CHAPTER 44

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, 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, 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.

God used Jeremiah to explain WHY the people had been run out of Jerusalem. The REASON? They had worshipped other gods (verse 3).

God had told them in the great commandments: "Thou shalt have NO OTHER gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)

He had also told them that there IS no other god besides Him! ((see Deuteronomy 32:39, Isaiah 43:11))

There is ONE and ONLY One God! To worship anything or anyone else as god is SIN!

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

These people had let their emotions and lusts lead them into worship of "other gods" in order to gratify themselves. And God had sent prophets time and time again telling them to repent. Yet they continued to seek self-pleasure rather than to follow God's direction.

And THAT is why the kingdom was lost.

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; 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? 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? 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.

And now that they have come to Egypt, they have begun yet again to worship other "gods!!" Even though they had had many "witnesses," or prophets to tell them that they were sinning against God!

It seems that sin is recurrent! The nation of Israel had problems with that sin continually. And people STILL have problems with that sin today!

It is the sin of UNBELIEF! The sin of not believing that God can and will satisfy all our longings if we'll just OWN Him as the ONE and ONLY God!

God knows that this sin is a problem with ALL people!

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Christians must be constantly on guard against allowing something other than God Himself to gratify our desires and fulfill our longings in life.

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. 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. 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: 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.

God does not take kindly to placing him SECOND in our lives!

[[[About 8 years ago, a couple came to my office with a problem.
Mr. X was a kind gracious Christian. He and his wife loved the Lord, and were always in church and doing things in the church. But Mr. X had a bad habit of betting on golf games he played and football games on TV. His wife told him it was not right, but he insisted that it was OK because he was giving God HIS money, and not using that part of the paycheck.

After many years of this behavior, one day Mr. X received a call from the bank that his mortgage was overdue. He couldn't understand. He always made sure that there was plenty of money in the bank account to take care of all the bills. That evening when he got home, he asked his wife about it. She broke down in tears, and admitted having a bad gambling problem! She said she thought it was OK because she was not using the tithe.

Mr. X had no one to blame but himself. His behavior had taught his wife WRONG!]]]

Friends, God will not let His people put other things first without correcting our behavior.

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

The men knew what the women were doing, and they knew that it was wrong behavior. However, their allegiance was more toward the women than to God. Reminds one of Adam and Eve.

They chose to NOT listen to Jeremiah and the Lord (verse 16). They blamed their ills on God Himself. Their feelings were that God had deserted them, and that when they had done the things they WANTED, everything seemed to work out well.

But they were unaware of the GRACE that God continually poured upon them. Now, however, God had withdrawn His grace, and was letting them suffer the consequences of their own actions.

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, 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? 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. 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.

Jeremiah reminded them that it was their worship of OTHER things that caused God to withdraw His grace.

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: 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. 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. 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. 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 spoke through Jeremiah that almost ALL of them would die. Only a small remnant would be left to return to Judah. And taht remnant would tell the story that was true. They would tell that God had brought discipline upon them because of their disobedience.

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: 30 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra 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.

Further, Jeremiah told them that the "sign" of God's Word would be when Pharoah was defeated by the Babylonians. At that time, the people of Judah who had come to Egypt would also suffer. They had left God's will, and would suffer the consequences.

It is better for us to live with God at the forefront of ALL our lives. For then we are trusting in what GOD can do, and not what man can do.

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.