Jeremiah 44 Study Notes: Idolatry Among the Jews in Egypt
The LORD reminds the Jews in Egypt that Judah fell for idolatry and warns that their idol worship there will ruin them. The people defiantly vow to keep honoring the Queen of Heaven, claiming they prospered while doing so. Jeremiah answers that this worship caused the disaster and names Pharaoh Hophra’s fall as a sign.
General
What reason did the people give for wanting to return to honoring the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44:17-18)?
Answer: Life went well while they offered, and badly once they stopped
The people claimed that back in Judah, while they honored the Queen of Heaven with incense, they had enough to eat, did well and saw no trouble (44:17). Since they had stopped those offerings, they said, they had gone without everything and were dying by war and hunger (44:18). This was the people’s own argument. Jeremiah’s reply said the opposite: the disaster came because of those very offerings (44:22-23). Like Israel in Hosea’s day, they did not see that the good things they once enjoyed had come from the LORD (Hosea 2:8). Moses had foretold the LORD asking where such gods were when trouble came (Deuteronomy 32:37-38), and Paul describes people who refuse to give God thanks and so become foolish in their thinking (Romans 1:21).
- Jeremiah 44:17-18 (BSB)“Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.””The people argue that they prospered while honoring the Queen of Heaven and suffered after they stopped.
- Hosea 2:8 (BSB)“For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.”Israel likewise failed to see that the LORD was the One who had given her grain, wine and oil.
- Deuteronomy 32:37-38 (BSB)“He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter!”Moses foretold the LORD mocking the gods who received Israel’s drink offerings but could not help them.
- Romans 1:21 (BSB)“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.”Paul describes people who knew God but did not honor or thank Him, and so their thinking became futile.
Theological
On what ground did the people justify resuming worship of the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44:17-18)?
Answer: Life went well while they offered, and badly once they stopped
The people’s case was pragmatic: in Judah, while they honored the Queen of Heaven with incense and drink offerings, they had plenty and saw no calamity (44:17); since abandoning her worship they had lacked everything and were dying by war and hunger (44:18). The argument is theirs, and Jeremiah’s answer reverses it, tracing the calamity to that very worship (44:22-23). They credited an idol with the LORD’s gifts, as Israel did in Hosea’s day (Hosea 2:8), ignoring the impotence of gods that receive drink offerings but cannot save (Deuteronomy 32:37-38). It is the darkened reasoning Paul describes, in which those who know God refuse Him honor and thanks (Romans 1:21).
- Jeremiah 44:17-18 (BSB)“Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.””The people argue that they prospered while honoring the Queen of Heaven and suffered after they stopped.
- Hosea 2:8 (BSB)“For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.”Israel likewise failed to see that the LORD was the One who had given her grain, wine and oil.
- Deuteronomy 32:37-38 (BSB)“He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter!”Moses foretold the LORD mocking the gods who received Israel’s drink offerings but could not help them.
- Romans 1:21 (BSB)“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.”Paul describes people who knew God but did not honor or thank Him, and so their thinking became futile.
General
Why, according to the LORD, did Jerusalem and the towns of Judah now lie in ruins (Jeremiah 44:2-3)?
Answer: Because they kept offering incense to gods they never knew
The LORD reminded the Jews in Egypt of the disaster they had seen Him bring on Jerusalem and every town of Judah, which now stood empty and ruined (44:2). He named the cause: their own evil. They had angered Him by continually burning incense to and serving other gods, gods unknown to them or their ancestors (44:3). Jeremiah had given the same reason earlier (16:11), the song of Moses had foretold Israel turning to gods newly come on the scene (Deuteronomy 32:17), and the LORD had said through Huldah the prophetess that Judah’s incense to foreign gods would kindle His wrath (2 Kings 22:17). Their ruin was not bad luck or a defeat of the LORD by other gods. It was His just judgment.
- Jeremiah 44:2-3 (BSB)““This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation because of the evil they have done. They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew.”The LORD reminds the Jews in Egypt of Judah’s ruin and names its cause.
- Jeremiah 16:11 (BSB)“Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.”Jeremiah had earlier been told to explain the coming disaster the same way: their fathers forsook the LORD for other gods.
- Deuteronomy 32:17 (BSB)“They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.”The song of Moses foresaw Israel sacrificing to unfamiliar, newly come gods that their ancestors had never revered.
- 2 Kings 22:17 (BSB)“because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’”Through Huldah the prophetess, the LORD gave the same reason for His wrath on Judah: they had forsaken Him and offered incense to foreign gods.
Theological
To what cause does the LORD attribute the desolation of Jerusalem and Judah’s cities (Jeremiah 44:2-3)?
Answer: Because they kept offering incense to gods they never knew
Addressing the Jews in Egypt, the LORD points to the calamity they had witnessed: Jerusalem and Judah’s cities lying desolate (44:2). The cause was moral, not military or accidental: they provoked Him by persistently offering incense to and serving gods unknown to them and their fathers (44:3). The verdict matches Jeremiah’s earlier explanation of the judgment (16:11), Moses’ warning about newly arrived gods (Deuteronomy 32:17), and the LORD’s word through Huldah the prophetess to the messengers of King Josiah (2 Kings 22:17). The ruins of Judah were the LORD’s righteous judgment on idolatry, not evidence of His weakness.
- Jeremiah 44:2-3 (BSB)““This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation because of the evil they have done. They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew.”The LORD reminds the Jews in Egypt of Judah’s ruin and names its cause.
- Jeremiah 16:11 (BSB)“Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.”Jeremiah had earlier been told to explain the coming disaster the same way: their fathers forsook the LORD for other gods.
- Deuteronomy 32:17 (BSB)“They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.”The song of Moses foresaw Israel sacrificing to unfamiliar, newly come gods that their ancestors had never revered.
- 2 Kings 22:17 (BSB)“because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’”Through Huldah the prophetess, the LORD gave the same reason for His wrath on Judah: they had forsaken Him and offered incense to foreign gods.
General
True or False: The LORD said that of the Judeans who went to live in Egypt, only a few who escaped would ever get back to Judah (Jeremiah 44:14).
Answer: True
This is true. The LORD said He had set His face against them to bring disaster (44:11). The remnant who had insisted on going to Egypt would die there by war and hunger, from the lowliest to the most important, and become a curse and a disgrace (44:12). He would punish those living in Egypt just as He had punished Jerusalem (44:13). None of them would escape to return to Judah, the land they longed to come back to, except a few who fled (44:14). This was exactly what He had warned before they left (42:17; 42:22). Going to Egypt did not save them from the judgment they were running from.
- Jeremiah 44:11-14 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah. And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach. I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, by sword and famine and plague, so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to reside in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, where they long to return and live; for none will return except a few fugitives.””The LORD announces punishment on the remnant that went to Egypt, with only a few fugitives returning.
- Jeremiah 42:17 (BSB)“So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’”Before they left, the LORD had said that none who insisted on settling in Egypt would survive the coming calamity.
- Jeremiah 42:22 (BSB)“Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.””Jeremiah had told them that war, hunger and disease would kill them in the land where they wished to settle.
Theological
True or False: The LORD declared that no Judeans left in Egypt would return to Judah apart from a handful who escaped (Jeremiah 44:14).
Answer: True
This is true. Having set His face against them for harm (44:11), the LORD decreed that the remnant who had resolved to settle in Egypt would perish there by war and hunger, from least to greatest, becoming a byword for a curse (44:12). He would punish them in Egypt as He had punished Jerusalem (44:13), and none would live to come back to the land they longed for, except a handful of fugitives (44:14). The sentence simply carries out the warning given before they departed (42:17; 42:22): flight to Egypt was no refuge from the LORD’s judgment.
- Jeremiah 44:11-14 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah. And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach. I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, by sword and famine and plague, so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to reside in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, where they long to return and live; for none will return except a few fugitives.””The LORD announces punishment on the remnant that went to Egypt, with only a few fugitives returning.
- Jeremiah 42:17 (BSB)“So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’”Before they left, the LORD had said that none who insisted on settling in Egypt would survive the coming calamity.
- Jeremiah 42:22 (BSB)“Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.””Jeremiah had told them that war, hunger and disease would kill them in the land where they wished to settle.
General
What did the LORD say the Jews in Egypt were doing to themselves by offering incense to foreign gods there (Jeremiah 44:7-8)?
Answer: Cutting themselves off, so that no remnant would remain
The LORD asked why they were bringing such ruin on themselves. By offering incense to foreign gods in Egypt, they were cutting men and women, children and babies off from Judah, until no remnant (no surviving group) would be left (44:7-8). They would become a curse and a disgrace among the nations (44:8). Had they forgotten the evil of their ancestors, their kings, the kings’ wives, and their own wives in Judah (44:9)? Even now they had not humbled themselves, feared God, or followed His law (44:10). Sin against God is also self-destruction. Earlier the LORD had said idolaters only shamed themselves (7:19) and would be punished by their own evil (2:19), and Wisdom says that whoever misses her harms himself (Proverbs 8:36).
- Jeremiah 44:7-10 (BSB)“So now, this is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves by cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves without a remnant? Why are you provoking Me to anger by the work of your hands by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to reside? As a result, you will be cut off and will become an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations of the earth. Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and their wives, as well as the wickedness that you and your wives committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.”The LORD asks why the Jews in Egypt are destroying themselves by their idolatry, and notes they have not humbled themselves.
- Jeremiah 7:19 (BSB)“But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?”Earlier the LORD said idolaters were not so much provoking Him as bringing shame on themselves.
- Jeremiah 2:19 (BSB)“Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.”Their own evil and turning away would be the very thing that punished them.
- Proverbs 8:36 (BSB)“But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.””Wisdom warns that missing her means injuring oneself.
Theological
According to the LORD, what were the Jews in Egypt bringing on themselves by their idolatry there (Jeremiah 44:7-8)?
Answer: Cutting themselves off, so that no remnant would remain
The LORD presses the question of why they were inflicting such harm on themselves: by offering incense to foreign gods in Egypt they were cutting off men, women, children and infants from Judah, leaving no remnant (44:7-8), and making themselves a curse and reproach among the nations (44:8). He asks whether they had forgotten the accumulated wickedness of their fathers, their kings and queens, and their own households (44:9), and observes that they still had not humbled themselves, feared Him, or walked in His law (44:10). Idolatry is not only an offense against God but self-destruction for the sinner (7:19; 2:19), as Wisdom also declares (Proverbs 8:36).
- Jeremiah 44:7-10 (BSB)“So now, this is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves by cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves without a remnant? Why are you provoking Me to anger by the work of your hands by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to reside? As a result, you will be cut off and will become an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations of the earth. Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and their wives, as well as the wickedness that you and your wives committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.”The LORD asks why the Jews in Egypt are destroying themselves by their idolatry, and notes they have not humbled themselves.
- Jeremiah 7:19 (BSB)“But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?”Earlier the LORD said idolaters were not so much provoking Him as bringing shame on themselves.
- Jeremiah 2:19 (BSB)“Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.”Their own evil and turning away would be the very thing that punished them.
- Proverbs 8:36 (BSB)“But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.””Wisdom warns that missing her means injuring oneself.
General
How did Jeremiah answer the people’s claim about the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44:20-23)?
Answer: The LORD remembered that very incense, and it brought the disaster
Jeremiah answered everyone who had spoken, husbands and wives alike (44:20). The incense that they, their ancestors, their kings, their officials and the ordinary people had burned in Judah and Jerusalem was exactly what the LORD had remembered (44:21). He would not put up with their evil and disgusting deeds any longer, so their land became an empty ruin and a curse (44:22). The disaster they were suffering came because of the incense they offered, their neglect of His law, His rules and His instructions, and their sins against the LORD (44:23). Their offerings had not kept trouble away; they had caused it. Moses had warned that this would be the explanation for the land’s ruin (Deuteronomy 29:25-26), and Lamentations confesses the same (Lamentations 1:5).
- Jeremiah 44:20-23 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, “As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—did the LORD not remember and bring this to mind? So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day. Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in His instruction, His statutes, and His testimonies, this disaster has befallen you, as you see today.””Jeremiah answers that the disaster came because of the incense they burned and their disobedience.
- Deuteronomy 29:25-26 (BSB)“And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them.”Moses foretold that the land’s ruin would be explained by Israel forsaking the LORD’s covenant and worshiping other gods.
- Lamentations 1:5 (BSB)“Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.”The lament over Jerusalem confesses that her sorrow came from the LORD because of her many sins.
Theological
How did Jeremiah rebut the people’s argument concerning the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44:20-23)?
Answer: The LORD remembered that very incense, and it brought the disaster
Jeremiah overturned their reasoning (44:20). The incense offered in Judah and Jerusalem by them, their fathers, kings, officials and common people was precisely what the LORD had called to mind (44:21). When He would no longer bear their evil deeds and abominations, the land was made desolate, cursed and emptied of people (44:22). The calamity was the direct consequence of their incense, their sin, and their disobedience to His law, statutes and testimonies (44:23). What they cited as their protection was the cause of their ruin. The explanation is the one the covenant itself anticipated (Deuteronomy 29:25-26) and the one Jerusalem’s lament confesses (Lamentations 1:5).
- Jeremiah 44:20-23 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, “As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—did the LORD not remember and bring this to mind? So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day. Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in His instruction, His statutes, and His testimonies, this disaster has befallen you, as you see today.””Jeremiah answers that the disaster came because of the incense they burned and their disobedience.
- Deuteronomy 29:25-26 (BSB)“And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them.”Moses foretold that the land’s ruin would be explained by Israel forsaking the LORD’s covenant and worshiping other gods.
- Lamentations 1:5 (BSB)“Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.”The lament over Jerusalem confesses that her sorrow came from the LORD because of her many sins.
General
True or False: After the people insisted on keeping their vows to honor the Queen of Heaven, the LORD swore by His great name that no man of Judah in Egypt would call on His name again (Jeremiah 44:25-26).
Answer: True
This is true. The LORD said the people and their wives had spoken their vows with their mouths and carried them out with their hands, so He told them to go ahead and keep them (44:25). Then He swore an oath by His great name that no Judean man in Egypt would ever again use His name to make an oath (44:26). His eye was on them for harm rather than good, until they were wiped out by war and hunger (44:27). Through Ezekiel the LORD likewise told idolaters to go on worshiping their idols (Ezekiel 20:39). The LORD watches over His word to make it happen (1:12), and the same watchfulness would one day build and plant His people again (31:28).
- Jeremiah 44:24-27 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all those of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows! Nevertheless, hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the LORD, that never again will any man of Judah living in the land of Egypt invoke My name or say, ‘As surely as the Lord GOD lives.’ I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off.”The LORD tells the people to keep their vows, then swears that His name will no longer be invoked by the men of Judah in Egypt.
- Ezekiel 20:39 (BSB)“And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.”Through Ezekiel the LORD likewise hands idolaters over to their idols, while promising they will afterward listen to Him.
- Jeremiah 1:12 (BSB)““You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.””At Jeremiah’s call the LORD said He keeps watch to make sure His word is fulfilled.
- Jeremiah 31:28 (BSB)“Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.”The same watchful care that brought disaster will also be turned to building and planting His people.
Theological
True or False: In response to the people’s resolve to keep their vows, the LORD swore by His great name that His name would no longer be invoked by any Judean man in Egypt (Jeremiah 44:25-26).
Answer: True
This is true. Since the people and their wives had both declared and performed their vows to honor the Queen of Heaven, the LORD handed them over to their choice: let them keep their vows (44:25). He then swore by His great name that no Judean man in Egypt would again invoke His name in an oath (44:26), for His eye was on them for harm rather than good until they were consumed (44:27). It is a handing over in judgment, like the word through Ezekiel telling idolaters to go on worshiping their idols (Ezekiel 20:39). The LORD’s watchfulness over His word guarantees its fulfillment (1:12), and in His mercy that same watchfulness would later be turned to building and planting (31:28).
- Jeremiah 44:24-27 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all those of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows! Nevertheless, hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the LORD, that never again will any man of Judah living in the land of Egypt invoke My name or say, ‘As surely as the Lord GOD lives.’ I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off.”The LORD tells the people to keep their vows, then swears that His name will no longer be invoked by the men of Judah in Egypt.
- Ezekiel 20:39 (BSB)“And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.”Through Ezekiel the LORD likewise hands idolaters over to their idols, while promising they will afterward listen to Him.
- Jeremiah 1:12 (BSB)““You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.””At Jeremiah’s call the LORD said He keeps watch to make sure His word is fulfilled.
- Jeremiah 31:28 (BSB)“Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.”The same watchful care that brought disaster will also be turned to building and planting His people.
General
True or False: The LORD said He had warned Judah about its idol worship only once, through a single prophet (Jeremiah 44:4-5).
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD said He had sent all His prophets (people who carry God’s messages) to them over and over, pleading with them not to do the disgusting practice He hates (44:4). But they ignored Him, refusing to give up their evil or to quit offering incense to foreign gods (44:5). So His anger blazed against Judah’s towns and Jerusalem’s streets, leaving them a ruin (44:6). Jeremiah had said the same thing before (7:25; 25:4), and the end of Chronicles says the LORD kept sending word through His messengers out of compassion, but the people mocked them (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).
- Jeremiah 44:4-6 (BSB)“Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’ But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today.”The LORD recalls His repeated warnings through the prophets and the people’s refusal.
- Jeremiah 7:25 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.”The LORD had sent His prophets to Israel repeatedly since the exodus.
- Jeremiah 25:4 (BSB)“And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.”Jeremiah had earlier described the same pattern: prophets sent time after time, and no one listened.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (BSB)“Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.”The Chronicler likewise traces the fall of Jerusalem to the people mocking the messengers God sent again and again in compassion.
Theological
True or False: According to the LORD, Judah’s idolatry had received only a single prophetic warning before judgment fell (Jeremiah 44:4-5).
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD speaks of persistent, repeated warning: He sent all His prophets time after time, pleading with the people to abandon the abominable practice He hates (44:4). They refused to listen, would not abandon their wickedness, and kept offering incense to foreign gods (44:5), so His wrath was poured out on Judah and Jerusalem (44:6). The same pattern of patient, compassionate warning followed by stubborn refusal is stated elsewhere in Jeremiah (7:25; 25:4) and in the closing verdict of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 36:15-16). Judgment came only after long patience was spurned.
- Jeremiah 44:4-6 (BSB)“Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’ But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today.”The LORD recalls His repeated warnings through the prophets and the people’s refusal.
- Jeremiah 7:25 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.”The LORD had sent His prophets to Israel repeatedly since the exodus.
- Jeremiah 25:4 (BSB)“And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.”Jeremiah had earlier described the same pattern: prophets sent time after time, and no one listened.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (BSB)“Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.”The Chronicler likewise traces the fall of Jerusalem to the people mocking the messengers God sent again and again in compassion.
General
How did the men, the women and the rest of the Judeans in Egypt answer the LORD’s word through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 44:15-17)?
Answer: They refused to listen and vowed to keep serving the Queen of Heaven
A large crowd answered Jeremiah: husbands who were aware that their wives offered incense to foreign gods, all the women who were present, and the Judeans settled in Egypt and Pathros (44:15). They told him they would not listen to what he said in the LORD’s name (44:16). Instead they would do everything they had vowed: keep honoring the Queen of Heaven (a goddess they worshiped) with incense and drink offerings, just as they, their ancestors, their kings and officials had done in Judah and Jerusalem (44:17). The women added that their husbands had known about the cakes they made in her likeness and the drink offerings they poured out (44:19). The LORD had already condemned this same worship in Jerusalem (7:18), and Judah had given the same flat refusal before (6:17).
- Jeremiah 44:15-17 (BSB)“Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah, “As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.”The men, the women and the people in Egypt refuse Jeremiah’s word and vow to keep making offerings to the Queen of Heaven.
- Jeremiah 44:19 (BSB)““Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?””The women add that their husbands knew about their offerings.
- Jeremiah 7:18 (BSB)“The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.”Whole families in Judah had already been making offerings to the Queen of Heaven, provoking the LORD.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (BSB)“I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’”Earlier in the book, Judah had answered the watchmen God appointed with the same flat refusal.
Theological
What response did the assembly of Jews in Egypt give to the LORD’s word through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 44:15-17)?
Answer: They refused to listen and vowed to keep serving the Queen of Heaven
A great assembly answered: the husbands who knew of their wives’ incense to foreign gods, the women present, and all the people in Egypt and Pathros (44:15). Their reply was an open refusal: they would not listen to the word spoken in the LORD’s name (44:16) but would carry out their vows to honor the Queen of Heaven with incense and drink offerings, as their fathers, kings and officials had done in Judah and Jerusalem (44:17). The women insisted their husbands had known of the cakes shaped in her likeness and the libations (44:19). The household worship the LORD had condemned in Jerusalem (7:18) had come with them to Egypt, along with the same stubborn refusal to listen (6:17).
- Jeremiah 44:15-17 (BSB)“Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah, “As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.”The men, the women and the people in Egypt refuse Jeremiah’s word and vow to keep making offerings to the Queen of Heaven.
- Jeremiah 44:19 (BSB)““Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?””The women add that their husbands knew about their offerings.
- Jeremiah 7:18 (BSB)“The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.”Whole families in Judah had already been making offerings to the Queen of Heaven, provoking the LORD.
- Jeremiah 6:17 (BSB)“I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’”Earlier in the book, Judah had answered the watchmen God appointed with the same flat refusal.
General
What sign did the LORD give that His word, and not the people’s, would stand (Jeremiah 44:28-30)?
Answer: Pharaoh Hophra would fall into the power of his deadly enemies
The few who escaped the sword would come back to Judah from Egypt, and all the remnant in Egypt would find out whose word would come true, the LORD’s or theirs (44:28). As a sign that He would punish them in that place, the LORD said He would hand Pharaoh Hophra, Egypt’s king, over to his enemies who wanted to kill him (44:29-30). It would happen just as He had handed Zedekiah, Judah’s king, to Nebuchadnezzar, the enemy who sought his life, as the LORD had foretold (34:21). The people had trusted their own words and vows, but God’s word stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). As Paul writes, God is true even if every person is a liar (Romans 3:4).
- Jeremiah 44:28-30 (BSB)“Those who escape the sword will return from Egypt to Judah, few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah who went to dwell in the land of Egypt will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs! This will be a sign to you that I will punish you in this place, declares the LORD, so that you may know that My threats of harm against you will surely stand. This is what the LORD says: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who seek his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life.””The LORD declares that His word will stand and gives the sign of Pharaoh Hophra being handed over.
- Jeremiah 34:21 (BSB)“And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.”The LORD had foretold that Zedekiah would be handed over to enemies bent on killing him.
- Isaiah 40:8 (BSB)“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.””Isaiah contrasts fading grass and flowers with God’s word, which lasts forever.
- Romans 3:4 (BSB)“Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.””Paul insists that God remains true though every human being proves false.
Theological
What sign confirmed that the LORD’s word, not the people’s, would stand (Jeremiah 44:28-30)?
Answer: Pharaoh Hophra would fall into the power of his deadly enemies
The contest was between two words: the people’s vows and the LORD’s threats. Only a few would escape back to Judah, and all the remnant would learn whose word would stand (44:28). The confirming sign was that the LORD would deliver Pharaoh Hophra, Egypt’s king, over to enemies who sought to kill him, as He had already delivered Zedekiah of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar (44:29-30), a fall He had announced beforehand (34:21). The ruler in whose land they sought refuge would be handed over just as Zedekiah had been. The permanence of God’s word (Isaiah 40:8) and His truthfulness over against every human lie (Romans 3:4) are vindicated in His judgments.
- Jeremiah 44:28-30 (BSB)“Those who escape the sword will return from Egypt to Judah, few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah who went to dwell in the land of Egypt will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs! This will be a sign to you that I will punish you in this place, declares the LORD, so that you may know that My threats of harm against you will surely stand. This is what the LORD says: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who seek his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life.””The LORD declares that His word will stand and gives the sign of Pharaoh Hophra being handed over.
- Jeremiah 34:21 (BSB)“And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.”The LORD had foretold that Zedekiah would be handed over to enemies bent on killing him.
- Isaiah 40:8 (BSB)“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.””Isaiah contrasts fading grass and flowers with God’s word, which lasts forever.
- Romans 3:4 (BSB)“Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.””Paul insists that God remains true though every human being proves false.