Sunday Sermons
Jeremiah 44: Ancient Myths
44:15 “Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods”: Weak, unspiritual men who refuse to become the spiritual leaders in their household have often plagued God's people. “Men who exhibit amazing restraint when being personally attacked often burst into uncontrollable rage when someone criticizes their wives” (Smith p. 682). “Nothing is more inspiring than to see an old soldier of God faithful until death on the battlefield for the Lord. Chapter 44 offers the reader the last glimpse of Jeremiah. He is still fighting for the God he serves; he is still appealing to the people he loves. The present paragraph contains his warning to the remnant in Egypt (44:1-14) and the rejection of that warning by the incorrigible people (44:15-19)” (Smith p. 675). “Chronologically, this is the last recorded message of Jeremiah” (Harkrider p. 110).
44:16 “We are not going to listen to you”: “Jeremiah had been sent to kings and priests and prophets and courageously had faced them. Now he is sent to the miserable remains of his people and must drink to the very dregs the bitter cup of heartache and disappointment. He sees his lifework thwarted, his life's purpose frustrated, his life's hopes dashed to the ground...After his forty-three years of strenuous, tearful efforts his people had deliberately left the land of Jehovah and the worship of Jehovah...Still he does not complain. He does not resign from office nor refuse to go on. Noble Jeremiah! The tenderhearted, inexperienced, timid youth had become by the Lord's power a fenced city, an iron pillar, and a brazen wall. Manfully, unafraid, in never-flinching loyalty to his God, he faces that assembly” (Laetsch pp. 316-317). Are we prepared and willing, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Noah and others to continue preaching and teaching even if our efforts seem to be fruitless? When we read the history recorded in the Bible we learn that not every generation is the same. There are times when people are receptive to God’s truth (Judges 2:7; Acts 2:41; Acts 18:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9), and there are other times when people are stubborn, resistant, and unwilling to listen (Judges 2:10; Matthew 11:16; 16:4; Acts 7:51-53; Romans 10:21; 2 Peter 3:1ff). We must not consider ourselves to be failures if the people around us are not receptive to God’s truth, neither can we allow ourselves to begin doubting the truthfulness or relevancy of God’s message.
This is our preference: 44:17
44:17 “But rather we will”: That is, we want to do it our way. This is our preference, this is what we like to do. In modern times people have spoken of attending the church of “your choice”, but what about the church the Lord built? (Matthew 16:18) Am I just as free to choose one that man did or might establish?
This was our former practice: 44:17
44:17 “Just as we ourselves… did”: This was a tradition; it had been practiced for a long time. In fact their parents had offered sacrifices to these idols (44:17). Compare with John 4:20. Yet one writer noted, “If we were going to use our ancestors or parents as authorities for our practices, we could justify almost anything” (Cline p. 444). In addition, people are typically very selective when it comes to this argument. These people had completely forgotten about the example of such forefathers as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
Prominent people are doing it: 44:17
Carefully note their argument in 44:17: “Their fathers had worshipped her (the Queen of Heaven) throughout the land of Judah and even in the streets of Jerusalem. Furthermore the worship of this goddess was prestigious having attracted both kings and princes of the land. Could a religion practiced for so long by so many be wrong?” (Smith pp. 682-683).
It is popular and we prospered while doing it: 44:17
44:17 “For then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune”: The people argue that all their problems do not stem from worshipping various idols, rather, they contend that all their problems started when such practices had been curtailed, for example, during Josiah's reforms (2 Kings 23:1-28). They claimed that the true worship of the true God was to blame for all their problems. In like manner, people today cite all the abuses and crimes committed in the "name of God", and then allege that religion has done us more harm than good. The people were also acting like those today who blame all our problems (people withdrawn from, slow congregational growth, etc..) on the fact that we are being too strict in following the Bible. Many denominations currently use the same type of argumentation and justification found in the above passages: “How many times have we heard this from some fellow in a denominational body. He will speak of how the Lord has blessed him and thus this proves that what he is doing religiously is right. Has he ever stopped to think that God sends the rain and sunshine on both the just and unjust” (Cline p. 437). A common myth in our culture is that physical prosperity is evidence that a person is right with God and that God is rewarding them. The religious body that claims they must be right with God based on the amount of their growth or prosperity, needs to reflect that cults, non-Christian religions, and groups such as the Mormons are often growing at a quicker pace! The people here fail to remember that the reason they are suffering is because they are being punished for worshipping the very gods whom they claim protected them. A modern application would be that some Christians fall away because it seems that being a faithful Christian has somehow brought more hardship into their lives(Matthew 13:21).
The Queen of Heaven appears to have been a fertility goddess. Documents from the Jewish community at Elephantine (very late 5th century B.C.) describe the same type of religious blending between idolatry and true religion. The Jews here were worshipping a goddess known as Anat-Yahu or Anat of Yahweh. In a number of denominational circles, various groups are beginning to worship female deities.
44:18 “But since we stopped…we have lacked everything”: The truth of the matter is that they had never really stopped for that long. In addition, they did not truly lack “everything” for if that were the case they would be starving and dead. How often do sinners overstate and exaggerate their plight! This is a common temptation that affects new believers. The devil often tries to convince the new Christian that all the setbacks in their life are due to their new faith and that this is what they get for trying to be moral and good. This is the myth that nice guys and girls finish last.
We had permission!
44:19 “Was it without our husbands?”: The women were arguing that what they did had the approval of their husbands, therefore it was none of Jeremiah's business, that is, we are consenting adults so leave us alone. “Do not think that we acted contrary to the will of our husbands. As good wives we asked for and received their full consent and co-operation” (Laetsch p. 318). The whole community was involved in this apostasy. Some seem to think that safety is found in numbers, “everyone is doing it, therefore it can't be that wrong” (Matthew 7:13-14). There may be another excuse or myth here. “My husband is a good, honest man, and he would not do something that is evil, since he approves of this practice, it must be right”. One of the common temptations in this life is to assume that whatever a seemingly “good” person is doing must be right. It is tempting to think that parents, relatives, grandparents, good friends, and so on and are infallible. Instead of judging the truthfulness of everything according to Scripture (Acts 17:11), we can fall into the trap of judging practices and doctrines by who accepts them. Jeremiah proceeds to correct the above misconceptions, and point out that they were suffering because God was punishing them for their idolatry and other sins (44:20-25). “Thus your land has become a ruin” (44:22). God has the final word, Jeremiah gives the correct view of the past and does not allow the Jews to continue in their revisionist history. In reading many books I found that our culture is experiencing the same desire to rewrite the past. “Go ahead and confirm your vows” (44:25): God is not encouraging these people to continue in their idolatry, but this is biting sarcasm. I am impressed that God cannot be bullied or intimidated. Even if His professed people forsake Him, God does not fear or worry that somehow He is out-dated. Jeremiah then becomes dead serious and notes that while the unfaithful have made vows to these false gods, God has made a vow that He would withdraw His name from their lips, “never shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt”. Apostasy does have a high price, in this verse the punishment seems to be that God will allow such people to go farther and farther into idolatry to the point that they completely forget about the true God (Romans 1:28). We need to think about this verse! There are people who once knew the truth, were raised in godly homes, but who departed from their faith. As a result, they no longer think about the truth and the truth would sound foreign and alien to their children and grandchildren. As happened in Israel, a family can move so far away from God that His truths are as far removed from them as the east is from the west. 44:29 “My words will surely stand”: God is not afraid to allow time to test the truthfulness of His Word. “They would not be left to wonder whether or not God's word was true” (Cline p. 439).
