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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Jeremiah XLIV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J E R E M I A H.</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XLIV.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In this chapter we have,
I. An awakening sermon which Jeremiah preaches to the Jews in Egypt, to
reprove them for their idolatry, notwithstanding the warnings given
them both by the word and the rod of God and to threaten the judgments
of God against them for it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:1-14">ver. 1-14</A>.
II. The impudent and impious contempt which the people put upon this
admonition, and their declared resolution to persist in their
idolatries notwithstanding, in despite of God and Jeremiah,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:15-19">ver. 15-19</A>.
III. The sentence passed upon them for their obstinacy, that they
should all be cut off and perish in Egypt except a very small number;
and, as a sign or earnest of it, the king of Egypt should shortly fall
into the hands of the king of Babylon and be unable any longer to
protect them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:20-30">ver. 20-30</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Jer44_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer44_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer44_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Sermon to the Jews in Egypt; Jeremiah's Remonstrance.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>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,
&nbsp; 2 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 <I>are</I> a desolation,
and no man dwelleth therein,
&nbsp; 3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to
provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, <I>and</I> to
serve other gods, whom they knew not, <I>neither</I> they, ye, nor
your fathers.
&nbsp; 4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising
early and sending <I>them,</I> saying, Oh, do not this abominable
thing that I hate.
&nbsp; 5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from
their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
&nbsp; 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 <I>and</I> desolate, as at this day.
&nbsp; 7 Therefore now thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the God of hosts, the God
of Israel; Wherefore commit ye <I>this</I> 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;
&nbsp; 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?
&nbsp; 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?
&nbsp; 10 They are not humbled <I>even</I> 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.
&nbsp; 11 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off
all Judah.
&nbsp; 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, <I>and</I> fall in the land of Egypt; they
shall <I>even</I> be consumed by the sword <I>and</I> 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, <I>and</I> an
astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
&nbsp; 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:
&nbsp; 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.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The Jews in Egypt were now dispersed into various parts of the country,
into <I>Migdol, and Noph,</I> and other places, and Jeremiah was sent
on an errand from God to them, which he delivered either when he had
the most of them together <I>in Pathros</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
or going about from place to place preaching to this purport. He
delivered this message in the name of <I>the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel,</I> and in it,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. God puts them in mind of the desolations of Judah and Jerusalem,
which, though the captives <I>by the rivers of Babylon</I> were daily
mindful of
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+137:1">Ps. cxxxvii. 1</A>),
the fugitives in the cities of Egypt seem to have forgotten and needed
to be put in mind of, though, one would have thought, they had not been
so long out of sight as to become out of mind
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
<I>You have seen</I> what a deplorable condition Judah and Jerusalem
are brought into; now will you consider whence those desolations came?
From the wrath of God; it was his fury and his anger that kindled the
fire which made Jerusalem and <I>the cities of Judah waste and
desolate</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
whoever were the instruments of the destruction, they were but
instruments: it was a destruction from the Almighty.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. He puts them in mind of the sins that brought those desolations
upon Judah and Jerusalem. It was for <I>their wickedness.</I> It was
this that <I>provoked God to anger,</I> and especially their idolatry,
their <I>serving other gods</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
and giving that honour to counterfeit deities, the creatures of their
own fancy and the work of their own hands, which should have been given
to the true God only. They forsook the God who was known among them,
and whose name was great, for gods that they knew not, upstart deities,
whose original was obscure and not worth taking notice of: "<I>Neither
they nor you, nor your fathers,</I> could give any rational account why
<I>the God of Israel</I> was exchanged for such impostors." They knew
not that they were gods; nay, they could not but know that they were no
gods.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. He puts them in mind of the frequent and fair warnings he had
given them by his word not to serve other gods, the contempt of which
warnings was a great aggravation of their idolatry,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
<I>The prophets</I> were sent with a great deal of care to call to
them, saying, <I>Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate.</I> It
becomes us to speak of sin with the utmost dread and detestation as an
abominable thing; it is certainly so, for it is that which God hates,
and we are sure that <I>hid judgment is according to truth.</I> Call it
grievous, call it odious, that we may by all means possible put
ourselves and others out of love with it. It becomes us to give warning
of the danger of sin, and the fatal consequences of it, with all
seriousness and earnestness: "<I>Oh! do not</I> do it. If you love God,
do not, for it is provoking to him; if you love your own souls do not,
for it is destructive to them." Let conscience do this for us in an
hour of temptation, when we are ready to yield. O take heed! <I>do not
this abominable thing</I> which the Lord hates; for, if God hates it,
though shouldst hate it. But did they regard what God said to them? No:
"<I>They hearkened not, nor inclined their ear</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
they still persisted in their idolatries; and you see what came of it,
therefore God's <I>anger was poured</I> out upon them, <I>as at this
day.</I> Now this was intended for warning to you, who have not only
heard the judgments of God's mouth, as they did, but have likewise seen
the judgments of his hand, by which you should be startled and
awakened, for they were inflicted <I>in terrorem,</I> that others might
hear and fear and do no more as they did, lest they should fare as they
fared."</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. He reproves them for, and upbraids them with, their continued
idolatries, now that they had come into Egypt
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
You <I>burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt. Therefore</I>
God forbade them to go into Egypt, because he knew it would be a snare
to them. Those whom God sent into the land of the Chaldeans, though
that was an idolatrous country, were there, by the power of God's
grace, weaned from idolatry; but those who went against God's mind into
the land of the Egyptians were there, by the power of their own
corruptions, more wedded than ever to their idolatries; for, when we
thrust ourselves without cause or call into places of temptation, it is
just with God to leave us to ourselves. In doing this,
1. They did a great deal of injury to themselves and their families:
"<I>You commit this great evil against your souls</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
you wrong them, you deceive them with that which is false, you destroy
them, for it will be fatal to them." Note, In sinning against God we
sin <I>against our own souls.</I> "It is the ready way to <I>cut
yourselves off</I> from all comfort and hope
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
to cut off your name and honour; so that you will, both by your sin and
by your misery, become <I>a curse and a reproach among all nations.</I>
It will become a proverb, As wretched as a Jew. It is the ready way
<I>to cut off from you</I> all your relations, all that you shave have
joy of and have your families built up in, <I>man and woman, child and
suckling,</I> so that Judah shall be a land lost for want of heirs."
2. They filled up the measure of the iniquity of their fathers, and,
as if that had been too little for them, added to it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
"<I>Have you forgotten the wickedness</I> of those who are gone before
you, that you are not humbled for it as you ought to be, and afraid of
the consequences of it?" <I>Have you forgotten the punishments of your
fathers?</I> so some read it. "Do you not know how dear their idolatry
cost them? And yet dare you continue in that vain conversation received
by tradition from you fathers, though you received the curse with it?"
He reminds them of the sins and punishments <I>of the kings of
Judah,</I> who, great as they were, escaped not the judgments of God
for their idolatry; yea, and they should have taken warning by <I>the
wickedness of their wives,</I> who had seduced them to idolatry. In the
original it is, <I>And of his wives,</I> which, Dr. Lightfoot thinks,
tacitly reflects upon Solomon's wives, particularly his Egyptian wives,
to whom the idolatry of the kings of Judah owed its original. "Have you
forgotten this, and what came of it, that you dare venture upon the
same wicked courses?" See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+13:18,26">Neh. xiii. 18, 26</A>.
"Nay, to come to your own times, <I>Have you forgotten your own
wickedness and the wickedness of your wives,</I> when you lived in
prosperity in Jerusalem, and what ruin it brought upon you? But, alas!
to what purpose do I speak to them?" (says God to the prophet,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>)
"<I>they are not humbled unto this day,</I> by all the humbling
providences that they have been under. <I>They have not feared, nor
walked in my law.</I>" Note, Those that walk not in the law of God do
thereby show that they are destitute of the fear of God.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
V. He threatens their utter ruin for their persisting in their idolatry
now that they were in Egypt. Judgment is given against them, as before
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+42:22"><I>ch.</I> xlii. 22</A>),
that they shall perish in Egypt; the decree has gone forth, and shall
not be called back. They <I>set their faces to go into the land of
Egypt</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
were resolute in their purpose against God, and now God is resolute in
his purpose against them: <I>I will set my face to cut off all
Judah,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
Those that think not only to affront, but to confront, God Almighty,
will find themselves outfaced; for <I>the face of the Lord is against
those that do evil,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+34:16">Ps. xxxiv. 16</A>.
It is here threatened concerning these idolatrous Jews in Egypt,
1. That <I>they shall all be consumed,</I> without exception; no degree
nor order among them shall escape: <I>They shall fall, from the least
to the greatest</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
<I>high and low, rich and poor.</I>
2. That <I>they shall be consumed by</I> the very same judgments which
God made use of for the punishment of Jerusalem, <I>the sword, famine,
and pestilence,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
They shall not be wasted by natural deaths, as Israel in the
wilderness, but by these sore judgments, which, by flying into Egypt,
they thought to get out of the reach of.
3. That none (except a very few that will narrowly escape) shall ever
<I>return to the land of Judah</I> again,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
They thought, being nearer, that they stood fairer for a return to
their own land than those that were carried to Babylon; yet those shall
return, and these shall not; for the way in which God has promised us
any comfort is much surer than that in which we have projected it for
ourselves. Observe, Those that are fretful and discontented will be
uneasy and fond of change wherever they are. The Israelites, when they
were in the land of Judah, desired to go into Egypt
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+42:22"><I>ch.</I> xlii. 22</A>),
but when they were in Egypt they desired to <I>return to the land of
Judah</I> again; they <I>lifted up their soul</I> to it (so it is in
the margin), which denotes an earnest desire. But, because they would
not dwell there when God commanded it, they shall not dwell they were
they desire it. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to
us. How can those expect to be well off who would not know when they
were so, though God himself told them?</P>
<A NAME="Jer44_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_18"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_19"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The People's Insolent Reply.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>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,
&nbsp; 16 <I>As for</I> the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name
of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, we will not hearken unto thee.
&nbsp; 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 <I>then</I> had we plenty of
victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
&nbsp; 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 <I>things,</I> and have been consumed by the sword and by the
famine.
&nbsp; 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?
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We have here the people's obstinate refusal to submit to the power of
the word of God in the mouth of Jeremiah. We have scarcely such an
instance of downright daring contradiction to God himself as this, or
such an avowed rebellion of the carnal mind. Observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. The persons who thus set God and his judgments at defiance; it was
not some one that was thus obstinate, but the generality of the Jews;
and they were such as knew either themselves or their wives to be
guilty of the idolatry Jeremiah had reproved,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
We find,
1. That the women had been more guilty of idolatry and superstition
than the men, not because the men stuck closer to the true God and the
true religion than the women, but, I fear, because they were generally
atheists, and were for no God and no religion at all, and therefore
could easily allow their wives to be of a false religion, and to
worship false gods.
2. That it was consciousness of guilt that made them impatient of
reproof: <I>They knew that their wives had burnt incense to other
gods,</I> and that they had countenanced them in it, <I>and the women
that stood by</I> knew that they had joined with them in their
idolatrous usages; so that what Jeremiah said touched them in a sore
place, which made them <I>kick against the pricks,</I> as <I>children
of Belial,</I> that will not <I>bear the yoke.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. The reply which these persons made to Jeremiah, and in him to God
himself; it is in effect the same with theirs who had the impudence to
say to the Almighty, <I>Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of
thy ways.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. They declare their resolution not to do as God commanded them, but
what they themselves had a mind to do; that is, they would go on to
worship the moon, here called <I>the queen of heaven;</I> yet some
understand it of the sun, which was much worshipped in Egypt
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+43:13"><I>ch.</I> xliii. 13</A>)
and had been so at Jerusalem
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:11">2 Kings xxiii. 11</A>),
and they say that the Hebrew word for the sun being feminine it may not
unfitly be called <I>the queen of heaven.</I> And others understand it
of all <I>the host of heaven,</I> or <I>the frame of heaven,</I> the
whole machine,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:18"><I>ch.</I> vii. 18</A>.
These daring sinners do not now go about to make excuses for their
refusal to obey, nor suggest that Jeremiah spoke from himself and not
from God (as before,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+43:2"><I>ch.</I> xliii. 2</A>),
but they own that he spoke to them <I>in the name of the Lord,</I> and
yet tell him flatly, in so many words, "<I>We will not hearken unto
thee;</I> we will do that which is forbidden and run the hazard of that
which is threatened." Note, Those that live in disobedience to God
commonly grow worse and worse, and the heart is more and more hardened
by <I>the deceitfulness of sin.</I> Here is the genuine language of the
rebellious heart: <I>We will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth
out of our own mouth,</I> let God and his prophets say what they please
to the contrary. What they said many think who yet have not arrived at
such a degree of impudence as to speak it out. It is that which the
young man would be at <I>in the days of his youth;</I> he would <I>walk
in the way of his heart and the sight of his eyes,</I> and would have
and do every thing he has a mind to,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+11:9">Eccl. xi. 9</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. They give some sort of reasons for their resolution; for the most
absurd and unreasonably wicked men will have something to say for
themselves, till the day comes when <I>every mouth shall be
stopped.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) They plead many of those things which the advocates for Rome make
the marks of a true church, and not only justify but magnify themselves
with; and these Jews have as much right to them as the Romanists have.
[1.] They plead antiquity: We are resolved <I>to burn incense to the
queen of heaven,</I> for <I>our fathers</I> did so; it is a practice
that pleads prescription; and why should we pretend to be wiser than
our fathers?
[2.] They plead authority. Those that had power practised it themselves
and prescribed it to others: <I>Our kings and our princes</I> did it,
whom God set over us, and who were of the seed of David.
[3.] They plead unity. It was not here and there one that did it, but
<I>we,</I> we all with one consent, we that are <I>a great
multitude</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
we did it.
[4.] They plead universality. It was not done here and there, but <I>in
the cities of Judah.</I>
[5.] They plead visibility. It was not done in a corner, in dark and
shady groves only, but <I>in the streets,</I> openly and publicly.
[6.] They plead that it was the practice of the mother-church, the holy
see; it was not now learned first in Egypt, but it had been done in
<I>Jerusalem.</I>
[7.] They plead prosperity: <I>They had we plenty of</I> bread,
<I>and</I> of all good things; we <I>were well and saw no evil.</I> All
the former pleas, I fear, were too true in fact; God's witnesses
against their idolatry were few and hid; Elijah though that he was left
alone: and this last might perhaps be true as to some particular
persons, but, as to their nation, they were still under rebukes for
their rebellions, and there was <I>no peace to those that went out or
came in,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+15:5">2 Chron. xv. 5</A>.
But, supposing all to be true, yet this does not at all excuse them
from idolatry; it is the law of God that we must be ruled and judged
by, hot the practice of men.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) They suggest that the judgments they had of late been under were
brought upon them for <I>leaving off to burn incense to the queen of
heaven,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
So perversely did they misconstrue providence, though God, by his
prophets, had so often explained it to them, and the thing itself spoke
the direct contrary. <I>Since we</I> forsook our idolatries <I>we have
wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword,</I> the true
reason of which was because they still retained their idols in their
heart and an affection to their old sins; but they would have it
thought that it was because they had forsaken the acts of sin. Thus the
afflictions which should have been for their welfare, to separate
between them and their sins, being misinterpreted did but confirm them
in their sins. Thus, in the first ages of Christianity, when God
chastised the nations by any public calamities for opposing the
Christians and persecuting them, they put a contrary sense upon the
calamities, as if they were sent to punish them for conniving at the
Christians and tolerating them, and cried, <I>Christianos ad
leones--Throw the Christians to the lions.</I> Yet, if it had been
true, as they said here, that since they returned to the service of the
true God, the God of Israel, they had been in want and trouble, was
that a reason why they should revolt from him again? That was as much
as to say that they served not him, but their own bellies. Those who
know God, and put their trust in him, will serve him, though he starve
them, though he slay them, though they never see a good day with him in
this world, being well assured that they shall not lose by him in the
end.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(3.) They plead that, though the women were most forward and active in
their idolatries, yet they did it with the consent and approbation of
their husbands; the women were busy to <I>make cakes</I> for
meat-offerings <I>to the queen of heaven</I> and to prepare <I>and pour
out the drink-offerings,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
We found, before, that this was their work,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:18"><I>ch.</I> vii. 18</A>.
"But <I>did we</I> do it <I>without our husbands,</I> privately and
unknown to them, so as to give them occasion to be jealous of us? No;
the fathers kindled the fire while the women kneaded the dough; the men
that were our heads, whom we were bound to learn of and to be obedient
to, taught us to do it by their example." Note, It is sad when those
who are in the nearest relation to each other, who should quicken each
other to that which is good and so help one another to heaven, harden
each other in sin and so ripen one another for hell. Some understand
this as spoken by the husbands
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
who plead that they did not do it <I>without their men,</I> that is,
without their elders and rulers, their great men, and men in authority;
but, because the making of the <I>cakes</I> and the pouring out of the
<I>drink-offerings</I> are expressly spoken of as the women's work
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:18"><I>ch.</I> vii. 18</A>),
it seems rather to be understood as their plea: but it was a frivolous
plea. What would it avail them to be able to say that it was according
to their husbands' mind, when they knew that it was contrary to their
God's mind?</P>
<A NAME="Jer44_20"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_21"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_22"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_23"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_24"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_25"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_26"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_27"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_28"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_29"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer44_30"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jeremiah's Continued Remonstrance.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to
the women, and to all the people which had given him <I>that</I>
answer, saying,
&nbsp; 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
remember them, and came it <I>not</I> into his mind?
&nbsp; 22 So that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> could no longer bear, because of the evil
of your doings, <I>and</I> 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.
&nbsp; 23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned
against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and have not obeyed the voice of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, nor
walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies;
therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
&nbsp; 24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the
women, Hear the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, all Judah that <I>are</I> in the
land of Egypt:
&nbsp; 25 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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.
&nbsp; 26 Therefore hear ye the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, all Judah that dwell
in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name,
saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, 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
G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> liveth.
&nbsp; 27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good:
and all the men of Judah that <I>are</I> in the land of Egypt shall be
consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of
them.
&nbsp; 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.
&nbsp; 29 And this <I>shall be</I> a sign unto you, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that I
will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words
shall surely stand against you for evil:
&nbsp; 30 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; 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.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Daring sinners may speak many a bold word and many a big word, but,
after all, God will have the last word; for he will be justified when
he speaks, and all flesh, even the proudest, shall be silent before
him. Prophets may be run down, but God cannot; nay, here the prophet
would not.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. Jeremiah has something to say to them from himself, which he could
say without a spirit of prophecy, and that was to rectify their mistake
(a wilful mistake it was) concerning the calamities they had been under
and the true intent and meaning of them. They said that these miseries
came upon them because they had now <I>left off burning incense to the
queen of heaven.</I> "No," says he, "it was because you had formerly
done it, not because you had now left it off." When they gave him that
answer, he immediately replied
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>)
that the incense which they and their fathers had burnt to other gods
did indeed go unpunished a great while, for God was long-suffering
towards them, and during the day of his patience it was perhaps, as
they said, <I>well with them, and</I> they <I>saw no evil;</I> but at
length they grew so provoking <I>that the Lord could no longer bear</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
but began a controversy with them, whereupon some of them did a little
reform; their sins left them, for so it might be said, rather than that
they left their sins. But their old guilt being still upon the score,
and their corrupt inclinations still the same, God remembered against
them the idolatries of <I>their fathers, their kings, and their
princes, in the streets of Jerusalem,</I> which they, instead of being
ashamed of, gloried in as a justification of them in their idolatries;
they <I>all came into his mind</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
all the <I>abominations which they had committed</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
and all their disobedience to <I>the voice of the Lord</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
all were brought to account; and <I>therefore,</I> to punish them for
these, <I>is their land a desolation and a curse, as at this day</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>);
<I>therefore,</I> not for their late reformation, but for their old
transgressions, has all <I>this evil happened to them, as at this
day,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
Note, The right understanding of the cause of our troubles, one would
think, should go far towards the cure of our sins. Whatever <I>evil
comes upon us,</I> it is <I>because we have sinned against the
Lord,</I> and should therefore <I>stand in awe and sin not.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Jeremiah has something to say to them, <I>to the women</I>
particularly, from <I>the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,</I> They
have given their answer; now let them hear God's reply,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
<I>Judah, that</I> dwells <I>in the land of Egypt,</I> has God speaking
to them, even there; that is their privilege. Let them observe what he
says; that is their duty,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
Now God, in his reply, tells them plainly,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. That, since they were fully determined to persist in their idolatry,
he was fully determined to proceed in his controversy with them; if
they would go on to provoke him, he would go on to punish them, and see
which would get the better at last. God repeats what they had said
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
"<I>You and your wives</I> are agreed in this obstinacy; <I>you have
spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands;</I> you have
said it, and you stand to it, have said it and go on to do accordingly,
<I>We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense
to the queen of heaven,</I>" as if, though it were a sin, yet their
having vowed to do it were sufficient to justify them in the doing of
it; whereas no man can by his vow make that lawful to himself, much
less duty, which God has already made sin. "Well" (says God), "<I>you
will accomplish, you will perform, your</I> wicked <I>vows:</I> now
hear what is my vow, what <I>I have sworn by my great name;</I>" and,
if <I>the Lord hath sworn,</I> he <I>will not repent,</I> since they
have sworn and will not repent. <I>With the froward he will show
himself froward,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:26">Ps. xviii. 26</A>.
(1.) He had sworn that what little remains of religion there were among
them should be lost,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
Though they joined with the Egyptians in their idolatries, yet they
continued upon many occasions to make mention of the name of Jehovah,
particularly in their solemn oaths; they said, <I>Jehovah liveth,</I>
he is <I>the living God,</I> so they owned him to be, though they
worshipped dead idols; they swear, <I>The Lord liveth</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:2"><I>ch.</I> v. 2</A>),
but I fear they retained this form of swearing more in honour of their
nation than of their God. But God declares that his <I>name shall no
more be</I> thus <I>named</I> by <I>any man of Judah in all the land of
Egypt;</I> that is, there shall be no Jews remaining to use this
dialect of their country, or, if there be, they shall have forgotten it
and shall learn to swear, as the Egyptians do, <I>by the life of
Pharaoh,</I> not of Jehovah. Note, Those are very miserable whom God
has so far left to themselves that they have quite forgotten their
religion and lost all the remains of their good education. Or this may
intimate that God would take it as an affront to him and would resent
it accordingly, if they did make mention of his name and profess any
relation to him.
(2.) He hath sworn that what little remnant of people there was there
should all be consumed
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
<I>I will watch over them for evil;</I> no opportunity shall be let
slip to bring some judgment upon them, <I>until there be an end of
them</I> and they be rooted out. Note, To those whom God finds
impenitent sinners he will be found an implacable Judge. And, when it
comes to this, they <I>shall know</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>)
<I>whose word shall stand, mind or theirs.</I> They said that they
should recover themselves when they returned to worship <I>the queen of
heaven;</I> God said they should ruin themselves; and now the event
will show which was in the right. The contest between God and sinners
is whose word shall stand, whose will shall be done, and who shall get
the better. Sinners say that they shall have peace though they go on;
God says they shall have no peace. But <I>when God judges he will
overcome;</I> God's word shall stand, and not the sinner's.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. He tells them that a very few of them should <I>escape the
sword,</I> and in process of time <I>return into the land of Judah, a
small number</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
next to none, in comparison with the great numbers that should return
out of the land of the Chaldeans. This seems designed to upbraid those
who boasted of their numbers that concurred in sin; there were none to
speak of that did not join in idolatry: "Well," says God, "and there
shall be as few <I>that</I> shall <I>escape the sword and
famine.</I>"</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. He gives them a sign that all these threatenings shall be
accomplished in their season, that they shall be consumed here in Egypt
and shall quite perish: <I>Pharaoh-hophra,</I> the present <I>king of
Egypt,</I> shall be delivered <I>into the hand of his enemies that seek
his life--of his own rebellious subjects</I> (so some) under Amasis, who
usurped his throne--<I>of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon</I> (so
others), who invaded his kingdom; the former is related by Herodotus,
the latter by Josephus. It is likely that this Pharaoh had tempted the
Jews to idolatry by promises of his favour; however, they depended upon
him for his protection, and it would be more than a presage of their
ruin, it would be a step towards it, if he were gone. They expected
more from him than from Zedekiah king of Judah; he was a more potent
and politic prince. "But," says God, "<I>I will give him into the hand
of his enemies,</I> as I gave Zedekiah." Note, Those creature-comforts
and confidences that we promise ourselves most from may fail us as soon
as those that we promise ourselves least from, for they are all what
God makes them, not what we fancy them.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The sacred history records not the accomplishment of this prophecy, but
its silence is sufficient; we hear no more of these Jews in Egypt, and
therefore conclude them, according to this prediction, lost there; for
no word of God shall fall to the ground.</P>
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