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Jeremiah 44

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1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

2 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold they are, this day, a waste, and no man dwelleth therein,

3 because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense to serve other gods which they knew not, they, [nor] ye, nor your fathers.

4 And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing which I hate!

5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.

6 And my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are become a waste, a desolation, as at this day.

7 And now thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Wherefore commit ye great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you no remnant;

8 provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are come to sojourn, that ye should be cut off, and that ye should be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 They are not humbled unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes which I set before you and before your fathers.

11 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to enter into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed: in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword [and] by the famine, from the least even unto the greatest; they shall die by the sword and by the famine, and they shall be an execration, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

13 And I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;

14 and none of the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, so as to return into the land of Judah, whither they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but such as shall escape.

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assemblage, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

16 [As for] the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee,

17 but we will certainly do every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and we had plenty of bread, and were well, and saw no evil.

18 But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the heavens, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted everything, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

19 And when we burned incense to the queen of the heavens and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make for her cakes to portray her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?

20 And Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people that had given him that answer, saying,

21 Is it not the incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings and your princes and the people of the land, that Jehovah remembered, and that came into his mind?

22 And Jehovah could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations that ye had committed; and your land is become a waste, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as at this day.

23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not hearkened unto the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil hath come upon you, as at this day.

24 And Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt.

25 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, We will certainly perform our vows which we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her. Ye will certainly establish your vows, and entirely perform your vows.

26 Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith Jehovah, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, [As] the Lord Jehovah liveth.

27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.

28 And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, a very small company; and all the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs.

29 And this shall be the sign unto you, saith Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall certainly stand against you for evil:

30 thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 527

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527. "And those who fear Your name, small and great." This symbolizes people who love things having to do with the Lord, in a lesser or greater degree.

To fear the Lord's name means, symbolically, to love things having to do with the Lord. To fear means, symbolically, to love, and the Lord's name symbolizes everything by which He is worshiped (no. 81). People small and great symbolize people who fear the Lord in a lesser or greater degree.

To fear here means, symbolically, to love because everyone who loves another is afraid of injuring the one he loves. There is no genuine love without that fear. Accordingly, someone who loves the Lord is afraid of doing evil, because evils go counter to the Lord, as they go counter to His Divine laws in the Word - the Word that originates from the Lord and thus embodies Him. Indeed, they go counter to His Divine essence, which is to will the salvation of all. For He is a savior. But He cannot save a person unless the person lives in accordance with the Lord's laws and commandments. What is more, someone who loves evils also desires to injure the Lord, indeed to crucify Him. This desire is inmostly present in every evil, even in people who in the world acknowledge Him with the lips. The reality of this is something unknown to people, but well known to angels.

[2] That to fear God means, symbolically, to love things having to do with God, by doing them and refusing to do things which go counter to Him, is apparent from the following passages:

...what does Jehovah your God require of you, but to fear Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him... (Deuteronomy 10:12)

You shall walk after Jehovah your God and fear Him, that you may keep His commandments... (Deuteronomy 13:4)

You shall fear Jehovah your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast... (Deuteronomy 10:20. Cf. 6:2, 6:13-14, 6:24; 8:6; 17:19; 28:58; 31:12)

Who will grant them to have a heart to fear Me and keep... My commandments... (Deuteronomy 5:29)

Teach me Your way, O Jehovah...; unite my heart to a fear of Your name. (Psalms 86:11)

Blessed is he who fears Jehovah, who walks in His ways. (Psalms 128:1, cf. 112:1, Jeremiah 44:10)

If I am a Father, where is My honor? If I am Lord, where is the fear of Me? (Malachi 1:6, cf. 2:5, Isaiah 11:2-3)

I will give them one heart, and one way, to fear Me... and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so that they do not turn away from Me. (Jeremiah 32:39-40)

The beginning of wisdom is fear of Jehovah... (Psalms 111:10)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 8:13; 25:3; 29:13; 50:10; Jeremiah 33:9; Psalms 22:23; 33:8, 18; 34:7, 9; 55:19; 115:11, 13; 147:11; Revelation 14:7; Luke 1:50.

A fear of God in evil people, on the other hand, is not love, but a fear of hell.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.