The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
At the end of chapter 43 Judah's own leaders took the last survivors down into Egypt, and carried Jeremiah with them. Chapter 44 opens with God's word finding them there, scattered through the towns of Egypt. So why does God still speak to people who had run that far to get away from what He said?
They had a direct warning from the Lord, and they hardened their hearts against it. One writer shows how fast a refusal like that gathers speed, and why God still sends a message.
The path of unbelief is a rapid descent when the heart hardens itself against a direct warning of the Lord. The greater the show of godliness before, the deeper the fall... God loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name; if they desert Him for another, woe to them! It cannot but be to their shame, sorrow and ruin. Even when they have revolted to the very end, they are not left without a message, in case anyone might yet hear and escape.
The four names are not decoration. They show how far the runaways had scattered across a foreign country, and God's word reaches every one of those settlements.
The message is about all the Jews who were now living in Egypt. As well as being in Tahpanhes, they were also in Noph (Memphis) and in Pathros, which was in upper Egypt. Ancient papyri in Aramaic came to light not long ago. They show that a Jewish colony lived in that part of Egypt. In his message Jeremiah reminds them how God had dealt with Jerusalem and Judah for their idol worship, though He had sent prophets to warn them. And now they were doing the same thing in Egypt.
The message that follows goes back over what God had already done to Jerusalem. Why repeat a record of failure? One writer puts the question and answers it.
Did God take pleasure in recounting their sins, and His judgments as well as His warnings? No, it was His pity and His desire that those in Egypt might at last listen... Imminent danger hung over them; Egypt would be a useless shelter, but in the meantime it was far too certain a decoy into idolatry.
Two groups of Jews were now outside the land. One was captive in Babylon; the other had chosen Egypt for itself. Their two stories end very differently.
The story of this remnant stands out as a complete contrast to that of the remnant in Babylon. This group goes down into Egypt against the word of the Lord, and sword, famine and disease will consume them. Those in Babylon have the promise of peace and prosperity and plenty for the time being. This group carries Jeremiah into Egypt even though he announces their doom. The others have Ezekiel and Daniel with them at Babylon, where Daniel prevails in prayer with God for their deliverance and restoration. God at the beginning redeemed the people out of Egypt, but Babylon became the place of their captivity when they had turned away from the Lord. To go back to Egypt, then, was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
Egypt was the country God had brought them out of in the first place. Running back to it for safety was not a new mistake, and one writer refuses to treat it as a fault belonging only to them.
Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God. Yet God had delivered them out of that land, and they had seen His judgment on it in their own deliverance. Yet again and again they could turn back to it. Sadly, it is an inconsistency that not one of us who knows himself can be a stranger to! Happy are those who are taught by some means at last to say, as the apostle says for Christians: "For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh."
- Disobedience put them there. They hardened their hearts against a direct warning from the Lord and went to Egypt anyway. The greater the earlier show of godliness, the deeper the fall.
- Distance did not silence God. From Migdol to Pathros in upper Egypt, He names every place they had scattered to.
- Pity explains the message. God goes back over Jerusalem's ruin not for the pleasure of it, but so that those in Egypt might at last listen.
- Direction decided their future. Babylon, the place of their captivity, held deliverance; Egypt, which they chose, was a useless shelter and a decoy into idolatry.
- Danger remains ours. Turning back to what God once delivered us from is a snare no one who knows himself can claim to be a stranger to.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold they are, this day, a waste, and no man dwelleth therein,
God speaks these words in Egypt, not in Jerusalem, to survivors of Judah's ruin who had fled there against His word. He opens by pointing them back to the empty cities of Judah — a disaster He says He Himself brought.
These people had already heard where safety lay. They went to Egypt after God's word had reached them:
The path of unbelief drops fast once the heart hardens itself against a direct warning of the Lord. And the louder the claim to godliness before, the deeper the fall. Going down into Egypt for safety was not natural for these people. They had always bowed to Babylon against their will, and they dreaded the anger of the Babylonian king because of the murder of the governor and the others. But it was a fatal step once the prophet gave them the word of the Lord. That word promised them safety in the land under Nebuchadnezzar, and destruction in Egypt. Egypt was where their impulse — indeed their determination — drove them, to shelter there as a sensible precaution. God loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name; if they desert Him for another, it will be to their shame, sorrow and ruin.
Even after this ruin, the few left in the land could have lived there in peace. They only had to accept the place God had given them:
Even at this last hour, this remnant could have submitted to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. Then peace would have reigned in the land, and the few who remained would have kept it. But some revolt, and the others fear the consequences of their folly. There is no thought of trusting in the Lord. They consult Jeremiah, but refuse to obey the word of the Lord from his mouth. 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 under the king.
These people had settled across Egypt, and they had carried Judah's sin with them:
The message concerns all the Jews who were now living in Egypt. Besides Tahpanhes, they were also in Noph (Memphis) and in Pathros, in upper Egypt. Ancient papyri in Aramaic, found not long ago, show that a Jewish colony lived in that part of Egypt. In his message Jeremiah reminds them how God had dealt with Jerusalem and Judah because of their idol worship. He had even sent prophets to warn them. And now they were doing the same thing in Egypt.
One writer sets what man is beside what God is. He then warns anyone who thinks that going into the world will make life easier:
If all this shows what man is in self-will and rebellion, it also shows what God is in patient grace and goodness (Jer. 44:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Grace follows them even into Egypt and still pleads with them; but nothing humbles them or brings them to repentance (Jer. 44:5-10). But there is a limit to patience, and judgment follows from which there is no escape (Jer. 44:11-14). 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 mend matters. We see here the sad effect of going into the world; it left them without heart or conscience.
Judah's survivors went two ways: some into Egypt, some into Babylon. The two paths ended very differently:
This short history has a special interest. The story of this remnant stands out as a complete contrast to the remnant in Babylon. These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, and sword and famine and disease will consume them. Those in Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for the time being. These carry Jeremiah with them into Egypt, even though he announces their doom. The others have Ezekiel and Daniel with them in Babylon. There Daniel prevails in prayer with God for their rescue and restoration. At the beginning God redeemed the people out of Egypt. Babylon became the place of their captivity when they turned away from the Lord. To return to Egypt was therefore fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
- Seen — God starts with what they could not deny. They had watched Jerusalem and the cities of Judah become an empty ruin.
- Warned — God had sent prophets long before the ruin came. Before Egypt, Jeremiah told them peace lay in staying under Nebuchadnezzar.
- Refused — Their hearts hardened against a direct word from God. They dressed a fatal step up as a sensible precaution.
- Followed — Grace went after them into Egypt and kept pleading. It showed what God is, even while they showed what man is.
- Repeated — Nothing humbled them. The same idol worship that emptied Judah reappeared in Egypt, and judgment followed it there.
because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense to serve other gods which they knew not, they, [nor] ye, nor your fathers.
Jerusalem has already fallen. This word comes to the survivors who ran to Egypt — people who watched the judgment happen and then repeated the sin that caused it. God names the evil exactly: offerings and service given to gods that no generation of Israel had ever known.
This message finds the people of Judah in the one place God had told them not to go. One commentator traces how a people gets that far:
The path of unbelief drops away fast once the heart hardens against a direct warning from the Lord. The greater the show of godliness before, the deeper the fall... God loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name. If they desert Him for another, woe to them! It can only end in shame, sorrow and ruin. Even when they have revolted as far as they can go, He does not leave them without a message, in case any might still hear and escape.
Two groups of survivors were left, and their stories run in opposite directions:
This short history has a special interest. The story of this group stands out as a complete contrast to the story of the group taken to Babylon. These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, and sword, famine and disease will destroy them. Those at Babylon are promised peace and prosperity and plenty for the time being... At the beginning God redeemed the people out of Egypt. Babylon became the place of their captivity after they turned away from the Lord. So going back to Egypt was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
These gods were strangers to Israel's whole history. One commentator identifies one of them:
She was the female form of Baal, or Bel. She went by the names Beltis, Ashtaroth, Astarte, Alitta, Mylitta, Aphrodite, and others. Her worship involved the grossest immorality.
The verse names three groups: the people who did this, the ones listening now, and their fathers. One commentator explains what that piling up means:
Here we see sin inherited. Under the government of God, the people are held responsible for the sins of their fathers. In moral terms, their sins were the pile-up of all the sins that went before them. God had borne with those sins in His patience. They despised that patience, and used it as their chance to plunge deeper into evil.
God's anger is real, but the ruin fell on the people who chose the idols. Egypt promised safety and delivered the opposite:
"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?"... Danger hung over them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, and at the same time far too sure a trap into idolatry.
Why list all this again? One commentator answers that question directly:
Did God take pleasure in going over their sins, His judgments and His warnings? No. It was His pity, and His desire that those in Egypt might listen at last.
The record was an appeal. Another commentator sums up what they had already seen, and refused:
They had seen with their own eyes the destruction and ruin that God had brought on Judah and Jerusalem because of their wickedness. He had begged them: "Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!" They did not listen. So the judgment that waited long came at last with fury and anger. They are told to let that lesson teach them not to provoke the Lord to wrath any more by their abominable idolatry.
- Warned. God begged them to stop long before the fire fell. The ruin of Jerusalem was not sudden. It was the end of a patience they had despised.
- Inherited. The charge names the hearers and their fathers alike. Sin piled up over the years, and each generation used God's patience to sink further.
- Unknown. The gods they chose were strangers to their whole history. The worship that went with them was full of gross immorality.
- Self-destroying. Turning to other gods was an evil they committed against themselves. God's anger fell, but the loss was theirs.
- Still spoken to. They had revolted as far as they could go. They had fled to the one country that could not save them. Still God sent a message, so that some might hear and escape.
And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing which I hate!
This verse looks back over a long history. God recalls how He kept sending prophet after prophet to Judah. Each one carried the same plea, long before the ruin fell. He speaks it to survivors now living in Egypt. Why repeat old warnings to people who ignored them? And why does He hate what they are doing?
One writer sets two things side by side: what these people were in themselves, and what God was toward them.
If all this shows what man is in self-will and rebellion, it also shows what God is in patient grace and goodness (Jeremiah 44:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Grace follows them even into Egypt, and still pleads with them; but nothing humbles them or brings them to repentance. But there is a limit to patience, and judgment follows from which there is no escape.
The same writer adds a warning: "If people think that by going into the world they will escape trouble, they make a great mistake."
Here God goes back over what He once did — the prophets He sent, the plea He made. One writer asks why He would open such painful ground again.
Did God take pleasure in recounting their sins, and His judgments as well as His warnings? No — it was His pity and His desire that those in Egypt might at last listen.
The same writer says why Egypt could not save them: "Egypt would be a useless shelter, but meanwhile it was all too sure a lure into idolatry."
One writer draws out the picture behind God's sending. The people matched His energy, but used it the other way.
As the Lord rose early to send them messages and warnings, they rose early to indulge in their wickedness.
The thing God hates here is idolatry. One writer shows how far God's view of it sits from man's casual one.
In every age, nothing shows the gap between God's word and men's thoughts more clearly than this. People treat idols and strange gods lightly, and God hates that, above all in His own people. There may be no deliberate plan to abandon His worship. It may only be what they count a small thing — going along with idolatry now and then, while still professing His name. But God absolutely rejects any such unholy compromise, quite apart from the danger, for those who allow it, of complete revolt from Him. It strikes at His majesty, at holiness and truth, and is intolerable in His eyes.
One writer traces the whole sequence: what the people had already seen, what God asked of them, and what their refusal brought.
They had seen with their own eyes the destruction and desolation God had brought on Judah and Jerusalem for their wickedness. He had pleaded earnestly with them, saying, "Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!" But they did not listen. So the judgment that had waited long came at last with fury and anger.
One writer applies this to readers today. God's habit has not changed: He warns before He judges.
Why does the Spirit warn you so often? Why does He so often bring your own case, as it were, before you? Why? Is it not because God always warns before He judges? Is it not that He often gives the unsaved soul the opportunity of escape, though sadly, they pay no attention to it? Yes, He is a God of mercy now, though one day He will be a God of judgment to those who scorn and reject His offered mercy.
- Sent — God did not judge Judah in silence. He sent prophet after prophet, long before the ruin came.
- Early — He rose early to send His warnings. His people rose just as early to spoil their own doings.
- Hated — what He asked them to drop was no small habit. Idolatry strikes at His majesty, and He will not tolerate it.
- Followed — grace pursued them even into Egypt and pleaded again. Going over their sins was pity, not pleasure in accusing.
- Limited — patience has an end. The judgment that waited long fell at last. The same God still warns before He judges.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
God speaks here to the Jews who had fled to Egypt. He starts with their own history: prophets sent again and again, and a people who would not listen or turn from their evil. This verse explains why Judah lies in ruins, and God sets it in front of survivors doing the very same thing.
Before threatening anything, God reminds the refugees of what they have already watched happen. One writer sets out the flow of the chapter, including the plea God had made through His servants:
In Egypt the word came to Jeremiah about them all (Jer. 44:1-14). They had seen with their own eyes the ruin and desolation that God brought on Judah and Jerusalem because of their wickedness. He had begged them, "Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate." But they did not listen. So the judgment that held off so long came at last with fury and anger.
This verse shows one side of the story. The other side is God sending messenger after messenger, and the reason He gave for it:
All through their history, God's patience rises above their sin. Still, they turned a deaf ear and wanted nothing to do with His correction. The Lord "sent to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place." But they mocked His messengers, despised His words, and abused the prophets. In the end the Lord's anger rose against His people until there was no remedy.
They were not short of light. They were unwilling. One writer traces what that stubbornness leads to:
God's patience waits. More than that, it uses every means to call back to sincerity and to Himself those who hold the truth, or at least its outward form. The most moving appeals, the strongest warnings, the kindness that stoops to reason with people almost as an equal — men make all of it useless by their stubbornness, despising grace and practising evil. In the end, when God has used up every means of calling them to repentance, the judgment His patience had held back arrives.
Refusing a clear word does not leave a person where it found them. It pulls them downward, and the fall is deepest for those who claimed the most:
Unbelief is a steep, fast slide once the heart hardens itself against a direct warning from the Lord. And the greater the show of godliness beforehand, the deeper the fall.
The verse joins two failures: they would not listen, and they would not turn. Refusing a voice you once knew was God's does something to the conscience:
All truth speaks with an authority that honest people recognise. The more precious the truth, the sadder the results when someone refuses to act on it. To play with any truth is dangerous, and a hardened heart is the certain result. How many people carry a conscience paralysed at one point — if we can put it that way — because they refused something in which they once recognised the voice of God.
God asked for more than agreement. He asked them to "turn from their evil":
Where is repentance if the very thing He condemns carries on? To repent is to judge the evil as God does and leave it behind. We are to "cease to do evil" and "learn to do good."
The survivors had run to a place that could not save them:
Danger hung over them. Egypt would prove a useless shelter, and in the meantime it was all too sure a lure into idolatry.
His verdict on them is blunt:
Sadly, they had ears, but they did not hear. The remnant was rotten to the core.
- God spoke first. God sent messenger after messenger because He had compassion on His people. The warning was mercy before it was ever a threat.
- The ear decided. They did not listen or incline their ear. The problem was not missing light. It was stubbornness against grace.
- Turning was the test. Repentance is not regret about evil but departing from it — to cease doing evil and learn to do good.
- Refusal hardens. Playing with truth you once recognised deadens the conscience. The fall is steepest for those who claimed the most.
- Then judgment comes. When patience has used every means, the judgment it held back falls. Egypt, chosen as a shelter, proved only a lure into the same sin.
And my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are become a waste, a desolation, as at this day.
God speaks to the Jews who had fled to Egypt, and He points first to the ruin behind them: Judah's towns and Jerusalem's streets lie empty because His anger fell there. So did God strike without warning, why does He retell the disaster, and why were the survivors already repeating the sin that caused it?
This verse looks back on something that had already happened. The people hearing it had watched it happen, and the closing words "as at this day" mean the ruin was still in front of them. One writer sets the fury of this verse against the long pleading that came first:
With their own eyes they had seen the destruction and desolation God brought on Judah and Jerusalem for their wickedness. He had begged them, "Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate." But they did not listen. So the judgment that waited long came at last with fury and anger.
Before the fire fell, God took pains to warn. What stands out in that record is the hardness of the people, not the severity of God:
Notice the hardness of the people's heart. They were stubborn in evil, and refused to bow the neck to God's testimony, despite all the pains God took, if we may put it that way, to warn them… The Lord had always set a full and lasting blessing before the people, if they repented; but they would not.
The people had burned incense to another god in those same streets. When Jeremiah confronted them, they defended that worship and blamed their hardship on having stopped it:
So they gloried in their shame. They took no notice of what the Lord had done, or of the working of His hands, and it led to their own destruction. They read their troubles as the result of slighting the queen of heaven. Their will was set hard on a so-called religion that made sheer depravity and passion holy.
The same writer identifies the figure they were worshipping in those streets:
This was the female form of Baal or Bel. She was called Beltis, Ashtaroth, Astarte, Alitta, Mylitta, Aphrodite, and other names, and her worship involved the grossest immorality.
reason: "rehearses" is not plain English
Retelling a disaster can be cruelty, or it can be rescue. Here the aim was to reach the survivors before they repeated the sin in Egypt:
Did God take pleasure in recounting their sins, and His judgments as well as His warnings? No — it was His pity, and His desire that those in Egypt might listen at last… Danger was closing in on them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, but meanwhile it was a sure trap that drew them into idolatry.
The direction of their flight mattered. This group stands in sharp contrast to the exiles taken to Babylon:
These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, and sword, famine and disease will consume them. Those at Babylon have a promise of peace, prosperity and plenty for a time… God redeemed the people out of Egypt at the beginning. But Babylon became the place of their captivity after they turned away from the Lord. So to return to Egypt was fatal, while from Babylon there was deliverance.
Everything turns on who is behind the desolation. The people traced their losses to an offended idol; Jeremiah traced them to God:
Why did they not put their troubles down to the chastening hand of God, which was the truth? That is exactly what the prophet presses home, with the simplicity and force of truth.
- Warned — God took pains to warn, and set full blessing before the people if they would repent. The fire in this verse falls only after that pleading has run out.
- Burned — The fury fell where the incense had risen: Judah's towns and Jerusalem's streets. The worship of the goddess they served there involved gross immorality.
- Recalled — In Egypt God names the ruin again. He does it not to shame the survivors but out of pity, so that this group might listen at last.
- Misread — They blamed their hardship on neglecting the queen of heaven, not on the chastening hand of God. So they gloried in the very thing that had destroyed them.
- Chosen — Direction decided the outcome. From Babylon there was deliverance; going back to Egypt against God's word was fatal.
And now thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel Wherefore commit ye great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you no remnant;
God is speaking to the survivors of Judah's collapse, who fled to Egypt against His word. There they took up the idolatry that ruined their homeland, and now He asks why they are destroying their own families.
They were not dragged to Egypt. They walked there, after God had told them what would happen.
The path of unbelief is a rapid descent when the heart hardens itself against a direct warning of the Lord. The greater the claim to godliness before, the deeper the fall... it was a fatal step when the prophet gave them the word of the Lord. That word assured them of safety in the land under Nebuchadnezzar, and of destruction in Egypt. Yet their impulse — indeed their determination — was to go there for shelter as a sensible precaution. God loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name; if they desert Him for another, woe to them!
They picked Egypt as a hiding place. It failed them in two ways.
Danger was closing in on them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, but meanwhile it was all too sure a trap into idolatry.
God opens by asking why. He is not listing their crimes for the record.
Did God take pleasure in going over their sins, His judgments and His warnings? No — it was His pity, and His desire that those in Egypt might listen at last.
The wrong strikes at God, yet the ruin falls on them. They had watched this story play out once in Jerusalem, and were now repeating it.
Jeremiah reminds them in his message how God had dealt with Jerusalem and Judah because of their idolatries. He had even sent prophets to warn them. And now they were doing the same thing in Egypt. "You too are bringing utter ruin on yourselves and all your own."
The verse counts the cost household by household: man, woman, child, infant. Kelly points to the part the wives played in the idolatry.
Notice here that the prophet stresses the wickedness of wives, and the part it played in bringing on the disasters of Israel, both before and now. Women are more ready to hear and feel, for good or ill, than men... It is a great grace from the Lord when they receive the truth and are saved. It is an awful sign that judgment is near when they renounce the truth and are bold and shameless in their determination to serve a false god.
The ruin of Judah was not distant history to these people. They had watched it happen, and God set the lesson before them again.
They had seen with their own eyes how God destroyed Judah and Jerusalem and left them empty, because of their wickedness. He had pleaded with them: "Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate." They did not listen, so the judgment He held back for so long came at last with fury and anger. They must let that lesson teach them. They are not to provoke the Lord to wrath any more by their abominable idolatry, for if they did not listen they would be wiped out.
Later in the chapter they answer this appeal. They read their own disasters backwards, blaming the idol they had stopped serving.
So they gloried in their shame. They took no notice of the works of the Lord or of the work of His hands, and it destroyed them. They blamed their troubles on neglecting the queen of heaven, because their will was set on a so-called religion that made depravity and passion sacred.
- Chosen — nobody forced Egypt on them. They picked it as shelter against a warning already given, and unbelief falls fast once a heart hardens against God's direct word.
- Trapped — the shelter protected nothing. It pulled them straight back into the idolatry that had already ruined Jerusalem.
- Self-harm — the sin is against God, but the ruin falls on them and on all they have.
- Whole households — man, woman, child and infant all count in the loss. The prophet names the wives' part in the idolatry as a sign that judgment was near.
- Pity — God's why is not a charge sheet but an appeal. He asks because He still wants them to listen, though they answered by boasting in their shame.
provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are come to sojourn, that ye should be cut off, and that ye should be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
After Jerusalem fell, Judah's survivors fled to Egypt against God's word and took up the worship of Egypt's gods. Now God asks them why, and His question points to where the harm lands: on themselves.
The people did not arrive at Egyptian idolatry in one leap. One commentator traces the slide to a warning they refused. He also names what God wants to be for His people:
Unbelief goes downhill fast when the heart hardens itself against a direct warning from the Lord. And the greater the show of godliness before, the deeper the fall. Going down into Egypt for safety was a fatal step. The prophet had given them the word of the Lord, assuring them of safety in the land under Nebuchadnezzar and of destruction in Egypt, where they were determined to go for shelter. God loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name; if they desert Him for another, woe to them! It cannot but be to their shame, sorrow and ruin. Even when they have rebelled as far as they can go, God still sends them a message, in case any might yet hear and escape.
Other Jews were living as captives in Babylon at the same time. The two groups ended very differently:
This short history is especially interesting, because the story of this remnant stands out as a complete contrast to the story of the remnant in Babylon. These people go down into Egypt against the word of the Lord, and sword, famine and disease will destroy them. Those at Babylon are promised peace, prosperity and plenty for the time being... At the beginning God redeemed the people out of Egypt. Babylon became the place of their captivity after they turned away from the Lord. To return to Egypt therefore was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
The phrase God uses here is not a general word for sin. It belongs to one thing:
"The works of their hands" is a phrase peculiar to heathen idolatry (Isa. 2:8; Jer. 1:16; 25:6-7, 14; Deut. 4:28; Ps. 115:4-7; 135:15).
Handmade gods are only the visible end of it. One writer traces the root further back. The same thing happens where no carved image is in sight:
The root of all idolatry is self-will, it is making a god of our own. It starts with self and shapes a god of our own — and it need not be made of silver, or made with our hands... There is a tool more cunning and skilful than the hands: the mind of man. Wherever self takes the place of the will of God, you will find the human mind at work, shaping a god to please itself. And it does this in the name of the Lord, in the name of the true God.
God lists their sins and asks them to explain themselves. He has a reason for both, and a warning about the country they had chosen:
Did God take pleasure in listing their sins, and His judgments as well as His warnings? No. It was His pity, and His desire that those in Egypt might listen at last... Danger hung right over them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, and meanwhile it was all too sure a lure into idolatry.
They went on with the idols, and God announced the outcome:
These wretched people start serving other gods again in the land of Egypt where they had fled. These words describe their state: "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" (Jer. 44:10). So God declares that of all those who had gone down to Egypt, only a very small number would escape (v. 28). None of the rest would escape or survive or return to the land of Judah (Jer. 44:14).
- Descent. Harden your heart against one clear warning and the slide is fast. The louder the earlier show of godliness, the deeper the fall.
- Decoy. Egypt looked like shelter. It gave them no safety, and it lured them into idolatry.
- Self-will. The root of idolatry is not silver or stone. It is a will that shapes a god to suit itself, and the mind is a more cunning tool than the hands — it works even in God's name.
- Self-harm. They provoke God, but the loss is theirs. Their own act cuts them off and makes them a curse among the nations.
- Pity. God lists their sins and asks them why, not for pleasure, but so that they might still hear Him. He loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name.
Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Jeremiah is speaking to Jewish refugees. They had fled to Egypt after Jerusalem fell, and there they took up idol worship. God asks whether the sins that ruined Judah have already slipped out of their memory. Behind the question lies a deeper issue: judgment teaches nothing to a heart that will not bow.
These Jews had settled in several Egyptian towns, and the move had not changed their habits.
The message is concerning all the Jews who were now dwelling in Egypt. Besides being in Tahpanhes, they were also in Noph (Memphis) and in Pathros, which was in upper Egypt... In his message Jeremiah reminds them how God dealt with Jerusalem and Judah because of their idol worship, though He had sent prophets to warn them. And now they were doing the same thing in Egypt.
The choice of Egypt was itself part of the tragedy. Babylon held another group of exiles, and their story ran the opposite way.
This short piece of history is especially interesting. The story of this remnant stands in complete contrast to the story of the remnant in Babylon. These people go down into Egypt against the word of the Lord, where sword, famine and disease will destroy them. Those in Babylon have a promise of peace, prosperity and plenty, for a time... At the beginning God redeemed the people out of Egypt, but Babylon became the place of their captivity after they turned away from the Lord. So going back to Egypt was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
Such a list could look like a God who enjoys keeping accounts. The reason behind it is the opposite.
Did God take pleasure in recounting their sins, and His judgments as well as His warnings? No, it was His pity and desire that those in Egypt might at last listen... Danger hung right over them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, but meanwhile it was all too sure a trap into idol worship.
The question does not stop at the fathers and the kings. It reaches the kings' wives, the hearers themselves, and their own wives. Wives are named twice, and one writer explains why influence like theirs cuts both ways.
Notice here that the prophet lays stress on the wickedness of wives. It had its part in bringing on the disasters of Israel, both before and now. Women are more ready to hear and feel, for good or ill, than men... It is a great grace from the Lord when they receive the truth and are saved. It is an awful sign of speedy judgment when they renounce the truth and are bold and shameless in their resolve to serve a false god.
Knowing what God did to the last generation raises the standard for this one. The same writer makes the point with a family picture.
Suppose a child has grown up knowing his father's dishonour, and hearing of his disgrace and punishment. If the child had any right feeling, would that sin not be especially hateful in his eyes? The public example of his father's evil ways would always be before him. But suppose the son treated it lightly and used it as encouragement to walk in the same path. Is it not just that a still more severe punishment should fall on that son?
Forgetting here is not a failure of memory. The next verse gives the real diagnosis.
These wretched people begin again to serve other gods in the land of Egypt to which they had fled. These words describe their state: "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" (Jer. 44:10).
A few verses later they answered Jeremiah. Their reply measured the past by their own comfort, not by God's word.
So they gloried in their shame. They took no notice of the works of the Lord or the work of His hands, and it led to their own destruction. They read their troubles as the result of neglecting the queen of heaven, because they clung with all their will to a so-called religion that treated corruption and lust as sacred.
- Remembered — God lists the sins of fathers, kings, wives and hearers out of pity, not to settle scores. He wants them to listen at last.
- Repeated — In Egypt the refugees did what had already emptied Judah. A new country changed nothing, because the idol worship travelled with them.
- Wrong refuge — Babylon held a remnant with a promise of return. Egypt was the land God once redeemed them out of, and going back there was fatal.
- Accountable — Knowing a father's disgrace and then walking the same road makes the sin worse, not lighter. God is just to punish it more severely.
- Unhumbled — Forgetting is not weak memory but an unbroken will. They never humbled themselves, never feared, and blamed their losses on the idol they had dropped.
They are not humbled unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes which I set before you and before your fathers.
God's word reaches the Jews who fled to Egypt after Jerusalem fell. Verse 10 says the ruin they had watched taught them nothing.
They came to Egypt to save their lives. One writer traces what the move actually cost them.
They take refuge in Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar. But there they fall under the sword. It would have spared them in Judea, if they had stayed there in submission to the king. In Egypt they give themselves up to idolatry, so that the wrath of God might come upon them to the end.
Egypt promised safety and delivered idolatry.
Verse 10 ends a long recital of sins — their fathers' and their own. Why go through the whole list?
Did God take pleasure in recounting their sins, and His judgments as well as His warnings? No, it was His pity and His desire that those in Egypt might at last listen… Imminent peril hung over them. Egypt would be a useless shelter. But meanwhile it was too sure a lure into idolatry.
God does not say they were unhappy. He says they had not humbled themselves. Older translations read "they are not humbled," which points to the humbling God does when a person will not do it himself. One writer sorts out the difference.
The invariable way of God is this: "Whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Faith alone gives self-humiliation. There are two forms of it. The happiest of all is to be humble. The next best thing is to be humbled… Humility is the effect of grace. Humbling belongs instead to God's righteous government, where we are not humble… Judgment must come instead of humbling. But in every case anything is better than to have our soul lifted up.
That is the exact position of the people in Egypt. Grace had not made them humble. Disaster had not humbled them. Only judgment was left.
They had watched a whole nation collapse, and the sight left them unchanged. One writer, describing a judgment where darkness falls, gives the reason.
Nor does the darkness produce repentance: "They gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds." Such is the hardening character of sin. Such also is the powerlessness of judgment by itself to break the heart and subdue the soul to God.
Another writer finds the same thing in Israel's history. A person can study God's past dealings just to learn how to keep sinning with the least damage to himself, "without in the least being softened into true penitence" (Samuel Ridout).
The verse lists three failures: not humbled, not fearing, not walking in His law. A few verses later, those failures come out of their mouths.
The people, however, had become so hardened in their evil ways that they tell the prophet without hesitation, "We will not listen to you"! They inform him that they will continue their idolatry and burn incense to the queen of heaven. Their reason: when we did these things in Judah and Jerusalem we had plenty of bread, we were well, and saw no disaster. Jeremiah points out that this was the very thing which brought God's judgment on Judah and Jerusalem.
They even read their losses backwards. They blamed their troubles on having stopped the idol worship — "so they gloried in their shame, ignoring the works of the Lord and the work of His hands, to their own destruction" (William Kelly).
One writer carries the charge into the present day.
What defiance and wickedness, the fruit of their unbelieving hearts! Still greater is the defiance and wickedness of today, when people deliberately reject the cross and the gospel of Christ.
- Seen — They watched Jerusalem fall for this very sin. The sight taught them nothing. Judgment by itself has no power "to break the heart and subdue the soul to God."
- Pitied — God's long list of their sins was mercy, not spite: His desire was "that those in Egypt might at last listen."
- Unhumbled — The best thing is to be humble. The next best is to be humbled. Where neither happens, "judgment must come instead of humbling."
- Defiant — An unhumbled heart does not stay silent. It tells God's messenger, "We will not listen to you." It even blames its losses on leaving the idol.
- Today — Egypt was a useless shelter and a sure lure into idolatry. The defiance is greater still where people knowingly refuse the cross and the gospel.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
After Jerusalem fell, the last survivors of Judah ignored God's word and ran to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them. There they went back to burning incense to other gods, and this verse is God's answer.
God had used these same words of Jerusalem itself:
How forceful is the assurance! Not only would the Lord give the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the fire as fuel, but He would "set His face against them." Think what that means to those who know His name, and know that He must hate evil! The Lord declares His settled opposition. As if that were not definite enough, He adds that they will go out from the fire, and the fire will devour them. There was no escape; for no real repentance followed, and God was not mocked.
They went to Egypt to be safe from the king of Babylon. It could not keep them safe, and it did something worse:
Great danger hung over them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, but in the meantime it was far too sure a lure into idolatry.
The deeper wrong was in whom they had left:
God loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name; if they abandon Him for another, it will go badly for them! It cannot help but end in their shame, sorrow and ruin. Even when they have rebelled to the very end, God still sends them a message, in case any might yet hear and escape.
The sentence does not open the chapter. It comes after long pleading:
If all this shows what man is in self-will and rebellion, it also shows what God is in patient grace and goodness (Jer. 44:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Grace follows them even into Egypt, and still pleads with them; but nothing humbles them or brings them to repentance (Jer. 44:5-10). But there is a limit to patience, and judgment follows from which there is no escape (Jer. 44:11-14). 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. We see here the sad effect of going into the world; it left them without heart or conscience.
Another group of Jews had already been carried off to Babylon. Their story runs the opposite way:
This short history has a particular interest. The story of this remnant stands out in complete contrast to the one in Babylon. These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, to be consumed by sword and famine and pestilence; those at Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for the time being. God at the beginning redeemed the people out of Egypt, but Babylon became the place of their captivity when they had turned away from the Lord. To return to Egypt was therefore fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
The threat covers all Judah, not just a part. The state of the people explains why:
They had ears, but they did not hear. The remnant was rotten to the core.
Yet the chapter itself names an exception:
So God declares that of all those who had gone down to Egypt, except for "a very small company" that would escape (v. 28), "none of the remnant" should "escape or remain, so as to return into the land of Judah" (Jer. 44:14).
Judgment on a whole group never cancels what individuals do:
When the remnant as a whole fails, that does not release anyone from being faithful himself. Those whom the leaders carried away are not part of the group who settled in the land of Egypt; six or seven times these people are addressed as dwellers in Egypt, and for them there is no escape (Jer. 44:14). But there were faithful ones, and some are named. Ebed-melech helped to rescue the testimony from the mud (Jer. 38:7-12). Baruch helped to preserve the testimony of God (Jer. 36:4, 32). If a cup of cold water given to a disciple in faith and love cannot lose its reward, how could these faithful ones be forgotten? In a dark and evil day they helped the servant of the Lord, and so rescued and preserved the word and testimony of the Lord.
- Grace first. God pleaded with these people even after they reached Egypt. The sentence falls only when nothing humbles them.
- Then the limit. Patience has a boundary, and past it comes judgment from which there is no escape.
- Settled, not passing. "Set My face against" means fixed opposition. His name and His hatred of evil leave no other answer.
- The shelter was the snare. Egypt could not protect them, and it drew them into idolatry. Running to the world does not improve matters.
- Two roads. God promised the exiles in Babylon a way back; those who went to Egypt against His word had none. Even then He did not forget the faithful few, like Ebed-melech and Baruch.
And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to enter into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword [and] by the famine, from the least even unto the greatest; they shall die by the sword and by the famine, and they shall be an execration, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
God had told them not to go. This verse sentences the people who went anyway, and who took the prophet Jeremiah with them. Why did the place they chose as a refuge become the place of ruin?
They went to Egypt to get out of Babylon's reach. One commentator traces how the plan doubled back on them.
Even at this last hour, this remnant could have submitted to the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. Then peace would have reigned in the land, and these few who remained would have owned it. But some revolt, and the others fear the consequences of their folly. There is no idea of trusting in Jehovah. They consult Jeremiah, but refuse to obey the word of the Lord from his mouth. They take refuge in Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar. But they only fall under the sword. That sword would have spared them in Judea, if they had stayed there under the king.
Another writer draws out the wider rule. Fighting God's word never cancels it.
If men resist, they gain nothing but grief and disappointment. Passing success only makes that bitterer. Far from stopping the word of Jehovah, they carry it out by the measures meant to get their own way. And the evils they dread most, they bring on themselves without fail.
Egypt did more than fail to protect them. It pulled them into idol worship.
Danger was hanging over them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, and all the while it was too sure a decoy into idolatry.
God did not begin here. This sentence comes last, after He had pleaded with them again and again.
If all this shows what man is in self-will and rebellion, it also shows what God is in patient grace and goodness. Grace follows them even into Egypt, and still pleads with them; but nothing humbles them or brings them to repentance. Yet there is a limit to patience, and judgment follows from which there is no escape. If people think that by going into the world they will escape trouble, they make a great mistake. We see here the sad effect of going into the world; it left them without heart or conscience.
The verse reaches from the smallest to the greatest, and no one gets to go home. One writer holds that beside the one narrow exception God allows.
So God declares that of all those who had gone down to Egypt, "none of the remnant" should "escape or remain, so as to return into the land of Judah." The one exception is "a very small company" that would escape.
One writer compares this group with their fellow Jews in Babylon. The two roads end very differently.
The story of this remnant stands out as a complete contrast to that of the remnant at Babylon. These go down into Egypt against the word of the Lord, and sword and famine and pestilence will consume them. Those at Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for the time being. These carry Jeremiah with them into Egypt, though he pronounces their doom. The others have Ezekiel and Daniel with them at Babylon. There Daniel prevails in prayer with God for their deliverance and restoration. God at the beginning redeemed the people out of Egypt. Babylon became the place of their captivity after they turned away from the Lord. To return to Egypt was therefore fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
Commentators read Egypt here as a picture of the world — the place God had once brought His people out of. One writer puts it bluntly: "Those who choose the world will be involved in its judgment" (The Bible Treasury).
- Flight — They ran from Nebuchadnezzar's sword and met it in Egypt. Their own plan handed them the very thing they feared.
- Face — They set their faces toward Egypt. They even asked Jeremiah what God said, and then refused to obey it.
- Decoy — Egypt gave them no protection. What it gave them was idols.
- Reach — Grace followed them all the way into Egypt and pleaded there. Then judgment came, from least to greatest, and spared no one.
- Road — From Babylon there was deliverance. From Egypt, almost none. A punishment you accept can end in restoration. A refuge you choose against God's word may not.
And I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;
The Jews who survived Jerusalem's fall ran to Egypt for safety, but God now tells them the same blows will reach them there. Can anyone outrun the results of turning away from God?
The flight to Egypt was not forced on them. God had told them to stay in the land under the Babylonian king. They preferred their own plan.
The prophet announced what would fall upon the Jews who tried to escape by going down into Egypt. He showed them that in Egypt they would only run into more trouble from Nebuchadnezzar. If they had stayed quietly in the land, under the Babylonian king whom God had placed over them, they would have been kept safe. But they, choosing human policy, thought it was safer to go down into Egypt, whereas it proved to be the opposite. Nebuchadnezzar pursued the Egyptians and punished these unbelieving Jews in that land.
Egypt failed them twice over. It gave them no protection. Instead it pulled them deeper into idolatry.
Danger hung over them. Egypt would be a useless shelter, and in the meantime it was all too surely a trap that drew them into idolatry.
Commentators carry the same lesson over to the Christian who leans on the world.
This reliance upon Egypt was especially offensive to God. He had delivered them from that very people by His judgments at the start of their national history. It is just as offensive to God when a Christian goes back to the world-system, after He has delivered him from it and from its coming judgment. Such a Christian relies on the world's power or its wisdom, instead of finding his resource in God as emergencies arise. Egypt had its pleasures and its treasures, which Moses turned away from, and they picture the things that are not for the believer.
These people had watched Judah fall. Nothing in this sentence could surprise them.
They had seen with their own eyes the destruction and desolation which God had brought upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their wickedness. He had pleaded earnestly with them, saying, "Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!" But they did not listen, so the judgment which lingered long came at last with fury and anger. They are told to let that lesson teach them not to provoke the Lord to wrath any more by their abominable idolatry. If they did not heed it, the Lord would consume them completely.
The people blamed their troubles on the wrong cause. Jeremiah pointed them to the real one.
Why did they not attribute their troubles, as was the truth, to the chastening hand of God? This is precisely what the prophet charges home with the simplicity and force of truth.
Another group of Jews had been taken to Babylon. The two groups ended in opposite places.
There is a special interest in this short history. The story of this remnant stands out as a complete contrast to the story of the remnant at Babylon. These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, to be consumed by sword and famine and pestilence. Those at Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for a time. These carry Jeremiah with them into Egypt, though he pronounces their doom. The others have Ezekiel and Daniel with them at Babylon, where Daniel prevails in prayer with God for their deliverance and restoration. God at the beginning redeemed the people out of Egypt. Babylon became the place of their captivity when they had turned away from the Lord. To return to Egypt therefore was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
The chapter does not close with the door shut. A few would still come back out of Egypt. God had not lost sight of those dragged along by the stubborn majority.
In the middle of wrath — righteous wrath — He still remembers mercy. How comforting it is to hear Him say even at such a time, "Yet a small number who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah." The blessed Lord knows the godly, and He knows how to deliver them. Some, doubtless, like the prophet and Baruch, had been carried into Egypt by the proud and wilful. They were few and feeble. They were not there gladly; circumstances had swept them along.
- Escape chosen — God told them to stay in the land under Babylon. They chose human policy and went down to Egypt.
- Escape trapped — Egypt sheltered nobody. It was a useless refuge and at the same time a decoy that pulled them into idol worship.
- Escape overtaken — The same sword, famine and pestilence that struck Jerusalem found them in Egypt. Distance changed nothing.
- Escape contrasted — God promised the exiles in Babylon peace and a way home. Those who ran back to Egypt had no way out.
- Escape granted — Even here God remembers mercy. A small number would return, for the Lord knows the godly and knows how to deliver them.
and none of the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, so as to return into the land of Judah, whither they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but such as shall escape.
Jeremiah is now in Egypt. The survivors of Judah fled there after Jerusalem fell, and they took him with them against his warning. Here God shuts the door behind them. The land they still long for will not take them back, and only a few will ever escape.
God had already told them where safety lay. They went the other way.
The path of unbelief drops fast when the heart hardens itself against a direct warning of the Lord. The more someone claimed to be godly before, the deeper the fall... it was a fatal step when the prophet gave them the word of the Lord. He assured them of safety in the land under Nebuchadnezzar, and of destruction in Egypt. Yet their impulse — indeed their determination — was to go there for shelter. God loves to be the Saviour of those who bear His name; if they desert Him for another, woe to them!
The danger they ran from would never have touched them at home.
If at this last hour this remnant had submitted to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, peace would have reigned in the land. These few who remained would have held it... They take refuge in Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar. But in Egypt they fall under the sword instead. That sword would have spared them in Judea, had they stayed there in subjection to the king.
The verse allows that they still want the land of Judah. Wanting was never their problem. Jeremiah knew why they would not listen.
Jeremiah is not ignorant of the reason. He says, "You dissembled in your hearts." A better translation is, "You deceived yourselves in your own souls" (v. 20). The self-will that was determined to take a certain course deceived them. Nothing will warp the understanding and block the grasp of truth like self-will. It will not see what it does not want to see.
(That wording comes from an older translation of Jeremiah 42:20.)
Judah's survivors ended up in two foreign lands. Each land led to a different end.
The story of this remnant stands out as a complete contrast to that of the remnant in Babylon. These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, and sword and famine and pestilence will consume them. Those at Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for the time being... God at the beginning redeemed the people out of Egypt. Babylon became the place of their captivity when they had turned away from the Lord. To return to Egypt, therefore, was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
The judgment is sweeping, but not total. God leaves a small opening on purpose.
In the middle of wrath — righteous wrath — He remembers mercy. How comforting to hear Him say even at such a time: "those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number" (v. 28). The blessed Lord knows the godly, and knows, too, how to deliver them. Some, no doubt, like the prophet and Baruch, had been carried into Egypt by the proud and wilful. They were few and feeble. They were not there with a happy mind.
The wording of the chapter marks off who is shut out.
Those who were carried away by the leaders do not form part of the group who dwelt in the land of Egypt. Six or seven times these are addressed as dwellers in Egypt; for such there is no escape (v. 14).
The chapter also shows what moving to a new place cannot fix.
If all this shows what man is in self-will and rebellion, it also shows what God is in patient grace and goodness... Grace follows them even into Egypt and still pleads with them. But nothing humbles them or brings them to repentance... 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 mend matters. We see here the sad effect of going into the world: it left them without heart or conscience.
- Refused — They had a clear word promising safety where they stood. Hardening the heart against a direct warning is what began the descent.
- Fled — They chose Egypt as shelter from Nebuchadnezzar. There they met the very sword that would have spared them in Judah.
- Fatal — Babylon's exiles had a promise of return; Egypt's had none. God once redeemed His people out of Egypt, so going back there was ruin.
- Wanted — They still desired the land. Desire without obedience saves no one; self-will refuses to see what it does not wish to see.
- Few — God remembers mercy inside His wrath. A small number, carried there against their will, would return, because He knows the godly and knows how to deliver them.