And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
Jeremiah had warned the surviving Jews not to run to Egypt. They went anyway, and dragged him and Baruch along with them. Now God speaks to His prophet again, in a foreign town at the edge of Egypt. What He says will reach them in the very place they picked as their escape.
The leaders made Jeremiah and Baruch come with them. One writer names the one thing they overlooked.
They are stubborn in their purpose to the end. They revolt against God and take Jeremiah and faithful Baruch with them, because they do not want to leave behind these witnesses to their disobedience and their unbelief. They forget only one thing: they are carrying with them the Word that condemns them. To the end, Jeremiah keeps faithfully using the gift of prophecy that God had entrusted to him. At Tahpanhes, just as at Jerusalem, he is a witness of the true God.
Jeremiah was timid by nature. Being dragged along did not stop him speaking.
But this does not silence the prophet, timid and sensitive as he naturally was… The "proud men" never guessed that the man they were carrying along with them would soon speak in Egypt to announce their doom. And it would come by the hand of the very conqueror they hoped to shut out, using Egypt's king as an unbreakable wall against him. A vain hope, to escape the hand of the God they despised!
One writer points to what has been dug up at Tahpanhes, and to what the older phrase "brick kiln" means.
Then the Lord told Jeremiah to take great stones and bury them at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, so that all the men of Judah could see it. In 1886 Professor Petrie, an expert on ancient Egypt, dug up a brick pavement at Tahpanhes in front of what seems to have been a palace. This was probably the place where Jeremiah hid the stones. The ruin was Kasr el Bint Jehudi, which means "the palace of the daughter of Judah." That was plainly the place given to the daughters of Zedekiah. The word brick-kiln means a pavement of bricks.
God had the stones hidden in full view of the men who had come to Egypt for safety.
At the very spot they had now reached, at Tahpanhes, God tells the prophet to hide some great stones before their eyes, in the brick kiln at the entry of Pharaoh's house. What a powerful sign this was! Did the brick kiln not remind them of Israel's former slavery in Egypt? They had come back to this spot while trying to escape the rule of the king of Babylon — the servant of the Lord! Had they escaped? Had disobeying the prophet's word given them the freedom they expected? To that very spot, where these stones now lay, God would send His servant Nebuchadnezzar and set his throne on them!
God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant. One writer weighs that title against the one Zedekiah once held.
It was no longer Zedekiah, My servant, but it was Nebuchadnezzar, My servant. The children of Israel and of Judah were about to lose their special place as His nation, too. It was now a question, not of being His servant as a special honour, but merely in providence. Nebuchadnezzar, the idolatrous Gentile, could be His servant in this way as much as any other.
Egypt looked like an exit. It turned out to be the same road, further along.
God's discipline is not always immediate but it is always perfectly designed, proportionate and effective. If we run away from discipline the problem that caused it will catch up with us (and the outcome is likely to be even worse). Had these people remained in Jerusalem and accepted the Babylonian yoke, they could have lived quietly in their own country. But, having fled to Egypt, they were still in Nebuchadnezzar's reach and would die.
One writer traces where that choice always ends.
So it is always. Under God's righteous government our sin soon becomes our own chastening and the world's grief. What our blindness built on as solid rock turns out to be quicksand — the plaything of waves and winds on the day of reckoning, which comes fast.
- The word follows — God speaks again in Tahpanhes. The men who carried Jeremiah off were carrying the word that condemned them.
- The word marks the spot — great stones sunk in the brick pavement at Pharaoh's gate, a sign set where Israel's old slavery began.
- The word names its agent — God calls Nebuchadnezzar, the king they ran from, His servant. That was providence, not honour, and Israel was about to lose its special place.
- The word overtakes — discipline you dodge is only discipline delayed. Egypt lay well inside the reach of the king they feared.
- The word calls home — the way is not ours to choose. Staying where God says is safer than any escape we pick for ourselves.
Take great stones in thy hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the Jews,
The people who asked Jeremiah to pray for guidance ignored the answer. Then they dragged him into Egypt with them. At Tahpanhes God speaks to him again — not in a speech, but in an act, with stones, clay and a royal doorway. Why does God ask His prophet to bury stones where no one will see them, and what does the hiding place itself say to the men watching him do it?
God gives this sign to people who already knew the safe path and refused it. One writer traces the whole disaster back to that refusal:
At one point, those who were told to stay in the city decided to escape the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar by fleeing to Egypt. Gedaliah was the governor the Babylonians had set over the few left in Jerusalem, and he had been murdered. At the last minute, it occurred to them that they had not asked the Lord whether this was His way for them. So they quickly asked Jeremiah to consult Him. When the answer came, and was negative, they refused to listen.
They thought distance from Babylon meant safety. The opposite was true:
Had they remained quietly in the land subject to the authority of the Chaldean king whom God had placed over them, they would have been preserved. But they, choosing human policy, thought it was safer to go down into Egypt, whereas it proved to be the contrary.
Commentators describe the spot differently. One takes the "brick-kiln" as a paved area and points to a dig there:
In 1886 the Egyptologist Professor Petrie dug at Tahpanhes. He found a brick pavement in front of what looks like a palace. This was probably the place where Jeremiah hid the stones. The ruin is called Kasr el Bint Jehudi, which means "the palace of the daughter of Judah." The word brick-kiln means a pavement of bricks.
Another hears in the brick-kiln a reminder of Israel's slavery in Egypt, and sees what God would later set on those stones:
How eloquent was this sign! Did not the brick kiln remind them of Israel's former slavery in Egypt? They had reached this spot again in their effort to escape the dominion of the king of Babylon, the servant of the Lord! Had they escaped? Had they found the liberty they expected by disobeying the word of the prophet in this way? To that very spot where these stones were placed, God would send His servant Nebuchadnezzar and set his throne upon them! Egypt and its wealth and its goods would be handed over to him: and so it happened.
God tells Jeremiah to bury the stones "in the sight of the men of Judah." The stones vanish into the clay. The witnesses do not, and neither does the word tied to them:
Is this not a striking message? The stones would have been well fixed in the mortar as a solemn witness of these words. Some time later Jeremiah's prophecy was fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar came and took Egypt — the same Nebuchadnezzar they had been afraid of in Jerusalem so that they ran away from him.
The proud men carried Jeremiah along with them as baggage. They were carrying their own sentence too:
"All the proud men" never guessed what they were doing. They were carrying with them the one man whose voice would soon speak in Egypt to pronounce their doom. And that doom would come by the hand of the very conqueror they hoped to shut out, using the power of the king of the south as a wall he could not cross. Vain hope to escape the hand of the God they despised!
The principle behind the sign reaches far past Tahpanhes:
So it is always. In righteous government our sin soon becomes our own chastening and the world's sorrow. What our blindness built on as solid rock turns out to be quicksand, tossed by waves and winds in the swift-coming day when God comes to judge.
The stones speak to anyone tempted to run from a hard situation instead of facing it:
God's discipline does not always come at once. But it is always perfectly designed, proportionate and effective. If we run away from discipline the problem that caused it will catch up with us (and the outcome is likely to be even worse).
The positive side is not restlessness but staying put where God has placed us:
This is an important lesson for believers who wander here and there in their restless search for an easy path. They do not abide in Christ where God has set them. We are not left to choose our own way. To do otherwise is to increase the difficulties for ourselves and others. To abide in Him is to assure blessing and increase for ourselves and others also.
- Refusal. They asked for God's answer, disliked it, and went to Egypt anyway. God sends this sign to people already running from a word they knew.
- Place. The stones go into the clay at Pharaoh's doorway. One writer links the spot to an excavated brick pavement by a palace. Another hears in the brick-kiln a reminder of Israel's slavery in Egypt.
- Witness. Hidden in the clay, yet buried "in the sight of the men of Judah," the stones stand as a silent witness to a word that later came true.
- Throne. God would set Nebuchadnezzar's throne on those buried stones. The shelter they ran to became the seat of their judge.
- Lesson. Run from discipline and it follows you; abide where God has set you, and the blessing reaches others as well as yourself.
and say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones which I have hidden, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
The people Jeremiah warned have dragged him into Egypt, and at their first stop God gives him one more sign: bury great stones outside Pharaoh's palace. Then he must name the king whose throne will stand on them — and God calls that pagan conqueror His own servant.
Tahpanhes itself carried a message for people who had just run from Babylon to Egypt.
At the very spot they then reached, at Tahpanhes, God tells the prophet to hide some great stones in front of them. They were to go in the brick kiln at the entrance of Pharaoh's house. What a powerful sign this was! Didn't the brick kiln remind them of Israel's former slavery in Egypt? They had reached this spot again in their effort to escape the rule of the king of Babylon, the servant of the Lord! Had they escaped? Had they found the liberty they expected by disobeying the word of the prophet? To that very spot where these stones were placed, God would send His servant Nebuchadnezzar and set his throne on them! He would spread his royal canopy over them! Egypt, with its wealth and its goods, would be given into his hands — and so it happened.
The phrase marks a change in who holds God's commission. God had called Israel's kings His servants; now that honour passes to a foreign conqueror.
That last phrase is a remarkable word. It was no longer Zedekiah, My servant, but Nebuchadnezzar, My servant. The children of Israel and of Judah were about to lose their special place as His nation too. It was now a question, not of being His servant as a special honour, but merely in providence. Nebuchadnezzar was a Gentile who worshipped idols, yet he could be His servant in this way as much as anyone else.
Another writer traces this change to the start of a whole era of world rule by Gentile kings:
God speaks as Creator, and in His sovereignty He appoints Nebuchadnezzar as head over the nations... not for ever, but for a time. God appointed a new form of government, because Jerusalem had failed. The rule of God through the house of David was to pass away. The Lord chooses an imperial head from among the Gentiles. He makes Nebuchadnezzar His servant; with him and his rule begin the times of the Gentiles.
The refugees went to Egypt for safety. The throne on the stones says Nebuchadnezzar would arrive there too.
The prophet announced what would fall on the Jews who tried to escape by going down into Egypt. He showed them that there they would only meet more trouble at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. They could have stayed quietly in the land, under the authority of the Chaldean king whom God had placed over them. Then they would have been safe. But they chose human policy and thought it was safer to go down into Egypt, and it proved to be the opposite.
Another writer turns this into a general rule about God's discipline:
God's discipline does not always come at once. But it is always perfectly designed, fair in measure and effective. If we run away from discipline, the problem that caused it will catch up with us — and the outcome is likely to be even worse.
A dig may have found the very spot, and history records the invasion that followed.
In 1886 the Egyptologist Professor Petrie dug at Tahpanhes. He found a brick pavement in front of what seems to be a palace. It was probably the place where Jeremiah hid the stones... The words "brick kiln" mean a pavement of bricks. Then, after burying the stones, he announced that Nebuchadnezzar would come and set his throne there too. He would conquer Egypt, strike it and burn the idol temples there. Such an invasion took place about 568 BC, when the Egyptian king Amasis was defeated.
One writer reads the whole episode as a rule, not a one-off case:
So it always is. In righteous government our sin soon becomes our own chastening and the world's sorrow. What our blindness built on as rock turns out to be quicksand. Waves and winds toss it about in the day of reckoning, which comes fast.
- Servant — Judah's kings once wore this title. Now it rests on a pagan conqueror. Nebuchadnezzar serves God in providence, not in piety.
- Throne — Jeremiah buried the stones; the throne set on them opens an age when Gentile rulers govern, not David's house — and only for a time.
- Kiln — The brick kiln recalled Israel's old slavery in Egypt. They ran for freedom to the place where they had once been slaves.
- Reach — Fleeing the rod does not shorten it. At home, under Babylon's yoke, they would have been safe. In Egypt they met more of Nebuchadnezzar.
- Rock — What unbelief treats as solid ground proves to be quicksand. The one safe place is the one God appoints, however hard it looks.
And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt such as are for death to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
In Egypt, Jeremiah buried stones in the ground as a sign. The king of Babylon would set his throne on that spot — and this verse says what his coming would mean for the people who had fled there to be safe.
These people left Judah for one reason: they were afraid of the Babylonians. One writer traces where that fear took them.
They take refuge in Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar, but they only fall under the sword that would have spared them in Judea, if they had stayed there and submitted to the king. In Egypt they give themselves up to idolatry, so that the wrath of God might come upon them to the end.
The sword was never their real danger. Disobedience was.
The proud men who took Jeremiah with them to Egypt had no idea who they were carrying.
The "proud men" never expected what they were carrying with them. It was the one man whose voice would soon speak in Egypt to announce their doom. And it would come by the hand of the very conqueror they hoped to shut out, using the power of the king of the south as a wall he could not cross. What a vain hope — to escape the hand of the God they despised!
The one who comes and strikes is not acting on his own. God gives him a title that runs through the whole book.
Nebuchadnezzar, whom the Lord calls "My Servant," is spoken of about forty times. He is raised up to carry out His judgment on Israel, and on other nations too. The Lord says, "I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, My Servant: … and all nations shall serve him." Dominion is given to him by God; it is taken away from Israel.
The verse sorts people into three groups: pestilence, captivity, and the sword. Older translations read "death" where the ESV reads "pestilence." One writer draws out the principle behind that sorting.
So it is always. Under God's righteous government our sin soon becomes our own chastening and the world's grief. What our blindness built on as rock turns out to be quicksand, tossed by waves and winds in the day of visitation that comes so quickly.
This was not a threat that stayed in the air. One writer points to how it turned out in history.
Then, after burying the stones, he announced that Nebuchadnezzar would come and set his throne there too, that he would conquer Egypt, strike it, and burn the idol temples there. Such an invasion took place about 568 B.C., when the Egyptian king Amasis was defeated.
The verse has a practical edge. It shows what happens when people run from correction instead of taking it.
God's discipline is not always immediate, but it is always perfectly designed, proportionate and effective. If we run away from discipline, the problem that caused it will catch up with us (and the outcome is likely to be even worse). Had these people remained in Jerusalem and accepted the Babylonian yoke, they could have lived quietly in their own country. But having fled to Egypt, they were still within Nebuchadnezzar's reach and would die.
- Flight. They crossed a border to escape Nebuchadnezzar. He came to Egypt anyway, so the border bought them nothing.
- Servant. The Lord calls him "My Servant" and gives him dominion. The invading army is God's instrument, not Egypt's bad luck.
- Sorting. Each group gets its portion: pestilence, captivity, the sword. This is God's righteous government, where sin becomes its own chastening.
- Reversal. Egypt looked like rock. It proved to be quicksand, and the king they sheltered under was defeated.
- Return. Run from discipline and the cause of it follows you. Staying and taking it is the safer road.
And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive; and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
The people Jeremiah warned have dragged him into Egypt, to the border town of Tahpanhes, where they thought Babylon could never reach them. There he announces fire on Egypt's temples — so whose hand lights it, and what becomes of a refuge chosen against God's word?
The wording divides the act in two. God says He will kindle the fire; the king does the burning. Jeremiah's book keeps giving this foreign king a startling title.
Nebuchadnezzar, whom the Lord calls "My Servant," appears about forty times. The Lord raised him up to carry out His judgment on Israel, and on other nations too. The Lord says, "Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant… All the nations shall serve him." God gives him dominion and takes it away from Israel.
The fire falls on temples, and the gods inside go into captivity like prisoners. One writer dates the invasion that carried this out and names the sun temples involved.
Jeremiah announced that Nebuchadnezzar would conquer Egypt, strike it, and burn the idol temples there. Such an invasion took place about 568 B.C., when the Egyptian King Amasis was defeated. The pillars mentioned in verse 13 are obelisks, and Beth-Shemesh means "the house of the Sun" (Heliopolis or On).
The ESV has Nebuchadnezzar cleaning out Egypt like a shepherd cleaning his cloak; older translations have him wearing the land like a garment. Either way the land is his to handle, and he walks away in peace. Jeremiah hid great stones in the brick kiln at the palace gate as a sign.
Did the brick kiln not remind them of Israel's old slavery in Egypt? They had come back to this spot in their effort to escape the rule of the king of Babylon, the Lord's servant! Had they escaped? Had they found the liberty they expected by disobeying the word of the prophet? To that very spot where these stones were placed God would send His servant Nebuchadnezzar and set his throne on them! His royal pavilion would be spread over them! Egypt and its wealth and its goods would be given into his hands: and it was so.
What does Egypt stand for, and why should its wealth fall to this king?
Egypt pictures the world — the place God rescued His people from by His grace, and to seek its help in anything is a serious offence in His sight… The Lord considered that wages were due to Nebuchadnezzar for his service in destroying Tyre. That wealthy trading city did not give its captors rich plunder, because Tyrian ships had carried a great deal of treasure away to the west. The wealth of Egypt was the Lord's payment to the man He used to carry out His righteous judgements. That wealth included the silver and gold Pharaoh Necho had carried there from Jerusalem (Ezek. 29:18).
The men who forced Jeremiah into Egypt expected to find safety there.
Little did "all the proud men" expect what they were carrying along with them. They had brought the one man whose voice would so soon speak out in Egypt to pronounce their doom. And it would come by the hand of the very conqueror they hoped to shut out, using the power of the king of the south as a wall he could not pass. Vain hope to escape the hand of the God they despised!
God corrects His own people on the same principle.
God's discipline does not always come at once. But it is always perfectly designed, rightly measured and effective. If we run away from discipline, the problem that caused it will catch up with us. The outcome is likely to be even worse. Had these people stayed in Jerusalem and accepted the Babylonian yoke, they could have lived quietly in their own country. But having fled to Egypt, they were still within Nebuchadnezzar's reach and would die.
The pull to move somewhere easier did not end with the people in this chapter.
This is an important lesson for believers who go here and there in restless efforts to find an easy path, and who do not remain in Christ where God has set them. We are not left to choose our own way; we are to stay in the path of God's will and not depart from it. There are difficulties, no doubt. There were difficulties with this remnant. We are still to remain in Christ. To do otherwise is to increase the difficulties for ourselves and others.
- God's fire. God Himself lights the blaze in Egypt's temples; the army only carries out what He has decided.
- God's servant. The Lord calls Babylon's king His servant. He raised him up to judge, and gave him the rule Israel had lost.
- God's reach. He handles the land like a shepherd handling his cloak, takes its wealth as wages for destroying Tyre, and walks away untouched.
- No escape. They ran from Nebuchadnezzar and ran straight into his throne. Run from correction and the trouble follows you, worse than before.
- Stay put. At home under the yoke they could have lived in peace. Hold the path God has set; do not hunt for an easier one.
And he shall break the pillars of Beth-shemesh, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.
The people who begged Jeremiah for God's word then refused it and took him down into Egypt with them. At Tahpanhes he buries stones in the pavement, a sign that Babylon's throne will follow them there. His message ends not with armies or palaces but with smashed stone pillars and burning temples. So what was God's real quarrel with Egypt?
The ESV calls the place Heliopolis; older translations keep the Hebrew name, Beth-shemesh. The name itself says what went on there:
An idolatrous temple in Egypt, Jeremiah 43:13. Because its name means "house of the sun," people take it to be the same as On, or Heliopolis, a place linked with sun-worship.
One writer names the pillars and dates the invasion that fulfilled this word:
Then, after burying the stones, he announced that Nebuchadnezzar would come and set his throne there too. He would conquer Egypt, strike it, and burn the idol temples there. Such an invasion took place about 568 BC, when the Egyptian king Amasis was defeated. The pillars mentioned in verse 13 are obelisks, and Beth-Shemesh means "the house of the Sun" (Heliopolis or On).
Why do the temples get the last word in the sentence? Commenting on a similar prophecy against Egypt, one writer traces this back to the night of the passover:
It is with the gods of Egypt, as at first so now at last, that God's main controversy lies. This was before Him when the destroyer went through the land and struck the firstborn on the night of the passover. It is before Him here when He adds that there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt.
God calls the man who does this breaking His own servant. That title had belonged to Zedekiah, Judah's king:
That is a remarkable word. It was no longer Zedekiah, My servant, but Nebuchadnezzar, My servant. The children of Israel and of Judah were about to lose their special place as His nation, too. Being His servant was now a matter of providence, not of special honour. Nebuchadnezzar, a Gentile who worshipped idols, could be His servant in this way as much as anyone else.
The spot chosen for the stones carried a message of its own:
How eloquent this sign was! Did the brick kiln not remind them of Israel's former slavery in Egypt? They had reached this spot again in their effort to escape the rule of the king of Babylon, the servant of the Lord! Had they escaped? Had they found the liberty they expected by disobeying the word of the prophet? God would send His servant Nebuchadnezzar to the very spot where these stones lay, and set his throne on them!
They carried the prophet into Egypt with them, and with him they carried their own sentence:
"All the proud men" never expected that they were carrying along with them the one whose voice would so soon speak in Egypt to pronounce their doom. And that doom would come by the hand of the very conqueror they hoped to shut out, using the power of the king of the south as a barrier no one could pass. What a vain hope, to escape the hand of the God they despised!
One writer applies this to anyone tempted to escape a hard situation by turning to the world:
If people think that by going into the world they will escape trouble, they make a great mistake. We get tired of strife and divisions and weakness, but going into the world does not improve matters.
- Sun. The Heliopolis of this verse is Beth-shemesh, "house of the sun." Also called On, it was Egypt's centre of sun-worship, and its pillars were obelisks.
- Gods. Breaking those pillars shows where God's controversy really lay. It was with the gods of Egypt, from the night of the passover to the last.
- Servant. The hand that breaks them is Nebuchadnezzar's, and God calls him "My servant." The title is not an honour here but providence, once Judah had lost its place.
- Sign. The stones hidden in the brick pavement at Tahpanhes marked the exact spot where Babylon's throne would stand. The invasion came about 568 BC.
- Escape. Those who ran to Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar carried both the prophet and their sentence with them. No border keeps out the God whose word they despised.