Scripture Daily

Context No. 1305 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 44:26-30: in context

26“Therefore hear the LORD’s word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by my great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that my name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord GOD lives.” 27Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone. 28Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29“‘This will be the sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.’ 30The LORD says, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.’”

Jeremiah delivers God's final word to the stubborn Jews in Egypt who have kept worshiping other gods. God swears by his great name that his name will no longer be invoked by any of them, that he is watching over them for disaster, not good, and that they will be consumed by sword and famine until only a few escape back to Judah. And then the phrase that sums up the whole confrontation: all the remnant of Judah in Egypt will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. As a sign, God says he will hand Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt over to his enemies, just as he handed Zedekiah of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar.

The heart of it is that stark question of authority: they will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. The refugees had made their own plans, insisting on their own way, defying God's clear command not to go to Egypt and to stop worshiping idols. It came down to a contest of words, God's word against their own confident assertions, and God declares that the outcome will settle, unmistakably, whose word actually stands. It is a question that hangs over every human life. We all, in a thousand ways, set our own plans and preferences against what God has said, betting quietly that our word, our way, our judgment will prevail. And God says the day will come when it is clear whose word stands. His word is not one opinion among others to be weighed against ours; it is the word that will be vindicated in the end, when all the confident human assertions that contradicted it have collapsed. The sign God gives, the fall of the very Pharaoh they fled to for safety, is meant to make the point undeniable: the security they chose over obedience will itself be given to its enemies. In the end, only one word stands, and it is not ours.

In the places where I have quietly set my own plans and judgments against what God has said, am I willing to face the question this passage forces, whose word will stand, mine or his?

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