44:1ff This message, given in 580 B.C. while Jeremiah was in Egypt against his will, reminded the people that their idolatry had brought destruction on their land. Jeremiah told them that they would never return to Judah because the escape to Egypt had been against God’s advice (42:9ff). But the people refused to learn any lessons from all the destruction their sins had caused.
44:7 “Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls?” These people took an oath of obedience (42:5, 6) and yet still refused to listen to God’s clear directions. They feared the Babylonians, who would have been kind to them, and destroyed themselves. Self-destruction, whether through foolish decisions, dangerous habits, or blatant disobedience to God, is worse than destruction by an enemy. There is no honor whatsoever in self-destruction.
44:9, 10 When we forget a lesson or refuse to learn it, we risk repeating our mistakes. The people of Judah struggled with this; to forget their former sins was to repeat them. To fail to learn from failure is to assure future failure. Your past is your school of experience. Let your past mistakes point you to God’s way.
44:14 Only those who repented of going to Egypt and returned to their own land would escape judgment. God wanted a change of both attitude and action. God always offers a way of escape—even when we get ourselves in so deep it doesn’t look as if there is any way out. And the steps are always the same: (1) admitting we have rebelled against God, (2) forsaking our sinful direction, and (3) seeking to live as God instructs in his Word.
44:15-18 The farther we drift from God, the more confused our thinking becomes. Whatever spiritual life was left in the Israelites when they went to Egypt was lost as they sank into the depths of idolatry. (For more information on the “queen of heaven,” see the note on 7:18.) The escape to Egypt had brought a change in their pagan worship habits, and they blamed their troubles on their neglect of their idols. But idol worship had started all their problems in the first place. The people refused to recognize the true source of their problems—departure from God’s leading. When calamity forces you to examine your life, take a close look at God’s instructions for you and be willing to humbly apply what you find there.
44:28 After Jeremiah’s forced move to Egypt, there is no word in the Bible about the events in the rest of his life.
44:30 Pharaoh Hophra ruled Egypt from 588 to 569 B.C. and was killed by Ahmose, one of his generals, who was then crowned in his place.