Call to Commitment

 

Pharaoh Hophra (Louvre Museum)

Chapter 44

 

 The Lord reminds the Jews in Egypt of the calamity in Jerusalem

  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, 

 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.' 

 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?

I find the timeline of events that occur interesting, as this chapter begins, so please allow me to review them. The biblical account is very precise, dating the final conquest of Jerusalem, as having taken place on the 11^th year, the 4^th month and 9^th day of the reign of Zedekiah. The date in World History is not as precise, but certainly gives reasonably accurate times concerning these events. Historically, Jerusalem was overcome in 590-586 B.C.

 Almost immediately, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah governor of Judah. Only two months later, he was murdered by Ishmael, who took with him the important people left in Gedaliah´s care. The captains of Judah’s army, led by Johanan, pursued Ishmael, failing to capture him, but were able to free the prisoners. These people, including the royal princesses, daughters of Zedekiah, became his followers. Temporarily they went to live near Bethlehem, in a place called Chimham. 

 From there, they reject the counsel of the Lord through Jeremiah and go down to Egypt. I am unable to find how much time goes by, before the former captains of Zedekiah’s army, the nobility and common citizens of Judah, began their journey to Egypt. The captains force Jeremiah and Baruch to go with them.

 Chronologically, chapter 44 is the final prophecy that Jeremiah gives to his people in Tahpanhes. It is pronounced around 571 B.C., about 15-20 years after the fall of Jerusalem. From chapter 45-51, there are some prophecies to other nations, which he has issued previously. Shortly after this prophecy, he is stoned in Tahpanhes (according to reliable tradition) by his own people in 570 B.C.  In verse 1, we see that the Jews have journeyed to three points in Egypt, beside Tahpanhes. They are in Migdol, which is near the Red Sea, Noph, which is very probably modern Cairo, and Patros, which is a province in northern Egypt.

 I think that we all find it baffling that the Israelites continually turn from Jehovah, their God, and fall into idolatry. Why has this happened time after time? It continued after the Jerusalem conquest and in this chapter, the Jews expressed the mistaken and condemnable mentality that led them into idolatry.

 The Lord God reminds them of the calamity that took place in Jerusalem and all Judah only 15-20 years previously. It was a devastating blow that left the country without inhabitants (2). It was judgment issued because of the extent and extreme wickedness of their sin, particularly the sin of idolatry. Their wayward devotion to false gods, invoked the anger of a jealous God, who had formed them from the time of the patriarchs and brought them to live and rest under His shelter, as His special possession. They abandoned their God and Creator, with all His glory, to follow these strange idols, brought into Israel from foreign countries (3). His jealousy stems from His love.

 He has warned them consistently and faithfully, by many prophets, concerning His hatred for their spiritual adultery. His warnings began in the early stages of their temptations, and continued throughout their history, compelling them to repent. His patience endured to the end, until the time came, when there was no recourse, but severe retribution. Hear the passion, as He begged them, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!” (4).

 I pause to emphasize the frightful reality of hatred in the character of God. He who loves immeasurably, also hates immeasurably. His love for His faithful people, leads to an eternal paradise in heaven, but His hatred for those, who spurn His love, results in damnation in eternal fire. Do not ignore or deny this clearly-portrayed biblical truth!

 There is no fault in Jehovah of Israel, the Creator of all, but lies in the wickedness of a perverse human heart. The Old Testament uses the example of Israel to reveal the mutiny of the entire human race since the fall of Adam and Eve. They had no inclination to listen to the voice of God, Who called them to repentance, because of their worship of foreign gods (5).

 I only can wish that a rebellious creation could begin to sense the awesome fright revealed in verse 6 in His holy word… “My fury and My anger!” It stirs in the heart of an omnipotent God, who can execute His divine sentence to a level of infinity, beyond any human repercussion that we can imagine. We have read, how it fell upon the very old and the very young, the very choice and the very common people in Judah.  He reminds these “proud men” (43:2) of what they have seen with their own eyes, less than two decades before (6).

 Their stubborn resistance has done nothing to change an immutable God. There is nothing that they can do, nor has mankind ever been able to do, that would damage the character of the Lord. In His compassion, He is concerned about what they are doing to themselves. Hear as Jesus declares this truth to Saul of Tarsis: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Ac.9:5). They are on the often-traveled human road of self-destruction (7).

 The works of human hands provoke the anger of God. I think, we tend to underestimate His distaste for human intentions and efforts, but it is something often referred to throughout the Bible. It begins with the Lord’s rejection of Cain’s presumptuous offering of the work of his hands. The writer of Hebrews teaches the insufficiency of human effort, when he points to the “Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” (He.8:2). Human hands work to produce idols. The resolute Jews have ignored the word of the Lord, warning them not to go down to Egypt, but now they are there, joining Egyptian idolatry. They dig their way down to reproach and cursing, losing their nationality as a result.

 Did you catch the curse of disobedience in this verse, given by Moses in Deuteronomy 28:63, early in their history?  “The Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.” Other curses from that chapter are being fulfilled: Verse 62, “You shall be left few in number” and verse 64, “the Lord will scatter you… and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known”, to give, among several, only two examples (8).

 

The Lord reminds them of the wickedness of their ancestry

 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.' 

 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.' " 

The captains, the princesses, and probably the common people, as well, have been taught Israel’s history, but choose to ignore it. It is amazing how the truth of history can grow dim over the years, until its lessons are forgotten. These rebels have the same thick Old Testament that you and I have, full of stories of idolatry and other horrible sins. The history lessons are contained in the books of Moses, but the books dedicated to history, begin with Joshua.  Then come the story of the judges, followed by the kings. They are filled with atrocious sins against their God and fellow man. Do we remember Delilah, the wife of Samson, and Michal, Jezebel, and Athaliah, wives of kings? These were wicked, idolatrous people, and these kind continue to exist,  as we see in the present refugees in Egypt (9).

 We have seen already, that God identifies Himself as the Lord of armies, thereby signifying His might to defeat His enemies. He also calls Himself the God of Israel, showing His absolute ownership over the nation. This is wonderful, when His armies and His possessive nature are poised to care and protect His own, but it is fearsome, when He turns His armies and His person against us (11).

 Here is the prophecy, proclaiming the future of this remnant of Jews who, small in number, are defying Almighty God. They have disobeyed His word and have gone down to Egypt, where they looked for protection; it will become their grave. Remember their cry of false hope in chapter 42:14: “No, 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.” Disobedience never ends well. A fearsome sword, famine and death lie in their future, threatening everyone, from the captain to the peasant, and a shameful reputation of reproach, under a curse, causing astonishment still in modern times, so many centuries later (12).

 These, who escaped punishment in Jerusalem and attempted to flee to Egypt, running from the fearsome hand of the Lord, will not escape. The same three threats against Jerusalem, which we have studied so often, reach now into Egypt… sword, famine, pestilence. There is no hiding place in the world, which God cannot discover (13).

 Generally, all those found in Egypt will be destroyed. They are late in seeing that there is no escape in Egypt and their only hope is in Judah. The Lord cuts off that hope, because there is no repentance and no fear of God. They are looking to Judah now, as a place of well being, but it will be denied them. In the end, there will be a few who return (14).

 

The deception of idolatry

 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. 

 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." 

 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?" 

 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." 

 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!'

 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. 

 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. 

 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.' " 

In the beginning of this chapter, I mentioned that we were going to learn about the rebellious mindset of the Israelite, that time after time, ended in idolatry. Now we have come to that portion. Sometimes this deception began, when they observed a victorious enemy, and wanted to emulate them. Sometimes it came when they did not recognize the kindness of the Lord, but attributed their success to an idol.

 I do not remember any bold confession, like we find in our text, in Israel previously. But by the end of Old Testament history, they have come to such a depth of deception and lack of the fear of God, that they no longer hide their idolatrous thoughts. The men defend their wives, as these women prove themselves particularly susceptible to satanic lies.

From Genesis to Revelation, we can study and learn from the example of disobedient and idolatrous women. We should remember that Eve initiated the disobedience in the Garden of Eden, listening to the Serpent, taking the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and giving to her husband (Ge.3:1-6). Remember Jezebel, whom King Ahab, of the northern kingdom of Israel, took from heathen Sidon as wife. She was a fanatic Baal worshipper from childhood, who dominated her husband and through him, led the kingdom into idolatry, persecuting and killing the worshippers of Jehovah (1 K.16:31). In the New Testament, Jesus rebuked the church in Thyatira for tolerating the teaching of a prophetess, which led a portion of the church into fornication and idolatry (Rev.2:20-23).

 The problem manifests itself in a great multitude of Jews in the Egyptian province of Pathros (15). The men, openly expose their rebellion, boldly asserting that they have no intention of listening to Jeremiah (16). They will go their own way, following the evil deeds that they vow with their words that they will do, everything proceeding from their deceived hearts. They say that they are following the examples of their fathers, their kings and princes of the cities of Judah and they seem to mock the word of the Lord, spoken in verses 6 and 9.They attributed their prosperity and safety to this female goddess. Their devotion was to a queen of heaven (17), and I would like the reader to consider the origin and continued devotion to this false deity.

 In the book of Revelation, we learn of a system of religion, politics and economy called Babylon the Great (Rv.17:5). She is deemed the mother of harlots and abominations. In Revelation 17:18, an angel gives the interpretation of this mystery as “the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth,” very clearly Rome, in John’s day. As Babylon’s government served as the head of empires in the image shown to Nebuchadnezzar, so did its religion continue among the nations, sadly taken up by Israel, as well. It continued, long after Babylon was destroyed, and continues to the 21^st Century. Babylon was the mother of spiritual harlotry, another expression for idolatry.

 Paul teaches that heathen gods and goddesses are nothing less than demons: “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons” (1 Co.10:20,21). After Baal, the most prominent deity of Babylon was Ishtar, also called Ashtoreth, the Queen of Heaven. As we see in this passage, she was profusely worshipped among the Jews.

 Idolatry does not become less diabolical, when it is directed towards saints in the church. Along with the cross references in my Bible, I find this note: “In Epiphanius, we find some women of Arabia, towards the end of the fourth century, had set up another queen of heaven, the Virgin Mary, too well known since under that name and character, whom they likewise worshipped as a goddess, by holding stated assemblies every year to her honor, and by offering a cake of bread in her name. These heretics were called Collyridians, from the Greek κολλυρις, a cake.”

 The true King of Heaven has no queen, and shares His glory with no one. Priests and popes of the Roman Catholic Church have titled Mary, the Queen of Heaven, so as idolatry entered Israel, so it entered the church, where Mary is seen as an intercessor and co-redeemer with Christ, a fearsome blasphemy. Of course, the godly woman, Mary herself, had nothing to do with the position, given her by foolish men. She would react as Peter and John, when Jerusalem came running to them, after a lame man was healed, “Why look so intently at us, as though by our own power of godliness we had made this man walk? (Ac.3:12). The apostles were abhorred by the honor given them in Lystra, where a cripple since birth was healed, “When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you…” (Ac.14:14,15).

 Even the apostle John, overwhelmed by the angel, who revealed heavenly wonders to him, was rebuked twice, when he fell down to worship him: “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant… Worship God” (Rv.19:10 and 22:8). To bow down to saints and angels is idolatry at the highest level and an act of treason against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We do well to have the understanding that, even as Paul revealed concerning Jews, “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly… but he is a Jew who is one inwardly” (Ro.2:28, 29), so the person calling himself “Christian”, but worships, venerates, prays to, or revers saints, is not a true Christian, at all.  

 These Jews, who have gone down to Egypt, are not true Jews, because they are defying the word of their God. First, they are deceived, not discerning that their former prosperity was due to the grace and patience of Jehovah of Israel, and not to the queen of heaven. This deception has always been and remains in the heart of every idolater. He spurns the goodness of his Creator, which endures, despite his unfaithfulness, and he gives credit to someone or something else, and that one or thing is an idol.  

 Secondly, the idolator did not understand the loving discipline of God, when His patience came to an end and He administered chastisement, due to their persistence in idolatry. In fact, God had often chastised them for their idolatry (see Jdg.2:14); but the idolatrous mentality does not perceive the hand of God in calamities. The Jew interpreted the lack and punishment as a sign that they were guilty of displeasing their false gods. In this way, the idolator lives in fear of being neglectful in serving his god(s). It is another product of a deceived mentality, which is now being discovered to us. They see every physical lack and disaster that comes upon them, as the anger of a god, who needs to be pacified (18).

 The third deception is revealed when the women enter the argument, insisting that their idolatry is not an act of insubordination to their husbands. Notice carefully, however, that the wives did not begin their religious practice through their husbands’ example, but their husbands simply allowed them to continue, what they initiated. There is a vacuum in the home: It is a lack of the responsibility of the husband and father to fulfill his priestly office in the home and, in addition, he develops a permissive attitude towards his spouse taking the lead, as she attempts to fill the vacuum that he has left (19).

 Jeremiah confronts the entire congregation and answers their arguments with the accurate truth, as God saw things (20). First of all, what followed the idolatrous practices of all the people that they mentioned in verse 17, was not due to the approval or disapproval of an idol. Everything that followed, was due to the fact that the Lord observed and took these actions into account (21).

 His patience in enduring their abominable deeds, finally ended, resulting in His wrath being outpoured upon the nation, and had nothing to do with angry idols (22). Their actions were sinful attacks against the Lord, disobedience to His voice and to His moral law, the ceremonial duties, and the legal judgments – in particular, these three: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything… you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God am a jealous God… You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Ex.20:2-7). Those are the reasons for the want and disasters that occurred (23).

 Jeremiah speaks to the husbands and wives by the word of the Lord (24). He says that they have spoken idolatry and fulfilled it and did so with deep resolve, swearing allegiance to the queen of heaven. God saw that they were committed to demon powers (25) and abandoned them to their religious lusts. The prophet declares the awful authority of the sovereign Lord of all, adding to absolute truth, something inconceivable… He swears by Himself! This is a mighty mystery, living in the depths of His infinite character. Because of the absolute truth of His word, no oath is necessary, but He insists on giving confirmation. In law, this is considered double indemnity. It is a twice-covered guarantee.  What does He so forcefully affirm? That His name or blessing no longer be in these idolatrous mouths in Egypt. Due to their deep commitment to idols, He swears that that can no longer use the term in making a vow, “The Lord God lives” (26), because they are taking His name in vain, defying the third commandment. He is dealing with the same lukewarmness that he found in Laodicea... a mixture of godliness and worldliness.

 God watches over His people, protecting and blessing them, when they follow Him in obedience, but when they turn from Him in rebellion, He continues to watch over them. He does so faithfully, to see that they receive adequate repercussions for their sins. This despicable band of deserters have left the land of promise, where the Lord commanded His blessings, and have gone down to the deep darkness of Egypt. In the symbolism of God, they have returned to the land of slavery and condemnation. They have loved darkness, rather than light; they have loved and trusted the world system, which is the enemy of the Kingdom of God. It will be their doom (27).