Jeremiah 44:15-30. Yesterday saw a warning to the Jewish people who had moved to Egypt. Some had evidently moved there earlier and some had fled after Gedaliah had been murdered. Jeremiah was in this second group though he was certainly not there willingly. He had counseled the people to stay in Judah and Jerusalem. Because they had fled and not done what God had told them to do and because they had started honoring the false gods of Egypt, Jeremiah told them that they would be destroyed; only a few would ever return to Israel.   We also saw that part of the reason for their destruction was that they were setting a bad example for the people around them; they were not honoring the true God, Yahweh. It was important for them to understand that there are consequences for defecting from God. The consequences that they experienced on earth were a warning and a taste of what they could expect in eternity if they rejected God. That warning was for them and all who saw them; Jeremiah says all the nations of the Earth would notice.

The fact that the Jewish people now living in Egypt were honoring the Egyptian gods was a big problem. As I mentioned yesterday people living in the Ancient Near East thought that gods were local, regional, or territorial; that they only had power in their area. But the God of the Jewish people, Yahweh, is the one true God; the creator of all that exists. God wants a relationship with us; each of us. Our relationship with him is broken because of or disrespectful actions toward him. The Israelite people were to help us understand our broken relationship with God and how to get it fixed (through the Messiah, chosen one, who we now know is Jesus). When Moses led the people out of bondage from Egypt (1440 BC, about 950 years before our story here in Jeremiah) God gave him a rule book and also laid out the consequences for how they “played”. If the people would honor God by taking Him and his rules seriously then they would be “blessed” (good would be in their lives), if they rebelled and were disobedient they would be “cursed” (That is what Jeremiah is predicting here and what has already happened in Israel and Judah).

The book of Deuteronomy is sort of a contract between the original Israelites who took over the land and God who was giving it to them. It can also be looked at as a sort of constitution for their new nation. It begins by remembering the history of God in their then recent past; how he had led them and provided for them in the “wilderness” (chapters 1-4). Then the “rules” for their new nation are laid out (chapters 5-26). Next comes the actual ceremony where the people decide, the vote. Part of that ceremony included the blessings and the curses related to submitting to the deal God was offering. There were also provision on what to do when laws were broken; how to keep the contract with God “alive”. In Deuteronomy 30:19 Moses said that that day he had set before the people both “blessings and curses” and in Deuteronomy 26:16-19 we see that they had accepted the “deal”. Clearly from their history they didn’t take the whole thing too seriously and had repeatedly seem the “curses” upon themselves. Now in Egypt the refugees from Judah faced the same sort of choice to obey or not, and it looked like they were going to follow the pattern of bad choices that the Israelites had followed over their over 900 years of history. For those in Egypt the consequences would be permanent. They would not be going back to the land promised to their ancestors and neither would their children, only a very few from there would ever return.

Evidently quite a few Jewish people living in Egypt had gathered together wherever Jeremiah was giving this message (v. 15). That might be expected if a group from Judah suddenly showed up, everyone (at least as many as could get there) would probably come to hear news from home, and Jeremiah was taking this opportunity to tell them what was what. We also see that the problem involved the wives, they were burning incense in their homes and making other offerings to the false gods of Egypt and to one called the Queen of Heaven in particular. IN the Bible this “god” is only mentioned here and in Jeremiah 7:18. She is also mentioned on some ancient Egyptian monuments. Experts are not sure about the particular “god” Jeremiah is talking about is but some think it is Ishtar (Babylonian) or Astarte (Canaanite, local). And we also see that the husbands knew about what their wives were doing. In the Israelite culture the men were supposed to be leaders in their homes, here it appears that the wives were taking the lead.

In verses 16-17 the people answered that they were not going to listen to Jeremiah, they were going to keep on honoring the false gods. Just as they had done back home and just as their ancestors had done back home (Jeremiah 7:18). In verses 18-19 the people insist that life was better when they were honoring this false god and things only got bad when they stopped. The funny thing is, when you read the history in the Old Testament, they almost never were faithful to God and were almost constantly honoring false gods. In Hosea 8:7 a prophet was talking to the Israelites about false gods and the trouble they would experience for honoring them. Hosea told them that they were “sowing wind and would reap a whirlwind”. Sowing is the process of scattering seeds in a field. Reaping is the process of harvesting or gathering what has grown in the field from what you have sown. Hosea used the picture of scattering hands full of wind (a ridiculous idea) for their worship of false gods. What they would “reap” would be a “whirlwind”. The word means a violent storm or wind and is based on a word that means to completely destroy. Some Bible teachers use this idea of sowing and harvesting and say there are laws to the harvest described in the Bible. From this verse we see that you reap what you sow (wind and wind), you reap more than you sow (wind and a violent storm), and of course you reap at a different time than when you sow (generally, after the plant has grown). What the people talking to Jeremiah were failing to see was this last part. They may not have seen trouble on the day they were making their sacrifices to the false gods but trouble did come because of that and not for honoring the one true God. We need to be careful that we don’t fall into the same trap and think that sin will never have consequences or even worse that it is good (see Isaiah 5:20).

Just because God is patient doesn’t mean that he will forget. In verses 20-23 Jeremiah make this very point. In a very direct way Jeremiah spoke to all the people, men and women, or at least all who were saying that they were going to keep on honoring the false gods. It is kind of unusual that God addressed the women (remember the men were supposed to be their leaders) as well as the men. I think we need to understand we cannot hide behind each other we all are responsible for our own relationship with God. (see Genesis 3:1-19) In verse 21 we see that God does know all the cheating we do on him. We also see Jeremiah mention that this has been going on for a long time (“you and your forefathers” (ancestors)). In verse 22 Jeremiah tells them that God finally decided enough was enough. So that is why Jerusalem and Judah were destroyed.    When he says that God could not endure it any longer that does not mean that God is weak, like “God couldn’t take it anymore so he went and blasted those guys.” It’s kind of interesting that some people say that God is weak because he doesn’t “blast those guys”. You’ve probably heard some say “If there’s a God how could he let THAT happen?” God is patient that’s why. If he just came in blasting all the evil people all that would be left on earth would be a bunch of smoke (see Isaiah 53:6). But God doesn’t want people to perish so he gives us time to turn back to him, remember that often Jeremiah said, “If you will turn back …” (See also 2 Peter 3:9).

In verses 24-28 Jeremiah makes this whole message very personal. Again he talks to the men and the women. He repeats their “vow” or promise to dishonor him and to honor false gods. This is important because it was thir promise to God to blow him off. God sees and knows all that we do and just how serious we are about it. The answer to them is very scary, “Never again will you call out my name. I am making sure harm will come to them and no good. The word for “harm” means something that is unpleasant, we might say God is going to make sure their lives “suck”. In verse 28 we see two things; first a few will escape, so there is a little hope, and second this punishment would result in the people recognizing that God really is God and what he says will happen will happen.

In verses 29-30 God told them he would give them a “sign” so that they would see that he really is God and is going to do what he says (see 2 Peter 3:1-10). There would be very little waiting for this. Pharaoh Hophra became king of Egypt in 589 BC (just three years earlier) and he was overthrown and executed in 570 BC. Maybe 15-16 years from the time of the prediction. In verse 30 Jeremiah mentions Zedekiah and Nebuchadnezzar and I think there are two reasons. First by bringing up Zedekiah being overthrown and killed by Nebuchadnezzar Jeremiah ties these two predictions together. Just as certainly as that happened this new one would too and also that old history is just like this future even, proof of God’s power and control. The second reason I think it is important is because Jeremiah already told the refugees that they would not escape Nebuchadnezzar, that he would set up his throne on Hophra’s patio in Tahpanhes. But it would not be Nebuchadnezzar who would kill Hophra it would be others who were his enemies. I think by mentioning Nebuchadnezzar God makes it very clear that he remembers Nebuchadnezzar is out there, but by not saying that Hophra would be killed by Nebuchadnezzar God makes it clear it will be by another. At least when Nebuchadnezzar finally came and then left an Hophra was left alive no one could say that Jeremiah’s prediction failed or that he meant that Hophra was going to be killed by Nebuchadnezzar andjust didn’t mention him.

I think it is very sad that these people completely turned their backs on God. God had been there for them for centuries and had been patient. They missed the point of God being patient and thought he was powerless. They had become so convinced of that that they totally ignored all of the signs, all of the judgments in the past. And they ignored all of the times called them to come home to him. We need to be careful that we don’t miss God because of some ideas we have about him either. We need to look at the evidence he has given us and then respond to him.

God thank you for evidence, from your creation, to our conscience, to every word you have sent to us in the Bible. Help us learn and understand your messages to us. Help us see your love and protection. Help us understand your discipline or punishment. Help us turn back to you when we have turned away. Help us never get so stuck in what we think that we miss the opportunity to return to you. Thank you for your patience help me never mistake it for powerlessness, lack of love, or the inability to act. Thank you for Jesus.