20-23 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: “As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 25 You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows!

26-28 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29-30 This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm: Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.” Jeremiah 44:20-30 English Standard Version.

When we have long historical parts of the Bible like the above it's helpful to see them in the way a man named Bengel suggested. He said “the historical matters of Scripture, both prophecy and narrative, are like the bones of the system. The spiritual matters are it's muscles, blood vessels and nerves”. His point was that we mustn't ignore these historical parts and only read the 'more spiritual' parts of the Bible. Bones to the body are as necessary as muscles, blood and nerves.

This part of Jeremiah is the ongoing story of what happened after Jerusalem was destroyed in 587BC. Those left behind sadly continued to worship false gods, including 'the queen of heaven' and defiantly looked for refuge in Egypt. What had the people firmly decided to do? (vs 25)

They were going to keep on looking for help from this 'queen of heaven'. So what did God say He would do? (vs 26-28)

He was going to remove His name from being used in Egypt. The Jews who had fled there were going to be destroyed by wars and famines that were going to ravage the land. Only a few would ever return back to Judea. And God says of them: “They shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.” (vs 28)

This is the crux of the matter. There was a conflict of wills taking place. They were pitting their wills against God. There could only be one winner! In vs 29-30 God gives them a 'sign' that His words would prove true. The very same Nebuchadnezzar who had conquered Jerusalem would soon come and conquer Egypt. We can never run far enough for God's will not to overtake us. Far better that we seek to follow God's revealed will with all our heart. That's why the Bible is important, the historical parts as well as the spiritual parts.