©Dominic LaBelle
Chapter 44:15-19 (ESV) - 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: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. 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. 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.” 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?”
Question to consider: What evidence did the people offer for why they should make offerings to the queen of heaven?
This isn’t the first time that offerings and cakes for the “queen of heaven” were mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.” (Jeremiah 7:17-18)
I find it interesting that they finally said the quiet part out loud. They had placed their faith in Astarte, the moon goddess who was considered to be the wife of Baal. The “evidence” for their idolatry was in their physical prosperity.
People are inherently religious. Deep down, all of us look at the complexity of life and the universe and don’t buy into the idea that it leapt into existence from an undirected explosion that suddenly occurred in space for no reason. This is not my argument but that of the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:19-23)
In this case, the people exchanged the glory of the immortal God with an image resembling a goddess they called the queen of heaven in order to receive worldly comforts and prosperity. However, in our study of Job, we learned that experiencing prosperity and comfort in this world is not a sign of holiness. Job argued for a divine redeemer who would intercede with God on his behalf and raise him up to a new life that is incorruptible and imperishable. He did not look for justice in this world but in a creator who would one day set everything right at the resurrection of the dead.
Christians believe this redeemer is Christ because He rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father. The apostles were willing to endure poverty, torture and death professing to have encountered the risen Christ, and Luke’s account of the Acts of the Apostles was written to prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt to his friend, Theophilus.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for revealing Yourself in creation and revealing Your plans for our redemption and restoration in scripture. Please create in us a desire to know You and discern truth above all worldly comforts. Amen.