Whose Word Will Stand? Text: Jeremiah 44:24-30
Introduction: The Hardened Heart's Wager
We come now to one of the most sobering and instructive confrontations in all of Scripture. The scene is Egypt. The players are the remnant of Judah who, in direct defiance of God’s command, have fled there for refuge after the fall of Jerusalem. They imagine that the gods of Egypt, and their own syncretistic worship, will provide a security that Yahweh could not. They have dragged the prophet Jeremiah along with them, not as a guide to be heeded, but as a mascot to be ignored. And here, in the land of the Pharaohs, the land of their original bondage, they double down on their rebellion.
What we are about to witness is not simple ignorance or a momentary lapse in judgment. This is high-handed, stiff-necked, brazen rebellion. This is a people who have seen the judgment of God with their own eyes, who have watched their capital city burn and their temple be destroyed, precisely as Jeremiah prophesied, and who have concluded from all this that the problem was insufficient idolatry. Their logic is a master class in the insanity of the unrepentant heart. They are determined to wager their very souls on the proposition that their word, their vows, their desires, are more potent than the Word of the living God.
This passage is a divine ultimatum. It is the final showdown between the creature's defiant will and the Creator's immutable Word. God is about to call their bluff. He is going to give them exactly what they want, so that He might give them exactly what they deserve. This is the terrifying doctrine of judicial hardening. There comes a point when God stops striving with a man, stops sending warnings, and simply says, "Alright. Have it your way." And in that moment, the rebel believes he has won, but he has actually just stepped off the cliff. This passage forces a question upon every generation, and upon every individual heart: when the dust settles, whose word will be left standing? Mine, or God's?
The Text
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” Go ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘never shall My name be called upon again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As Lord Yahweh lives.” Behold, I am watching over them for evil and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely consumed. Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know whose word will be established, Mine or theirs. This will be the sign to you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely be established against you for evil.’ Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to give over Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over Zedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’ ”
(Jeremiah 44:24-30 LSB)
The Terrible Permission (v. 24-25)
The confrontation begins with God holding up a mirror to the rebels, quoting their own defiant words back to them.
"Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” Go ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’" (Jeremiah 44:24-25)
Notice the formality. This is a covenant lawsuit. God addresses "all Judah," making a point to include "all the women," who were the ringleaders in this particular idolatry. He identifies Himself fully: Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel. This is the God they have abandoned. He reminds them of their covenant identity even as He pronounces judgment upon their covenant treachery.
God then recites their treasonous pledge. They have made vows, not to Yahweh, but to the "queen of heaven," a pagan fertility goddess, likely the Assyrian Ishtar or the Canaanite Ashtoreth. This is spiritual adultery of the highest order. They have taken the language of covenant faithfulness, the making of vows, and have pledged their troth to a cosmic harlot. They are not just sinning; they are sinning piously. They are determined to be faithful to their unfaithfulness.
And then comes the most chilling phrase in the chapter: "Go ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!" This is not a blessing. This is not God changing His mind. This is the divine sentence of abandonment. It is what the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 1 when, after men reject the knowledge of God, God "gave them over" to their lusts. It is God saying, "You want to worship this idol? You are determined to go this way? Fine. I will remove My restraining grace. I will take My hands off the steering wheel. See how it works out for you." This is judicial hardening. God is punishing their sin by giving them over to their sin. The moment a man hears God say "have it your way," he should be terrified, because his way leads to destruction.
The Divine Counter-Vow (v. 26-27)
In response to their idolatrous vows, God makes a vow of His own. He swears an oath, not to bless, but to curse.
"Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘never shall My name be called upon again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As Lord Yahweh lives.” Behold, I am watching over them for evil and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely consumed." (Jeremiah 44:26-27)
The contrast is stark. They made vows to a false god. God now swears by the highest possible authority: "My great name." As the author of Hebrews says, "since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself" (Heb. 6:13). God is putting His own reputation, His very being, on the line. This is the irresistible force meeting the movable object.
And what is His oath? That they will lose the privilege of even speaking His name. The phrase "As Lord Yahweh lives" was the standard formula for an Israelite oath. It was an appeal to the living God as the guarantor of truth. But God says that these rebels in Egypt, who have given their hearts to other gods, will no longer be able to use His name to back up their words. Why? Because there will be none of them left. This is a sentence of excommunication and annihilation. They want to live without reference to Him, so He will arrange it.
God's providence is total. He is always watching over His people. But here, He makes a terrifying clarification: "I am watching over them for evil and not for good." Every circumstance, every political shift, every famine, every approaching army will be superintended by God for their destruction. The sword and famine, the very things they fled to Egypt to escape, will be God's ordained instruments to consume them. When you run from God's will, you run directly into His wrath.
The Inescapable Verdict (v. 28)
Here we come to the central issue, the question that the entire confrontation is designed to answer.
"Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know whose word will be established, Mine or theirs." (Jeremiah 44:28)
God, in His mercy, will preserve a remnant. Not a remnant of the rebels in Egypt, but a remnant from the entire catastrophe. A few will escape, not because of their own cleverness, but by God's grace, to serve as witnesses. They will be "few in number," a testament to the thoroughness of the judgment.
And their testimony will settle the fundamental question of all existence: "whose word will be established, Mine or theirs?" This is the ultimate contest. The people of Judah had a word. They said, "We will certainly perform our vows." They said that idolatry brings peace and prosperity. They said that Egypt was a safe refuge. That was their word. God had another Word. He said, "Do not go to Egypt." He said, "If you go, you will perish by the sword and famine." He said that idolatry brings ruin and death. That was His Word.
Reality itself would become the courtroom. History would be the judge. And the verdict would be inescapable. Every humanistic philosophy, every political ideology, every new morality is simply man setting his word up against God's. The secularist says, "My word will stand." The sexual revolutionary says, "My word will stand." The self-worshipper says, "My word will stand." And God says, "We'll see." The universe is not a democracy. It is a monarchy, and the King's Word is the only word that creates and sustains reality. To bet against it is to bet against existence itself.
The Historical Sign (v. 29-30)
God does not leave them without a tangible, verifiable proof. He gives them a sign, a historical anchor for His prophecy.
"This will be the sign to you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely be established against you for evil.’ Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to give over Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies... just as I gave over Zedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon...’" (Jeremiah 44:29-30)
The very man in whom they placed their trust for security, Pharaoh Hophra, would be overthrown. This is God's signature move. He loves to turn the world's strong men and its safe places into object lessons of His sovereignty. The refuge becomes the trap. The savior becomes the casualty. God says, "You are trusting in this Egyptian king for your safety? I will show you how safe he is. I am going to hand him over to his enemies."
And to make the point utterly undeniable, He uses typology. He says He will do to Hophra "just as I gave over Zedekiah." They all knew what happened to Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. They saw it. He rebelled against God's word through Jeremiah, was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, saw his sons killed before his eyes, and then was blinded and dragged to Babylon in chains. God is saying, "Remember that? Remember how My word about Zedekiah came true, down to the last miserable detail? I am the same God. And Pharaoh is just another Zedekiah. My Word stands, whether in Jerusalem or in Egypt." History is not a random series of events; it is the unfolding of God's decreed Word. He writes the script, and kings and pharaohs are merely actors who hit their marks.
Conclusion: The Word Made Flesh
This entire chapter is a contest of words. It is the word of the creature versus the Word of the Creator. And we know how that contest ends. God's Word always stands. It stood in the judgment of Egypt, and it stood in the judgment of Judah. But the ultimate demonstration of this principle is not found in the downfall of Pharaoh Hophra, but in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Jesus, we see the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He is the perfect embodiment of God's Word. And the word of man rose up against Him. The word of Herod tried to kill Him. The word of the Pharisees accused Him. The word of Pilate condemned Him. The word of the soldiers mocked Him. The word of the mob screamed, "Crucify Him!" Man threw his entire vocabulary of rebellion and hatred at the Word of God and nailed Him to a tree.
And for three days, it looked as though man's word had won. The Word was silent in the tomb. But God had spoken another Word. He had spoken the word of resurrection. And on the third day, God's Word stood up. It stood up out of the grave, triumphant over sin, death, and every defiant word of man. In the empty tomb, God declared for all time, "My Word stands."
Therefore, the question for us is simple. Which word are you standing on? Are you, like the Jews in Egypt, making vows to the modern queens of heaven, the idols of security, prosperity, self-fulfillment, or sexual autonomy? Are you trusting in the political pharaohs of our age? If so, you are standing on sinking sand. Your word will fail, and the refuge you have built for yourself will become your tomb.
But if you will abandon your own word and stand upon the Word of God, which is Christ Jesus, you will be secure. Repent of your idolatrous vows and swear allegiance to the King. Trust not in your own declarations, but in His. For His Word alone is life, and it will stand forever.