Jeremiah 43

The leaders of the remnant call Jeremiah a liar and march everyone, Jeremiah included, down to Egypt, against God’s plain word. At Tahpanhes God has Jeremiah bury stones as a sign that Nebuchadnezzar will come there. The refuge they chose will not protect them.

Jeremiah 43:1-2

Jeremiah has just delivered everything God told him. The leaders answer by attacking the messenger. Rather than weigh the message, they call him a liar. Pride makes people reject a word they have already decided not to obey.

BSA: arrogant (“proud, insolent”): Their problem was not lack of information but a proud heart that would not bow to God’s word. lying (“speaking falsehood, deceiving”): They accuse the true prophet of the very sin they are committing.

Hebrew: זֵדִים (zedim, H2086) — “insolent, presumptuous ones.” The word describes people who boil over in self-will and will not be told what to do, even by God.

See also: Jeremiah 42:19-22.

Jeremiah 43:3

The leaders invent a motive: Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary, must be turning him against them so the Babylonians can kill or deport them. When people refuse the truth, they often blame hidden plots. Their fear of man outweighs fear of God.

BSA: inciting (“urging, stirring up”): They claim Baruch is pushing Jeremiah, rather than admit God is speaking through him.

Jeremiah 43:4

Johanan and the commanders had promised to obey whatever God said. Now they openly disobey. The command was simple: stay in the land. Their choice shows that asking God for guidance is not the same as being willing to follow it.

See also: Jeremiah 42:5-6; Jeremiah 42:10.

Jeremiah 43:5-6

Everyone is swept along: men, women, children, royal daughters, and even Jeremiah and Baruch. These were survivors who had come back from scattering among the nations, and now they leave again. One leaders’ decision drags a whole community into trouble.

BSA: remnant (“those who remained, the survivors”): These were the few spared from the exile, who should have trusted the God who had spared them.

Jeremiah 43:7

The writer gives the reason plainly: they did not obey the voice of the LORD. They reach Tahpanhes, a border city in the eastern Nile delta. The move looked safe, but it was a step away from God’s promised protection in the land.

BSA: obey (“refused to hear, disobeyed”): The Hebrew idea of obeying is hearing; not obeying means refusing to truly listen.

Hebrew: שָׁמְעוּ (shameʿu, H8085) — “they listened, they heard and obeyed.” In Hebrew, to hear and to obey are one word. Not obeying means they never truly heard.

Jeremiah 43:8-9

Even in Egypt, God still speaks to Jeremiah. He is told to act out a message: bury large stones in the brick pavement at Pharaoh’s palace entrance while the people watch. God’s word does not stop when people go their own way.

BSA: bury (“hide, conceal”): The stones are hidden in the pavement, showing that God has already marked this very spot.

Jeremiah 43:10

God declares that He will bring Nebuchadnezzar to this very place and set his throne over the stones. God calls the pagan king ‘My servant’ because He uses him to carry out judgment. The refuge the people chose becomes the place of his triumph.

BSA: servant (“one who serves, a bondservant”): Nebuchadnezzar serves God’s purposes without knowing it; God rules over the nations’ kings. pavilion (“a splendid canopy, a luxurious covering”): The king’s royal tent will be pitched right over the hidden stones.

See also: Jeremiah 25:9; Daniel 4:35.

Jeremiah 43:11

Nebuchadnezzar will strike Egypt, and each person will meet an appointed fate: death, captivity, or the sword. The judgment is sure and personal. Egypt cannot shelter those who fled there, because no place is safe from God’s decree.

BSA: destined (“appointed, ordained”): Each outcome is already set by God, so no one can escape it by running to another country.

See also: Jeremiah 15:2.

Jeremiah 43:12

The gods of Egypt will not save Egypt. They will burn, or be carried off as loot. Nebuchadnezzar will take over the land as easily as a shepherd pulls on a cloak, then leave unharmed. Idols are powerless before the living God.

BSA: wrap (“enwrap, cover”): Picture a shepherd casually throwing his cloak around himself: the conquest will be that easy. unscathed (“in peace, safely”): He leaves without harm, showing how completely God has given him the victory.

Hebrew: עָטָה (ʿatah, H5844) — “to wrap, to wrap oneself.” The verb is the one for putting on a garment, so the shepherd picture is of easily and comfortably taking Egypt as his own.

See also: Isaiah 19:1.

Jeremiah 43:13

The prophecy ends with the sun-temple and its sacred pillars shattered. Heliopolis, the city of the sun, was a great center of Egyptian worship. What Egypt worshiped as powerful will be broken and burned, and the LORD alone will stand.

BSA: sacred pillars (“monuments, memorials”): These standing stones honored the sun god, and God says they will be smashed.

See also: Exodus 12:12.