
    he has appointed it.”

I have mentioned before, but the people of Gaza today and the so-called Palestinian people have zero relation to the Philistines of the Old Testament (they try to make this claim so that they can somehow claim they have a more ancient right to the Land than the Jewish people).  How can I be so sure of that?  Passages like this that tell us that all of the original Philistines were going to be destroyed.  The Pharaoh of Egypt is going to attack Gaza (one of the three key city-states of the Philistines) and an enemy from the North would destroy Tyre and Sidon and all of Philistia.  The LORD is using these invading armies to help destroy those who escaped the original Conquest of the Land.

I already mentioned that Gaza was one of the main city-states of the Philistines and judgment is once again proclaimed against it.  Ashkelon, another city-state, is prophesied against that it will completely perish.  Everyone in that city state will die.  The LORD asks the people of that region  how long they will cut and gash themselves in memory of these dead Philistines, for they scarred themselves with "tattooed" that marked themselves for the dead--a practice the children of Israel were forbidden from participating in.  The LORD has chosen a people to execute His judgment that will be called "The Sword of the LORD" and it will destroy the Philistines and all the coastal peoples who have "coexisted" with the Jews and corrupted them and the LORD has no intention for them to continue to "coexist" with His people when they come back from Exile.  If His people would not obey the command to kill these pagan peoples and drive them out of the Land, then He will use other Gentile nations to accomplish His plans and the children of Israel will miss out on the blessing and glory that comes from complete obedience.

Jeremiah 46:13-28
English Standard Version
​
13 The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;
    proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes;
say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared,
    for the sword shall devour around you.’
15 Why are your mighty ones face down?
    They do not stand
    because the LORD thrust them down.
16 He made many stumble, and they fell,
    and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
    and to the land of our birth,
    because of the sword of the oppressor.’
17 Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
    ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

18 “As I live, declares the King,
    whose name is the LORD of hosts,
like Tabor among the mountains
    and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
19 Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
    O inhabitants of Egypt!
For Memphis shall become a waste,
    a ruin, without inhabitant.

20 “A beautiful heifer is Egypt,
    but a biting fly from the north has come upon her.
21 Even her hired soldiers in her midst
    are like fattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
    they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
    the time of their punishment.

22 “She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away;
    for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
    like those who fell trees.
23 They shall cut down her forest,
declares the LORD,
    though it is impenetrable,
because they are more numerous than locusts;
    they are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
    she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.”

25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the LORD.

27 “But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
28 Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the LORD,
    for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
    to which I have driven you,
    but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Jeremiah makes it clear that Babylon is not only coming against Judah and Jerusalem, but will conquer the once-great empire of Egypt as well.  There will be great death and destruction and the mighty will be humiliated by the LORD (not by Babylon), as it will be evident that this is the work of the LORD and this is the Babylonians are executing His judgment and justice.  They worshiped the Pharaoh as a god and the LORD taunts them to cry out to Pharaoh to see if he can save them--spoiler alert:  Pharaoh cannot do what the LORD alone can do.

The LORD declares that He is the one true King of heaven and earth and all that is in them.  He then tells the people of Egypt that thought they were strong enough, powerful enough, wealthy enough, numerous enough and far enough away to be safe from Babylon that they will be just like the other places that have been destroyed and taken into exile.  The LORD tells them to start packing their bags.  Great cities like Memphis will be destroyed and become uninhabited ruins.

The LORD tells Egypt that their soldiers and mercenaries will run from battle.  They will not fight against Nebuchadnezzar's army of Chaldeans.  Now is the time for Egypt to be punished for their many, many years of immorality, idolatry, sorcery, necromancy (just to name a few things).  Egypt is not known for being a land of lush forests--it is mostly desert with the Nile River Delta (the land of Goshen) and the entire Nile River valley really being the only places suitable for growing anything.  However, there must have been some forests there at this time as Babylon was going to come in and cut all the trees down.  This would have the effect of turning what might have once been fertile land into a desert.  The forest apparently used to be so thick that the Egyptians thought it provided a natural wall of defense against invasion, but the Babylonians would not be deterred and were so numerous that they would cut down every tree in this "wall" of trees and every protection that Egypt believed it had would be stripped away (most to never return again).

This judgment is being declared specifically against the false gods the Egyptians worshiped--specifically Amon of Thebes and Pharaoh, but also all the other false gods as well.  Just like with the Ten Plagues, the gods were really the ones being attacked by the LORD and they were tested and failed.  None of these gods nor the Pharaoh of Egypt could deliver the people of Egypt from the LORD's judgment.  The LORD would give them over for a time to the Babylonians, but the land of Egypt would eventually be populated again like it was before exile (though it would never again be the super-power that it once was).

This message was not just for the people of Egypt to give them a chance to repent, but also for the people of Judah that thought that Egypt would be their salvation.  Salvation belongs to the LORD and Him alone.  The people were not to trust in Egypt to save them.  The LORD was also going to eventually return the people of Judah to their ancestral land.  They would have a time of peace and rest (we don't really see that historically, so I think this is talking about the Millennial Kingdom in the future--there have been relative times of peace, but it seems like in every generation there has been someone on a genocidal mission to exterminate the Jewish people because Satan hates God's people and wants to try to prevent Him from keeping His covenant promises to His people).  To my Covenant Theology friends who may be reading this, Satan is an excellent student of the Bible's prophecies and the theology that it teaches.  If "replacement theology" were correct, then why does Satan continue to try to exterminate the Jewish people in every generation if doing so would not give the LORD a "black eye" of any kind?  If the Church has truly replaced Israel and there is no Israel today that is "the people of God" and "true Israel" is simply equivalent to "The Church" or "The Body of Christ," than why would Satan attack the Jews instead of using them to attack the "real" people of God (the Church)?  We don't see Jewish terrorist bombing "Christian" settlements, places of worship and schools--we see other groups doing that, but those same groups are also attacking Jewish settlements, places of worship, schools, hospitals, etc.  It seems that Satan very much believes that the Jewish people are still under a covenant of some kind with the LORD that has yet to be fulfilled (for instance, the Jewish people have never had complete ownership of the entire land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--only a small portion of it, even when their kingdom was its largest under King Solomon).  Maybe that explains a bit why everyone in the world wants to take Israel's land away from them in false "land for peace" deals--the devil does not want the Jewish people to even come close to owning all the Land they were promised and in fact wants them to loose all the land that was eternally promised to them so that the LORD will be made out to be a liar.  The LORD says here that isn't going to happen.  One day, they will be fully restored to the Land and own every square inch that was covenanted to them.

The LORD is going to discipline His children because He loves them.  The discipline will be painful, but only temporary, and it should make them love their Heavenly Father more.  A good father sets good boundaries for His children, makes those boundaries known, and disciplines them when they cross those boundaries because those boundaries are for their own good and protection.  A father who never disciplines his children does not love them, the Bible says he hates them.  The LORD does not express the same kind of relationship with the people of Egypt, though we know they are one of the three allied nations in the end--Israel, Egypt, and Assyria will all be God-fearing and will worship the LORD and proclaim His glory throughout the earth.  However, Egypt and Assyria will recognize the special relationship that the LORD has with Israel.  The LORD is going to put an end to the wicked Gentile nations (He will do a great work in Assyrian and Babylon and even Egypt, but that is something to talk about another day)--never again will those nations threaten them and all the superpowers of this world throughout the ages will be destroyed by The Kingdom of God (see Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue and the rock that turns into a mountain).  The LORD will discipline His children and will not let them go unpunished, but He is not out to destroy them like He is with many of these Gentile nations.  He will purify His people and save a remnant that will be used to accomplish His plans and purposes (without the Jewish people, we would not have any of the Bible that we have today as the LORD chose to bring the gospel tot the Jewish people first and then for them to take the gospel to ends of the earth).  We should love the Jewish people and desire their salvation and seek to bless them in every way we can personally, corporately and as a nation, and we should be careful about following anyone who hates the Jewish people, ignores the special covenant relationship the LORD has with them, or implies in any way that the LORD has broken His eternal, unconditional covenant with them (even if they try to use legalese to say the covenant wasn't broken, but replaced).  What you believe about the LORD's covenant with the nation of Israel has a great impact on how you interpret past, present and even future events.  It is a question to give careful consideration to, but I will warn you that you should be careful about anyone who bases their entire argument on someone else's commentary of the Scriptures--they will try to tell you that if only you read enough books by particular authors or had the right set of commentaries or had the right study bible with the kind of footnotes that they agree with that you too would believe like they did.  God gave us the Holy Spirit to lead us in all truth and to bring to memory the Scripture that He had written.  He told us that the Holy Spirit would make all things clear to us, so, where there are issues that are not clear to us, we need to ask the Author, not the commentator the meaning of the text.  There was a time when Covenant Theology was understandably popular because after 70 A.D. there was no real nation-state of Israel and the Jewish people were dispersed throughout the entire world until after World War 2.  Israel was made a nation again in a day just like the LORD said they would be.  Now, many of the Bible prophecies that were centered around the Jews, the Temple, and Jerusalem make more sense.  There is still not a Third Temple that we know has be present during the Tribulation (it could be built before or during the Tribulation, but we know it must be there at the midpoint).

Understanding the Bible through the lens of the different covenants is often extremely helpful and is not something that I am disagreeing with when I speak of Covenant Theology, but there is a form of Covenant Theology that people often speak of when they call themselves Reformed in their theology that believes that each new covenant supersedes the previous covenant and nullifies what came before it (this goes against the clear teaching of Jesus that Jesus did not come to abolish the Law (the Mosaic Covenant), but to fulfill it.  If Jesus intended to abolish the Old Covenant when He made the New Covenant, then this was a lie, and Jesus sinned and He cannot be the propitiation for our sins--like I said, what you believe about this has grave theological consequences).  I also don't give myself over totally to what the Strict Dispensationalism that many times those of the Covenant/Reformed persuasion would seem to think is the only other option.  Let's be fair and talk about where they are right in their arguments against the absurd viewpoint that there is a "God of the Old Testament" (a "God of Wrath") and a "God of the New Testament" (a "God of Grace").  That's pure malarkey.  "God is the same yesterday, today, and forever."  He is 100% of everything He is in all places at all times.  He had as much grace in the Old Testament as He does in the New Testament (see Palm 51 where David says there is no sacrifice He can make to appease the LORD's righteous wrath and instead prays for forgiveness and for the LORD to give Him a new heart.  That sounds like David understood that people were saved just as much "by grace through faith" in the Old Testament as they are in the New Testament.  We also see that there is judgment and wrath in the New Testament, that God is holy, and that we are not to try to play games with Him.  However, there are some different covenants in play that show us that God has chosen to operate with His people differently as He has progressively revealed Himself to them and He wanted to emphasize different things about His character and nature and His relationship with His covenant people  There seems to be a position that does not favor either extreme and, like most of the time, such positions often go without a name because it is the extreme positions that get attention and get named.  I encourage you to take a biblical position that you can defend with Scripture and that doesn't make you become a theological contortionist to explain what God meant to be the clear meaning of Scripture as something other than what it clearly says (The Scripture was given to us for our knowledge and edification--God meant us to be able to understand it and teach it to others).  I'll probably write more about this when I take up the bigger issue of Eschatology in my Faith and Culture blog at some point in the future, but it's important to discuss it now as we are in the midst of the books of Prophecy of the Old Testament and I assure you that Dispensationalists and Covenant Theologians read and interpret these passages very differently (literal verses allegorical or metaphorical interpretations).  I have already written some about Biblical Hermeneutics and there's a whole series of lessons on that under the Bible Study Tools tab (made available by Pastor Stephen Felker).  I know there will be differences of opinion in how to interpret a text like this, and I wanted to point to the root of those differences and explain that I understand that my viewpoint on Eschatology coming from a more Dispensational viewpoint greatly affects how I'd read a passage like this (because I believe in a coming Millennial Kingdom that will fulfil these covenant promises made to the Jewish people and it will not be the same as the eternal home for all believers).  More passages will that will give us opportunity to talk about this and I plan to write one or more Faith and Culture blog articles specifically on this topic in the future, but I will also entertain questions in the form of "What can you point to in the Bible that makes you believe that?"  Those kinds of questions are always welcome by email or through Discord.  I may not be able to respond immediately, but I promise that I will try to answer any Bible-based questions and if for some reason I can't answer it myself, I will also say that I am neither a prophet nor apostle and do not claim to give any new revelation or speak with the same authority as Scripture.  If you find that my views ever diverge from Scripture, Scripture is right, and I am wrong.  Since the Word of God alone is infallible because it's source is the LORD and He is infallible, then we would do well to realize that Scripture contains all that we need for life and godliness and stick as close to the Scripture as we can in all areas of worldview and not hold on tightly to personal opinions or the opinions of other men (even very intelligent men) who are not Christ, nor a prophet, nor an apostle (and see what the Scripture has to say about anyone who calls themselves Christ, and apostle or a prophet and weigh what they say against the infallible, unchanging Scripture that the LORD has given to us).  I understand that I may have stepped on a few toes today, and if you want to talk to me about that, I'll be happy to speak to you too--feel free to contact me on Discord or Facebook or email if you have my contact info.

Jeremiah 46:1-12
English Standard Version

Judgment on Egypt
46 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2 About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

3 “Prepare buckler and shield,
    and advance for battle!
4 Harness the horses;
    mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
    polish your spears,
    put on your armor!
5 Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
    and have turned backward.
Their warriors are beaten down
    and have fled in haste;
they look not back--
    terror on every side!
declares the LORD.

6 “The swift cannot flee away,
    nor the warrior escape;
in the north by the river Euphrates
    they have stumbled and fallen.

7 “Who is this, rising like the Nile,
    like rivers whose waters surge?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
    like rivers whose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
    I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
9 Advance, O horses,
    and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
    men of Cush and Put who handle the shield,
    men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10 That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
    a day of vengeance,
    to avenge himself on his foes.
The sword shall devour and be sated
    and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice
    in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11 Go up to Gilead, and take balm,
    O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
    there is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
    and the earth is full of your cry;
for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
    they have both fallen together."

You may have gotten the idea somehow from this book that the LORD only wanted Jeremiah to prophecy against the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and while that makes up the bulk of his message, it would be inaccurate to say that this is all that he prophecies about.  He also gives prophecy against the other Gentile nations.  In this passage, the LORD's prophecy is against Egypt--the place where the people of Judah have run for shelter from Babylon.

The Egyptians are told they should prepare for battle, call out every man and horse they have that is able to fight, and they should wear every piece of armor they have, yet they are also told they will lose this battle.  The LORD has ordained it that they should cease being a great nation.  So many of these nations imagined they would dominate and rule the entire world, and Egypt has visions of this that were not given by God--remember the LORD laid out in the book of Daniel that the LORD promised the Babylonian king and empire that stretched to the ends of the earth.

The Egyptians, even with powerful alliances, will not be able to stop the LORD's wrath from coming.  Ironically, the LORD suggests the Egyptians run to Israel (specifically to the Trans-Jordan area of Gilead) for safety and healing.  Remember how the people of Judah were so afraid that they felt they needed to run away from the Land?  This is the LORD's answer to that.  They may try to flee, but they will not be fast enough.  They may try to look for comfort and healing elsewhere, but they will not find it.

I stopped at verse 12 for the sake of time today, but the prophecy will continue in the passage tomorrow as we pick up at verse 13.

Jeremiah 45
English Standard Version

Message to Baruch
45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, ‘Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’ 4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. 5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the :LORD. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

It seems that Baruch was acting as a scribe for Jeremiah in his later years.  However, the LORD has some words for Baruch because he is playing the victim.  The judgment of the LORD was coming upon all of Israel and Judah--it was not targeted specifically towards him, yet he was not exempt from it either.  The LORD was going to tear down the whole Land (by way of the Babylonians and some others) so that it could be rebuilt.  However, the LORD knew Baruch's heart and that he was selfish and self-centered.  He could not see what the LORD was doing for the people and the nation because he was too concerned on his life being difficult and painful (are we that different?).  He wanted great things for himself (probably similar to people who believe they are entitled to money, health and happiness--the LORD promises none of that).  The LORD through His prophet Jeremiah tells Baruch not to seek after any of those things that are perishable.  If Baruch will seek the LORD like Jeremiah, then his life will also be saved from the coming time when the LORD would destroy all the rebels.  He too can be a part of the remnant.  The LORD would keep him safe wherever he chooses to go.

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.”

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.

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.’”

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.

Jeremiah 42
English Standard Version

Warning Against Going to Egypt
42 Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— 3 that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” 4 Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”

7 At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8 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, 9 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: 10 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. 11 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. 12 I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God 14 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,’ 15 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, 16 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. 17 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.

18 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. 19 The LORD has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day 20 that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and whatever the LORD our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ 21 And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. 22 Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”

All the people come to Jeremiah and ask him to make intercession for them (to act as a priest to speak to the LORD on their behalf).  Notice they say "The LORD your God," but they do not claim a personal relationship with God.  They ask for the LORD to have mercy on the remnant.  They are few and feel they will be easily killed.   Jeremiah agrees to intercede under the condition that the people will accept the LORD's answer, whatever it is, and will obey the voice of the LORD.  They swear to obey the LORD, and after Jeremiah inquires of the LORD, the LORD makes them all wait ten days for an answer.

The LORD tells the people that they must remain in the Land to be saved.  They are not to try to escape to Egypt.  They are also not to fear the king of Babylon.  This time, the LORD will give His people victory if the king of Babylon attacks, as long as they obey His Word.  If however they even set their faces towards fleeing to Egypt (they don't even have to get there, but just start making the journey), then the LORD will make sure that everything they fear comes true.  They will perish by the sword they are trying to flee from.  Sword, famine and pestilence will kill them as it did with all those who rebelled against the LORD previously.  If the remnant rebels against the LORD and refuses to stay in the Land, they will die.

If they try to run to Egypt, they will be no better off than the inhabitants of Jerusalem that the LORD proclaimed judgment on by the word of Jeremiah.  They will be seen as vile, hated, horrific, and unclean if they disobey the LORD.    They will be cut off from the Land and see it no more.  Jeremiah knows that the people who promised to obey would not obey.  He knew their hearts, so he declared to them with no uncertainty that because they were already set in their hearts to disobey the LORD, they would surely die by the sword, by pestilence or by famine.  He didn't know for sure what would get them, but something that they were trying to run from would catch up with them and kill them.  The LORD would not save them if they disobeyed.