Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

A TRAGIC ENDING
The Godhead stopped the virtual time run in silence and grief as the southern kingdom of Judah had come to a humiliating and wretched end.

• Jerusalem was burning, there were heaps of dead bodies on the streets, and the temple had been looted.

• Riblah featured the slain corpses of the Jewish leadership lying in the temporary courtyard of King Nebuchadnezzar.

• Governor Gedaliah had been murdered with his staff, along with the Babylonian garrison in Mizpah.

• Ishmael brutally murdered even more Jewish stragglers coming to Mizpah.

• Johanan and a few thousand Jews outside the city of Chimham in southern Judah were now holding Jeremiah against his will.

The Godhead looked in dismay at each other and wondered why the remnant was ignorant of the fact that God did not want any Jews back in Egypt. Johanan and his group were supposed to be in Babylon or in the countryside of the new Babylonian province that Gedaliah had been appointed governor.

The Godhead decided to use Jeremiah to bring the remnant to their senses. Would they listen to the prophet or use their free will to rebel?

SEEKING THE LORD
Johanan, his leaders and the people were a mixed group. Most of them were Kabbalists and worshiped the queen of heaven. But they also realized that there was a real God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that they needed to discover if Egypt was a viable destination. Knowing that Jeremiah was a prophet of the living God, they gathered around him and wanted to know what God wanted for them. Notice that they emphasized the Lord was Jeremiah’s God; He was not their God. Jeremiah 42:1-3

A HUMAN TRAGEDY
Jeremiah must have looked with pity upon this ragtag group of men, women and children who had experienced the brutal onslaught of the Babylonian army, the murder of Gedaliah, and the horror that Ishmael had brought to them. Jeremiah stated that he would not hold anything back and would reveal whatever God told him. verse 4

Johanan and the people humbly told Jeremiah that they would accept the news – good or bad. They also changed their stance and recognized Jeremiah’s God as their God. verses 5-6

Ten days later God finally spoke to Jeremiah and the prophet called the people together to deliver the message. verses 7-8

THE CHOICE
God told the remnant to remain in Judea and He would bless, prosper, and protect them from Nebuchadnezzar. verses 9-12

But they would perish by the sword if they rebelled and went to Egypt. verses 13-22

REJECTION OF GOD
The sweet words previously spoken to Jeremiah were replaced with harsh words that accused the prophet and his scribe of lying. Jeremiah 43:1-3

Johanan and the army captains ordered the people to begin walking toward Egypt. Jeremiah and Baruch were forced to go with them. The remnant arrived to the city of Tahpanhes located on the eastern border of Goshen where their ancestors had stayed, but this was not the place for Johanan and his group some 870 years later. verses 4-7

God responded with a blistering prophecy to Johanan and his group that their deaths would be terrible. There would be no mercy after their rebellion. verses 8-13

There were other Jews who had moved to Egypt earlier and settled in Migdol on the southwest tip of the gulf of Aqaba and Noph, known today as Cairo. God told Jeremiah that the majority of the Jews in Egypt would be killed and only a remnant would return to Judea. Jeremiah 44:1-14

A TRUE CONFESSION
There must have been a huge gathering of Jews, not only Johanan and his group, but other groups that had fled earlier to Egypt. They now revealed themselves to be Kabbalists who worshiped the queen of heaven. verses 15-19

God responded with a prophetic word which foretold Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt. verses 19-30

Jeremiah received a second prophecy telling how Egypt would be destroyed. Jeremiah 46:1-26

Twenty-one years after the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt in 568 B.C. and laid waste to its cities. The prophecies of Jeremiah were fulfilled and Johanan and his group perished with most of the Jews in Egypt.

This event was not recorded by Jeremiah because the Jewish leadership in Egypt had sentenced him to death by stoning before the Babylonians arrived. Baruch survived and returned to Judea; he is the one that preserved the scrolls that contained the life and prophecies of Jeremiah.

SUMMARY
God’s plan was to move the majority of the Jews to Babylon as a punishment for their sins. It was not in God’s will for Johanan and his group to use Egypt as a refuge and this is why most of the Jews that fled there were slain.

The northern kingdom of Israel was never redeemed. They were assimilated into the Assyrian Empire and the few that returned became known as Samaritans. During the time of Christ, there were about one million Samaritans living in Samaria between Galilee and Judah.

The Samaritans revolted in 495, 529, 556, and 572 A.D. during the Byzantine Empire. As a result, the Samaritan population was reduced to 30,000. Today there are approximately 1,000 Samaritans left in the world and they live in two communities in Israel.

Of the Jews taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, the majority opted to stay in Babylon and Persia where they had developed flourishing businesses. Only a remnant returned to Jerusalem as 42,360 men and women decided to return after 70 years. After the resurrection of Jesus and the formation of the Church, the apostle Peter decided to visit Babylon’s one million Jews.

God had a great plan for the twelve tribes of Israel, but Lucifer hijacked it and turned it into a tragedy. Satan was able to deceive the majority of the Israelites into following him in much the same way that he was able to dupe and mislead one third of the angels.