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Jeremiah

Chapter 43

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

Jeremiah 43 shows the remnant's rebellion becoming public and irreversible. After hearing Jeremiah's warning, Johanan, Azariah, and the arrogant leaders accuse him of lying, force the remnant, Baruch, and Jeremiah himself down into Egypt, and settle at Tahpanhes, where the LORD immediately gives Jeremiah another sign that Babylonian judgment will reach them even there.

This chapter is the direct sequel to Jeremiah 42 and proves that the remnant never intended to obey the word they requested. It turns Egypt from imagined refuge into the next stage on Judah's road of judgment, while preserving Jeremiah's prophetic role as he continues to announce the LORD's sovereignty even in exile-like displacement.

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Jeremiah 43

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vv. 1-13

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

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W1hen Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God— everything that the LORD had sent him to say— 2Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’ 3Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!” 4So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah. 5Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered, 6the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. 7So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.

8Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: 9“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. 10Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. 11He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. 12I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed. 13He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

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  1. 01vv. 1-13Jeremiah Taken to EgyptWhen Jeremiah finishes delivering the LORD's answer, Azariah, Johanan, and the presumptuous leaders accuse him and Baruch of conspiracy, reject the command to remain in Judah, and lead the whole remnant into Egypt as far as Tahpanhes, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them. There the LORD commands Jeremiah to bury large stones at Pharaoh's palace as a sign that Nebuchadnezzar will set his throne there, strike Egypt, and burn its temples, proving that flight to Egypt cannot outrun Babylon or the LORD's decree.
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