Returning To Egypt

INTRO

The history of the book of Jeremiah shows us how God has worked in the past and gives us an idea of how God can work today. In Jeremiah 42, Johanan told Jeremiah the people needed a word about going back to Egypt. He told Jeremiah that whatever God told them they should do they would do it. Jeremiah’s word was for them to not go and instead stay where they were. God promised Johanan that He would bless and defend them, and they would be all right. Jeremiah spent the remainder of the chapter stating what would happen to the Jews if they returned to Egypt.

TEACHING

Jeremiah 43: The leaders accused Jeremiah of being a liar. The people were already talking about going back to Egypt. Following Johanan instead of Jeremiah, the people disobeyed God and went to Egypt. The people were not aware that God was also going to deal with Egypt and that where Jeremiah placed and buried stones (v. 10), near the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace, was to become the foundation of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. The stones were set in place in the sight of all the people so these would be a reminder to the Jewish people of their disobedience.

Jeremiah 44:1-10: This chapter was an answer to chapters 42 and 43. Jeremiah’s words were directed specifically to Judah. Because of the wickedness of the people in serving and worshipping other gods, they were punished. They angered God and therefore provoked the wrath of God.

The Lord of Hosts was defending His own plans when He punished the people of Judah. The punishment was for Israel’s sake. They disobeyed God in their own land, and when they were held as captives in a foreign land, they continued to be disobedient. The people were not humble, they showed no fear, and chose not to follow the law or statues God gave them.

Exodus 20 states God brought the people out of Egypt and the people were to worship only Him. If they burned incense to another god in worship, they gave that god their allegiance. The first commandment God gave to Moses and the Israelites was to have no other gods before Him. Yet the people continued to break this command.

Jeremiah 44:11–17: God stated He would continue to punish the people if they continued worshipping other gods while they were in Egypt. God promised no one would go unpunished. They would be punished by the sword, by famine, and by plagues. God would punish the people just as He did in the past. None of the remnant would survive except for a few fugitives.

Jeremiah 44:18-20: The goal of the punishment of the people ultimately was for purity of worship to God. But the people gathered together to speak back to Jeremiah. They told him they would not listen to the word from him. They said they would continue to burn incense to the 'queen of heaven' because in the past they had food to eat and things were going well while they were worshipping her. They chose to ignore the word and the laws of God. Their reason for worshipping other gods was because of the past blessings they had experienced in their lives, which were actually blessings from the hand of God.

Through the prophets, God repeatedly told the people to not do the things that displeased God. A lack of sensitivity to the word of God over generations had led them to this point. Their logic was that when they stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven, times were difficult.

The women seemed to be the ones who primarily led in this worship of the queen of heaven, but they did so with the knowledge of their husbands. The people of Judah had married persons from different cultures during their time in captivity. These individuals brought their gods with them into the marriage and continued to worship and burn incense to these false gods.

Jeremiah 44:21-30: Jeremiah told the people to remember that God had blessed their fathers and forefathers in the past. God had blessed the people in their own land, but they chose to worship other gods. The people had not walked in His law, His statutes, or His testimonies. Because the people had made their choice to worship the false gods, the Jews would perish in the land of Egypt. A small remnant would escape and return to their own land.

God promised to punish them in the land of Egypt. The stones referenced in chapter 43 were to serve as a reminder that for them—this was the end. God promised that Pharaoh Hopbra, who the Jews expected would take care of them, would be handed over to his enemies just as Zedekiah was handed over to Nebuchadnezzar.

CLOSING

We should ask how the words from Jeremiah speak to us today. It may be easy to read over these prophecies and not look for how they might relate to our lives. How easy is it to accept our lifestyle as the blessing of God when there may be a message included for us to make certain we follow the laws, statutes, and testimony of God.