Jeremiah 44:1-45:5 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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Judah's Remnant in Egypt Will Die
Comments for Study 32

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Memory Verse: 44:22
Questions
Introduction
Outline
MAPS OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
A MAP OF ASSYRIA
A MAP OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
ISRAEL'S HISTORY
A LIST OF ISRAEL'S KINGS AND PROPHETS
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS TIMELINE
A LIST OF MAJOR EVENTS FROM JEREMIAH'S TIME TO ROMAN TIMES

SORRY, THE COMMENTARY FOR THIS STUDY IS NOT FINISHED.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF BOOKS THAT ARE COMPLETED.

I. Judah Still Doesn't Repent of Idolatry (44:1-10)

>1. Who was this about? (1)

* Jeremiah 44:1 "This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt--in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis--and in Upper Egypt:"

* Jeremiah 44, the last full chapter from Jeremiah in a chronological study through the Bible. Jeremiah 52:31-34 are the last verses.

The Jews would not listen to the word of God from Jeremiah. They didn't want to change their ways. First they said life was bad when they stopped religious practices that seemed good to them, but was not of the Lord. Then they said that life was good when they practiced false religions practices. They did not believe that life was bad because the Lord was punishing them for worshiping other gods and because they refused to obey the Lord. They left Judah and moved to Egypt against his will.

The events in their life could have been interpreted from two viewpoints, the Lord's or theirs. How is it that they took the wrong viewpoint. Can I be sure that my assessment about all that is happening in my life is correct? Just because I have the facts right, doesn't mean that my conclusions are right. This is why I take quiet time every morning asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to me things from his viewpoint. I seek to understand what he has been revealing to me and doing in my life.

My daily meditation has these steps. I thank God for things in the last 24 hours. I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me his will as I review the last day. I search my heart for my motivations behind my words, actions, and interactions with others. I decide to change, correct, apologize, and reevaluate based on what he revealed to me. I ask God to lead me throughout the coming day.

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>What did the Lord remind them of?

* Jeremiah 44:2 "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins"

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>Why is it important to remember what the Lord has done in our life and lifetime?

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>2. What had the parents of the Jews in Egypt done? (3)

* Jeremiah 44:3 "because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew."

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>How did the Lord their God respond? (4)

* Jeremiah 44:4 "Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, 'Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!'"

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>Why didn't his people accept the prophets and what were the consequences? (5-6; Romans 10:1-4, 11:7-10; Ephesians 4:17-19)

* Jeremiah 44:5-6 "But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today."

* Romans 10:1-4 "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."

* Romans 11:7-10 "What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." And David says: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.""

* Ephesians 4:17-19 "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."

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>3. What would happen if the Jews in Egypt did not repent? (7)

* Jeremiah 44:7 "Now this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women, the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant?"

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>What is a remnant?

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>Whose fault would it be if they did not repent? (8)

* Jeremiah 44:8 "Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations on earth."

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>4. What were they so quick to forget? (9)

* Jeremiah 44:9 "Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your fathers and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?"

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>What does God seek from sinful men? (10)

* Jeremiah 44:10 "To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law and the decrees I set before you and your fathers."

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>How are these things a vital part of returning the Lord's love?

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II. The Result of Stubborn Idolatry (44:11-30)

>5. Will the actions of the Jews escaping to Egypt only affect themselves? (11-13)

* Jeremiah 44:11-13 "Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach. I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem."

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>What will be lost to them?

* Jeremiah 44:14 None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives."

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>How was their actions a sign of a lack of faith in the Lord's love?

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>6. Where the husbands being a spiritual leader in his family? (16)

* Jeremiah 44:15 "Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present--a large assembly--and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah,"

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>What excuse did they give for continuing in unfaithfulness? (16-18)

* Jeremiah 44:16-18 "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine."

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>What is significant about their wives words? (19)

* Jeremiah 44:19 "The women added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?"

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>7. What was the Lord's response? (20-23)

* Jeremiah 44:20-23 "Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, "Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see."

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>What did he know about them? (24-25)

* Jeremiah 44:24-25 "Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said, 'We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.' "Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows!"

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>What can be learned about the Lord's character?

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>8. When will the Lord harm his people? (26-28)

* Jeremiah 44:26-28 But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name,' says the LORD, 'that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, "As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives." For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand--mine or theirs."

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>Why?

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>9. Why might the Lord give them a sign? (29)

* Jeremiah 44:29 "'This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,' declares the LORD, 'so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.'"

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>What would the sign be? (30)

* Jeremiah 44:30 "This is what the LORD says: 'I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life.'"

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III. Message to Baruch (45:1-5)

>10. Who was Baruch?

* Jeremiah 45:1 "This is what Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, after Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating:"

* Jeremiah 36 and 45 are about the same event. The short chapter 45 belongs between chapter 36 verses 8 and 9.

Jehoiakim had been King for 4 years when the Lord told Jeremiah to write down all the words the Lord had told him to say from the time that he was called to now. Baruch wrote down the words as Jeremiah recalled them. Baruch was told to go to the temple and read all the words on the scroll. He did so for months, perhaps a year.

When Baruch heard all the words of the Lord as he wrote he became concerned and full of sorrow and pain. He pittied himself. Self pitty is a false comfort that only pulls one deeper in the pit of despair and anger. Self pity never heals. It can kill. Self pity is a choice, a decision to think, "Woe to me." Self pity is like a python that slowly tightens its grip, bringing more pain, taking away the ability to breath, and eventually kills and devorors.

Hope is the cure to self pity. Hope is a conscious decision that things can and will get better. But how to have hope?

For Baruch hope was found in the Lord's words, "wherever you go I will let you escape with your life." With these words Baruch read and reread Jeremiah's words at the temple. This caught the ears of the leaders of the city and eventually was read to the king who burned the scroll. Baruch was protected.

The words of God can help cure self pity if I believe and live them. If I apply Jesus's teaching he promises that I will be like a tree planted along the side a stream. I will be full of green life, tall and strong, and bear much fruit. It is up to me. I have to choice to remain in Jesus for he and his words are living water.

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>What was he saying?

* Jeremiah 45:2-3 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: You said, 'Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.'"

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>What did the Lord tell him?

* Jeremiah 45:4-5 "[The LORD said,] "Say this to him: 'This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.'"

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