Jeremiah 44
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CHAPTER 44
Disaster Because of Idolatry (44:1–30)
1–6 This chapter contains Jeremiah’s last recorded messages; the remaining chapters consist of prophecies given in earlier years. The messages here were delivered to the Jews who had left Judah and settled in Egypt, in opposition to the Lord’s will (see Jeremiah 43:4–7). Jeremiah’s purpose in giving these messages was to turn the Jewish remnant in Egypt back to the Lord.
7–10 Here we learn that the Jews in Egypt had begun to worship other gods, just as the people of Judah and Jerusalem had done before them. The Jews in Egypt were committing the very sins of idolatry that had brought about the destruction of Jerusalem. How little the people had learned! How discouraged Jeremiah must have felt!
11–14 In these verses the Lord pronounces judgment on the Jews in Egypt: He will destroy the remnant of Judah living in Egypt (verse 12). He will instead preserve a “remnant” among the exiles in Babylon and elsewhere. The Jews in Egypt will not be part of the true remnant that will one day return to Judah (see Isaiah 10:2021; Jeremiah 23:3).
15–19 Here the Jews reject what the Lord has said through Jeremiah. They tell Jeremiah that they will continue worshiping the Queen of Heaven, one of the major Babylonian goddesses (verse 17). They recall the prosperity they enjoyed in Judah in earlier times and they attribute it to their worship of this goddess. When King Josiah brought reforms to Judah, such blatant idolatry ceased for a while; but in the people’s minds, life became harder. So they mistakenly attributed the hard times to their failure to worship the Queen of Heaven (verse 18).
How blind these people were! It was their idolatry that had brought on the hard times, not Josiah’s reforms. It was their idolatry that had ended their former prosperity and brought about the fall of Jerusalem. These people were unwilling to acknowledge that their sins were the cause of their troubles. Refusal to believe in the Lord always results in spiritual blindness.
20–23 Here Jeremiah states one last time that it is the people’s idolatry and disobedience that have brought God’s judgment upon them.
24–28 Because the people have said they will continue worshiping the Queen of Heaven and fulfill their vows to her, Jeremiah finally tells them: “Go ahead then . . . Keep your vows!” (verse 25). He is being ironic, of course; he has given up on them. He tells them one more time that they are doomed to perish; then the remnant . . . who came to live in Egypt will know that Jeremiah’s word was true (verse 28).
From Jeremiah’s time on, the true remnant would be found mainly among the exiles in Babylon who remained faithful to the Lord; they would be the ones to take part in the restoration of Israel, which would eventually culminate in the kingdom of the Messiah, Jesus Christ (see Jeremiah Chapters 30–31).
29–30 The Jews in Egypt would be given a sign when their end was near: Hophra king of Egypt would be turned over to his enemies (verse 30). This took place some years later when Hophra was killed by a rival in Egypt. Soon after that, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt (see Jeremiah 43:1013); it was then that the Jews in Egypt perished—including, most likely, Jeremiah himself.
Nothing is said in Scripture about Jeremiah’s end. From a human standpoint, he was a sorrowful figure. He loved his countrymen, but most of them rejected him. He faithfully proclaimed God’s word, but he was not believed. He failed to lead his people to repentance; he failed to keep God’s judgment from falling on Judah. Indeed, he could be called a “failure.”
And such sorrow he endured! He was denied the joys of family life; he was persecuted and imprisoned; he died in exile in a country he didn’t want to go to.
Yet, in spite of all this, Jeremiah was obedient and faithful to the Lord. The Lord doesn’t look at people’s “successes”; He looks at their faithfulness. In this, Jeremiah continues to be a model for all Christians today. In regard to suffering and faithfulness, Jeremiah prefigures Christ Himself. We learn as much from Jeremiah’s life as from his words; he is a worthy model indeed.