Jeremiah 42&43, The Remnant Returns to Egypt

Nine hundred years after being delivered from slavery in Egypt and brought to the promised land of Canaan, the remnant of Jews left after Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion and deportation of Israelites, decide to return to Egypt. And this is contrary to Yahweh’s warning.

42:1 Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached ² Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to Yahweh your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. ³ Pray that Yahweh your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

⁴ “I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray to Yahweh your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything Yahweh says and will keep nothing back from you.”

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything Yahweh your God sends you to tell us. ⁶ Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey Yahweh our God.”

Though clearly (see chapter 41) this group of people rescued from the hands of Ishmael, the remnant Nebuchadnezzar has left in Judah, is on their way to Egypt. But they stop and seek Yahweh’s direction about what to do, promising they will obey whatever Yahweh tells them through Jeremiah. They sound very sincere.

⁷ Ten days later the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. ⁸ So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest. ⁹ He said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: ¹⁰ ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares Yahweh, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. ¹² I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’

Jeremiah tells them Yahweh’s words, that should they remain in Judah they will prosper at His hand and be protected from the Babylonians. Yahweh’s compassion will be all over them.

¹³ “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey Yahweh your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ ¹⁵ then hear the word of Yahweh, you remnant of Judah. This is what Yahweh Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, ¹⁶ then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. ¹⁷ Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ ¹⁸ This is what Yahweh Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach; you will never see this place again.’

¹⁹ “Remnant of Judah, Yahweh has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today ²⁰ that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to Yahweh your God and said, ‘Pray to Yahweh our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’ ²¹ I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed Yahweh your God in all he sent me to tell you. ²² So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle.”

Strangely, it seems at first, Jeremiah belabors the point that to disobey Yahweh and go to Egypt will mean God’s wrath will follow them and all they feared about staying in Judah will happen to them in Egypt. Jeremiah says, “I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed.” He anticipates the people will not listen to Yahweh.

43:1 When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of Yahweh their God—everything Yahweh had sent him to tell them— ² Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ ³ But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”

This is not what we expected, but Jeremiah did. They accuse Jeremiah of lying about what he heard from Yahweh. And being that Jeremiah is quite old by now, they also suggest that Baruch, his scribe and assistant, is behind this, manipulating the old man for some strange reason to get them carried off into exile.

⁴ So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed Yahweh’s command to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. ⁶ They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women, the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah along with them. ⁷ So they entered Egypt in disobedience to Yahweh and went as far as Tahpanhes.

Jeremiah and Baruch are forced to go with the group down to Egypt.

⁸ In Tahpanhes the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah: ⁹ “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. ¹⁰ Then say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. ¹¹ He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. ¹² He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd picks his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. ¹³ There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

In Egypt Yahweh tells Jeremiah to make an object lesson. He buries some large stones in the pavement before the administration building, considered Pharaoh’s “palace” (though Pharaoh does not live there), and prophecies that Nebuchadnezzar, whom this group fears, will indeed come here and bring the destruction this group feared if they stayed in Judah. God will use Nebuchadnezzar to judge the idolatry of Egypt represented by their sacred obelisks and temples.

O, you foolish Israelites! Nebuchadnezzar did, in fact, make an incursion into Egypt and brought destruction to the very places where these Israelites had settled.

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Discussion Questions:

1. How have you been fooled by someone who seemed so sincere and trustworthy?
2. Was Jeremiah fooled?
3. Is God adequately caring for His prophet, Jeremiah?
4. Is God adequately caring for you?