Jeremiah 44:15 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the people’s stubborn refusal to bow to God’s word spoken through Jeremiah. It is hard to find a bolder act of open defiance against God himself, or a clearer example of the sinful mind rebelling against him. The people who stood against God’s warnings were not just a few, but most of the Jews. They were also people who knew, either in their own lives or in their wives’ lives, that they had done the very idolatry Jeremiah had condemned (Jeremiah 44:15).

Two things stand out here. First, the women seem to have been more caught up in idolatry and superstition than the men. That was not because the men were more devoted to the true God, but, sadly, because many of them were likely godless men who wanted no real religion at all. They could then easily allow their wives to follow false worship. Second, their anger at Jeremiah came from guilt. They knew their wives had burned incense to other gods, and they had approved of it. The women standing there also knew they had joined in those idolatrous practices. So Jeremiah’s words hit a sore spot, and they resisted him like stubborn children who will not bear the yoke.

Their answer to Jeremiah was really an answer to God himself. It was much like the heart that says to the Almighty, “Leave us alone; we do not want to know your ways.” They said they would not do what God commanded, but what they themselves wanted to do. They planned to keep worshiping the moon, which they called the queen of heaven. Some think this meant the sun, which was widely worshiped in Egypt (Jeremiah 43:13) and had also been worshiped in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:11). Others think it meant the whole host of heaven, the stars and sky itself (Jeremiah 7:18).

These bold sinners were no longer trying to excuse themselves. They did not say Jeremiah was speaking only for himself, as they had said before (Jeremiah 43:2). Instead, they admitted that he had spoken in the name of the Lord, and still they said plainly, “We will not listen to you.” They were choosing to do what was forbidden and to risk the punishment God had warned about. People who live in disobedience usually grow worse over time, and sin hardens the heart more and more. This is the true voice of a rebellious heart: we will do whatever we want, no matter what God or his prophets say. Many think this way long before they are bold enough to say it out loud. It is the same spirit as the young person who wants to follow the desires of the heart and the eyes, and do whatever seems pleasing to him (Ecclesiastes 11:9).

They also gave reasons for their choice, because even the most unreasonable sinners usually try to defend themselves until the day comes when every mouth is stopped. First, they leaned on custom and tradition. They said they would burn incense to the queen of heaven because their fathers had done it. It had the support of long practice, and they acted as if that made it right. Second, they appealed to authority. Their kings and princes had done it, and those rulers were from the line of David, the royal family God had placed over them.

They also appealed to agreement and numbers. It was not just a few people, they said, but all of them together, a great crowd (Jeremiah 44:15). They said it was common throughout the cities of Judah, not just in one place. It was done openly, in the streets, not hidden away in secret. They treated it as the custom of their mother-city, Jerusalem, as if that gave it extra weight. And they claimed success as well. When they did this, they said, they had plenty of bread and other good things, and saw no trouble.

Some of these claims may have been true in fact, at least in part. God’s faithful witnesses against their idolatry were few and hidden, and Elijah once thought he was alone. But this last claim did not excuse them. Even if they had enjoyed some outward comfort, that was no reason to sin. God’s law, not people’s habits, must guide and judge us.

Then they turned God’s judgments upside down. They said the troubles they had recently suffered came because they stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven (Jeremiah 44:18). They misunderstood God’s providence in a very twisted way, even though God had often explained the matter through his prophets, and the events themselves pointed the other direction. They said that since they had given up their idols, they had lacked everything and been destroyed by the sword. The real reason, of course, was that they still kept their idols in their hearts and loved their old sins. But they wanted it believed that the problem was leaving off the outward acts of sin.

In this way, the very troubles that should have helped them turn from sin only hardened them further because they misunderstood them. Something similar happened in the early days of Christianity, when God sent public troubles on nations that opposed Christians and persecuted them. Instead of seeing God’s hand, those people twisted the meaning of the suffering and acted as if the punishments came because they had been too kind to Christians. They cried out, “Throw the Christians to the lions.”

Even if what they said were true, and even if since returning to the worship of the true God they had faced need and trouble, that would still not be a reason to turn back to idols. That would mean they served only their own stomachs, not God. Those who truly know God and trust him will keep serving him, even if they suffer for it, even if they never see a good day in this world. They know they will not lose in the end.

They also argued that, although the women were the ones most active in the idol worship, they did it with their husbands’ approval. The women made cakes for the offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings (Jeremiah 44:19). We saw before that this was their work (Jeremiah 7:18).

“But did we do it without our husbands, privately and without their knowledge, so as to make them jealous of us? No. Our fathers lit the fire while the women kneaded the dough. The men who were our heads, the ones we were bound to learn from and obey, taught us to do it by their example.” It is sad when people who are closest to each other, and should stir one another up to what is good and help each other toward heaven, instead harden one another in sin and speed each other toward hell.

Some understand this as the husbands’ words here (Jeremiah 44:15). On that view, they are saying they did not do it without their men, meaning without their elders, rulers, and men in authority. But since making the cakes and pouring out the drink offerings are clearly described as the women’s work (Jeremiah 7:18), it seems more likely to be the women’s defense. Even so, it was a weak excuse. What good would it do them to say it matched their husbands’ wishes, when they knew it went against God’s will?