188 - Trying to Hide in Egypt
- Gwen Diaz
- Jul 7, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: May 27
The people of Judah were frightened. King Nebuchadnezzar would be furious when he learned that the man he had appointed to govern them was dead, and that Ishmael, the commander who had murdered Gedaliah, had escaped to Ammon (see #187 - July 6). They knew that the king of Babylon would have no mercy on them. So, they decided it was best to escape to Egypt while they still could.
Before they left, they asked Jeremiah to pray for them. They urged him to speak to God and find out where He wanted them to go and what He wanted them to do. They promised, “Whatever He says, we will do!”
Ten days later God spoke to Jeremiah. The prophet relayed this message to the people: “God says, ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you. I am no longer going to punish you for your sins. Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will make him have compassion on you, and I will rebuild and restore your land. But if you disobey Me and go to live in Egypt, you will not find safety—instead you will find disaster. All the things you fear will happen to you in Judah will be waiting for you in Egypt. There will be war, famine, and a plague. No one will survive!’”
When Jeremiah finished speaking, the people started yelling at him, “You are lying to us! God never said that. You want us to stay here in Judah so the Babylonians can kill us.”
Despite God’s warning, they left Judah and headed for Egypt, and they forced Jeremiah and Baruch to go with them! They settled in the northeastern part of Egypt.
When they arrived, God told Jeremiah to bury some large stones in the pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace. Then God instructed Jeremiah to tell the people, “I am sending King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He will place his throne on these same stones and set up his canopy over them. He will attack Egypt and bring death and captivity to everyone. He will set fire to the false temples in Egypt and steal their gods. As a shepherd picks his coat clean of lice, he will pick Egypt clean. Then he will leave.”
But no one would listen to Jeremiah, and it didn’t take long for the Jews who had just settled in Egypt to start worshiping the Egyptian gods!
Just as Jeremiah had prophesied, God sent King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army to invade. They destroyed the Egyptian nation and killed the people of Judah who had hoped to find safety there.
Jeremiah and Baruch finished the scroll for the book we now call Jeremiah. Jeremiah also recorded many tearful poems in a book titled Lamentations. Then they both died in Egypt.
When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon died, his son took over the throne. For some reason, he freed King Jehoiachin of Judah (whom his father had dragged off the prison in Babylon--see #184 - July 3), and made him very wealthy. This former king of Judah, who had been so wicked that God denied his offspring the right to ever rule on the throne of Judah (Jeremiah 22:28-30), lived comfortably in Babylon for the rest of his life.
Why would God seem to honor a wicked king like Jehoiachin more than a faithful prophet like Jeremiah?
Life often doesn’t seem fair. But we need to remember—our understanding is limited to a small sliver of time.
We should never be arrogant enough to think that we are more capable of handing out justice than God.
And, in the end, we will all be grateful that God is the One Who
is making things fair!
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