Jeremiah 44 explained: Whose Word Will Stand

Look at Jerusalem's ruins (vv. 1-6)

After Jerusalem fell, a group from Judah fled to Egypt against Jeremiah's advice and spread out across the country, from the northern border towns to the south. Jeremiah reminds them that their cities lie empty because people kept worshiping other gods, even after prophets warned them again and again.

Why repeat it here? (vv. 7-10)

Now in Egypt, they are burning incense to other gods, and Jeremiah says this will wipe out what little is left of their people, down to the children. He points to a long pattern, naming the kings of Judah and their wives, some of whom had promoted the worship of foreign gods.

Almost no one will return (vv. 11-14)

The message is stark: the same sword, hunger and disease that struck Jerusalem will follow them to Egypt. They had hoped Egypt would be a safe base from which to go home, but only a handful of survivors will ever see Judah again.

The people push back (vv. 15-19)

The crowd refuses, arguing that life was good when they made offerings to the Queen of Heaven, probably a goddess like Ishtar or Astarte, and fell apart when they stopped, perhaps under King Josiah's reforms. The women add that their husbands knew about and approved their offerings, which mattered because a husband could confirm or cancel his wife's vows.

Jeremiah reads history differently (vv. 20-23)

Jeremiah agrees they did exactly what they say. He draws the opposite conclusion: God remembered all those years of offerings, and the ruin of the land was the long delayed result, not a punishment for stopping.

Keep your vows, then (vv. 24-30)

With bitter irony, Jeremiah tells them to go ahead and keep their vows, and God swears that none of them will use his name in their oaths anymore. As a sign, Pharaoh Hophra will fall to his enemies just as Judah's king Zedekiah did, and history records that Hophra was overthrown by a rival named Amasis and later killed.

Key verse: Jeremiah 44:28

Something to think about

When things go badly in life, how do you decide what caused it, and what would it take to change your mind?