Jeremiah 44:1-10 - Therefore my fierce anger was poured out

44:1-6

We now get a severe word against the remnant, and an explanation of why these things would happen. The sins of the remnant in going down to Egypt was doubly bad because they had seen and heard what had happened. They were part of a sinful generation. They had heard the words of Jeremiah, and the words of the false prophets. And they had seen that the words of the false prophets were just so much hot air and proved to be utterly delusional. They had heard the words of Jeremiah and seen that they had proved to be true. Moreover, Jeremiah had explained why these things would happen. He very clearly set out the nature of the sins of Israel and Judah. They had been told plainly that their idolatry and refusal to trust God was the root of the problem.

44:7-10

Despite having seen all these things, and having vowed to follow God’s word, they went down to Egypt. Now this was done partly out of fear, but that was not all. Their actions would involve idol worship, burning incense to the gods of Egypt. If a course of action involves outright disobedience to God it cannot be right. God reminds them again of why Jerusalem had been destroyed. The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and “lack of evidence” is never our problem. A disobedient heart is our problem.