How did Jeremiah respond when the people said they lost everything after they stopped worshipping the queen of heaven?
Jeremiah answered that the incense and offerings they, their fathers, kings, and princes had burned were remembered by the Lord, and He could no longer bear their evil. He then pointed to Israel’s removal and rejection because of sin, not because they had stopped worshipping the queen of heaven.
Les explains that the people were claiming that since they stopped burning incense and pouring out drink offerings to the queen of heaven, they had wanted all things, even lacking food. Jeremiah challenged that reasoning. He reminded them that the incense burned in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by them, their fathers, kings, and princes had been remembered by the Lord and had come into His mind. Because of their evil, the Lord could no longer bear it. The result was judgment: the Lord was very angry with Israel, removed them out of His sight, rejected all the seed of Israel, afflicted them, delivered them into the hand of spoilers, and Israel was carried away to Assyria.
Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?