Well, we now know that the remnant of Jews that were not taken to Babylon was because they were more righteous than the others, because they also refused to listen to Jeremiah and went to Egypt against the advice of God. And not only that, they basically kidnapped Jeremiah and took him with them.

And once they got to Egypt, they continued to worship false gods, burning incense to the “queen” of Heaven and pouring drink out for her.

When God used to call them a “stiff-necked people”, that was an understatement. They watched evil king after evil king, they’ve drifted so far from God that Babylon has invaded more than once and not only carried the most of the Jews away captive, they’ve taken the treasure Egypt had in the temple.

And despite this, they still continue to sin.

Remember the good old days when they talked about the “God that had brought them out of slavery in Egypt”? They haven’t mentioned that in a long while, so I’m guess that is no longer a part of their culture. They’ve forgotten the stories of Moses, and Joshua, and the judges, and they’re pretty much ignorant of just how wonderful the God of Abraham is, how much He loves them, how much He cares and provides for them.

Remember Elijah testing the prophets of the Baals, and no matter how hard they tried, their gods could not take action and consume the sacrifices? You know the Jews of this time are praying and worshiping false gods, and seeing nothing in return for their religion. It is only because His Mercy endures forever that they, and we today, still have life.

I’m not much of a historian, but we know at some point in history, Israel was swallowed up by the Roman, then the Medes, and other countries, and only of the last few centuries have they became a state and regained their land once again, and they are still fighting over it to this day.

When we study the Bible, we should pay close attention to the actions of the Jews and how they treated God and what their life was like. We then should recognize that staying close to God and worshiping Him is the best thing we can do.

Amen.