Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

What should we learn from this chapter?

• There is a God who knows the future
• The reliability of the Word of God
• That nothing is hidden that cannot be revealed
• The bible should be included as a history book (as well as the Word of God)
• Despite the denunciations and the prophesy of Egypt’s imminent destruction by the expanding Babylonian Empire, the prophet Jeremiah himself ultimately settled in the land of the pharaohs, some say he went against his will, or he went because there was nothing left to stay for in Jerusalem. He is known as the weeping prophet.

Jeremiah 43 

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

Jeremiah 43:¹ Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm), for which the Lord their God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm) had sent him to them, all these words,

Jeremiah 43:² that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm) has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’

• “An archeological find in August, 2024 of a stone, probably worn around the neck inscribed with the Hebrew name in the paleo-Hebrew script. (Eliyahu Yanai, City of David) with a picture of Assyrian influence ~2,700 years old (~676 BC). On both sides of the figure an inscription is engraved in paleo-Hebrew script – “LeYehoʼezer ben (son of) Hoshʼayahu.” aka Azariah ben Hoshʼaya
  
  “The name Yehoʼezer is familiar to us from the Bible (Chron. I 12:7) in its abbreviated form – Yoʼezer, one of King David’s fighters,” while also stating that “in the book of Jeremiah 43:2, describing the events of this very period, a person is mentioned with a parallel name, ʼAzariah ben Hoshʼaya. The two parts of his first name are written in reverse order to the seal owner’s name, and his second name is the same, appearing in its abbreviated form. This writing form in the text fits the name on the newly discovered seal and it is thus appropriate for this time period.”
  Fox News: Biblical Stone Discovered Israeli archaeologists discover unique ancient seal affirming biblical account of Jerusalem 2,700 years ago | Fox News
• See Timeline 501 – 770 BC Scroll down to 676 BC
  
• Esarhaddon Assyrian king (680 – 669 BC) would be king of Assyria during this time with his son Ashurbanipal succeeding him.

Jeremiah 43:³ But Baruch the son of Neriah has set (Or incited) you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.”

Jeremiah 43:⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would not obey the voice of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), to remain in the land of Judah.

Jeremiah 43:⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been driven—

Jeremiah 43:⁶ men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.

• Gedaliah was made governor of Judah over a poor small remnant who tended some of the land.

Jeremiah 43:⁷ So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ). And they went as far as Tahpanhes.

• Tahpanhes is located in the Nile Delta on the eastern side.

Jeremiah 43:⁸ Then the word of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the clay (Or mortar) in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes;

• Tahpanhes – Biblical City Where Prophet Jeremiah And King Zedekiah’s daughters hid from the Babylonians.
  
  “We owe much of our knowledge about the ancient history of Tahpanes to Egyptologists Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853 – 1942) who discovered the site in 1886. At the time of Flinders’ first contact with this historical place, the city was called known by natives as Qasr Bint al-Yahudi, the ‘Castle of the Jew’s Daughter’”
  
  When Petrie excavated at the site, he unearthed the house of Pharaoh Apries. Petrie recalled it laid bare an “area of continuous brick work, resting on sand, about a hundred by sixty feet, facing the eastern entrance to what seem royal buildings.”
  
  “It is curious how exactly this answers to the Biblical description of the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanes,” Petrie said when examining the ancient ruins.
  
  The late archaeologist “dug into this square platform and found there some rough,”unhewn stones,” but without inscriptions. He was surprised, on inquiry, to learn that the mound from which these stones are exhumed is called by the Arabs to this day Kasr el khint el Yahudi, ” The Castle of the Jew’s Daughters.” Thus the Biblical story of the royal princesses still clings to the ruins as a historical echo from the remote past.”
  
  ~Ancient Pages Tahpanhes
  https://www.ancientpages.com/2021/07/19/tahpanhes-biblical-city-where-prophet-jeremiah-and-king-zedekiahs-daughters-hid-from-the-babylonians/#google_vignette

Jeremiah 43:¹⁰ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts (Yᵊhōvâ ṣāḇā’) ‘the God (‘ĕlōhîm) of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

• @Prophecy Alert: This prediction became history, and the Babylonian King did twice invade Egypt and conquer it. ~Ancient Pages Tahpanhes
  https://www.ancientpages.com/2021/07/19/tahpanhes-biblical-city-where-prophet-jeremiah-and-king-zedekiahs-daughters-hid-from-the-babylonians/#google_vignette

• God uses Nebuchadnezzar as a servant to do His will, whether Nebuchadnezzar knew it or not. Therefore; God calls Nebuchadnezzar “His servant”.
  
  • Personal Application: You may never know what God is doing through you. God uses men as His gloves, working His will like an expert surgeon.
    
  • God called many men “My Servant”.
  • Only two were gentiles:
    • Nebuchadnezzar and
    • Cyrus:
      Isaiah 44:²⁸ 
      Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
      And he shall perform all My pleasure,
      Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”
      And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’

Jeremiah 43:¹¹ When he (Nebuchadnezzar) comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword.

Jeremiah 43:¹² I (or He) will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace.

Jeremiah 43:¹³ He shall also break the sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” ’ ”

• Beth Shemesh (Lit. House of the Sun, ancient On, later called Heliopolis)

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