What spiritual privileges did Israel have when they fell into idolatry in Jeremiah 44?
Israel was God’s covenant people and enjoyed unique spiritual privileges: the Temple stood in their midst, they had the priesthood, and they possessed a good part of the Old Testament. Yet in Jeremiah 44 they burned incense to other gods, and the men knew their wives did so.
Les explains that Israel, as God's covenant people, had the Temple right in their midst, had the priesthood, and had a good part of the Old Testament. Despite these privileges, Jeremiah 44:15 describes the men knowing their wives had burned incense to other gods. The women, the wives, were burning the incense, and a great multitude of the people dwelling in Egypt and Pathos answered Jeremiah, saying they would not hearken to the word he spoke in the name of the Lord. Their attitude was that they would not listen to what he had to say.
Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,