What happensPermalink
Azariah, Johanan, and the other leaders accuse Jeremiah of lying and claim Baruch has manipulated him to hand them over to Babylon. Rejecting God’s command, they take the entire remnant, including Jeremiah and Baruch, to Tahpanhes in Egypt. There God tells Jeremiah to bury stones in the pavement at Pharaoh’s palace. Nebuchadnezzar, God’s servant, will set his throne above them, strike Egypt with pestilence, captivity, and sword, burn its temples, and shatter Heliopolis’s obelisks.
Why it mattersPermalink
The remnant’s rejection of Jeremiah repeats the refusal to listen that brought Judah to ruin. Taking refuge in Egypt places them within another threatened land. The sign at Pharaoh’s palace announces that Babylon will reach the place they chose for safety, while the threatened destruction of temples and obelisks confronts Egypt’s gods.
Key versePermalink
And say to them, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them.’”