Jeremiah 43:1 - Meaning and Application

What God said about the builders of Babel could also be said about this people Jeremiah was dealing with: “Nothing they plan to do will be restrained from them” (Genesis 11:6). They had set their hearts on Egypt, and to Egypt they would go, no matter what God said against it. Jeremiah told them everything he had to say, even though he could see it made them uneasy. It was the message the Lord their God had sent him to give them, and they would hear it all. Now we see how they answered him.

They denied that it was a message from God. Johanan and all the proud men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying” (Jeremiah 43:2). Pride was the real cause of their disobedience. Pride is often the root of conflict with both God and people. They were too proud to accept any correction of their plans, even from God’s own wisdom and will. Pharaoh once said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?” (Exodus 5:2). The proud, unbroken heart is one of the boldest enemies God has in this world.

They also gave a false reason for their disobedience. They would not admit that this was God’s word: “The Lord did not send you to us with this message.” Either they were not convinced, or, more likely, they were convinced but refused to say so. The truth was shining right in front of them, but they either shut their eyes to it or would not admit they saw it. Many people deny that Scripture is God’s word for the same reason, they have already decided not to obey it. So stubborn unbelief becomes a weak excuse for willful disobedience.

If God had spoken to them by an angel, or from Mount Sinai, they would have called it deception. Had they not already asked Jeremiah for God’s guidance? Had he not waited for God’s instructions before speaking? Did not everything he said carry the marks of a true prophet? Was he not traveling in the same trouble with them? What advantage could he gain that was separate from theirs? Had he not always shown himself to be a true Israelite? Had God not already proved that he was a real prophet? Had any of his words ever failed?

Still, though they had some respect for Jeremiah, they said, “Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us” (Jeremiah 43:3). It is hard to believe that Baruch would be part of a plan to hand them over to the Babylonians. And what would he have gained by that? If Jeremiah and Baruch had really favored the Babylonians, as these men claimed, they could have gone with Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian commander, when he invited them, and left for Babylon then. They did not. Instead, they stayed with this poor and ungrateful remnant. But good service does not protect a person from lies and hatred.

If Baruch had truly been so evil, could they really think Jeremiah would be controlled by him, so that God’s name would be used to support such a wicked purpose? Those who are determined to go against the true purpose of ministry often try to put a bad name on it. When people are set on sin, they paint those who try to turn them back as self-serving, or even as harmful to others. It is a comfort to wrongly accused people that their witness is in heaven and their record is on high.

Then they made up their minds to go to Egypt anyway. They refused to stay in the land of Judah, as God had commanded them (Jeremiah 43:4). Instead, they decided together to go, taking with them everything they had control over, and move to Egypt. They would not leave in peace the people who had come from the nations where they had once been scattered and settled in Judah out of genuine love for the land. Instead, they forced them to go with them into Egypt (Jeremiah 43:5), men, women, and children (Jeremiah 43:6). It was a long journey into a foreign land, a land filled with idols, and a land that had never truly been faithful to Israel. Still, they went. They abandoned their own land and put themselves outside God’s protection.

This is the folly of people who do not know when they are well off. Many ruin themselves by trying to improve their situation. It is also the pride of powerful people to force those under their authority to follow them, even when it goes against those people’s duty and good. These proud men even forced Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch his scribe to go with them to Egypt. They took them like prisoners, partly to punish them, and there was no greater punishment they could have given than to force them to act against their consciences. The worst tyranny is when people say to another person’s soul, even to a good person’s soul, “Bow down, so we can pass over you.”

They also wanted to make themselves look better by dragging the prophets along. Even though Jeremiah and Baruch were under force, they wanted everyone to think they went willingly. Then, they hoped, no one could blame them for acting against the Lord’s word, since the prophets themselves had supposedly done the same.

They came to Tahpanhes, a famous city in Egypt, named after a queen of that name (1 Kings 11:19). It was the same place called Hanes (Isaiah 30:4). By then it was the chief city, because Pharaoh’s house was there (Jeremiah 43:9). Nothing less than the royal city, near the court, would satisfy these proud men. They had forgotten Joseph’s wisdom, who wanted his brothers to settle in Goshen. If they had had the heart of true Israelites, they would have chosen the wilderness of Judah over the most splendid and crowded cities of Egypt.