We have already commented on Subsections 1 in Jeremiah 4; subsection 2 in Jeremiah 5; and subsection 3 in Jeremiah 6. We must now therefore consider subsection 4 here. This subsection deals with various experiences of Jeremiah amidst what remained of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem.

SECTION 2. Subsection 4). Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem, Including The Rejection By The Remnant Of Judah Of YHWH’s Offer Of Full Restoration, Resulting In Further Judgment On God’s Recalcitrant People (40.1-45.5).

Within this subsection, which opens with the familiar words ‘the word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH --’ (which in this case indicates that the section as a whole which follows contains prophecies of Jeremiah which are put into an historical framework, for what immediately follows is historical narrative), we have described events subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem:

• ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH --.’ The appointment of Gedaliah as governor of Judah and his attempt, along with Jeremiah, to re-establish it as a viable state (40.1-16).
• Gedaliah’s assassination by a recalcitrant prince of Judah, who himself then had to flee to Ammon, resulting in the feeling among many who had been re-established in Judah that it would be necessary to take refuge in Egypt (41.1-18).
• The people promise obedience to YHWH and are assured by Jeremiah that if they remain in Judah and are faithful to Him YHWH will ensure that they prosper, whereas if they depart for Egypt it can only result in disaster (42.1-22).
• Jeremiah’s protestations are rejected by the Judeans who take refuge in Egypt and are warned by Jeremiah that soon Nebuchadrezzar would successfully invade Egypt itself (43.1-13).
• ‘The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt --.’ Having settled in Egypt the people return to idolatry, rejecting Jeremiah’s warnings of the consequences, and are assured by him that they will suffer as Jerusalem has suffered, with only a remnant being able to return to Judah (44.1-30).
• ‘’The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah --.’ YHWH’s assurance given to the faithful Baruch in the days of Jehoiakim that He would be with him, come what may (45.1-5).

It will be noted that the markers given by the author actually divide the subsection into three parts, 40.1-43.13, 44.1-30 and 45.1-5. Thus ‘the word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH --’ is a phrase which covers the whole of 40.1-43.13, with 40.1b-42.6 being the necessary historical introduction to the actual ‘word from YHWH’ given in 42.7 onwards. The importance of this word is emphasised by the ten day wait. (In comparison with this incorporation of a prophecy within an historical framework we should note how constantly in Genesis covenants and words from YHWH were regularly put within an historical framework).

The main purpose of this section is in order to establish:

• 1). that what has happened to Judah and Jerusalem was YHWH’s own doing, as verified even by Nebuchadrezzar’s imperial guard commander.
• 2). that nevertheless YHWH had not totally forsaken His people but would re-establish them if they looked to Him and were obedient,
• 3). that their future success depended on that obedience, an obedience which proved to be lacking.

It is difficult for us to realise quite what a crushing blow the destruction of Jerusalem would have been to Jewry worldwide. All their pet beliefs had been brought crashing down. Whilst many were in exile far away from their homeland they had gained confidence from the fact that the Temple still stood and that the covenant worship still continued. But now the idea of the inviolability of the Temple had proved invalid, Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the very power of YHWH was being called into question. Could therefore now any trust be placed in YHWH? It was therefore necessary in this regard that it be emphasised by Jeremiah that it was not YHWH Who had failed, but His people. He brought out that they had in fact brought their devastation on themselves. The new beginning that he had promised could only arise out of the ashes of the old, because the old had been distorted beyond all recognition. His words would be a bedrock on which their new ideas about YHWH could be fashioned.

The Commencement Of Judah’s Restoration Is Thwarted By The Assassination Of Gedaliah The Governor And By The Refusal Of The People To Listen To Jeremiah As They Take Refuge In Egypt (40.1-43.13).

This deals with ‘the word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH’ after he had been delivered from his manacles by Nebuzaradan. It opens with the historical background to this prophecy in which Gedaliah, Nebuchadrezzar’s appointed Governor, commences the re-establishment of Judah in the land (40), and is then assassinated (41.1-10), resulting in the decision by the people of Judah to seek refuge from Nebuchadrezzar’s revenge in Egypt (41.11-18). However, prior to doing so they consult Jeremiah who gives them ‘the word of YHWH’ that they are to remain in the land under His protection (42).

But as always Judah choose to disobey YHWH and do seek refuge in Egypt, with the consequence that Jeremiah vividly prophecies that Nebuchadrezzar’s retribution will overtake them there (43).

The Deliverance Of Jeremiah And The Temporary Restoration Of Judah (40.1-6).

The passage and section opens with the now familiar ‘the word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH ---’ (compare and contrast 44.1; 45.1), a phrase which always indicates the opening of a new aspect of his prophecy and is one of the crucial indicators in dividing up the Book of Jeremiah. The passage describes again the release of Jeremiah (compare 39.11-14) who is released into the care of Gedaliah, the newly appointed Governor of Judah.

At first sight 39.14 may appear to contradict the description found in 40.1-5, but one probable explanation is to be found in the fact that in the first aftermath of the siege when the city was taken, Jeremiah was carried off in chains to Riblah along with the many other captives, only to be released when he was recognised by Nebuzaradan who had received direct orders concerning him from Nebuchadrezzar. As a consequence he was then conveyed back in honour to the court of the guard in Jerusalem where he was housed in luxury for his own safety until it was finally safe for him to join Gedaliah the new governor in the area where the new government was being established.

For Nebuzaradan to recognise him in 40.1 might mean that at that stage Nebuzaradan had not yet set off for Jerusalem, although the account is too summarised to be sure. However, the fact that Nebuzaradan then knew where Jeremiah was would serve to confirm that he had had a hand in looking after his welfare, having had him conveyed back to Jerusalem to the safety of the court of the guard in the grounds of the king’s palace which was no doubt being used as a headquarters by the Babylonians.

Alternatively it could be that in the turbulent days after the ending of the siege Jeremiah was released but was once again arrested by a Babylonian contingent who did not realise who he was, with the result that he had to be ‘rescued’ a second time once Nebuzaradan arrived back from Jerusalem. Nebuchadrezzar having given specific orders concerning his safety, great care would have been taken to search him out and ensure it.

Another alternative is to see 39. 14 as just a very summarised explanation as to how Jeremiah was released from the court of the guard, with all the detail between his release (by being taken in chains to Ramah) and his handing over to Gedaliah being omitted. Much had been made of his being in the court of the guard (32.2, 8, 12; 33.1; 37.21; 38.6, 13, 28; 39.14, 15), and thus his deliverance from it with a happy ending could be seen as a necessary conclusion to the passage, the trauma in between as described in chapter 40 being ignored.

40.1 ‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him there being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.’

‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH --.’ As we have seen this is an important introductory phrase often indicating the commencement of a new section. Compare 7.1; 11.1; 14.1; 18.1; 21.1; 30.1; 32.1; 34.8; 35.1; In this case it is introductory to chapters 40-45, and it will be noted that no prophecy of Jeremiah immediately follows in chapter 40. The phrase therefore rather has in mind the prophecies of Jeremiah contained within the whole section, placed within an historical framework, and indicates the theological nature of what is being presented.

‘After Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah’. Nebuzaradan, commander of Nebuchadrezzar’s own bodyguard, had been given a specific charge by Nebuchadrezzar to look after Jeremiah’s welfare (39.11-12). We do not know at what point Nebuzaradan went to Jerusalem after the successful taking of the city, which as we saw in 39.3 was accomplished by others. Thus what may well have happened was that Nebuzaradan released Jeremiah from Ramah into the care of those responsible for the court of the guard in Jerusalem (39.14), so as to ensure his safety during the dangerous days following the ending of the siege, both from Babylonian soldiery seeking out those who had gone into hiding, and from many angry Jews who may have been considering taking revenge on him, this occurring prior to his then being released by Nebuzaradan into the hands of Gedaliah the new governor once it was safe to do so. Here what happened is simply put in very summarised form.

‘When he had taken him there being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.’ Nebuzaradan had been given overall responsibility for dealing with the matter of carrying off the people of Jerusalem and Judah into exile (39.9) and the subsequent settlement of affairs in the land (39.10). He would not, however, have been directly and personally involved in the gathering of the captives, which would have been in the hands of the initial invaders, who would have shown little discrimination. The sorting out could be done at Ramah. Thus Jeremiah shared the ignominy of being taken in chains to Ramah along with all the other captives, something which he would not have fought against. He would want to be identified with his people. Whether Nebuzaradan went at this stage to Jerusalem in person we do not know. He may well have remained with Nebuchadrezzar in Ramah, his activities as described being carried out by deputies on his orders. Ramah was in the territory of Benjamin, six miles north of Jerusalem. It has been identified with modern Er-ram but the identification is not certain.

40.2 ‘And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, YHWH your God pronounced this evil on this place,”

These verses are central to Jeremiah’s theology. They explain what was otherwise totally beyond understanding, and that was as to why YHWH had allowed His own Temple to be destroyed, and His own holy city to be vandalised. It was important for all to see that rather than indicating YHWH’s powerlessness, it indicated both His control over the activities of Babylon and His determination to judge His people for their wrongdoing. It will then be revealed that had they been willing He would have enabled the remnants of the people to re-establish a new Judah.

In the eyes of Nebuchadrezzar’s guard commander YHWH was the local God of Judah Who had determined to punish His own people. While no doubt crediting the victory to the gods of Babylon he still had no problem with seeing the local God as also involved, and as having pronounced evil against Jerusalem (compare the words of Rabshakeh the Assyrian high official in 2 Kings 18.25). He would be well aware from Babylonian spies that Jeremiah had been declaring the same thing, the difference being that Jeremiah saw Him as God of all the earth. But to the reader the important thing was that Babylon’s own representative was acknowledging that YHWH had not failed, but was rather bringing about His purposes. From an historical point of view Nebuzaradan was undoubtedly speaking to Jeremiah in a friendly way in terms which he knew from what he had learned from his own spies that Jeremiah would use.

40.3 “And YHWH has brought it, and done according to what he spoke, because you have sinned against YHWH, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come on you.”

It is quite probable that Nebuzaradan was here in fact citing words of Jeremiah which had been reported to him by his spies, to the effect that disaster had come on Jerusalem, brought on them by their own God YHWH, because of their failure to honour Him truly and fulfil His covenant requirements. He spoke better than he knew. Here was testimony from a leading figure in Babylon to the might and power of YHWH, besides Whom, in Jeremiah’s eyes, the gods of Babylon were as nothing.

40.4 “And now, behold, I loose you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seem good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well to you, but if it seem ill to you to come with me into Babylon, forbear. Behold, all the land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you to go, there go.”

Jeremiah was here receiving the favoured treatment commanded by Nebuchadrezzar himself in 39.11 ff. This was probably because Jeremiah was seen, as a result of his urgings to the king of Judah to submit to Babylon, as a loyal supporter of Nebuchadrezzar. Thus on his being searched out by Nebuzaradan in fulfilment of Nebuchadrezzar’s command he was released from his manacles. He was then given the choice of either going to Babylon where he would be rewarded for his supposed loyalty, or of remaining in the land and settling wherever he wished, presumably with the idea that land would be given to him there. It is clear that Jeremiah made the choice to remain in Judah.

40.5 ‘Now while he was not yet gone back, (Nebuzaradan said to him) “Go back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a present, and let him go.’

Chapter 39 brings out that this is a very telescoped account of the treatment of Jeremiah. There we learn that initially Jeremiah was returned to the court of the guard in Jerusalem. This would probably have been for his own safety at a time when there were still highly dangerous patriots about, and when the Babylonian soldiery were still seeking out hidden refugees in order to carry them off to Ramah, and then to Babylon. It was then from the court of the guard in the palace grounds (no doubt the Babylonian headquarters) that he was subsequently put under Gedaliah’s care, a detail ignored here in verse 5.

Jeremiah was now given one of two alternatives, either to put himself under the protection of Gedaliah, the newly appointed governor of Judah, or alternately to settle wherever he wished, presumably with land grants. He may well have been given documents granting this permission. On release he was then provided with sufficient victuals to keep him going for the near future, and ‘a present’, presumably in recognition of his supposed loyalty to the king of Babylon. In other words wealth was piled on him, and he was given his full freedom, evidence that for those who were obedient to YHWH, YHWH’s influence was sufficient to ensure their provisioning.

‘Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah.’ The description of Gedaliah as ‘Governor of the cities of Judah’ emphasises that Jerusalem was no longer to be seen as having any political or theological significance. It was now Gedaliah who ruled from elsewhere, from Mizpah. He may well be the Gedaliah whose name is found on a seal discovered at Lachish speaking of ‘Gedaliah who was over the house’, that is, was the king’s representative there. He was thus a person of acknowledged authority, and may well have found favour with Nebuchadrezzar because of his reported friendliness towards Jeremiah. His antecedents also indicate his aristocratic background, emphasising that he was a man of recognised authority in Judah. Both Shaphan and Ahikam (26.24) had been loyal servants of the kings of Judah. Gedaliah came from godly stock, his father having protected Jeremiah in earlier days as described in 26.24.

40.6 ‘Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.’

So Jeremiah heeded the advice of Nebuzaradan and went to the new governor at Mizpah and dwelt securely with him, alongside those who were left in the land. The following verses will give us details of some of these. He clearly recognised a pastoral responsibility for them. We must not think, however, that otherwise Judah was totally unpopulated. The poor of the land, who would be quite numerous, were settled in it by Nebuzaradan (39.10) and people who had fled to the mountains during the invasion, or who had fled abroad, would now filter back into the land to reclaim at a minimum their own inheritances. However, the fact that the population had been greatly reduced comes out in that it is stated later that the harvest of summer fruit and wine would be abundantly sufficient for all now living in Judah.

‘Mizpah’, which means ‘watchtower’, was the name given to a number of cities in Judah and Israel. This was probably the well known Mizpah in Benjamin (Joshua 18.25-26; 1 Samuel 7.5-13; 10.17-25). It was not far from Gibeah of Saul (Isaiah 10.29; Judges 19.13), but its identity is uncertain (as with so many identifications).

Political Events In The New Judah - Gedaliah Re-establishes Judah But Is Assassinated (40.7-41.18).

What follows is a description of the events that followed the appointment of Gedaliah, events in which Jeremiah played no active part. It does, however, set the scene for Jeremiah’s prophecies in chapter 42-43, and reveals that among the patriotic resistance leaders who showed themselves willing to submit to Gedaliah’s governorship, once they recognised that their cause was lost, was one whose loyalties lay outside Judah, with the Ammonites. The Ammonites clearly encouraged the continuing of the plotting of Judah against Babylon, no doubt in order to turn attention from themselves. This man was of royal blood, and may well have been continuing an alliance with the Ammonites previously set up by Zedekiah. But his aim was clearly negative, for his intention was to murder Gedaliah (bringing down Babylon’s wrath on Judah) and find refuge in Ammon. He no doubt saw Gedaliah as a traitor, but his own position was hardly any better. Thus to the end the royal house was to prove to be a thorn in the side to Judah.

Re-establishment Of Judah Under The Governorship Of Gedaliah (40.7-12).

Once the news got about that Gedaliah had been appointed governor, that Judah was now populated by ‘the poor of the land’, and that the land was comparatively at rest, the commanders who were still leading armies of resistance, together with their men, and the Jews who had fled for refuge abroad, determined to return to the land and submit to him. There would no doubt still be many women remaining in the land, tending what remained of the flocks and trying to scratch a living from the land, many of them wives of the resistance fighters.

40.7 ‘Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon,’

The news of Gedaliah’s appointment soon reached the ears of the various resistance movements operating throughout Judah (the captains of the forces who were in the countryside, probably operating from the mountains which provided good hiding places and difficulty of access). They learned that the Babylonians had set up a new state under Gedaliah, populated by ‘the poor of the land’, who were no doubt seen as those who had no influence and no political axe to grind, and could thus safely be left in Judah in order to re-establish it. Allowing the land to turn into a wilderness would do no one any good. These men of the resistance clearly recognised that further resistance was useless and decided that it was in the interests of all Judah that they cooperate with a new government under Judean governorship.

40.8 ‘Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, to wit, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.’

So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah in order to negotiate with him. We have here a list of the resistance leaders, the first of whom would shortly reveal himself a traitor, but who is named first because he was of royal blood. As a result of what they had heard their purpose was to come to an agreement with Gedaliah, whom they knew that they could trust, and to offer to lay down their arms as long as they were given sufficient guarantees of their own safety and the safety of their men.

That Ishmael was of royal birth we know from 41.1, and we may presume from what follows that he resented Gedaliah as a result and saw him as a usurper. But that his aim was one of revenge rather than one of patriotism, comes out in that his intention was not to restore Judah. Indeed he knew perfectly well that Nebuchadrezzar would subsequently seek revenge on Judah for what had happened and thus planned to seek refuge in Ammon. We know almost nothing about the others save that Jezaniah was apparently a resident alien, being the son of a Maacathite, and Netophath was a town near Bethlehem. Jezaniah may or may not be identical with Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah mentioned in 42.1.

40.9 ‘And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

Gedaliah had presumably been briefed by Nebuchadrezzar as to the stance that he must take up, and was therefore able to assure the men that if they laid down their arms and were cooperative they would be safe from reprisals.

40.10 “As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come unto us, but you, gather for yourselves wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”

He pointed out that he would be dwelling at Mizpah acting for the good of Judah and negotiating for Judah with the Babylonian contingent, who would be at Mizpah to oversee his governorship. He would act as a guarantor of their acceptance by the Babylonians. Meanwhile they were free to dwell in the cities that they had taken possession of, presumably due to the Babylonian withdrawal, and to gather the wine, summer fruits and oil which would be growing on the fruit trees left standing by the Babylonians, for present needs and for storage. The grain and barley harvests would have to await the following year, no harvest presumably having been sown or gathered that year due to the invasion.

40.11-12 ‘In the same way when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.’

It is clear that the land soon became fairly well populated again. Apart from ‘the poor of the land’ who would have been numerous, and had been allowed to remain and take land there, refugees who had fled from the invasion to surrounding countries now returned in droves. And there was plenty of food for all from the abundance of wine and summer fruits. Ammon and Moab were to the east of Judah, across the Jordan. Edom was south and south-east of Judah.

Gedaliah Receives And Rejects A Warning About Ishmael’s Intentions (40.13-16).

The loyal former resistance commanders learned of Ishmael’s plottings, and came to Gedaliah and warned him of Ishmael’s intentions. They were now content to settle in the land under Gedaliah’s governorship. So they warned him that Ishmael was plotting with the king of Ammon to have Gedaliah assassinated. One of them even offered to have Ishmael done to death secretly. But like many honest men Gedaliah could not conceive of such treachery, and forbade any action against Ishmael on the grounds that their information must be untrue. He could not believe that Ishmael was capable of such treachery.

40.13-14 ‘ Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the countryside, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.’

It may well have been because he sounded them out as to whether they would give him assistance and support that Ishmael’s plotting became known to the other former resistance commanders. However, they apparently had no desire to enter into an intrigue with the unsophisticated Ammonites, and were content with things as they now were. So they approached Gedaliah in order to warn him. Gedaliah on the other hand did not believe that what they were saying was true.

We do not know why Baalis, the king of the tribal Ammonites who were a people who were only half civilised, had a grudge against Gedaliah. And indeed his main aim may simply have been to keep things stirred up in Judah so as to divert Nebuchadrezzar’s attention from Ammon. But it may also have been with a view to using the resulting turmoil to seize land belonging to Judah. The Ammonites had themselves previously been involved with Judah in plots against Babylon (27.3). Baalis is unknown from history unless the name Ba‘ly found on the Siran bottle dated 667-580 BC refers to him.

Ishmael’s purpose might have been the result of a desire for power, or it may have resulted from greed or jealousy, or it may simply have been with a view to obtaining vengeance for what had happened to his family. But whatever it was he would serve Judah ill.

40.15 ‘Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Let me go, I pray you, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it. Why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?”

Aware of the consequences of any assassination of a Babylonian appointed governor, Johanan, one of the former resistance commanders, offered to have Ishmael secretly assassinated in order to save the situation. Neither he nor his fellow-commanders wanted the turmoil and consequences that would result. Possibly there is a hint here of what the king of Ammon was hoping for.

40.16 ‘But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”

But Gedaliah would have none of it. He refused to believe that Ishmael was capable of such a thing, and rebuked Johanan for suggesting false ideas.

Ishmael’s Plot Comes To Fruition And Gedaliah Is Assassinated (41.1-3).

Gedaliah was to be proved wrong. Ishmael comes to Gedaliah with an offer of friendship, something evidenced by his ‘eating bread’ with him. Thereby he was giving a guarantee of loyalty, for ancient custom saw this as indicating a guarantee of friendship. To eat bread with someone towards who you had evil intentions was seen as unthinkable. So no doubt once this occurred Gedalaiah felt that he had been justified in his faith in Ishmael. But then Ishmael and his men falsely turned on Gedaliah and those who supported him and slew them without mercy. The enormity of what he had done is emphasised by the phrase, ‘and slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.’ It was not only an act of treachery against Gedaliah, but also against Nebuchadrezzar himself. And along with Gedaliah Ishmael and his men slew the Babylonian representatives at the Judean court and the token contingent of Babylonian soldiers who were stationed in Mizpah. This demonstrates that Ishmael’s intention was not just against Gedaliah. It was an act that invited repercussions from Babylon.

The immensity of Ishmael’s treachery does not come home to the modern reader, but for an oriental to ‘eat bread together’ with someone was to make an absolute guarantee of friendship and peace. Thus for Ishmael to eat bread with Gedaliah and then to assassinate him would have been seen by all, friend and foe alike, as a crime of the highest order. Ishmael’s action would therefore have been severely disapproved of, even by those who might otherwise have sympathised with him.

His evil nature, and his antagonism against YHWH, will further be brought out by his slaughter of some pilgrims who were passing by Mizpah on the way to interceding before YHWH at the Temple site, which could only be seen as an act of pure vindictiveness and of extreme anti-Yahwism, the latter possibly resulting from what had happened to his family. It may well be that he had become a worshipper of Melech (Molech - Milcom) the god of Ammon, a god who was also worshipped widely throughout Canaan and was very bloodthirsty.

41.1 ‘Now it came about in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.’

‘In the seventh month.’ If this was the seventh month of the same year as mentioned in 39.3 then all this happened within three months of Gedaliah’s appointment. However, as we have seen, this is a new section of the prophecy, and it is therefore probable that the two datings are unconnected. That being so we do not have any reference to which year this was. The reason for mentioning the seventh month is that it was the month in which the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated, thus it would be quite normal to have a large celebratory feast in that month. Many scholars would in fact date the year by the fact that in 582 BC Nebuchadrezzar again sought retribution against Judah, resulting in further exiles (see 52.30). If this is so it would mean that Gedaliah had ruled for a number of years.

It is stressed here that Ishmael was ‘of the seed royal and one of the chief officers of the king’. This would explain why he had fled to Ammon for refuge in order to escape Nebuchadrezzar’s vengeance, and once there he had seemingly become willingly involved in the intrigues of the king of Ammon. His important status in Judah is brought out by the fact that he and his men alone were invited to the governor’s feast. Note the underlining again of the fact that ‘they ate bread together’. As all knew this should have been a guarantee of friendship and peace. To agree to eat bread with someone against whom you had evil intentions went against all codes of decency and honour in the eyes of an oriental.

‘Ten men’ probably indicates a small unit similar to a platoon. It was large enough for the purpose that Ishmael had in mind whilst still not being suspicious. These would be the ones who attended the feast. Ishmael had quite probably also brought other men with him who acted under his orders outside the feast.

‘The son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama.’ This was perhaps the secretary of state mentioned in Jeremiah 36.12, or more likely the son of David who bore this name (2 Samuel 5.6; 1 Chronicles 3.8; 14.7).

41.2 ‘Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.’

Once the feast had got under way Ishmael and his men revealed their hand. No doubt waiting until most of the guests were drunk they rose up and assassinated Gedaliah and his other guests, which would have included prominent Babylonian officials and other Jewish leaders. But the emphasis here is on the fact that they slew Nebuchadrezzar’s appointed representative, a heinous crime demanding certain retribution. Nebuchadrezzar would not be able to overlook such an act. It was an act of open rebellion.

Indeed this act had such devastating consequences that it became commemorated by a special fast on ‘the 3rd of Tishri’ (see Zechariah 7.5; 8.19). It was the seeming end of Judah’s hopes of re-establishing itself.

41.3 ‘Ishmael also slew all the Jews who were with him, to wit, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.’

How widespread the slaughter was we are not told in detail. The aim was clearly to decimate the loyal Jewish leadership and to get rid of all traces of the Babylonians left there by Nebuchadrezzar. The former suggests that the act was in order to destabilise an already weakened Judah, and make it vulnerable to outside interference, presumably by Ammon. The latter indicates a deliberate attempt to incite retribution from Babylon.

Ishmael Continues His Bloodthirsty Slaughter And Seeks To Escape To Ammon (41.4-10).

Having carried out his bloodbath Ishmael now learned of a party of pilgrims who were approaching Mizpah, coming from the northern former Israelite towns of Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, all of which had been important religious sanctuaries. They were in mourning, and their aim was apparently to intercede with YHWH at the Temple site. The road that they were taking for Jerusalem led past Mizpah which was close to the road leading from the north. The fact that he so unnecessarily perpetrated evil against such men suggests that he was violently anti-Yahwist and against all things Yahwist, perhaps as a reaction to the destruction of Jerusalem and the royal house, although it may also be that he was fearful of what the reaction of such good men would be to what he had done (news would inevitably have filtered out into the countryside). He knew that what he had done in abusing hospitality would inevitably be frowned on by all people of goodwill. Furthermore he may also have seen their approaching Mizpah as evidence of their support for Gedaliah. But the detail given about the men suggests that it was primarily to be seen as an act of rebellion against YHWH. They were religious men connected with recognised religious sanctuaries.

41.4-5 ‘And it came about on the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it, that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of YHWH.’

It is apparent from this that the site of the ruined Temple of Solomon was still seen as holy, and as ‘the house of YHWH’. Their aim may simply have been worship at an especially holy site, or it may have been in order to pray for the restoration of the Temple. The approximately eighty men in question would have had to pass near Mizpah on the road leading from the north to Jerusalem. They would be pious descendants of Israelites in the northern kingdom who had preserved their faith, and were connected with the ancient sanctuaries. Indeed we know from what happened later on that many in the northern kingdom had continued to serve YHWH by coming to Jerusalem, where they used to attend the regular feasts (2 Chronicles 34.9; compare Jeremiah 30.11). They had possibly been inspired into this action by their observance of the Day of Atonement on the 10th day of the month. It will be noted that here they brought meal offerings and frankincense which could be offered within the ruins of the Temple. This was necessary because there was now no altar of sacrifice. It can be seen that particular emphasis is being laid on the piety of the men. Thus to attack them was to attack YHWH.

‘Having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves.’ These were recognised signs of mourning. The paring of the beard and the cutting of themselves was forbidden by the Law of Moses (Leviticus 19.28; 21.5), but they were still customs which were commonly practised. These men were thus not totally orthodox. But they were unquestionably pious YHWH worshippers. ‘Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria’ are placed in the order in which they became sanctuaries. They could be seen as summing up northern Israel’s religious history.

41.6 ‘And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went, and it came about, as he met them, that he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.”

It would appear that had Ishmael not gone out to these pious men they would have passed Mizpah by. It may well, however, have been that Ishmael feared that they would hear news of what he had done and would spread it abroad. On the other hand the great emphasis on their religious status suggests that this was to be seen as an open attack on YHWH. Whatever may be the case, he went out to them, making a pretence of mourning along with them, in order to win their confidence. He then deliberately lured them into Mizpah by inviting them to meet the governor, thus once again abusing the laws of hospitality. The worshippers would see such an invitation as one not to be refused, the equivalent of an official command. Thus he obtained his way by trickery. His sole aim was murder, and that of pious worshippers of YHWH.

41.7 ‘And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.”

But once the worshippers had innocently entered the city all but ten of them were slain by Ishmael and his men, who then cast their bodies into a pit. The pit would be an excavation in the form of a cistern, or subterranean storehouse, constructed in the open country, for the purpose of storing grain and other produce. The opening or entrance to it would be concealed so that it would not be perceived by those intent on stealing the produce. Alternately it may have been the cistern which supplied the city’s water supply in time of siege, and have been a deliberate attempt to make it useless and ‘unclean’, thus preventing its use in any future defence of the city when Nebuchadrezzar came seeking vengeance.

41.8 ‘But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have stores hidden in the countryside, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.” So he forbore, and did not kill them among their brethren.’

Ten of the men were spared, but the only reason for this was that they offered to divulge the whereabouts of hidden stores as a bribe in return for their lives, possibly requiring confirmation of the agreement by oath so as to make it binding. Ishmael’s greed was even greater than his hatred of YHWH.

41.9 ‘Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was that which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel,) Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were slain.’

The pit in question was one which Asa of Judah had built in preparing defences against Baasha king of Israel. The purpose in mentioning this may merely have been as an historical explanation of the existence of the pit, or it may have been an ironical indication that what had been made for the purpose of deliverance from fear, had become the very opposite. It was the same pit into which Gedaliah’s body had been thrown, along with many of those slain with him. There is no mention of the construction of this pit elsewhere, but its background was clearly well known at the time. It may have consisted of defenceworks, or have been for the purpose of water storage in readiness for times of siege.

41.10 ‘Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.’

No doubt hoping that news of his escapades had not spread Ishmael then gathered, possibly as hostages, all those who had been left in Gedaliah’s care by Nebuzaradan, including among them the king’s daughters (the royal household), and presumably Jeremiah. Taking them captive he set out for Ammon where he intended to find refuge, having fulfilled the king of Ammon’s requirements. We note here how provision had been made by Nebuchadrezzar for the king’s daughters to live in the manner to which they were accustomed. Apart from when carrying out vengeance royalty showed consideration towards royalty. Among other things it helped to retain the goodwill of the people. Ishmael’s taking of responsibility for the royal household may indicate an intention to represent himself as having royal status as ‘head of the house’ with the future in mind. Establishing a ‘royal house’ in exile would prepare the way for a later claim to kingship. But it was not to be.

Ishmael Is Pursued By The Loyal Men Of Judah Who Recover The Captives, Although Ishmael Himself Escapes Retribution (41.11-15).

Despite Ishmael’s best efforts news of what he had done swiftly and inevitably reached the ears of the loyal Judean commanders who, when they heard of it, determined to recover the captives and gain revenge. Gathering their men they came to the rescue. They succeeded in respect of the captives, but failed in respect of the capture of Ishmael, who, on seeing the approach of a determined force, deserted the captives and with eight of his men (the remainder of ‘the ten’ had possibly been killed at some stage) and fled post haste to Ammon, no doubt on fast horses.

41.11 ‘But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,’

It was inevitable that loyal Judeans would slip out of Mizpah, despite all the precautions that Ishmael had taken, and would make for the cities where the loyal commanders were stationed. The news of what had happened therefore reached Johanan and the other captives post haste.

41.12 ‘Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.’

So they quickly rallied their forces and set off in pursuit of Ishmael and his party, and the speed at which they did so is brought out by the fact that they caught up with them at ‘the great waters that were in Gibeon’. A pool at Gibeon (modern el-jibe) is mentioned in 2 Samuel 2.13, and would have been one of the large receptacles for water, traces of which can still be found. This was only about 3 kilometres (2 miles) from Mizpah so that Ishmael and his party had clearly not travelled very far. It is indeed probable that, thinking himself safe, hostages were still being rounded up, and brought there.

41.13 ‘Now it came about that, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.’

When the captives saw the approaching loyalist forces they were glad. They had no desire to go to Ammon, and were heartened at the thought of being rescued. It is being emphasised that Ishmael had no local support.

41.14-15 ‘So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.’

It is apparent that when Ishmael saw the approaching forces he recognised that he was no match for them, and made his escape on horseback as rapidly as possible, leaving the captives to do whatever they wanted. The captives immediately went back to meet the pursuers, rejoicing in their deliverance. This would slow down any pursuit, thus enabling Ishmael and eight of his men to escape and make their way to Ammon.

Recognising That Nebuchadrezzar Would Wreak Vengeance For The Assassination Of His Appointed Representative The Judeans Determine To Seek Refuge In Egypt (41.16-17).

In what is a much abbreviated account (Johanan’s men would hardly have left without their wives and children) we learn that all those who could have been seen as in any way involved in connection with the assassination of Gedaliah, including those who had failed to bring the assassins to justice and whose safety had been guaranteed by Gedaliah, determined to seek refuge in Egypt from the anticipated revenge of Nebuchadrezzar. Such revenge was rarely discriminatory. Anyone could find themselves involved in it.

41.16 ‘Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, to wit, the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon,’

Recognising that Nebuchadrezzar might well seek revenge on those who had failed to protect his representative from assassination, namely all the important people in Mizpah, and on those who had let the murderers escape, namely Johanan and his allies, whose guarantee of safety had anyway lain in the hands of Gedaliah, Johanan and his fellow-commanders decided to seek refuge in Egypt. From now on Mizpah would not be a safe place in which to live, being a target of Nebuchadrezzar’s vengeance. It should be noted that while large, the numbers of refugees are limited. The large part of the inhabitants of Judah would remain in Judah, well away from Mizpah.

41.17-18 ‘And they departed, and stayed in Geruth Chimham, which is by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt, because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.’

The basis of their fears is here emphasised. It was because the one whom Nebuchadrezzar had appointed as governor had been slain. This really left Nebuchadrezzar with no option but to wreak some kind of revenge as an object lesson to all his subjects everywhere as to what would happen to them if they did not protect his appointed representatives. And Mizpah would be the main target of his revenge.

So rather than returning to Mizpah they took up temporary residence in Geruth Chimham (or ‘at the inn/resting-place of Chimham’). It is an indication of their sense of foreboding, and of their fear of an attack at any time, that they clearly panicked and determined to flee the scene. No one wanted to be found in Mizpah. That they were at least partly right, humanly speaking, can be gathered from the fact that Nebuchadrezzar’s forces did later arrive and seek vengeance on Judah in 582 BC, resulting in further exiles (see 52.30).

The Refugees Seek YHWH’s Guidance Through Jeremiah But On Receiving It Reject It Because It Does Not Fit In With Their Inclinations With The Consequence That Jeremiah Prophesies Judgment Against Them (42.1-43.13).

That Judah had still not learned its lesson comes out in that on receiving the word of YHWH from Jeremiah they immediately reject it and determine to follow their own inclinations. We have here a reproduction in miniature of the whole history of Israel. They sought to Egypt rather than to YHWH. They were reversing Israel’ previous deliverance. Jeremiah on the other hand promised them that if only they would obey YHWH all that he had prophesied against Judah would be reversed, but they refused to listen. Mighty Egypt appeared to offer a better guarantee of safety than the promises of YHWH. Little were they to know that mighty Egypt would itself be humiliated by Nebuchadrezzar, and that they would be caught up in the repercussions.

The People Approach Jeremiah And Seek Guidance, Giving The Impression Of Wanting To Obey YHWH (42.1-6).

As a result of what had happened to Jerusalem Jeremiah had now been proved to be a true prophet of YHWH. Thus on finding him among the captives the people came to him ostensibly in order to receive the word of YHWH. What they really wanted was a religious assurance that the plan which they had formulated was the right one. They wanted God to back up their plans, rather than themselves wanting to fall into line with God’s plans.

There may be a deliberate parallel between what is said here and what is said in Exodus 24. In both cases the covenant is renewed with a promise being made by the people that they would obey it. It is setting the scene in both cases for their future disobedience.

42.1 ‘Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,’

It would appear that Johanan was the recognised leader of the military forces, probably by common consent of the commanders, with the son(s) of Hoshaiah possibly being the recognised leaders of the people in general. Compare 43.1 where Azariah the son of Hoshaiah takes precedence over Johanan in dealing with Jeremiah’s prophecy. Jezaniah as used here may simply have been another name for Azariah, or it may be that the two were brothers, both belonging to the same aristocratic family. He may or may not have been the same person as Jezaniah the Maachathite (40.8). But it is emphasised here that both they, and all from highest to lowest, were concerned to seek Jeremiah’s support for their venture. This is speaking, of course, of those who were planning the flight to Egypt. Purportedly they wanted YHWH’s guidance. Actually it would turn out that they simply wanted to be told that they were right. It was not that they were deliberately dishonest. They genuinely wanted God’s will, but only as long as it conformed to theirs. And we must remember that they lived in a day when turning to the divine about future plans was looked on as the necessary thing to do. The gods were always consulted before any great enterprise. It is not therefore their religious sincerity which is in doubt but the condition of their hearts.

42.2-3 ‘And said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let, we pray you, our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to YHWH your God, even for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do behold us, that YHWH your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.”

For the last phrase compare Exodus 18.20. Outwardly their hopes were very pious. They wanted to know YHWH’s will and to do it. Indeed they claimed that they wanted to walk in the way of YHWH. And so they asked Jeremiah to pray to YHWH so that He would guide them (as it will turn out, as so often with us today, it was on condition that He said what they wanted Him to say). Note the reference to the remnant. They were very conscious that their once well populated land was now comparatively sparsely populated, mainly through slaughter, and through death by means of famine and pestilence, and through fleeing as refugees, rather than through exile, for only the cream of the people had actually been exiled. Isaiah in 6.11-13 had prophesied that Judah would be reduced to a remnant and that even that remnant would need to be purged. Here now was a remnant but it will soon become apparent that they too need to be purged. Outwardly, however, they give the impression of having learned their lesson.

Note that here they speak of ‘YHWH your God’, the idea being that Jeremiah was very much YHWH’s prophet, and that YHWH was the One from Whom he received His prophecies. Other prophets would go to other gods and even many gods, but they knew that Jeremiah had only one God.

42.4 ‘Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to YHWH your God according to your words; and it will come about that whatever thing YHWH will answer you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”

Jeremiah then assured them that he had heard their cry for help, and that he would pray to YHWH on their behalf as they had requested. He further promised that he would assuredly tell them what YHWH’s answer to them was, and would keep nothing back from them. This emphasis suggests that Jeremiah was already aware that his reply was not likely to please them. He knew that God did not want His people to return to Egypt (compare Isaiah 30.1-4; Hosea 11; Ezekiel 17.15; and often). Egypt was doomed (Ezekiel 29-32)

Note again the designation ‘YHWH your God’, this time spoken to the people. Jeremiah wants them to recognise in their turn that YHWH is their sole God too, the God to Whom they owe covenant responsibility, and the God Who is interested in their concerns.

42.5 ‘Then they said to Jeremiah, “YHWH be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we do not according to all the word with which YHWH your God will send you to us.” ’

In bold words they asserted their determination to obey YHWH. They called on YHWH to act as a true and faithful prosecuting witness among them if they failed to obey His words which would He would send to them through Jeremiah. In other words they were indicating that they would be prepared to face up to a searching examination of their obedience. It was a powerfully phrased request. All seemed set well for the future. In this confident declaration we discover a decided similarity with similar declarations in the past. It indicated confirmation of the covenant. See Exodus 24.3, 7; and compare Joshua 24.21.

42.6 ‘Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of YHWH our God, to whom we send you, that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of YHWH our God.’

Indeed, they declared, they would obey the voice of YHWH through Jeremiah whether it spoke good or evil, in other words whatever it spoke, so that it might be well with them. The thought was pious and theologically correct. The problem was that they meant it only if it fitted in with their own ideas of what they should do, something common to many of us in our dealings with God.

Note that taking up Jeremiah’s indication that YHWH was ‘their God’ they now themselves spoke of Him as ‘our God’. By this they were acknowledging their responsibility to look only to Him as their only God and to obey and worship Him.

Jeremiah Brings To The People The Word Of YHWH (42.7-22).

The break of ten days during which Jeremiah waited on YHWH brings out the importance of what is to be said. The run of cultic prophets spoke spontaneously, having stirred themselves up into ecstasy, but this was no spontaneous word from Jeremiah. He had to wait on YHWH for the genuine word of YHWH. The wait would meanwhile leave the people feeling uneasy in the light of the impending threat of Nebuchadrezzar. It suggests that God was testing their faith and giving them time to think over their situation. He knew that what He was about to command would be contrary to all their intentions.

We soon discover the reason for the waiting. YHWH’s word was that, rather than fleeing to Egypt, they were to remain in Judah under His own protection. They must trust in Him not in Egypt (compare Isaiah 30.1-5). He further indicated, in terms reminiscent of Jeremiah’s previous prophecies, that the judgment which Jeremiah had previously pronounced against Judah had now been reversed, and that if they remained in the land, rather than their being delivered up to Nebuchadrezzar, they would be established and would be delivered out of his hand. On the other hand if they chose to go into Egypt they would find themselves subjected to all the judgments from which they were trying to escape. The choice before them was stark. YHWH or Egypt.

The passage closes with Jeremiah, expressing his awareness in a kind of postscript that their decision has been to disobey YHWH, declaring that they will in fact prove disobedient, and will thus come under God’s renewed judgment. It was not, of course, just the seeking of refuge in Egypt that was the problem. It was that once they had done so they would start to look to other gods, something which 44.15 ff. make clear is precisely what happened.

42.7 ‘And it came about after ten days, that the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah.’

‘Ten days’ may simply signify ‘a period longer than seven days’. In Genesis ‘three days’ regularly indicated a short period, with ‘seven days’ indicating a relatively longer period. ‘Ten days’ may therefore have been the next stage up the scale (compare ‘ten times’ in Genesis 31.41). But however that may be, the description indicated that Jeremiah had to wait some considerable period, well over a seven day period, for YHWH’s answer, something unusual in the field of prophecy (compare, however, 28.11-12; Ezekiel 3.16). It was a reminder that with the genuine prophets YHWH’s word was not just something that could be produced by religious manipulation, but was a genuine word from Him.

The impression we gain (verses 2, 4) is that Jeremiah was to spend much of the time in prayer and supplication. Then at YHWH’s discretion His word came to Jeremiah. The wait should have convinced God’s people that the word which came would be of vital importance. God was doing His best to bring home to them the importance of what He was about to say.

42.8 ‘Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,’

Having received YHWH’s word Jeremiah then solemnly called together the whole leadership, together with all the people who were in the camp, from the commanders and the king’s daughters, to the lowest servants. The whole assembly of the people was to be there to hear YHWH’s command.

42.9 ‘And said to them, “Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him,’

He reminded them that it was they who had sent him to ‘YHWH, the God of Israel’, in other words to ‘their God’, in order that he might pray before Him so that they might receive the true word of YHWH through him.

42.10 “If you will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up, for I repent me of the evil that I have done to you.’

The initial words are a reversal of the trend of Jeremiah’s previous prophecies against Judah (see 1.10), and guarantee a fulfilment of His promises in 18.7-10; 31.4-5; 33.7. YHWH promises to fulfil in Judah what is also promised to the exiles outside Judah (24.6), their ‘building up and planting’. It was an offer to bring about the fulfilment of the promises concerning the new covenant in 31.27-34 (see especially verse 28). YHWH promises them that if they will remain in the land and put their trust in Him He will ‘build them up and plant them’ because as a result of His judgments He has been able to change His mind about their situation. We should notice in this regard that YHWH’s ‘repentance’ is always as a result of changed circumstances which enable Him to view things differently. He changes His mind because the situation has changed enabling Him to act differently, not because He had previously made the wrong decision or was sorry for what He had done.

Thus if they are willing to truly obey YHWH the beginning of the reversal of the judgments of God can commence, with a future bright in the light of the promises in chapters 30-31. They will be able to enter into a new covenant with YHWH, a covenant that changes the heart, the Davidic king will take his throne, and the whole land will become prosperous. It must not be overlooked that this was a prospective turning point in salvation history. Sadly it did not come to fruition.

42.11 “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him, the word of YHWH, for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.”

YHWH assures the people that if they remain in the land they need not fear Nebuchadrezzar’s revenge because on ‘the word of YHWH’ they can be sure that He, YHWH, will deliver them out of Nebuchadrezzar’s hand. And this even though they are afraid of him. So once more YHWH’s people are called on to look to Him and trust Him to be their Deliverer and Saviour, and act accordingly, with the promise that if they are obedient they will enjoy His full protection.

42.12 “And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.”

For as a result of YHWH granting them mercy (a word indicating a mother’s tender care and compassion), they can be sure that Nebuchadrezzar will also consequently have mercy on them, the final consequence of this being that they can now return safely to occupy their own land under YHWH’s protection, rather than seeking refuge in Egypt.

Indeed it is clear that by fleeing to Egypt they would in fact be giving Nebuchadrezzar the impression that they were guilty of being involved in Gedaliah’s assassination, and in the murder of the Babylonians who had been stationed in Mizpah. Had they in fact remained and informed Nebuchadrezzar of the efforts that they had made to bring the murderers to justice they may well have been believed. But they were aware of what he had done to Zedekiah and the rulers of Judah, and panicked.

42.13-14 “But if you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ so that you do not obey the voice of YHWH your God, saying, ‘No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread, and there will we dwell,’ ”

On the other hand they are warned that if they refuse to take this option of dwelling in the land, thereby flagrantly disobeying YHWH, but rather declare that that they will go into Egypt and dwell there in order to avoid war and the sound of war, and in order to avoid hunger, then they must face the consequences which he is about to pronounce.

42.15 “Now therefore hear you the word of YHWH, O remnant of Judah. Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there,’

Jeremiah now gives a solemn pronouncement of what will happen to them if they choose Egypt. Returning to Egypt is constantly seen in Scripture as an indication of backsliding. Israel had hankered after Egypt in the wilderness (Exodus 16.3; Numbers 11.5; 14.4), and they had continued to do so ever since even though Egypt had in the end brought them nothing but hurt (see Hosea 11). Scripture constantly sees their hearts as being centred on Egypt (‘the fleshpots of Egypt’ - Exodus 16.3), even though God had delivered them from it, that was why in the end the One Who represented Israel had to be called out of Egypt (Matthew 2.15). Deliverance from ‘Egypt’ and all that it stood for is essential for salvation.

42.16 “Then it shall come about, that the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, of which you are afraid, will follow hard after you there in Egypt. And there you will die.”

For what would they find in Egypt? Would they find peace and security and wellbeing and life? No. Rather they would experience being overtaken by the sword and by famine and by death, the very things which they wished to avoid. Egypt could offer them no security.

42.17 “So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, and none of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.”

This is what it will be like for all who set their faces on Egypt to go there. They will experience the judgments of sword and famine and pestilence (contagious disease), and none of them will escape from them, for YHWH Himself will bring them on them because of their disobedience. Sword, famine and pestilence are regularly described together as the means of God’s judgments (14.12; 21.7, 9; 24.10; 27.8, 13; 29.17, 18; 32.24, 36; 34.17; 38.2; 44.13; Ezekiel 5.12, 17; 6.11, 12; 7.15; 12.16). In Ezekiel 14.21, where they are supplemented by wild beasts, they represent YHWH’s four judgments. They were the killers of the ancient world. And he emphasises that none will escape these judgments.

42.18 “For thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, As my anger and my wrath have been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured forth on you, when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach, and you shall see this place no more.”

For their returning to Egypt will be as heinous a crime as that of the disobedience of the inhabitants of Jerusalem which brought YHWH’s anger and wrath on them. In the same way will His wrath be poured out on those who enter Egypt. They will experience the Levitical and Deuteronomic curses of being viewed with execration and astonishment (Leviticus 26.32; Deuteronomy 28.37), of being a curse and a reproach. and they will certainly never see their homeland again.

Recognising That They Have No Intention Of Obeying YHWH Jeremiah Pronounces Over Them What Is To Come On Them (42.19-22).

Having been brought down to being a remnant, Judah have now been given the opportunity to re-establish themselves as God’s people and renew God’s kingdom. God’s judgment was over and YHWH was willing to begin again with them. But in spite of their earlier commitment to obey His voice (which humanly speaking had brought them this offer) it is clear to Jeremiah from their reaction that it is their intention to turn away from the fulfilment of their promise.

This was one of those moments in history when all future history could have been changed, but the stubbornness, hardheartedness and disobedience of the people prevented it from happening. And Jeremiah could only watch in despair and declare to them that because they had made false promises, sword, famine and pestilence would surely come on them in the very place where they had hoped to find safety.

42.19 ‘YHWH has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not go into Egypt,”. Know certainly that I have testified to you this day.”

Having watched the reactions of the people and their leaders Jeremiah realises with a sinking heart that they have no intention of obeying YHWH, and makes his last hopeless plea to ‘the remnant of Judah’. The ‘remnant of Judah’ were those for whom God had promised so much, but it was essential, if they were to retain their purity of faith, that they remain in Judah. They must not ‘go into Egypt’ with all that that will involve. And he emphasises that that was the command of YHWH which they had promised to obey, and which Jeremiah was now solemnly testifying to them.

42.20-21 ‘For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls, for you sent me to YHWH your God, saying, “Pray for us to YHWH our God; and according unto all that YHWH our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it, and I have this day declared it to you. But you have not obeyed the voice of YHWH your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.’

And he brings out that the reason for his final solemn plea is because he can see that all their past promises have been deceitful. They have even deceived themselves, ‘dealt deceitfully against their own souls’. He recognises that they have in fact from the beginning had no intention of obeying YHWH whatever He said’, even though they may have convinced themselves otherwise. Their obedience had rather been conditional on YHWH aligning Himself with their own intentions, which in their view were the only safe ones. Their view was that YHWH had to fit in with what they saw as their only real hope of security, refuge in Egypt. For to them the might and security of Egypt under Pharaoh Hophra offered them their only hope. Thus when they had called on Jeremiah to pray to YHWH for guidance and had promised to do all that he declared to them as from YHWH, which was what he had done, they had done so only conditionally on it fitting in with their own inclinations.

Refuge in Egypt had indeed always been the final choice for people in the land of Canaan. It was ever a safe haven in times of trouble and famine. And because in the past Egypt had always seen Canaan as a kind of protectorate the refuge was usually offered. Archaeology bears witness to how often parties of Canaanites were welcomed in Egypt. We can compare Abraham in Genesis 12.10; and Jacob in the time of Joseph (Genesis 42.1-3).

‘But you have not obeyed the voice of YHWH your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.’ But the truth was that Israel had never obeyed the voice of YHWH, even though they claimed Him as their God. And they were not ready to obey Him now. This may be a reference back to Judah as a whole, linking these people before him with the previous behaviour of Judah, or it may simply indicate that he recognises that they have come to a decision, and that that decision was to disobey YHWH. Thus in their intentions they have already disobeyed YHWH, just as they always have in the past.

42.22 ‘Now therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place to which you desire to go to sojourn there.’

Jeremiah thus pronounces on them YHWH’s final verdict. In the very place to which they intended to go in order to live there, sword and famine and pestilence will overtake them, bringing about their deaths. Rather than escaping from them they will have brought them upon themselves. And this is not just a possibility, but is a certainty.

The People Of Judah And Their Leaders Reject The Word Of YHWH And Seek Refuge In Egypt (43.1-7).

Even as Jeremiah had been giving to the people ‘the word of YHWH’ he had recognised from their reaction that they were going to reject it. And so it proved. A group of ‘proud men’, which included the leaders of the people, came to Jeremiah and accused him of prophesying at the behest of Baruch, the son of Neriah, who had been Jeremiah’s amanuensis and was a man of high standing. And they then subsequently sought refuge in Egypt, in the border town of Tahpanes. This had clearly always been their intention, whatever word from YHWH Jeremiah brought them. So once again Judah proved itself unwilling to obey the voice of YHWH.

We must not underestimate the significance of this event. YHWH had made a clear offer to Judah to re-establish it in accordance with His promises in 31.28, by ‘building it and planting it’. This was thus an open and direct rejection of the new covenant. It will be noted that they did not attack Jeremiah directly. They did so through Baruch, suggesting that Jeremiah’s influence over many of the people was still large. By this means they justified to themselves their disobedience to the word of YHWH. How easily we can find ourselves doing the same thing. We do not directly refuse to obey God. Instead we find some way of arguing our way round what He demands in order to justify our own position.

43.1 ‘And it came about that, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people all the words of YHWH their God, with which YHWH their God had sent him to them, even all these words,’

Note the emphasis on the fact that Jeremiah had brought to them the word of ‘YHWH THEIR God’ (repeated twice), and that they had listened while he pronounced the whole. It was a momentous situation. Judah were once more being faced up to the question as to whether they were truly willing to respond to YHWH as THEIR God by obeying His word through Jeremiah, as they had solemnly promised to do (42.2-5).

43.2-3 ‘Then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. YHWH our God has not sent you to say, “You shall not go into Egypt to sojourn there but Baruch the son of Neriah set you on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon.”

Up to this point Johanan had been the prominent one but now the leadership is taken by Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, who may have been the brother of the Jezaniah mentioned in 42.1, or may indeed be identical with him. (It was not unusual for people to have two names. Some, however, see one of the names as being a copying error, but there is no reason why this should be so, although LXX sees it that way). This may have been because Azariah was the leader of the discontented party, or because in governmental matters he held precedence over the military leaders. The ‘arrogant/proud men’ were those whose self-pride made them exalt themselves against YHWH, they were the ‘discontents’. It may simply be a way of describing the whole attitude of the group of leading men.

They came as a group to Jeremiah and informed him that in their view he was speaking falsely, and not bringing them the word of YHWH at all. They refused to believe that YHWH had commanded them not to go to Egypt. It may be significant that they altered what Jeremiah had actually said, replacing ‘al (not at this time) with lo (not at all). This has ever been the method of the deceiver of men, right from the time of his activity in the Plain of Eden.

Indeed they claimed that he had simply been influenced by Baruch, the son of Neriah, his former amanuensis and assistant (32.12-16; 36.4-32), who was also with the party (verse 6). Baruch was clearly a man from an influential family, and an aristocrat, who undoubtedly owed his freedom to the fact that he had been Jeremiah’s close supporter (his brother Seraiah had been transported to Babylon (51.59) and was designated as a ‘prince’ or ‘noble’). He is rebuked elsewhere for a certain tendency to seek greatness and influence (45.5), a danger for us all. This may suggest that unlike Jeremiah he had taken advantage of Nebuchadrezzar’s goodwill to further himself and his ambitions, something for which he had to be rebuked. In Jewish tradition he is depicted as the author of the apocryphal book of Baruch, and is portrayed as having lived in Babylon for a period, and as having had influence there, although we must remember that that book might have arisen directly as a result of what is written here. However that might be, Jeremiah is being accused of being influenced by Baruch with a view to Nebuchadrezzar being able to gain his revenge on them. The words bear all the marks of being an excuse, but they do indicate how sure they were that Nebuchadrezzar would seek to do just that.

Of course most of them had for a long period in the past been prejudiced against Jeremiah, considering him to be a false prophet. Thus in spite of the fact that what he had prophesied came true, and that he had refused to go to Babylon and had remained among them, there was that within them that would always hold Jeremiah in suspicion of being a Babylonian collaborator

43.4 ‘So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of YHWH, to dwell in the land of Judah.’

The consequence was that the commanders of the Judean forces, headed by Johanan, together with ‘all the people’ (i.e. those present in the party) did not obey YHWH’s voice. They refused to continue living in the land of Judah with the constant threat of Nebuchadrezzar’s vengeance hanging over them. There is a reminder here for all of us that before changing our whereabouts we should consider the will of God.

43.5-6 ‘But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who were returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to sojourn in the land of Judah, the men, and the women, and the children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah,’

Thus the whole group, ‘the remnant of Judah’, decamped and set off for Egypt. It is difficult to know how far the description of those who went with them takes in all the inhabitants of Judah. The description certainly covers the men who were in the various fighting groups who had been guerillas, no doubt along with their families, (they would see themselves as liable to retribution), together with former refugees who had returned to Judah and could be seen as there ‘without permission’ (40.11). And it includes all who had been living in Mizpah under the protection of Gedaliah, who could be seen as liable to suspicion, especially daughters of the royal house who could be made an example of. And it includes Jeremiah and Baruch who were probably forced to go with them (even though they may have been quite willing to go so as to cater to the spiritual needs of the people) . But there would be many elsewhere in Judah who had survived the invasion, and among them would be many of ‘the poor of the land’ to whom Nebuzaradan had given land who were no doubt scattered throughout Judah (39.10). None of them had much to fear from Nebuchadrezzar’s reprisals. Thus the land may well have remained fairly well populated, as in fact is required by the fact that when Nebuchadrezzar did arrive he was able to take into exile 745 of the leading men in Judah (51.30), no doubt with their families.

43.7 ‘And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of YHWH, and they came to Tahpanhes.’

So the refugees made for Egypt, and it is emphasised that this was because ‘they did not obey the voice of YHWH’. And when they came to the border town of Tahpanhes they settled there. A thpnhs is in fact referred to in a Phoenician papyrus letter of the 6th century BC found in Egypt.

Tahpanhes is usually located at modern Tell Defneh, 43 km south-south-west of Port Said (on the grounds of location, the archaeological discovery of Greek pottery, and its similarity in name to the Greek Daphnae, a fortress town fortified by Psammatichus I) and it may mean ‘Mansion of the Nubian’ (t-h(wt)-p-nhsy), having reference to the fortress built there by Psammeticus I for Greek mercenaries. It is probable that there was already a Jewish community there.

Jeremiah no doubt saw it as ironic that after over 600 years of ‘freedom’ from Egypt God’s nominal people had returned there. They had by their own free choice returned to the subjection from which they had been delivered. We can compare how Hosea, in fact, insisted that their heart had always been there (Hosea 11). That was why God’s initial step after the birth of His Son, was to bring Him out of Egypt (Matthew 2.15) finally fulfilling deliverance from Egypt and reversing what had happened here. Men’s hearts have to be ‘delivered from Egypt’.

YHWH Declares To Judah That Far From Escaping The Vengeance Of Nebuchadrezzar, It Will Reach Them In Tahpanhes (43.8-13).

We know from a damaged Babylonian tablet that Nebuchadrezzar did invade Egypt, where, after various successes he reached an understanding with Ahmose II (Amasis c.570-526 BC). It was probably an extensive punitive campaign mainly affecting northern Egypt, but it would be devastating and far reaching while it lasted. It would include within its scope Tahpanhes which was close to the northern border. Indeed the sheltering of these ‘fugitives’ may have been one of Nebuchadrezzar’s grievances against Egypt.

43.8 ‘Then the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,’

The word of YHWH was not limited to Palestine. And thus it came to Jeremiah in Egypt. God was still concerned to speak to those who claimed to be His people, even though they were living in disobedience, and worse. God’s word knows no limitations.

43.9 “Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in mortar in the brickwork (or brick-kiln), which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah,”

Jeremiah was called on to involve himself in another acted out prophecy, this time by taking ‘large stones’ and hiding them in mortar in the ‘brickwork’ (or ‘brick-kiln’) in front of ‘Pharaoh’s house’ in Tahpanhes. The ‘king’s house’ in Tahpanhes is mentioned in the Elephantine papyri. It was not one of Pharaoh’s regular palaces but would rather have been a government building, the administrative centre for the area, although available for Pharaoh’s use when he paid a state visit.

The word translated ‘brickwork’ is a rare one (three times in the Old Testament). Elsewhere it means brick-kiln (see 2 Samuel 12.31; Nahum 3.14). But it is argued that there was unlikely to be a brick-kiln at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house (i.e. government house), and equally unlikely that Jeremiah would see YHWH as setting his throne on it. LXX in fact translates as ‘vestibule’. A parallel Arabic word uses it of brick tiles over a doorway. If we take it as signifying brickwork it may well have consisted of a raised brick pavement in front of ‘Pharaoh’s house’.

On the other hand we could argue that if the house of Pharaoh was in process of being restored (which would explain the presence of the available mortar) there could well have been a brick-kiln in front of it, even if at some distance, and being a raised place it could later have been used by Nebuchadrezzar as a place on which to set up a throne, having covered it with a covering, so that he could be seen by the crowds of people who surrounded and acclaimed him. Reference to a brick-kiln would certainly fit in with the idea of YHWH’s burning anger against His disobedient people, who were perhaps beginning to think of themselves as ‘large stones’ because they were what remained of Judah, and with Nebuchadrezzar’s activities in ‘burning the houses of the gods of Egypt’ as described in verses 12-13. And it is significant that he would do this as ‘YHWH’s servant’ (verse 10).

In favour of the idea of a raised brick platform is the fact that such platforms in front of palaces are known of throughout the Ancient Near East in ancient times, and that the remains of one such platform was discovered in front of a ‘palace’ in Tell Dephne.

43.10 “And say to them, Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel. Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal covering over them.”

The purpose behind the setting of the large stones hidden in the brickwork or brick-kiln was that they were to be a reminder that in the future Nebuchadrezzar, as YHWH’s servant, would set a throne over them, and spread over them his royal ‘canopy’ or ‘covering’ (the word occurs only here). This may have been a canopy over his head, or a covering on which his throne was then placed, or even a pavilion. Thus ironically the people who had fled from Nebuchadrezzar, ‘YHWH’s servant’, in disobedience to YHWH, would find YHWH’s servant sitting over them as their ruler and lord in their very place of refuge.

Note the full blown title, ‘YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel’, a reminder that YHWH was the God of battle Who was over all the hosts of the world, as well as being the God of Israel. Even Nebuchadrezzar with all his might was His servant to do His will.

43.11 “And he will come, and will smite the land of Egypt; such as are for death will be given to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.”

In typical Jeremaic language (compare 15.2) it is declared that Nebuchadrezzar will come and smite the land of Egypt bringing death, captivity and sword on its inhabitants, including the hapless Judeans. Rather than escaping death, captivity and sword by their flight the fugitives had plunged themselves right into them. They would each receive their inevitable end, along with those who had welcomed them. As we have seen above a damaged Babylonian tablet confirms this invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadrezzar, whilst not giving the details because of its damaged state.

43.12 “And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them, and carry them away captive, and he will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his robe, and he shall go forth from thence in peace.”

Note the change of person to ‘I’. YHWH Himself was involved in this. Not only the people but also the gods in whom they trusted would be humiliated, for YHWH Himself would kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt (YHWH’s brick kiln?). So in the face of YHWH’s anger the gods of Egypt were no safer than the people. The Egyptian gods and their houses would be burned with fire, whilst the gods themselves would also be carried off as trophies into captivity. Thus the very gods whom they had trusted to keep them from captivity would themselves be taken captive. Josephus later confirms that at this time the Jewish captives were carried off to Babylon.

Furthermore Nebuchadrezzar, as YHWH’s servant, would ‘array himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his robe’. Egypt was no match for the one chosen by YHWH to carry out His purposes. It was simply rather an accessory, a cloak for YHWH’s shepherd, to be tossed casually around his shoulders.

Whilst the invasion by Nebuchadrezzar was rather a punitive expedition in the face of different Egyptian activities against their possessions, than a full-scale invasion, it was totally successful and resulted in a peace treaty between himself and Ahmose II, which no doubt acknowledged Babylonian rights in Syria, Cyprus and Palestine, after which Nebuchadrezzar retired in peace, his aims accomplished.

43.13 “He will also break the pillars of Beth-shemesh, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”

The outstanding feature of Nebuchadrezzar’s activities as YHWH’s servant would be the breaking of the famous pillars in Beth-shemesh (house of the sun) in Egypt. Even the sun god was helpless before YHWH’s servant. This probably refers to the famous temple in Heliopolis, (twenty miles north-east of Memphis) one of the pillars of which is still standing while another can still be seen in Rome where it was taken by the later victorious Romans. There were also numerous other pillars, and these were accompanied by huge statues. It was an exceedingly prestigious Temple, and no doubt seen by many Egyptians as inviolable. But it would fall at the hands of YHWH’s servant. And the temple at Heliopolis would not suffer alone, for many houses of the gods of Egypt would be consumed by fire before the victorious advance of Nebuchadrezzar, YHWH’s servant. The gods of Egypt would be humiliated, as they had been in the time of Moses.

The Word Of YHWH Comes Against All His People Who Have Taken Refuge In Egypt In The Past Because Instead Of Learning Their Lesson From What Has Happened To Jerusalem They Have Turned To Other Gods, Something Which They Brazenly Boast About. Therefore Because Of This YHWH’s Judgment Will Come On Egypt And His People Will Be Caught Up In It And Will Suffer Accordingly (44.1-39).

This is a new word of YHWH not directly connected with what has gone before, although clearly coming after the fall of Jerusalem. It was given in the time of Pharaoh Hophra (verse 30), and therefore prior to 570 BC. It commences with the words ‘the word that came to Jeremiah --’ and can be divided up into four sections:

• 1). YHWH’s word against His people warning of His coming judgment because they have not heeded what He has done against Jerusalem. The remnant who have escaped to Egypt will be destroyed (2-14).
• 2). The people’s defence to the charge and their response to Jeremiah’s words (15-19).
• 3). Jeremiah’s immediate reply reminding them that YHWH had seen what they and their fathers had done and had acted in judgment on them by desolating their land and making it a spectacle to the world (20-23).
• 4). A further word confirming YHWH’s judgment on all Jews living in Egypt because they have turned to other gods and are trusting in Pharaoh Hophra as their deliverer (24-39).

While not stated in the text we can make a contrast here between the refugees here in Egypt and the exiles over in Babylon. These in Egypt have become involved in the worship of other gods, incorporating YHWH into a syncretistic basically polytheistic religion, and refusing to listen to Jeremiah’s pleas, whilst many of those in Babylon will purify their faith, thanks in large measure to Ezekiel, and be ready to return to their land when the time is ripe.

Superscription.

44.1 ‘The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph (Memphis), and in the country of Pathros, saying,

This is the opening superscription to this new prophecy, separating it from what has gone before. It informs us that what follows is YHWH’s word to all Jews who have taken refuge in Egypt. It covers the whole of chapter 44. The opening prophecy is directed at the remnant who have escaped from Judah as previously described, who settled at Tahpanhes, whilst the concluding prophecy is directed at all Jewish refugees throughout Egypt. Whether the latter include any or all of the former we are nowhere told, but there would certainly be many Jewish refugees in Egypt who had not come with those who had arrived with Jeremiah.

With regard to the central section it is difficult to know who quite is involved in the worship described there, whether those living in Pathros, or Jews from all over Egypt gathered in Pathros for a festival, but either way they are seen as typical of most of the Judeans in Egypt. As always there would be a few exceptions, such as Jeremiah and Baruch.

It is apparent from this word here that there were at this time colonies of Jews in different parts of Lower Egypt. Migdol (‘tower or fortress’) is mentioned in Exodus 14.2 and was on the Israelite route out of Egypt. It was therefore close to the borders. Noph is identical with Memphis (mentioned in 2.16; Isaiah 19.13; Ezekiel 30.13, 16). Tahpanhes was also a border city. The position of ‘the country of Pathros’ is uncertain. That it covers a large area comes out in its use elsewhere. It may thus have included a number of communities of ‘Jews’. The name means ‘the Southland’ and it may therefore indicate Upper Egypt, the long Nile valley extending north to south between Cairo and Aswan. It is attested in Assyrian inscriptions as Paturisi. In Isaiah 11.11 we find the description ‘from Mizraim (Egypt), from Pathros and from Cush’, and this would appear to confirm this conclusion as it would appear to indicate Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt and North Africa (Northern Sudan). Interestingly an inscription of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, also speaks of him as ‘king of Musur, Paturisi and Cush’, which parallels Isaiah’s description. For further mention of Pathros/Pathrusim see also Genesis 10.14; Ezekiel 29.14; 30.14. ‘The country of Pathros’ would therefore possibly include the Jewish military colony at Elephantine, on an island in the Nile not far from Syene (Aswan - Ezekiel 29.10; 30.6), that is if, as is probable, it existed at that time.

1). YHWH’s Word Against His People Warning Of His Coming Judgment Because They Have Not Heeded What He Has Done Against Jerusalem. The Remnant Who Have Escaped To Egypt Will Be Destroyed (2-14).

These words were seemingly delivered in the land of Pathros, where Jeremiah was apparently visiting the Jewish settlers (verse 15). Whether in fact it was a gathering of Jews from all over Egypt for a special festival we are not told, although it is quite possible, for his words have very much in mind those who had arrived with him from Judah, which suggests that they were present. At this time YHWH makes clear to the Jews through Jeremiah that they have made a foolish choice in coming to Egypt, a choice based, it will become apparent, on their disillusionment with Him, although really resulting from hearts set on idolatry and lacking in trust. He points out that they are simply behaving as their fathers have always done and must therefore expect similar judgments to those which came on their fathers.

44.2-3 ‘Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel. You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them, 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, which they did not know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.’

This verse sums up YHWH’s charge against Israel and is introduced under His full grand title, ‘YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel’ which will be repeated three times for emphasis (see verses 7, 11). Jeremiah wants them to recognise the greatness of their God. The verse points out that it was because His people had burned incense to and worshipped other gods not previously known to them or their fathers, that He had brought down His judgments on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah, making them a desolation, and uninhabited, because of their wickedness in doing so. He had indeed borne long with them and had given them ample opportunity to repent, but they had simply seen this as giving them licence to continue in their false ways. Thus all that had come upon them was because of their polytheism, and thereby their rejection of Him as their only God, thus breaching the first two stipulations in the covenant (the first two commandments), and thereby rejecting the whole.

44.4 ‘In spite of the fact that I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, “Oh, do not this abominable thing which I hate.”

YHWH stresses the efforts that He had made in seeking to guide them onto the right path. He had sent to them ‘all His servants the prophets’. And He had acted with the great determination in order to do it in that He had ‘risen up early’ to do it, something which reflects the importance He had placed on what He was about to do. The language is typically Jeremaic (7.25; 26.5; 29.19; 35.15). It emphasises the great concern and effort that He had exerted in order to help them, commencing right from the beginning (‘early’), and continuingly revealed in the ongoing nature of his activity (‘all the prophets’), having in mind all the true prophets, both well known and little known, who had prophesied since the time of Moses. And all had brought one message to them, ‘Do not do this abominable thing (worship other gods) which I hate,’ a breaking of the first and second commandments (words of the covenant).

‘My servants the prophets.’ A phrase found seven times in Jeremiah, twice in 2 Kings, once in Ezekiel and once in Zechariah. It reflects the fact that the prophets were peculiarly YHWH’s servants, acting as His mouthpiece. But ‘All my servants the prophets’ is found only here and in 7.25; 35.15, and is thus strictly Jeremaic, whilst the phrase as connected with ‘rising up early’ is found only in 7.25; 26.5; 29.19; 35.15 and here.

44.5 ‘But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.’

Yet in spite of all God’s efforts His people had refused to listen. They had refused to hear His constant pleas that they turn from their wickedness in burning incense to other gods, and had blatantly continued to do so. And with their worship had gone their morals.

44.6 ‘For which reason my wrath and my 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 it is this day.’

This indeed was why Jerusalem and Judah were in the condition that they were at that time, wholly in ruins, and why His anger had been poured forth on them, and had been kindled ‘in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem’. This was why their cities were wasted and desolate. It was because they had followed and worshipped other gods, gods of nature, who demanded nothing of them morally and were seen as largely controlled by their ritual activities.

44.7-8 ‘Therefore now thus says YHWH, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: “For what reason do you commit this great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining, in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are gone to sojourn, that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?” ’

And now these people were doing the very same thing. They were burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, something which was a great evil against their own souls, and could only result in them also being cut off. They were acting just like their fathers had done. The impression given is that these were gods of Egypt to which they had turned in hopes of improving their situation. They were therefore on their way to suffering the Levitical and Deuteronomic curses outlined in Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28, which would result in them being cut off and becoming a curse and a reproach among all the peoples of the world.

44.9 “Have you 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 committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?”

He calls on them to consider the past. Have they forgotten how their fathers and their fathers’ wives had behaved, and how the kings of Judah had behaved? Have they forgotten how they themselves had behaved, and their wives? It was because of their wickedness practised openly in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that all God’s judgments had come upon them (7.18). That was why they were in the position that they were at this very day.

44.10 “They are not humbled even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.”

Note the change of person as YHWH comments on them to Jeremiah. They have taken such little notice of their past that even at this very time they were not humbled, nor did they fear, or walk in His Law, or in His statutes, which He had set before both them and their fathers. All His judgments have failed to move them. For in spite of their apparent change of heart revealed when they had called on Jeremiah to discover YHWH’s word for them (42.2-6), they have subsequently ignored that word and gone their own way.

44.11 ‘Therefore thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.” ’

YHWH now turns back to addressing the people. Therefore let them be sure of this, He YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel would ‘set His face’ against them with a miserable end in view, the cutting off of all Judah. Their God Who had once delivered them from Egypt and its gods, but Who had acted so powerfully in the past against them and their fathers because of their evil ways, would now act equally powerfully against them at this time.

44.12 “And I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all be consumed. In the land of Egypt will they fall. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine, and they will be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.”

For He would take all the remnant of Judah who had ‘set their faces’ to go to live in the land of Egypt and ensure that they were consumed by famine and sword, the very two enemies that they had been seeking to avoid by coming to Egypt. ‘Here at least’, they had thought, ‘we need fear neither famine nor sword’. But let them be sure of this. From the least to the greatest of them they would die by that very sword and by famine, and become an execration and an astonishment in the eyes of all people. They would become a curse and a reproach. For this language compare 42.18; 18.16; Leviticus 26.25-26, 32, 36-38; Deuteronomy 28.37. Note the play on the fact that YHWH had set His face against them because they had set their face towards Egypt.

44.13 “For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence,”

For in committing the same sins as those in Jerusalem by turning to other gods, the gods of Egypt, they were deserving of the same punishment. They equally therefore would suffer sword, famine and contagious disease, as indeed Jeremiah had previously prophesied (compare 42.17).

44.14 “So that none of the remnant of Judah, who are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, will escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there, for none shall return save such as shall escape.”

And His purpose was that none of the remnant who had escaped from Judah and had gone into the land of Egypt to settle there, would escape the coming judgments, or would survive in order to be able to return to the land of Judah in spite of their desire to do so, that is apart from a few refugees.

‘Save such as shall escape.’ The idea is that judgment will be so severe that only a very few will somehow survive by the skin of their teeth.

So the same judgments that had come on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah because of their disobedience, were now to be visited on these rebels because of their disobedience. It should be noted that this was not simply because they had sought refuge in Egypt, but because that seeking of refuge had been a renunciation of the God of Jeremiah, and because the consequences of their doing was now being revealed in their continuing disobedience, something revealed by the way in which they had quickly and eagerly turned to the gods of the land of Egypt. It was their motives which had been wrong from the start as YHWH well knew, and it had brought them to this.

2). The People’s Defence To The Charge And Their Response To Jeremiah’s Words (15-19).

The people’s defence is now blatantly stated, and confirms all that Jeremiah has said. As far as they were concerned their ways had prospered when they had worshipped ‘meleketh hashamayim’ (the queen of heaven or the handiwork of heaven) and other gods. Since being turned to the sole worship of YHWH by Josiah things had only gone wrong (they overlooked the years of prosperity and independence under Josiah and the fact that after he had died public worship went back to its syncretism). As far as they were concerned it was that that had brought on them famine and sword. It should be noted that this was not a total rejection of YHWH, He was after all the God of Israel, but it was a claim that He was only one among others, and that in their view the help of more than one God was needed. But it was a very weak argument, ignoring the facts and only convincing to themselves because they wanted to be convinced.

Reference to meleketh hashamayim is found only here and in 7.18. It is often equated with malkath hashamayim (‘the queen of Heaven’, the moon) but may rather signify ‘the heavenly handiwork (mele’keth hashamayim)’ i.e. the stars. These were worshipped in different guises all over the Ancient Near East. Either way false gods were being worshipped alongside YHWH, something later confirmed by the Elephantine papyri where YHWH was being worshipped alongside Anath-bethel and Ishum-bethel, Anath being the mother goddess, thus being very similar to the false worship here and in Jerusalem (7.18).

44.15 ‘Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,’

Jeremiah now found himself faced by a large group of people whose spokespersons were both the men whose wives were involved in the false worship, and the wives themselves. Indeed it would appear that the women were the chief spokespersons (verse 19), although clearly what was said by a number of people is being summarised in what appears to us to be one speech. We must view the words realistically. Clearly all the Jewish men and women in Pathros could not have spoken all at once (although it might have seemed like that to Jeremiah at the time), nor was it likely that literally every Jew throughout the land of Egypt was present. . The point is rather that all the Jewish men and women who had gathered there in Pathros, possibly for ceremonies connected with the moon/star god/goddess, spoke to Jeremiah through their spokespersons, whether official or unofficial, and gathered behind them in support. The word for ‘All’ rather therefore signifies ‘a large number, a great proportion’ as so often in Scripture.

44.16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of YHWH, we will not listen to you.”

Their disobedience to the word of YHWH as communicated through Jeremiah is once more blatantly stated (compare 43.2 and contrast 42.5). They openly declare that they will not listen to Jeremiah’s words spoken in the name of YHWH. It is a deliberate rejection of YHWH’s true prophet, and therefore of YHWH Himself as He really is. They were rejecting ‘the word of YHWH’.

44.17 “But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven (or ‘to the heavenly handiwork’), and to pour out drink-offerings to 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.”

Rather, they insisted that what they would do was obey themselves and their inclinations. They would fulfil all the vows that they had made to the moon/star god by burning incense and pouring out drink offerings before her, just as they had previously done in the streets of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah (7.18), along with their fathers, kings and princes (who, they should have noted, were now either dead or in exile). In other words they were looking back to what they saw as ‘the good times’ and giving the credit for them to the moon/star god/goddess whom they had been unofficially worshipping at the time, completely overlooking what had occurred since. They were blaming all the bad things on YHWH.

We have here in summary the typical attitude of the natural man towards religion. What he is concerned about is what he can get out of it. His question is, ‘does it work?’ In other words does it make him prosperous and make his life easy. It was Satan’s view expressed about Job, ‘does Job fear God for nothing?’ (Job 1.9). In contrast the spiritual man asks, ‘is it making me more pure, more righteous, more true? Am I more God-like as a result?’ That last was a question that this people never even considered, for had they done so they would have known the answer.

44.18 “But since we left off burning incense to the Queen of Heaven, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”

For, the women claimed, it was only since they had been forced to leave off burning incense and offering drink-offerings to the moon/star god/goddess that they had found themselves in want, and had experienced the sword and famine. This was, of course, an exaggeration, for after the death of Josiah all the kings who followed him had ‘done evil in the sight of YHWH’, thus allowing the burgeoning of idolatry. It was therefore rather a vague memory of a time in the past when King Josiah had caused all such things to cease as far as worship in Jerusalem and other major cities was concerned (it had still gone on secretly in the high places). And they conveniently saw everything that followed as resulting from that.

44.19 “And when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven, and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings unto her, without our husbands?”

And the women assured Jeremiah that they were not alone in thinking like this. Their husbands had been equally involved. They had been fully aware of what their wives were doing, and had even connived in it. This would in fact have been necessary for no woman in Judah could make a binding vow unless her husband was in agreement with it (Numbers 30.3-16). Furthermore this worship was not something that they could have kept secret from their husbands. Indeed, as 7.18 so vividly portrays, ‘the children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the moon/star god/goddess and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods’. They were all involved together.

So, if this was a gathering of all the Judeans in Egypt who had gathered together from all over Egypt, it is clear that they stood firm together in their determination not to listen to Jeremiah, but to pursue their own course of syncretistic polytheism. They themselves were claiming that they were making the same choice as their fathers had before them. Once again Jeremiah could have looked everywhere and would have found no one willing to do the will of YHWH (compare 5.1-5). It is manifest that they had failed to learn the lesson of history.

3). Jeremiah’s Makes An Immediate Reply By Reminding Them That YHWH Had Seen What They And Their Fathers Had Done And Had Acted In Judgment On Them For That Reason By Desolating Their Land And Making It A Spectacle To The World (20-23).

Jeremiah’s reply was to point out that it was the very fact that they had offered worship to other gods that had in the past been the cause of all their problems. It was that that had brought all God’s warnings of judgment on them from the prophets. It was precisely what God had had in mind when He had cause their cities to be destroyed and had made them a spectacle to the world.

44.20 ‘Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,’

Note that Jeremiah’s reply is to ‘the men and the women’ who had been involved in the people’s response to him. All were involved and therefore all were guilty.

44.21 “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not YHWH remember them, and did it not come into his mind?”

He points out that it was the very incense burned in their cities to false gods that YHWH had remembered and had brought to mind. That was the very reason why He was angry with them, and was why judgment had come on them. And what was more they had all been involved, they themselves, their fathers, their rulers and all the people of the land.

44.22 “So that YHWH could not longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed, therefore is your land become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.”

Note that it was not just their false worship that YHWH could ‘no longer bear’, but also the evil practises that arose from it and went with it. The ‘abominations’ were their false worship (the word ‘abomination’ usually has idolatry in mind). But ‘the evil of their doings’ had in mind the actions and behaviour that went along with their false worship, sexual misbehaviour, violence and excess. And it was because of all these thing that their land had been desolated to such an extent that it had astonished all their neighbours around them. That was why their land had become a curse, subjected to the curses described in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. It had been left ‘without inhabitant’.

44.23 “Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against YHWH, and have not obeyed the voice of YHWH, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies, therefore this evil is happened to you, as it is this day.”

Here Jeremiah analyses everything that has resulted in their judgment. This evil had happened to them precisely because they had:

• Burned incense (to false gods) (compare 7.18; Exodus 20.3-6).
• Sinned against YHWH (compare 3.25; 8.14; 40.3; 50.7, 14).
• Not obeyed the voice of YHWH (contrast 42.5-6. Compare Exodus 19.5; Deuteronomy 27.10. The idea of obeying or not obeying the voice of YHWH occurs 18 times in Jeremiah, e.g. 3.13, 25, etc. out of 61 times in the Old Testament).
• Not walked in His law, nor His statutes, nor His testimonies (contrast 42.3. Compare Exodus 16.4; 18.20; 1 Kings 2.3).

In other words It had happened to them because they had rejected YHWH’s commands and had breached His covenant with them continually, living in deliberate disobedience and flagrantly refusing to walk in His ways, and cocking a snook at Him by their worship of other gods. Now at last His patience had come to an end. And these people especially had no grounds for complaint, for they had actually promised YHWH that they would do whatever He told them (42.3-6), and had then refused.

4). A Further Word Confirming YHWH’s Judgment On All Jews Living In Egypt Because They Have Turned To Other Gods And Are Trusting In Pharaoh Hophra As Their Deliverer (24-39).

We have here the last prophetic words of Jeremiah of which we are aware, and they are as severe an indictment of the Judeans in Egypt as any that he gave against Jerusalem and Judah. Indeed the judgment he pronounces is so severe that the consequence will be that none will be left in Egypt to say ‘as the Lord YHWH lives’. It is a picture of the almost complete annihilation of the Jews at that time present in Egypt. Furthermore, in case they are looking to the Pharaoh of Egypt to help them, he warns them that far from being able to protect them, the great Pharaoh Hophra on whom they are relying will himself prove as helpless as their own King Zedekiah had been. Indeed it is his demise that will be a sign to them that all that YHWH has said concerning them will come about.

44.24 ‘Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, “Hear the word of YHWH, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt,”

Once again we have the stress on the fact that this is ‘the word of YHWH’. That does not simply mean that YHWH has said it. It stresses that YHWH will bring it about. YHWH’s word always goes forth to bring about what He has said. Compare Isaiah 55.10-11. Note that the words are spoken to ‘all Judah who are in the land of Egypt’, in other words all those in Egypt who saw themselves as Jews.

44.25 “Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows which we have vowed, to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her.’ Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.”

Jeremiah points out concerning their idolatry that they have both declared it openly with their mouths and by their actions have actually brought it about. And it applies both to them and their wives. None were innocent. They had said that they would assuredly fulfil the vows that they had made to burn incense to ‘meleketh hashamayim’, and that is what they had done. And they had also offered drink offerings to her. Note the stress on the vows that they had made. They had entered into specific covenant with her, ignoring their covenant with YHWH. As we have seen earlier reference to meleketh hashamayim is found only in this passage and in 7.18. It is often equated with malkath hashamayim (‘the queen of Heaven’, the moon) but it may rather signify ‘the heavenly handiwork (mele’keth hashamayim)’ i.e. the stars. These were worshipped in different guises all over the Ancient Near East. Either way false gods were being worshipped alongside YHWH, something later confirmed by the Elephantine papyri where YHWH was being worshipped alongside Anath-bethel and Ishum-bethel, Anath being the mother goddess, thus being very similar to the false worship here and in Jerusalem (7.18).

“Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.” The command is full of significant sarcasm. It contains a veiled warning of what will happen if they do so. It is a warning that they are heading straight into trouble. In other words God is saying, ‘OK, do what you intend, but recognise at the same time how awful the consequences will be for you’. Note the emphasis both on their making their covenant with the false goddess (‘establish your vows’) and their carrying it into practise (‘perform your vows’), when they should have been doing both to YHWH.

44.26 “Therefore hear you the word of YHWH, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says YHWH, that my name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord YHWH lives.’ ”

Of course by their behaviour they were rejecting the Name of YHWH, for they were doing precisely what He had forbidden. Well they were making their vows, and now let them take note of the fact that He is making His vow. For He has sworn by His great Name, the Name that by their actions they have blasphemed, that His Name will be taken from among them. They will no more name His Name, nor will they say, ‘as the Lord YHWH lives’. And this will be because they are dead.

The point behind this is that to name the Name of YHWH puts men under special obligation to observe His covenant. Whilst they would no doubt have argued that they still held to the covenant and worshipped YHWH among other gods, YHWH was pointing out the impossibility of sustaining that position. To follow His covenant would necessarily have resulted in a rejecting of all other gods. Thus by their very compromise they were bringing on themselves YHWH’s judgment because of their hypocrisy. For YHWH would not allow such hypocrisy to continue where it involved His holy Name. They were either His or they were not. By His very nature they could not be ‘partly His’. The very point of saying that ‘the Lord YHWH lives’ was in order to bring out that He is the living God. It should therefore have made them recognise that He would brook no compromise, and therefore that as the living God He would act in judgment against them.

44.27 “Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.”

So, yes, He would continue to watch over them. But it would be for evil and not for good. He would bring on them what by their actions and words they were bringing on themselves. He would demonstrate that He was the living God. For He would arrange for all the Jews in Egypt (with a few exceptions) to be consumed either by war or by starvation, something that would go on until a complete end had been made of them. Both of these were the constant fear of men in ancient times. And they would occur because YHWH was no longer protecting them. He would leave them to the consequences of history.

44.28 “And those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number, and all the remnant of Judah, who are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, will know whose word will stand, mine, or theirs.”

But even in this there was a saving purpose. For the aim was that the remnant who did escape would in the future be able to bear witness to the truth of what YHWH had said and done, and would be able to verify the fact that His word stood firm. So we note again that there will be a remnant who will escape in order to carry God’s promises forward. God does not leave Himself without a witness. We can compare YHWH’s words to Elijah about the ‘seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal’,

44.29 “And this will be the sign to you, the word of YHWH, that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.”

YHWH then gives them a sign in terms of a future occurrence. His very declaration of the certainty of what is to happen in the future is to be seen as a sign. We can compare Exodus 3.12 and Isaiah 7.14 in both of which God gave signs in terms of what would happen in the future. Thus here YHWH’s words of what would happen were themselves to be seen as the sign. And it was a sign of the certainty of their future punishment and a guarantee that His words would bring about evil on them. His very words, which had in the past done Israel so much good, would now ‘stand against them for evil’.

44.30 “Thus says YHWH, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.”

For the sign that He was giving was the guarantee of the downfall of the king of Egypt in whom they were trusting. The great Pharaoh must have seemed to them like a mighty bulwark. He was the guarantee of their security in Egypt. But let them now note the fact that YHWH was guaranteeing his sure end. On the word of YHWH Pharaoh Hofra would be given into the hands of those who sought his life. Thus He would prove not to be so invincible after all. And YHWH’s very declaration of the fact was a sign both that it would happen, and that Judah in Egypt were similarly doomed. Whilst in normal circumstances what someone says will happen cannot be seen as a sign, it was different in the case of YHWH. For His very saying it was a guarantee that it would happen.

Pharaoh Hofra (or Apries) ruled over Egypt from 589-570 BC. It was he who promised aid to King Zedekiah against the Babylonians but who, in spite of attempting to provide such aid, was unable to deliver on his promises, his army being thwarted and turned back by the Babylonians (37.5). Whether an actual battle took place we do not know. In 570 BC part of his army rebelled against him as a result of a disastrous campaign in Libya and for three years he had to be satisfied with ruling Egypt jointly alongside Pharaoh Amosis (Amahsis). At the end of the three years he was overthrown by Amosis and executed, and thus ‘given into the hands of his enemies who sought his life’. It was during the latter’s reign (in 568/7 BC) that Nebuchadrezzar invaded Egypt, probably on a reprisal raid. This is confirmed in a fragmentary Babylonian text. Egypt did, however, retain its independence and Amosis and Nebuchadrezzar would later establish a treaty relationship.

Reference to what happened to Zedekiah at the hands of Nebuchadrezzar is intended to bring out that it was YHWH who brought about the end of both Hophra and Zedekiah. The destinies of both were under His control. It may also indicate that Hophra had similarly offended YHWH, and was therefore dealt with in a similar way. But we are given no detail. There is no suggestion that Hophra himself directly suffered at the hands of Nebuchadrezzar. The emphasis is on the fact that he would not die peacefully. It is interesting that Hophra had once declared, ‘not even a god can remove me from my throne’.

YHWH’s Assurance Given To The Faithful Baruch In The Days Of Jehoiakim That He Would Be With Him, Come What May, And Would Preserve Him To The End (45.1-5).

This section of Jeremiah’s work, which commenced at 26.1, now closes with a reference to YHWH’s watch over the faithful Baruch. We can compare the earlier reference to His watch over Ebed-melech (39.16-18). This prophecy occurred in the days of Jehoiakim, and is thus ‘out of place’ chronologically. But Jeremiah’s prophecy is not wholly chronological and it may well have been intended as a postscript bringing out what happened to those who faithfully served under Jeremiah, in contrast to the awful end of Judah as a whole. It emphasised that in all His judgments YHWH did not overlook those who faithfully served Him.

In this regard it will be noted that it refers to the plucking up of Judah (45.4), and was thus given in the light of Judah’s final end, and that its purport was to assure Baruch that whatever the future held, YHWH would preserve him to the end. In that sense it does tie in chronologically, for it is Judah’s final end that had just been dealt with.

Baruch was Jeremiah’s helper and Scribe. He came from an important family. He was the grandson of Mahseiah (32.12) who had been governor of Jerusalem during the reign of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34.8). Baruch’s brother Seraiah was an officer at Zedekiah’s court (51.59). But Baruch had bravely publicly identified himself with Jeremiah at great risk to himself, had written down his prophecies, and had bravely read some of them publicly in the Temple at Jeremiah’s request (36.4-10).

45.1 ‘The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these word in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,’

This short chapter gives us words spoken by Jeremiah to Baruch in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim (and thus four years after the death of Josiah), which Baruch wrote down at his request. It prophesies the plucking up of Judah from the land, and the preservation of Baruch throughout all that would occur. Whilst therefore, from the point of view of when the prophecy was given, it is not in order chronologically, it will be apparent that it is very much in order chronologically in its thought for it is a guarantee of preservation to the end.

45.2 “Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch.”

The prophecy is stated to be a personal word from YHWH to Baruch, and an indication therefore of YHWH’s personal interest in and concern for Baruch. It is a reminder that God does not overlook the needs of his second-string servants.

45.3 “You did say, ‘Woe is me now! for YHWH has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest’.”

YHWH here indicates that Baruch had gone at this time through similar soul searching to his master. It is a reminder that it was no easier being a faithful prophet’s assistant and supporter, than it was being a faithful prophet. These could easily have been words of Jeremiah for at times he complained against his lot in a similar way (15.10-21; 20.7-18). Master and assistant suffered together. Baruch’s complaint may indeed have occurred as a result of what followed his reading of the scroll in the Temple (36.4-10). It may well be that he had expected that there would be a remarkable response to his reading of Jeremiah’s words. And in a sense there was. But it had not been what he had expected, and he had subsequently had to go into hiding along with Jeremiah. What he had hoped would be a triumph had turned out to be a disaster. We can understand his discouragement and disillusionment. He felt that YHWH had added to his already deep anguish further sorrow and pain. It is an experience endured by many of God’s servants as God brings us to an end of ourselves. And he had grown weary of his need to groan, and of the fact that he did not seem able to find rest. He had almost reached the end of his tether. But as with Baruch it is at such times that God speaks to us.

45.4-5 “Thus shall you say to him, ‘Thus says YHWH. Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, and this in the whole land. And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh, the word of YHWH, but your life will I give to you for a prey in all places to which you go.”

It would appear that at that time Baruch had been confident that through the words of Jeremiah Jerusalem would be restored, with the result that he himself would receive accreditation as Jeremiah’s scribe, and be held in honour. He was sure that eventually he would be seen as a great man (‘do you seek great things for yourself?’), the scribe of a successful prophet.

But YHWH here informs him that that is not to be. For the truth is that Jerusalem will not repent at the words of Jeremiah, with the result that what He, YHWH, has built up, He will break down, and what He has planted He will pluck up, and this not only in Jerusalem but also throughout the land. And now this has come about with the result that the words of the prophecy become directly relevant.

But YHWH assures Baruch that, while this may be so, in the midst of the disaster he, like Jeremiah, need not be afraid, for he can be assured that he will be preserved by YHWH until his time comes. YHWH’s promise is that he will not be caught up in the final disaster coming on the people of Judah, for whilst evil will be brought on all Judah, Baruch himself will be preserved through it, and will be one of the remnant who escape. The section thus ends with a message of hope in the midst of the gloom. It is a reminder that God never forgets His people, even in the midst of disaster, and provides the assurance that whenever things might appear to be at their darkest, those who are His can be confident that He is there with them in the midst of it all. It is the guarantee that His people will survive, and that His purposes will finally come to fruition. It is a fitting climax to the section.

‘And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.’ There are no words that better express what is to be the attitude of the true people of God. They are words that should be written on the hearts of all who would seek to serve God. It is doubtful whether they are to be seen as a rebuke levelled at Baruch’s general attitude, but rather as a warning in a moment of temporary exultation. YHWH gently warns His servant that it is not outward success that must be sought, but the will of God, and that that does not necessarily come to fruition within one person’s lifetime. Let him therefore be content with this, the assurance that YHWH will be with him whatever the future may hold.

Indeed, as He points out, for Jeremiah and Baruch there is no short term solution. Judah’s sin is such that they can only be broken down and uprooted, something that had now happened. But that is not to be a matter of despair, for Baruch will himself be an evidence of the fact that God preserves His remnant ready for another day. In the face of this they must persevere in the midst of hardship, and must not become discouraged, for God’s Day will finally dawn.

The words are a reminder to us that our thoughts also should not be set on what we can achieve, or have achieved, but should be fixed on a desire for the fulfilling of the will of God. They are words that should be inscribed on every preacher’s rostrum. And they remind us that whether we live at times of success, or of outward failure, our confidence should be in the fact that God watches over His people and will see His purposes through in the end, and this whether the way be rough or the way be smooth. For with God there can be no failure, with the result that we may be sure that what may seem to us sometimes to signal the end of hope, will only turn out to be a part of His plan, and a stepping stone in the carrying forward of His will.