I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, by sword and famine and plague, Sermons
I. A FIXED RESOLUTION. The obstinate self-will of man brings into relief the inflexibility of the righteous judgments of God. The remnant of Judah set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there. What, then, is to be expected but that Jehovah should set his face against them? The more self-will becomes a power in the life, the more nearly does it move in direct opposition to him who is the true Sovereign and Disposer of every human life. We can guess something of the thoughts of these Egypt seekers. They say to themselves, "Henceforth we shall consult for our own safety." They speak as if the peculiar perils hitherto besetting them were the perils of one place rather than another. Perhaps even they reckoned that outside the land of Israel they were beyond Jehovah's reach. Here there is a lesson for us in our selfish aims and pursuits. All selfishness is bad, but even in selfishness a lesser badness is a degree of goodness, and it is well for a man if he gets frequently shaken in his selfishness; for then, his face not being steadily against God, he will find God looking on him encouragingly, to draw him out of his selfishness altogether. II. A COMPLETE DESTRUCTION. Complete, that is, in the sense of general and final. There was but a remnant to begin with, and of that a very small remnant might escape. The very smallness of the remnant, however, would but magnify the completeness of the destruction, no place is secure against the visitations of God's righteous wrath. Indeed, the greater the appearance of natural security, the more manifest will be the breaking in on this security of the Divine justice. Men must be taught, even by terrible lessons, that, as there is the best kind of safety under the shadow of God's wings, so there is the worst kind of danger the further we go from God. To multiply our own defences is really to multiply our own perils. III. A NULLIFIED PURPOSE. This remnant, not finding in Egypt the expected safety, thinks there is nothing easier than to go back again to the land of Judah. Whereas they find too late that, while departure from their own proper place is easy enough, return to it may be impossible. Opening the door to get out was one thing; opening it to get in again quite another. Seventy years was to pass before they of the Captivity should return from Babylon - indeed, it would really be another generation altogether; and should those who sought Egypt in contumacy and rebellion expect to fare better? We must be wise in time. To be wise too late gives suffering its keenest edge. So Judas brought back in vain the thirty pieces of silver, and Esau found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears. This is why God is so earnest in promising wisdom and light to those who seek for them, that we may seek for them at the right time, at the beginning of the great opportunity of life, and at the beginning of every smaller opportunity. - Y.
Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln. A London Minister. I. THEY PREACHED OF THE HISTORIC PAST.1. From the soil in which they were found. They were stones of Egypt. 2. The place where they were buried — the brick kiln — must have carried their thoughts back to the hard labour of their ancestors under the lash of the taskmasters (Exodus 9:8). 3. The burial of the stones beneath the ground might have suggested the past condition of Israel in this same land; they were buried under the oppressive tyranny of the heathen monarch and his people, and had been raised, as it were, from a grave of degradation and lifted into a new life as a free people by the mighty hand of God. II. THEY PROPHESIED OF THE FUTURE. 1. The only refuge from the displeasure of God is to be found in God Himself. 2. Unbelief in the Divine Word will not prevent the fulfilment of it. 3. The true minister of God will not be deterred by opposition from declaring the judgments, as well as the mercies, of God. (A London Minister.). People Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, ZedekiahPlaces Babylon, Egypt, Jerusalem, Memphis, Migdol, Pathros, TahpanhesTopics Disease, Dwell, Dwelling, Egypt, Famine, Jerusalem, Pestilence, Plague, Punish, Punished, Punishment, SwordOutline 1. Jeremiah expresses the desolation of Judah for their idolatry11. He prophesies the destruction of those who commit idolatry in Egypt 15. The obstinacy of the Jews 20. For which Jeremiah threatens them 29. and for a sign prophesies the destruction of Egypt Dictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 44:13 4823 famine, physical Library God's Patient Pleadings'I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.'--JER. xliv. 4. The long death-agony of the Jewish kingdom has come to an end. The frivolous levity, which fed itself on illusions and would not be sobered by facts, has been finally crushed out of the wretched people. The dreary succession of incompetent kings--now a puppet set up by Egypt, now another puppet set up by Babylon, has ended with the weak Zedekiah. The … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Man's Misery by the Fall That Whereas the City of Jerusalem had Been Five Times Taken Formerly, this was the Second Time of Its Desolation. A Brief Account of Its History. Man's Inability to Keep the Moral Law The Mercy of God Nature of Covenanting. Original Sin Jeremiah Links Jeremiah 44:13 NIVJeremiah 44:13 NLT Jeremiah 44:13 ESV Jeremiah 44:13 NASB Jeremiah 44:13 KJV Jeremiah 44:13 Bible Apps Jeremiah 44:13 Parallel Jeremiah 44:13 Biblia Paralela Jeremiah 44:13 Chinese Bible Jeremiah 44:13 French Bible Jeremiah 44:13 German Bible Jeremiah 44:13 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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