Chapter 44:1-14 (ESV) - 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, “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, 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. Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 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. 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? 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? 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? 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.
“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. 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. I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 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.”
Question to consider: Why would the people make offerings to other gods when the evidence of God’s wrath could still be seen in Judah?
Historically, it can be difficult to piece together a timeline of events after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. We know that Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC. There has also been mentioned that Nebuchadnezzar had brief success in an invasion of Egypt in 567 BC. If that invasion resulted in the judgment of the Judean refugees mentioned in today’s passage, we know that they had been living down in Egypt for several years before it happened.
During that time, the same people who asked Jeremiah to pray for them and professed to do all the LORD would tell him, seemed to have not only refused to stay in Judah but fallen back into their former idolatrous state. I’m sure Johanan believed that he made the right decision to refuse the word given to Jeremiah, for life appeared to go back to normal down in Egypt.
Because the LORD’s nature is to show mercy and give people a chance to endure the consequences of their sin so they might turn back to Him in repentance, people tend to think that the LORD has forgotten about His promised judgment.
However, as the LORD reminded them, the entire time they had been in Egypt, Judah lay desolate as He had promised it would. I believe that if they had stayed in Judah as the LORD commanded, they would have had the constant reminder of that desolation, and they would not have returned to their idolatry. Now, they would suffer the same fate as the nobles of Jerusalem who had at one time enslaved them and kept them poor in the land.
The LORD would allow them to be consumed by Babylon down in Egypt save for a handful of fugitives. I would guess the handful of fugitives would be those who didn’t participate in their idolatry and would have remained in Judah had they not been dragged down to Egypt.
It is easy to fall into the idolatry of the culture. There are many ideas which are popular in our culture today that are prohibited in scripture. We tend to ignore or minimize them because it is easier to get along with people when we avoid talking about such things. Eventually these ideas become so mainstream that they seep into the church, and people can more easily justify participating in them.
However, the LORD’s moral character does not change. Thankfully, the LORD has given us the means to know and love Him and rightly teach others to do the same. This emphasizes the need for faithful shepherds to show us God's Law and deliver His abundant grace.
Dear heavenly Father, please help us to return to Your word and know You as You have revealed Yourself to us. May this knowledge motivate us to turn from our idolatry and return to You. Amen.