We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord. Jeremiah 44:16
Chemotherapy reduced the tumor in my father-in-law’s pancreas, until it didn’t. As the tumor began to grow again, he was left with a life-and-death decision. He asked his doctor, “Should I take more of this chemo or try something else, perhaps a different drug or radiation?”
The people of Judah had a similar life-and-death question. Weary from war and famine, God’s people wondered whether their problem was too much idolatry or not enough. They concluded they should offer more sacrifices to a false god and see if she would protect and prosper them (Jeremiah 44:17).
Jeremiah said they had wildly misdiagnosed their situation. Their problem wasn’t a lack of commitment to idols; their problem was that they had them. They told the prophet, “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!” (v. 16). Jeremiah replied, “Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you” (v. 23).
Like Judah, we may be tempted to double down on sinful choices that have landed us in trouble. Relationship problems? We can be more aloof. Financial issues? We’ll spend our way to happiness. Pushed aside? We’ll be equally ruthless. But the idols that contributed to our problems can’t save us. Only Jesus can carry us through our troubles as we turn to Him.
Read: Jeremiah 44:16-18, 20-23 (NIV)
16 “We will not listenu to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!v
17 We will certainly do everything we said we would:w We will burn incensex
to the Queen of Heaveny and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors,
our kings and our officialsz did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.a
At that time we had plenty of foodb and were well off and suffered no harm.c
18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offeringsd
to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.e”
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him,
21 “Did not the Lord rememberk and call to mind the incensel
burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalemm by you and your ancestors,n
your kings and your officials and the people of the land?o
22 When the Lord could no longer endurep your wicked actions and the detestable things you did,
your land became a curseq and a desolate waster without inhabitants, as it is today.s
23 Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed him or followedt
his law or his decreesu or his stipulations, this disasterv has come upon you, as you now see.”w
INSIGHT
- What personal problem has you stumped and how are you tempted to respond in a sinful way?
- What do you think Jesus might want you to do?
In Jeremiah 44:1–14, God sent a direct message through the prophet Jeremiah to the Jewish refugees who’d gone to Egypt against His express direction (see 42:7–22). While there, they were “burning incense to other gods in Egypt” (44:8), which brought God’s clear warning (vv. 8–14). But the people saw only what they wanted to see and defiantly rejected God in favor of the false “Queen of Heaven” (vv. 17–19, possibly Ishtar) and other pagan gods. On the face of it, Jeremiah’s mission was a failure. Opposition to his message was extensive. Yet the prophet remained faithful to God despite his unpopularity.
PRAYER
Jesus, I’d rather fail with You than succeed without You. In Your name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Jeremiah 44:16-18, 20-23 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20:27-47
