Jeremiah 44

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Jeremiah 44:1-30 (KJV) 

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying, 

The Jews who did not obey God and went to Egypt now living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph, and Pathros, which are all a part of the land of Egypt.  This is where God spoke to Jeremiah again,

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they [are] a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,  

Tell them that they saw what I did in the land of Judah and Jerusalem and no one lives there now,

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 knew not, [neither] they, ye, nor your fathers.

I did all that because My people went after other gods to serve them and they had no idea who the gods were and what they were doing.

Today if we say we serve other gods, we may be limited in our thinking; to serve other gods today is to serve different religions and denominations.  Each denomination has its own way of controlling people's behaviors.  We have noticeable differences in our cults or denominations.  Until this day 2022, we still separated ourselves based on the color of our skin and the culture we live in.  There is little to no change even after we have been given a copy of what God expects from us of all ages, creeds, and gender. We have our own copy of the mind of Christ.

 4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending [them], saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. 

I prepared people who told you what I wanted you to know, and they were speaking things way before they happened saying do not do these sins that are unthinkable and are hated by Me.  Do not waste your time doing nothing from day today. When you do what you do, examine your motives and actions by what I instructed.

5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.

Because of their religious ways and habits, they did not obey God.  Today, many people will kill you for what they think pleases God; and when you show them by the Word of God that they are being misled, they will not check to see if what you are telling them is true.

 6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted [and] desolate, as at this day. 

God destroyed the practices of religion in the promised land because it has no place being there.  Religion kills the purpose of God.  People who practice religion have no clue who God is and why they even exist.  Religion keeps you feeling emotionally connected to a false sense of a high, it does not seek to know the welfare of all of its members, it makes the people pay to be a part of an image of God, and the people are not taught the Word of God because the leaders refuse to check the Word and neither do they encourage others to do examine the Word of God.

7 Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye [this] great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain; 

God asks the question; why are you doing what is against your purpose which in the end will destroy the entire family?

8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 

When we gather together to practice our ways of worshipping God without His instructions, it fires God up!  Why do we suffocate our own selves by cutting the air that God breathes into His Word for life?  The world cannot understand our stupidity and we find bits and pieces of scripture to sustain our foolishness when taken out of context; therefore the world despises and loathes our beliefs and practices.  We leave the Word of God, represented by God's people leaving the land of promise, and return to Egypt represented by religious crimes.

9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? 

Have you forgotten about the wicked practices of the kings of Judah and their wives, better yet, do you see your own wickedness and the wickedness of your wives that all were committed in the land of promise?

10 They are not humbled [even] unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers. 

I gave you a copy of my assignment and neither you nor those who lived before you paid any attention to what I said.

11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

Because of your choices, God said I will stand against what you do because it is evil and cut you off from all I promised. 

12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, [and] fall in the land of Egypt; they shall [even] be consumed by the sword [and] by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, [and] an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. 

Those who walked away from me will be killed, die, and or did by starvation from the least to the greatest.  The least because they will have limited supplies and the greatest because they will run out of the supplies they thought would last.

13 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: 

I will punish those who left me and went back to Egypt just like I did to the people who disobeyed Me in the promised land.

14 So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape. 

Those who left and went back to Egypt will not return to the land of promise, but those who escape will return but it will be few.  How is that so?  If one part of what God is saying is none will escape and then some will, what might be the reason?  Those who left will not return, perhaps those who were born after the parents left will be those who perhaps will escape.  Because they did not leave, they were born in Egypt while still being recognized as Israelites at a younger age than those who left and died.  (these are my thoughts, I have no evidence to support my conclusion or idea.  Please choose other commentators for this verse who seem to think some of the same people who left did escape and return.). After reading this scripture over, I am not clear of what God is saying.  I wrote my thoughts 24 hours later  and I am still not clear.  However,  He said  the few that will escape will return.  I looked up the word escape and it showed me that it does not always mean the attempt of trying to get away; it also means to allow or to leave.  When I saw that, I see the mercy of God permitting me to leave or escape what I deserve.  It is  humbling to know, that God gave me a way of escape and I took it.  I am glad to get an opportunity to know the Mind of Christ which is the living Word of the Father.

15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 

 The modern-day pastor and wife and congregation just like the people of God who then lived in Egypt said,  ( absolutely nothing has changed when we walk away from the Word of God, who is God, and live in a false idea of God); we and them respond the same way by saying,

16 [As for] the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. 

What you said is written we will not listen to nor will we obey.

17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto 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] had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. 

We are comfortable in our organized way of worship.  It is easier and we do not have to put up with the problems of standing in oneness with the Word of God.  We have food and plenty of what we need with fewer problems.  We prefer to do what we think pleases God without the Word of God you say you have given us.

18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all [things], and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 

Every since will left our false religion we have had nothing but problems and some of us have been killed.

19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? 

Our men were alive when we practice our delicious offerings to our pastors and their wives who are our gods.  We were doing just fine when we did what we thought and now you are telling us things that are getting us all upset.

20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him [that] answer, saying, 

Jeremiah listen to what the people had to say and then he spoke,

21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it [not] into his mind?

Do you realize God remembers what you did in the streets of Jerusalem?  Both you and those who lived before you?  How you have/had a form of godliness but denying the God who made all things with your religious ways?

22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 

You did this so long until God said I have had enough!  and now your land that was a gift to you is empty and you have a bad name and people do not want you around them because you are insane!

23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day. 

Because you refuse to obey the Word of God all this evil has come upon you even while I am telling you now of your fate.

24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that [are] in the land of Egypt:

Jeremiah pleads with the people:

25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. 

You and your wives told God you will not obey and not only did you say it with your mouth, but you also have the evidence in your hand that you will do what you want to do.

26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith 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 liveth.

God says He swears you will not use His name saying God did this in my life.

 27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that [are] in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.

I will look at the evil that will come upon you; the men you have with you will be destroyed.

 28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs. 

God said a few will escape and come back to Judah.  In the end, we will know the difference between what God spoke and what you spoke.  In the end, we will know who had the last Word.

29 And this [shall be] a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

I will give you a sign to let you know I am sending this evil against you:

 30 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

The sign is the king of Egypt will be given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.