20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying, 21 “As for the [v]smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them and did not all this come into His [w]mind? 22 So the Lord was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 Because you have burned [x]sacrifices and have sinned against the Lord and not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this calamity has befallen you, as it has this day.”
24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt, 25 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ‘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 [y]sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” [z]Go ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ 26 [aa]Nevertheless hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘never shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord [ab]God lives.” 27 Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will [ac]meet their end by the sword and by famine until they [ad]are completely gone. 28 Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah [ae]few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs. 29 This will be the sign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for harm.’ 30 Thus says the Lord, ‘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.’”
We saw something in the previous verses that is emphasized here; which is that the people of Judah had an awful short memory. In their previous response, they insisted that they would continue to worship this “queen of heaven”, because after all, when they stopped doing so, things got worse. So Jeremiah reminds them here of the ruin of their land which was not because they stopped worshipping the queen of heaven, but because they had rejected God Himself and did “not obey the voice of the Lord…” (v. 23)
In response to their stubborn rebellion now, God essentially tells them in vv. 25-27, “Go ahead and worship your fake gods, but don’t go calling on My name anymore, I won’t be listening!” Now was He really going to stop listening? Not really, but He saw the wickedness and stubbornness ness of their hearts. Even if they did call upon His name and said “As the Lord God lives,” it would be empty words, and their hearts would still be far from Him.
On the one hand, they were so devoted to this queen of heaven, among other fake gods and idols, but they couldn’t be bothered to listen to God’s commands. Which begs the question, what are we devoted to? Are we fully devoted to God and His ways, or have we given our heart to someone or something else instead? This wasn’t a new problem for the Israelites, and it is still a struggle for us today.
Most of us aren’t worshipping the queen of heaven, we’re far too “civilized” for false gods. Yet our time and energy are being poured out on something else, if it isn’t for God. May we be more mindful of who and what we spend our time and energy on, and remember our first love, just as God reminded the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2. We may even be doing a lot of “good things”, but if they aren’t God’s things, then they are empty and meaningless. When we fulfill God’s call on our lives, we find meaning and purpose, and so much more.