“Where is Egypt? Pharaoh would have sent help by now?” would have been the words heard in Jerusalem, in the one and a half years that the city was under siege. But Egypt, as well as all of Jerusalem's other lovers, disappointed them—just as Jeremiah prophesied (Jeremiah 2:36–37; Jeremiah 37:7). Again, she calls to mind the famine and the hunger at the time of the siege (see also verse 11).
Jeremiah is not distancing himself from Jerusalem when he lets her say, “I called to my lovers…” Even though Jeremiah himself was not guilty of seeking help from Egypt and other peoples, he is still closely identifying with his people. He confesses guilt on their behalf. May we also feel our oneness with God’s church, wherever she is and whatever she does!
19 “I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength.