Starting with chapter 37 through chapter 47, “Pharaoh” (10x) and “Egypt” (42x) take center stage! Who are you going to trust? What man says or what God says? In the midst of a cultural challenge (Babylon), Israel wants to trust in Egypt, instead of God. Read Jeremiah 41-44 as we share some thoughts.
THE ASSASSINATION OF GEDALIAH – chapter 41:
Nebuchadnezzar had made Gedaliah governor over the land of Judah, over the poor people whom Nebuchadnezzar had left in the land. Gedaliah’s HQ was in Mizpah. Gedaliah had encouraged Israel, following the lead of Jeremiah, to submit to Babylon and live peacefully in the land.
Ishmael was of the royal family and that might have motivated him to assassinate Gedaliah. Maybe it was because Gedaliah was not of royal blood that motivated Ishmael to kill Gedaliah.
Some Jews, 80 men, were distraught over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. They came to Jerusalem to worship Jehovah God. Ishamael feigned his emotions and, getting the men inside Jerusalem, killed 70 of them.
People who were left, including the royal daughters, were taken as captives by Ishmael who went to the Ammonites (vers. 10).
Johanan took his military to fight against Ishmael at Gibeon (vers. 12). Those captives of Ishmael were able to get away from Ishmael and fled to the protection of Johanan. Ishmael, on the other hand, escaped with eight of his ten (cf. 41:1) men, to the Ammonites (vers. 15), on the other side of the Jordan River.
Those survivors whom Johanan had saved from Ishmael were taken by Johanan to Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem so they could go to Egypt because they were now afraid that Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians would take vengeance on Judah for the death of the governor. Now, from a human perspective, going to Egypt was smart. The problem was that God had warned Israel not to seek an alliance or refuge in Egypt and we ought always to listen to God and not man.
THE REMNANT’S COURSE – chapter 42:
This remnant of people, who are on the verge of going to Egypt, come to Jeremiah and ask him to pray to Jehovah God for them. Jeremiah promises that he will tell them exactly what God tells him (vers. 4). The people insist that they will listen to what God tells Jeremiah, whether “pleasant” or “unpleasant.” “They only wanted confirmation of their plans. It is all too easy to make one’s plans and then seek God’s stamp of approval” (Huey, 358).
God waits ten days before He responds to Jeremiah’s prayer. Jeremiah tells the Israelites: 1.) Stay in the land; 2.) Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon. God will save you and deliver you. 3.) I will have compassion on you. 4.) But if you decide to go to Egypt to avoid war and famine, (verse 16) the sword and famine will find you in Egypt. There will be no survivors and no refugees in Egypt.
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In order to make it as plain as possible (vers. 19), Jeremiah says, “Do not go into Egypt!” God’s 10-day wait was to test Israel to see if they would respond as they had promised. They did not, so God promises that they will die by sword, famine, and pestilence.
Have we made up our minds about what we want God to say, what we want the Bible to say, and then go looking for obscure Bible verses to try and defend what we have already made up our minds that the Bible says?
MIGRATING TO EGYPT – chapter 43:
Just as soon as Jeremiah gets God’s words out of his mouth, the Jews, including the military leader, Johanan, accuse Jeremiah of lying. Johanan accuses Jeremiah of not preaching the word of the Lord but the word of Baruch. Baruch has put Jeremiah up to this! They did not obey the voice of the Lord. The expression “did not obey” (“you did not obey” or “they did not obey”) is found 17x in Jeremiah.
So, the group of Israelites sought refuge in Tahpanhes, Egypt and we don’t see Jeremiah coming out of Egypt through the rest of the book. What is God going to do in Egypt? God is going to destroy Egypt including her gods. God did it once in the exodus; He’s going to do it again.
A FINAL GLIMPSE OF JEREMIAH – chapter 44:
Jeremiah still has a message from God to share. God brought calamity on Jerusalem and Judah because of her wickedness. The Jews, God’s people, provoked God to anger. They did this primarily through idolatry. God reminds them, again, that He sent prophets to them but they refused to listen and repent.
We hear the response of the Jews in Egypt, beginning in verse 15. Listen to their pride, their arrogance, their ignorance! In verse 16, they say, “We will not listen to you! We are going to do what proceeds out of our mouths” (vers. 17), a clear refutation of living by the word that proceeds out of God’s mouth (Deut. 8:3)! They will worship the “queen of heaven” as their forefathers had done because life was good when they were worshipping the queen of heaven (verses 17-19)!
Jeremiah sarcastically tells Israel to go ahead and worship the false gods, the queen of heaven. Because God promises that they will pay the price! They will suffer from the sword, famine, and pestilence and the queen of heaven will not be able to save them!
As far as the historical record is concerned, Jeremiah’s sermons continue through the end of the book but Jeremiah’s life story ends here in Tahpanhes, Egypt. “The abruptness with which Jeremiah’s story ends is a reminder that the word of the Lord is important, not the one who bears the word” (Huey, 370). “Truth, not the word of the teacher!”
Paul Holland
