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Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 43

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Verses 1-13

EGYPT OR BUST! (1-7)
1. Johanan once brave(40:14,15), now a spineless jellyfish who would not stand for what he knew was right!
  1. He showed himself a strong leader & now I guess still a strong leader,…but in the Wrong direction.
    1. If your lost w/a group in the forest, & one arises to lead because of his strong leadership skills, yet goes deeper into the forest…the outcome is fatal!
  2. Johanan was a leader who led people where they wanted to go, rather then where they needed to go!
    1. He became an Egyptian tour guide instead of a godly leader!
2. “All along they had regarded God as a power to enlist, not a Lord to Obey!” (Kidner)
  1. Q: Do you seek Him for His power, or for direction so you might obey Him?
3. Knowing God’s will is only of value if we are willing to DO it!
  1. Q: Is knowing Gods will our problem or doing it?
4. Vs.2 - You know once you’ve decided to disobey the Lord, you can always find excuses for rejecting God’s truth.
  1. What arrogance these men show in basically saying “thus doesn’t saith the lord!”
  2. Arrogance is insistence on getting our own way!
    1. Here is a pack of “know-it-alls”(2).
    2. “Why is it when more then 1 know-it-all gets together w/another they can never agree?”
  3. One sign of arrogance is when we try to find someone to blame for our wrong or guilty choices.
5. They didn’t like what God had to say!
  1. So, do what I do when I don’t like what the Bible says? Just Tear it out!(rip) - You feel uncomfortable about this or that passage?(rip it out) – If that’s too drastic then just ignore it!
  2. Or you can always revise it to suit A contemporary paraphrase by Shirley Maclaine, the New Age Version, renders Rom3:23(what is it1^{st? “}for all…”)as: “For all have experienced momentary lapses and have comeup a tad shy of the Divine Entity’s absolute idea, but hey, nobody’s perfect. Sodon’t worry. Be happy!” {So tear it out; ignore it; or revise it!}
6. Vs.3 – It is difficult to understand what kind of special power Baruch could possibly have over this courageous prophet…but they had to blame somebody!
7. Vs.6 – Jeremiah is led off again – not to martyrdom(as he probably wished) but to an alien land not as pilgrims, nor captives, but deserters!
8. Vs7 – And so they walked by sight & not by faith, right into Egypt.
EGYPT JUDGED! (8-13)
1. This is the final “action sermon.”
2. They reached their supposed “safe haven” in Tahpanhes. 10 m. west of the Suez canal.
  1. As Jeremiah carried & buried these stones it probably built up anticipation of the people to hear what was going to be said.
    1. So we have a double punch of act & speech.
  2. Precisely on that spot Neb. would assert his son over Egypt.
  3. In 1886 Sir Flinders Petrie unearthed both this pavement and palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh. He found a platform of brick work, which was located outside the door of the house, looking very much as if it was the actual platform to which Jeremiah refers in his message, where Nebuchadnezzar was to spread his pavilion. In fact, great stones were actually found embedded under this area.> Shortly after 1886 three cylinders were discovered near this site and sold to the Cairo museum. They contain an inscription telling about Nebuchadnezzar’s great building activities at Babylon. It would seem they were placed at this spot to commemorate the visit of King Nebuchadnezzar to Egypt.
3. Vs.12,13 – All of Egypt’s gods, temples, &obelisks(a-ba-lisk/A tall, four-sided shaft of stone, usually tapered and monolithic, that rises to a point. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation. All rights reserved.) (yhtg) would proveto be merely combustible, portable, & breakable. They were as easily “picked up & put on” by a conquerer, as cloak is “picked up & put on” by a shepherd.
  1. “Beth Shemesh” – Heliopolis(hele-opolis) = house of the sun or “Sun City”.
4. God had the final word: “Their trip to Egypt would be their death march!”
  1. You can’t runaway from problems! Problems will come & find you, as Babylon came & found them here!
  2. The only safe place is IN the will of God!
  3. When your will is God’s will, you will have your will! (Spurg)

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Verses 1-13

EGYPT OR BUST! (1-7)
1. Johanan once brave(40:14,15), now a spineless jellyfish who would not stand for what he knew was right!
  1. He showed himself a strong leader & now I guess still a strong leader,…but in the Wrong direction.
    1. If your lost w/a group in the forest, & one arises to lead because of his strong leadership skills, yet goes deeper into the forest…the outcome is fatal!
  2. Johanan was a leader who led people where they wanted to go, rather then where they needed to go!
    1. He became an Egyptian tour guide instead of a godly leader!
2. “All along they had regarded God as a power to enlist, not a Lord to Obey!” (Kidner)
  1. Q: Do you seek Him for His power, or for direction so you might obey Him?
3. Knowing God’s will is only of value if we are willing to DO it!
  1. Q: Is knowing Gods will our problem or doing it?
4. Vs.2 - You know once you’ve decided to disobey the Lord, you can always find excuses for rejecting God’s truth.
  1. What arrogance these men show in basically saying “thus doesn’t saith the lord!”
  2. Arrogance is insistence on getting our own way!
    1. Here is a pack of “know-it-alls”(2).
    2. “Why is it when more then 1 know-it-all gets together w/another they can never agree?”
  3. One sign of arrogance is when we try to find someone to blame for our wrong or guilty choices.
5. They didn’t like what God had to say!
  1. So, do what I do when I don’t like what the Bible says? Just Tear it out!(rip) - You feel uncomfortable about this or that passage?(rip it out) – If that’s too drastic then just ignore it!
  2. Or you can always revise it to suit A contemporary paraphrase by Shirley Maclaine, the New Age Version, renders Rom3:23(what is it1^{st? “}for all…”)as: “For all have experienced momentary lapses and have comeup a tad shy of the Divine Entity’s absolute idea, but hey, nobody’s perfect. Sodon’t worry. Be happy!” {So tear it out; ignore it; or revise it!}
6. Vs.3 – It is difficult to understand what kind of special power Baruch could possibly have over this courageous prophet…but they had to blame somebody!
7. Vs.6 – Jeremiah is led off again – not to martyrdom(as he probably wished) but to an alien land not as pilgrims, nor captives, but deserters!
8. Vs7 – And so they walked by sight & not by faith, right into Egypt.
EGYPT JUDGED! (8-13)
1. This is the final “action sermon.”
2. They reached their supposed “safe haven” in Tahpanhes. 10 m. west of the Suez canal.
  1. As Jeremiah carried & buried these stones it probably built up anticipation of the people to hear what was going to be said.
    1. So we have a double punch of act & speech.
  2. Precisely on that spot Neb. would assert his son over Egypt.
  3. In 1886 Sir Flinders Petrie unearthed both this pavement and palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh. He found a platform of brick work, which was located outside the door of the house, looking very much as if it was the actual platform to which Jeremiah refers in his message, where Nebuchadnezzar was to spread his pavilion. In fact, great stones were actually found embedded under this area.> Shortly after 1886 three cylinders were discovered near this site and sold to the Cairo museum. They contain an inscription telling about Nebuchadnezzar’s great building activities at Babylon. It would seem they were placed at this spot to commemorate the visit of King Nebuchadnezzar to Egypt.
3. Vs.12,13 – All of Egypt’s gods, temples, &obelisks(a-ba-lisk/A tall, four-sided shaft of stone, usually tapered and monolithic, that rises to a point. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation. All rights reserved.) (yhtg) would proveto be merely combustible, portable, & breakable. They were as easily “picked up & put on” by a conquerer, as cloak is “picked up & put on” by a shepherd.
  1. “Beth Shemesh” – Heliopolis(hele-opolis) = house of the sun or “Sun City”.
4. God had the final word: “Their trip to Egypt would be their death march!”
  1. You can’t runaway from problems! Problems will come & find you, as Babylon came & found them here!
  2. The only safe place is IN the will of God!
  3. When your will is God’s will, you will have your will! (Spurg)

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JeremiahJer 42 JeremiahJer JeremiahJer 44

Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Jeremiah 43". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/jeremiah-43.html. 2017.

Bible CommentariesJeremiah 43

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-13

Verses 1-13

Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 43