“Curse God and die!” These are the very encouraging words of Job’s wife upon hearing that all of her children were dead and her husband was afflicted with terrible boils. I cannot be too harsh on her since I am not in her shoes. Perhaps this was just too much for her. This was a natural reaction to disaster, but one which we must not fall into. It’s tempting to blame God rather than to trust Him. We are not told exactly whether or not she had a vital relationship with God, but we do know that later after their trials were over, God gave her seven more sons and three daughters. Perhaps she eventually repented and remembered Who her Savior was.
The Bible tells us the story of some women who never repented and what happened to them for trusting idols instead.
Times were very bad during the sixth century BC. God had been warning His children that they were far from Him. He sent prophets, including Jeremiah, to admonish them. Things went from bad to worse as the Israelites refused to repent and turn back to God. They continued to burn incense to other gods. The women especially came under condemnation for sacrificing to a goddess called the “queen of heaven” (Jeremiah 44:25). They made vows to this idol and were just sure that they would find protection in this false deity.
God had promised that His wrath would fall on them for this. He said that Jerusalem would be attacked and desolated. The only way that they could save themselves would be to turn to Him and trust Him. Under no circumstances should they try to find salvation in Egypt. God warned that those living in Egypt would die by the sword, by famine, or by pestilence. There was no hope for escape. Jeremiah warned them that the only hope for salvation lay in Yahweh. They responded with, “We are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune.” The women added, “When we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” (Jeremiah 44: 16-19). The only problem here is that the queen of heaven did not give them these things; God did.
This situation reminds me so much of our day. People are sure forgetful. Why do they think this is the richest country in the world? They have forgotten that this land began as a Christian nation, and our laws are based on Biblical principles. The Israelites had food because God had blessed them in spite of themselves. We are currently living off of the capital that was earned by our ancestors who worked hard and honored God. We are still receiving blessings in spite of ourselves.
A little thought will show that things are falling apart in our country today because we don’t honor God first any more. He is under no obligation to bless us when we constantly throw our idolatries in His face. Many women in our culture are no different than the Jewish women who worshiped the so-called queen of heaven. We just have different names for our idols. Rather than listen to what the Scriptures tell us about modesty, kindness, and genuine love, we have decided that “sexy”, “me-first”, and “what can I get out of it?” are the order of the day. We worship at the temple of our bodies, whether it is in the area of health, feelings, or dress. Billions of dollars are spent every year on cosmetics, counselors, and fads, while giving to charitable causes is at an all time low. We show every day what our real priorities are and what we really worship.
What can we learn from this? First, we are not the only women in history who have faced
struggles. At the time of Jeremiah’s prophecies, the Babylonians had already begun to overrun the land. Many people had been taken into captivity. What was the response? “We are not going to listen to you!” We know what happened. God allowed the Babylonians to complete the job of destroying and burning down Jerusalem. Those who did not submit to their captors were killed by the sword, by famine, or by pestilence as God promised.
But it did not have to happen. They had the option of repenting, and so do we. We know the end of the story. Many unrepentant Israelites went to Egypt anyway. God allowed only a few straggling refugees to return to Judah from Egypt. He did this so that everyone would know whose word would stand – the disobedient Israelites’, or His. If we haven’t learned anything else, we must remember Who our Savior is. We still have time to stop following false gods and goddesses and turn to God. We can get down on our knees and ask for forgiveness, start praying more, and getting into the Word. Our nation was once a people of the Book. That is when there was true happiness, and real wealth. The further we stray from God and His Word, the more calamities will befall us.
Secondly, we can learn from studying history. For those women who are honoring God in their lives, there is hope. We are all affected by the disastrous economy and moral degradation around us. We cannot escape it all. But, God has always had a remnant of faithful followers who received His protection and special blessings. In Jeremiah’s day, there were the people who heeded Jeremiah’s prophecy and stayed as far away from the idolatrous worship as possible. They also listened and obeyed and did not try to go to Egypt. They remained in the land, because their hope and trust was in Yahweh, who had taken care of them and their forefathers. Eventually the military leaders of the Babylonians would leave them there to care for the land. They studied their history and knew that any good thing that they had came from God.
The faithful children of God learned much of their Scriptures through singing the Psalms. Surely the ones that God protected, who remained in the land must have known:
“The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.” (Including the worshipers of the queen of heaven.)
“The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” (Will we make God our Lord again?)
“The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delivered by great strength.” (We cannot hope that a corrupt government will save us.)
“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.” (God will protect His remnant.)
As God blessed and protected the faithful, believing Israelite women, I pray that we also will say, “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in You.” (Psalm 33: 10 – 12, 16, 18 – 22).
