"Lord, why are You doing this to me?" This is an often-asked question by people who are dealing with difficulties and problems. I wonder if sometimes God might ask right back, "Why are you doing great harm to yourselves?" (Jeremiah 44:7). God blamed these Israelites for their present predicament - estranged in the land of Egypt, worshiping idols, destined to die alongside many Egyptians when Babylon came through. So many times, people are their own worse enemy.
These Israelite men had wives offering sacrifices to the "queen of heaven" (Jeremiah 44:17). Some believe this was moon worship. It could have been the feminine name for the sun, or could have been simply a worship of heavenly bodies in general. The point is, though, they were worshiping the creation, not the Creator! They reflected back to a time in Judah when they worshiped idols and things seemed to go well for them. Why can't they understand they are in this mess now BECAUSE of their idolatry? Jeremiah 44:22 says "the LORD was no longer able to endure" the idolatry of His people.
From now on, God forbade these Israelites to use His name, such as "As the Lord GOD lives" (44:26). God fully intended to bring them harm and not good (44:27). Why do people test God past the limits? Why do we push until God breaks us? We shouldn't. In fact, we better not - we can see the end of that road.
Nathan