Chapter 44 presents the latest view, historically, of the Israelites in Egypt, which the book of Jeremiah gives. It shows that they were committed as fully to idolatry as ever the nation had been in their own land. Migdol and Noph (Memphis) were cities in Northern Egypt; Pathros was in upper (southern) Egypt.
In verses 2 to 10 we have God’s gracious reminder to the people of what had befallen their land, and why—spoken in view of their carrying on the worship of false gods in Egypt. Had they forgotten the wickedness of their fathers, and of the kings and their wives, their own and their wives’ wickedness, committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Because there was no humbling of themselves, nor fear of God, nor walking in His law or statutes, Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, was now setting His face against them for evil, and to cut off all Judah (verses 11-14). The solemn words of Prov. 1:24-3124Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: 30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. (Proverbs 1:24‑31) may be noted as expressive of the judgment here pronounced on the rebellious children of Israel. None was to return to the land of Judah (whither they had a desire to return to dwell) but such as should escape the sword, the famine and the pestilence—a very small company (verse 28).
This fresh communication from God, spoken through Jeremiah, brought no repentance on the part of the Jews in Egypt (verses 15-19). God was wholly given up, and the “queen of the heavens”—commonly thought to be the moon, worshipped as Astarte—was enthroned in their minds in His stead. The evils that had befallen them they attributed to God, their good to the “queen of the heavens”.
The Scriptures do not record the execution of the judgment pronounced on Egypt, but it is a matter of profane history that four years after the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar invaded that land, put the king to death and raged the country. This would apparently be the time of which Jer. 52:3030In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. (Jeremiah 52:30) tells—the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule.