“In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 44:8 Mean?
"In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?" God asks the refugees in Egypt: you provoke Me with your HANDS (idol-making), burning incense to OTHER GODS, in EGYPT (the place you fled to against My instruction). And the result: you're cutting YOURSELVES off and making yourselves a curse among all nations. The self-destruction is complete.
The phrase "works of your hands" (ma'aseh yedeykhem — the making of your hands) identifies the provocation as MANUFACTURED: the idols that provoke God are hand-made. The worship that angers God is directed at things human hands produced. The provocation is self-created. You made the thing that offends God.
The "that ye might cut yourselves off" (lema'an hakhrith lakhem — so that you cut yourselves off) makes the self-destruction PURPOSEFUL: the 'so that' suggests the cutting off is the RESULT of their own actions — as if the idol worship was DESIGNED to produce their own elimination. They are, through their own choices, engineering their own extinction.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What are your hands building that might be provoking God?
- 2.How does worshiping other gods IN EGYPT (the land of historical slavery) represent spiritual regression?
- 3.What does cutting YOURSELVES off teach about self-destruction being the consequence of sin, not external punishment?
- 4.What 'incense to other gods' are you burning in the very place God told you not to go?
Devotional
You provoke Me with things YOUR HANDS made. You burn incense to other gods in the very Egypt I told you not to enter. And the result: you're cutting YOURSELVES off. You're making yourselves a curse. The self-destruction is so complete it looks deliberate.
The 'works of your hands' means the provocation is MANUFACTURED: the idols weren't discovered. They were MADE. The objects of worship were PRODUCED by the same hands that should have been serving God. The provocation is handcrafted. The thing that angers God most is the thing you built with your own fingers and then bowed to.
The 'burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt' layers the offense: they're not just worshiping idols. They're doing it IN EGYPT — the land God said not to go to, the land He rescued their ancestors FROM. The worship of other gods in the land of their historical slavery is the ultimate regression. They've returned to Egypt AND returned to Egypt's gods. The spiritual regression mirrors the geographic regression.
The 'cut yourselves off' and 'be a curse and reproach' is the self-inflicted outcome: God doesn't say 'I will cut you off.' He says 'YOU cut yourselves off.' The destruction is auto-generated. The curse is self-produced. The reproach among the nations is self-created. Every step — fleeing to Egypt, making idols, burning incense — was the people's OWN choice. The cutting off is their own engineering.
What are you building with your own hands that provokes God — and is it cutting you off?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands,.... Their sinful actions, particularly their idolatry, by…
Cut yourselves off - Rather, cut (them, Jer 44:7) off from you.
The Jews in Egypt were now dispersed into various parts of the country, into Migdol, and Noph, and other places, and…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture