旧约 - 耶利米书(Jeremiah)第44章

This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt--in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis--and in Upper Egypt:
"This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins
because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew.
Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, 'Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!'
But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.
Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today.
"Now this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women, the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant?
Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations on earth.
Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your fathers and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?
To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law and the decrees I set before you and your fathers.
"Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah.
I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach.
I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem.
None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives."
Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present--a large assembly--and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah,
"We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD!
We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.
But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine."
The women added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?"
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him,
"Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land?
When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today.
Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see."
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah in Egypt.
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said, 'We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.' "Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows!
But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name,' says the LORD, 'that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, "As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives."
For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed.
Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand--mine or theirs.
"'This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,' declares the LORD, 'so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.'
This is what the LORD says: 'I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life.'"
耶利米书第四十四章   第 44 章 

  耶 44 章 > 这是耶利米最后一次说预言,此刻的故国已不堪回首…… 

  44 章 这些信息是耶利米于公元前 580 年宣告的,当时他被强行带到埃及,却仍不断提醒百姓敬拜别的神会招致国破家亡。耶利米还说,由于他们违背神的旨意逃亡到埃及,因此永远都不能回到故国犹大了( 42:9-22 )。然而,人民却没有从罪恶招致的灾祸中汲取教训,依然故我。 

  耶 44:9-10> 我该以什么态度,去面对过往曾犯下的错误? 

  44:9-10 前车之覆,后车之鉴,若不从失败中汲取教训,必会重蹈覆辙。犹大的人民一直在错误中泥足深陷。过往的经验实在是宝贵的财富,让这些经验指引你走在神的路上吧! 

  耶 44:15-18> 拜偶像消灾免祸,这种心态是否也在我身旁的人身上出现?我又可以怎样回答他们的询问? 

  44:15-18 我们离开神越远,思想就越糊涂。以色列人到埃及的时候,沉迷于拜偶像,连仅有的属灵生命也失去了。(有关“天后”的详细资料,请参 7:18 的注释)。他们移居埃及,受异教之风影响,和当地人一起拜偶像,甚至将所遭的灾难归咎于疏忽拜偶像。但事实恰恰相反,一开始拜偶像就带来种种问题,祸害接踵而至。但是百姓却不肯承认真正的祸根是他们违抗神的引导。当灾难发生在你身上的时候,请细心检视一下神对你有什么指引。 

  耶 44:28> 被迫离乡的先知,从此下落不明…… 

  44:28 自耶利米被强行带到埃及以后,圣经中再没有提及他的生活情况。 

  耶 44:30> 对法老合弗拉的预言又怎样应验? 

  44:30 埃及王法老合弗拉于公元前 588 至 569 年统治埃及,后来被其将领亚玛薛斯所弑,篡夺了他的王位。──《灵修版圣经注释》