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Jeremiah 42-44

Calvary Chapel Bible College

November 4, 2020

Homework Review

I hope you took the “quiz” about your reading as well as those for your memory verse and prayer requests.

Would anyone like to try reciting our memory verse for the week?

(Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Class Project – At our last class of the semester I’m going to ask each of you to present a 5-minute Bible Study on a passage of your choice from Jeremiah. Pick a passage that has meant something to you personally. It can be one of our memory verses.

You have all reserved your passages to teach from (except for Alvaro). I love the passages you’ve picked.

I want you to teach as if you were doing a devotional to a small home group that has not been in Jeremiah with us.

I want you explain your passage, give one point of application from your passage (ie how can I put this into my life?), and share an illustration about the principle. Explain, apply, illustrate

You can use powerpoint (maybe), but you don’t have to.

Introduction

His name means “Yahweh appoints”

Jeremiah was the chief prophet during the days of the destruction of the nation of Judah. There were other prophets around at the time as well: Daniel, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, but Jeremiah was the main prophet. His ministry began about 60 years after the death of the prophet Isaiah.

Jeremiah was born into a family of priests, but he would function more as a prophet.

His ministry was destined from the beginning to be a ministry of “failure”. The people were not going to pay attention to him. The people were on the way downhill and destined for judgment.

One of Jeremiah’s nicknames is the “weeping prophet”.

It’s possible this nickname comes from the book of Lamentations, also written by Jeremiah.

Lamentations is Jeremiah’s weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem.

It’s not a bad thing to keep in mind though as you read this book. We don’t often hear the “emotion” of the writer as we read.

The prophecies are not in chronological order.

We know this because he dates many of his prophecies.

We are now in a series of chapters detailing the fall of Jerusalem and what happened afterwards.

Jeremiah is now in his sixties and has been prophesying for over 40 years.

Last week we saw the fall of Jerusalem, the capture of King Zedekiah, the appointing of Gedaliah as governor, and the murder of Gedaliah.

Jeremiah 42

42:1-6 The Remnant ask Jeremiah for guidance

:1 Now all the captains of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near

:2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see),

:3 that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”

:3 that the Lord your God may show us the way

Lesson

Insincere prayer

Their words sound good, but they don’t really mean it.

They will follow God as long as God tells them to go the way they want to go.

If they were really honest, they would be saying, “Jeremiah, we have a plan to go to Egypt. Ask God to bless that plan because that’s what we’re going to do”

But instead they couch the prayer request in a way that makes it sound as if they actually want to do whatever God says.

They are asking Jeremiah to pray like some people rub their magic rabbit’s foot.

Sometimes our prayer requests are really all about what “we” want instead of what God wants.

(James 4:1–3 NKJV) —1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

We can get to thinking that God is just some great big cosmic “genie” who grants wishes, if He can.

Illustration

A man is walking down the beach and comes across an old bottle. He picks it up, pulls out the cork and out pops a genie. The genie says, “Thank you for freeing me from the bottle. In return I will grant you three wishes.” The man says “Great! I always dreamed of this and I know exactly what I want. First, I want one billion dollars in a Swiss bank account.” Poof! There is a flash of light and a piece of paper with account numbers appears in his hand. He continues, “Next, I want a brand new red Ferrari right here.” Poof! There is a flash of light and a bright red brand-new Ferrari appears right next to him. He continues, “Finally, I want to be irresistible to women.” Poof! There is a flash of light and he turns into a box of chocolates.

Video: Aladdin – Genie make me a prince

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpEZNNJrCbk

Now God is in no way a “genie”, but that’s an interesting line where Aladdin asks Genie what HE wants.

God is not just some big “genie” who does whatever “we” want. He is the Lord.

What does the word “Lord” mean?

It means that you will do whatever He says. Jesus said,

(Luke 6:46 NKJV) “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

That’s the most amazing thing about God. He is the Lord of the Universe, and yet He gives us the freewill to say “no” to Him.

What He’s looking for is people who will say “yes”. He’s looking for people who want HIS will.

Ultimately, prayer is about us learning to find out what God’s will is, not twisting His arm to get our will.

:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”

:5 So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you.

:6 Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

That all sounds good. For now.

42:7-22 God’s answer: Don’t go to Egypt

:7 And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

:7 it happened after ten days

Lesson

Waiting for God’s answer

(keyword)

It doesn’t always come as quickly as a text message.

I think of all the ways to communicate, sometime a text message is a pretty good way to connect with someone.

Most people see a text and respond pretty quickly.

I’ve got one friend though who doesn’t quite get that. When he texts me a question, I respond, and expect him to reply immediately. But apparently after he texts me he almost always puts his phone down and walks away from it for a couple of hours.

When Saul became king of Israel, he was given some guidelines on what to do when he needed God’s direction.

(1 Samuel 10:8 NKJV) You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”

So again, to reiterate, Saul would go to Gilgal, wait for seven days, and when Samuel showed up, he would perform the sacrifices and give a word from God to Saul.

Later on, Saul encountered a problem with the Philistines. There was a growing threat and the Philistines looked like they were going to attack Israel. So Saul decided it was time to take action – but he first had to go through that list Samuel gave him.

(1 Samuel 13:8–14 NKJV) —8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

So Saul is in Gilgal. Check. He waits for seven days. Check. No Samuel. Oops. What’s he supposed to do? The people are getting antsy and pretty soon he’s not going to have an army left.

9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.

The problem was that Saul wasn’t just supposed to wait for seven days, he was supposed to wait for Samuel.

Offering sacrifices wasn’t something a king was to do, but something that a priest (Samuel was priest and a prophet).

10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”

The circumstances looked bad. Saul didn’t think he could wait any longer. Makes sense, right?

13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

What does it mean to be a “man after God’s own heart”?

In our context, it sounds like a man who is willing to wait on God.

It means a man who is willing to follow God’s orders, and not his own.

God is looking for people who will wait for Him.

Waiting doesn’t just involve putting in “time”. It means waiting for God’s reply as well.

Jeremiah waited until he got the answer before he replied to Johanan.

:8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

:9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him:

:10 ‘If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you.

:10 If you will still remain in this land

I find it interesting that Jeremiah wanted to speak to all the people, and not just Johanan. Jeremiah wants all the people to get the message and not just the leader (who would probably edit the message before passing it on)

God has some very good news for the people.

If they will simply stay where they are, everything will be okay.

:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand.

:12 And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’

:13 “But if you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God,

:14 saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’—

:15 Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there,

:16 then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

:14 we will go to the land of Egypt

Egypt was a logical place. The Egyptians were part of the original “anti-Babylon” alliance.

Things are cool in Egypt. There’s never any “war” in Egypt. There’s always plenty to eat in Egypt.

Sounds a little like what the Israelites said 800 years earlier as they were coming OUT of Egypt.

(Exodus 16:3 NKJV) And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

(Numbers 11:4–6 NKJV) —4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

Lesson

Where do you run for help?

Egypt is also seen in the Bible as a picture of the “flesh”, our sin nature.

Moses brought the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt. Jesus died on a cross to free us from the bondage to sin.

It’s not good to go back to the old sinful ways.

(Proverbs 26:11 NKJV) As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.

(2 Peter 2:19–22 NLT) —19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20 And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

This is the trap that addictions catch us in.

Something happens to us that gives us grief or stirs up resentment, and we run to something that is “easy”. The person who is “working their steps” learns to identify those resentments and learns to find new things to replace those addictions (like JESUS!!!).

It may seem like life was easy back when you were living in the “world”, but don’t forget that there’s “death” in Egypt.

(Romans 6:23 NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the Law of Moses, there was a provision for people who got themselves into trouble.

It had to do with a person who was accidentally involved in the death of another person. If the death was not accidental, it was murder and there was no place to run if you committed murder. But if it was an accident, then it was manslaughter. And even though you didn’t mean to kill the other person, the customs in those days required the dead person’s relatives to hunt you down and kill you in revenge. In order to stop these “blood feuds”, God set up a series of six cities in the land of Israel called “Cities of Refuge”.

If you accidentally caused another person’s death, you were to pack your bags and flee to the nearest City of Refuge. As long as you stayed in that city, you were safe from any person who was out for revenge. You were required to stay in that city until the death of the high priest. When the high priest died, your sentence was up and you were allowed to go free.

If you were in trouble, you’d run to the City of Refuge, not to Egypt.

As Christians, there is a parallel for us.

There are times in our lives when we too get ourselves into trouble. It’s not always intentional, sometimes quite by accident. We need a place to run to.

Jesus is our “refuge”. We run to Him for help. And if you know what’s good for you, then you’ll stay in the city until the death of the high priest. And since Jesus is also our “Great High Priest” who “always lives to make intercession” for us, it’s best to stay as close to Jesus as possible.

(Psalm 91 NKJV) —1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

Illustration

A believer was fleeing from his enemies during a persecution in North Africa. Pursued over a hill and through a valley with no place to hide, he fell exhausted into a cave, expecting to be caught. Awaiting his death, he saw a spider weaving a web. Within minutes, the spider had woven a beautiful web across the mouth of the cave. The man’s pursuers arrived, but on seeing the unbroken web assumed it impossible for him to have entered the cave. Later that believer exclaimed, “Where God is, a spider’s web is like a wall. Where God is not, a wall is like a spider’s web.”

Few things offer security to believers more than an awareness that God will use His overcoming power to protect them.

:17 So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’

:18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘As My anger and My fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.’

:19 “The Lord has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

:20 For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’

:21 And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, or anything which He has sent you by me.

:22 Now therefore, know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell.”

:20 you were hypocrites in your hearts

We are going to see that the people are indeed going to go to Egypt, and that they had planned on it all along.

God already knew from the start how they would respond.

Not everyone who asks God for help really wants it.

Jeremiah 43

43:1-3 The people accuse Jeremiah of lying

:1 Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words,

:2 that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’

:2 all the proud men spoke

Lesson

Pride and obedience

It’s pride that keeps us from bowing our will before God.

It’s pride in us that says, “I’m not going to let so-and-so tell me what to do!”

In that classic 80’s movie “Karate Kid”, Daniel-son is being bullied by a bunch of guys who know karate. He goes to Mr. Miyagi and asks him if he will teach him karate.

Video: Karate Kid – Wax on, wax off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMCsXl9SGgY&t=86s

Daniel-son goes along with Mr. Miyagi, but begins to wonder if he’s being taken advantage of when he learns “wax-on-wax-off”, “sand the floor”, “paint the fence”, and “paint the house”.

And then comes the day when he realizes what Mr. Miyagi is doing.

Video: Karate Kid – the lessons come together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsLk6hVBE6Y&t=21s

Sometimes we need something to humble us, to “shut us up” in order for God to get our attention and for us to turn around and do the right thing.

(James 4:6–10 NKJV) —6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Check your heart for pride.

:3 But Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.”

:3 Baruch the son of Neriah

Baruch was Jeremiah’s assistant.

Lesson

Excuses

People will give all sorts of reasons for not believing or doing what God wants.

Here they are blaming Baruch – using Baruch as their excuse to disobey.

In reality it’s simply their pride.

People will do the same when it comes to following Jesus Christ.

Some people will say they have intellectual problems, but for many it comes down to their “will”.

Some will blame Christians. Others might even blame you.

They don’t want to change. They don’t want to give up their sin.

Break

43:4-7 Back to Egypt

:4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah.

:5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been driven—

:6 men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.

:7 So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as Tahpanhes.

:7 they went as far as Tahpanhes

they went as far as Tahpanhes – Tachpanchec – “thou will fill hands with pity”.

(see map) A fortress city 160 miles (as the crow flies) from Jerusalem. It was on the northern border of Egypt.

It was a fairly new city at the time, only built about 30 years earlier.

(Wikipedia) A platform of brickwork has been discovered here, which has been tentatively described as the pavement at the entry of Pharaoh's palace.

43:8-13 Nebuchadnezzar is coming to Egypt

:8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

:9 “Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes;

This is paved area has been found in front of the entrance to the royal dwelling.

:10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

Nebuchadnezzar would invade Egypt in 568-567 BC and rule from this very spot.

:11 When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword.

:12 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 puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace.

:13 He shall also break the sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” ’ ”

:13 break the sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh

Beth-shemesh – “House of the Sun”. An ancient city near Cairo.

sacred pillars – obelisks

One such obelisk from Heliopolis is in Central Park in New York City

Another is on the bank of the Thames River in London.

Lesson

Trusting in the wrong things

As we’ve said, to the remnant, Egypt seems the best, most logical place to be.

It seems to be a place where trouble never occurs.

But it will actually be a place soon conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.

Be careful about trying to avoid trouble. Trouble is everywhere.

Illustration

The Bricklayer’s Accident

National Health Insurance, Inc./ ATTN: Claims Review/ PO Box 17342/ New York, NY 12276

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number 3 of the accident report form, I put “trying to do the job alone” as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the accident I was working alone on the roof of a new 6-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which fortunately was attached to the side of the building, at the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the brick into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of brick. You will note in block number 11 of the accident report that I weigh 135 pounds.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground—and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 50 pounds.

I refer you again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks, and, fortunately, only 3 vertebrae were cracked.

I’m sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks, in pain, unable to stand, and watching the empty barrel 6 stories above me—I again lost my presence of mind, and I let go of the rope. The empty barrel weighed more than the rope as it came back down on me and broke both my legs.

I hope I have furnished the information you require as to how the accident occurred.

Sincerely,

Billy Wohlnut

I would say that Billy had more than his share of troubles that day. We may not always have days like Billy’s, but they do happen.

If you spend your life trying to avoid days like that, you’re going to find yourself running to the wrong places for help.

The secret of life is not about avoiding trouble, but surviving it.

Jesus taught:

(Matthew 7:24–27 NKJV) —24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

You can’t avoid the storms of life. But you can build your house in a way to survive the storms.

Jeremiah 44

44:1-6 Jerusalem judged for idolatry

:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

:1 Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Noph …

Video – Map of Egypt cities

https://youtu.be/pRB1tGQ2X64

We’ve already seen Tahpanhes. Migdol is a little northeast. Noph is also known as Memphis. They were all in the northern part of Egypt.

Pathros was an area in the southern part of Egypt.

The Jews were all over Egypt.

:2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them,

:3 because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve other gods whom they did not know, they nor you nor your fathers.

:4 However I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!”

:5 But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.

:6 So My fury and My anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.’

This is a reminder that one of the reasons Jerusalem and Judah were destroyed was because of the idolatry of the people.

44:7-14 Similar judgment coming to Egypt remnant

:7 “Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none to remain,

:8 in that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to dwell, that you may cut yourselves off and be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

:9 Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

:10 They have not been humbled, to this day, nor have they feared; they have not walked in My law or in My statutes that I set before you and your fathers.’

Again, pride or humility? Humility obeys, pride rebels.

:11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will set My face against you for catastrophe and for cutting off all Judah.

:12 And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach!

:13 For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence,

:14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and dwell. For none shall return except those who escape.’ ”

God is giving them a warning that He is about to do to the remnant in Egypt what He did to the disobedient in Jerusalem. They are about to face God’s judgment.

One of the misconceptions the ancients had was to think that their “gods” were localized. There were various “Baals” for each city. Some may have thought that Yahweh was only going to be found in the land of Israel, or perhaps only in Jerusalem where His house was.

Yet Yahweh is everywhere.

Ezekiel was in Babylon during much of the time that Jeremiah prophesied.

Yet God showed up in all His glory in Babylon to tell Ezekiel about what was happening in Jerusalem, as well as to encourage those held captive in Babylon that He was still with them.

44:15-19 “Life was better serving the Queen of heaven”

:15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:

:16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you!

:17 But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble.

:17 burn incense to the queen of heaven

The queen of heaven was the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, goddess of love and fertility, justice and war. The mythology of Ishtar goes back thousands of years.

She was also known as Inanna, Astarte, Aphrodite, and Venus.

It’s kind of creepy that the Catholic church calls Mary as the Queen of heaven.

This was what the people had been doing in Jerusalem. God had told Jeremiah many years earlier:

(Jeremiah 7:16–19 NKJV) —16 “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19 Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”

:18 But since we stopped burning incense 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.”

:18 since we stopped burning incense

Lesson

Superstition

(keyword)

We are a very superstitious people. Watch baseball players – they will go through little rituals, repeating certain actions because at some point this action was followed by something good, like hitting a home run.

Video: MLB Players Rituals

https://youtu.be/UnvjWPmmFRQ?t=61

Play until 1:59 (Yasiel Puig)

I have a friend who jokes around and will move around from chair to chair or from position to position while watching the Angels and whenever somebody hits a home run, he will stay in the position for a while hoping that this must be the magic place to sit for the Angels. He’s just kidding.

Yet we still think this way.

When something bad happens, we wonder what it was we did that triggered it.

When something good happens, we wonder what we did that caused it to happen.

Illustration

Hitchhiker

A guy was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the middle of a storm. The night was rolling on and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly he saw a car coming toward him and stop. Without thinking about it, the guy got into the back seat, closed the door and then realized there was nobody behind the wheel! The car starts slowly; the guy looks at the road and sees a curve coming his way. Scared, he starts to pray begging for his life. He hasn’t come out of shock, when just before he hits the curve, a hand appears through the window and moves the wheel. The guy, paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appears every time right before a curve. Gathering his strength, the guy jumps out of the car and runs to the nearest town. Wet and in shock, he goes to a restaurant and starts telling everybody about the horrible experience he went through. A silence enveloped everybody when they realize the guy was serious. About half an hour later, two guys walked in the same restaurant. They looked around for a table when one said to the other, “Look John, that’s the dummy who got in the car when we were pushing it.”

We need to stop thinking like this.

In reality, God is going to sometimes allow good things to happen because we’ve obeyed Him, but sometimes He’s going to allow good things to happen simply out of grace.

He will also sometimes allow bad things to happen because we’ve disobeyed and He’s trying to get us to turn our lives around. But He will also allow us to go through difficult times to grow us up by teaching us how to endure tough times.

We shouldn’t do things for the results, we should do things because they are right to do.

:19 The women also said, “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?”

:19 did we make cakes …without our husbands’ permission?

cakes – like flat pancakes, thought to be in the shape of the goddess.

Lesson

Limits to submission

The women might have been behind this idolatry, but they did it with their husbands’ full knowledge.

They make it sound as if they were simply being good, obedient, submissive wives.

Men like the idea of wives being “submissive”

Illustration

One man was from Texas, one from Florida and one from Pennsylvania. They got acquainted and started talking about their problems with their wives. The guy from Texas began by saying “I told my wife clearly that from now on she would have to do all of the cooking. Well, the first day after I told her, I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing, but on the third day when I came home from work, the table was set, and a wonderful dinner was prepared with wine and even dessert.” Then the man from Florida spoke up “I sat my wife down and told her, that from now on she would have to do all the grocery shopping and all of the house cleaning. The first day I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But the third day, when I came home, the whole house was spotless, and in the pantry the shelves were filled with groceries.” The fellow from PA was married to a woman who had grown up in PA all her life. He sat up straight on the bar stool, pushed out his chest and said. “I gave my wife a stern look and told her, that from now on she would have to do the cooking, shopping and house cleaning. Well, the first day I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But by the third day, I could see a little bit out of my left eye.”

Submission is first to God and then to others.

(Colossians 3:18 NKJV) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

It is “fitting” for a wife to submit to her husband. But when her husband asks her to do something not according to God’s character, then it is not “fitting”.

(Colossians 3:22–25 NKJV) —22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

We submit to our bosses, but only as long as it is the good and right thing to do.

If a person to whom we are to submit (a boss, a husband, a teacher) asks us to do something contrary to God’s Word, then we need the attitude the apostles had when the Jewish elders commanded them to stop talking about Jesus:

(Acts 5:29 NKJV) But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.

44:20-30 Judgment coming to Egypt like in Jerusalem

:20 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people—the men, the women, and all the people who had given him that answer—saying:

:21 “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and did it not come into His mind?

:22 So the Lord could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day.

:23 Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law, in His statutes or in His testimonies, therefore this calamity has happened to you, as at this day.”

The disaster that has happened to the kingdom of Judah didn’t happen because the people stopped their sacrifices to the queen of heaven, it came because God’s patience had finally come to an end and all their idolatry brought judgment.

:24 Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt!

:25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, saying, “We will surely keep our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” You will surely keep your vows and perform your vows!’

Usually it’s a good thing to keep your word, to fulfill your “vows”. But there are some vows worth breaking, like vows to do wrong.

:26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “The Lord God lives.”

:27 Behold, I will watch over them for adversity and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them.

There will no longer be any people who claim to follow Yahweh in the land of Egypt (vs. 26) because God was going to wipe them all out, with one exception…

:28 Yet a small number who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone to the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose words will stand, Mine or theirs.

:28 a small number who escape

There would only be a very small number who would “escape” from Egypt, and they are the ones who will have known that idolatry led to judgment.

In the end, the people who would repopulate the land of Judah were those who had come from Babylon.

Do you remember the story of the “good and bad figs” (Jer. 24)?

The “good figs” were the ones who had been taken to Babylon. The people in Egypt had come from the “bad figs”.

:29 And this shall be a sign to you,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for adversity.’

:30 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.’ ”

:30 I will give Pharaoh Hophra …into the hand of his enemies

Hophra was the Pharaoh that had a treaty with Judah.

He ruled from 589-570 BC. He initially marched his troops north to support King Zedekiah against the Babylonians, but when the Babylonians pulled back, he withdrew his troops without having engaged in any battles.

He was slain in a revolt led by Ahmose in 570 B.C.

Hophra’s death would be a sign to the people that they were in BIG trouble with God.

Homework

Read Jer. 26-38 in NLT (each week a different version).

Memorize 31:34

(Jeremiah 31:34 NKJV) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”