Jeremiah 51:47-53 – Focus on the Lord, not on our plight.

In Jeremiah 51:47-49, we see the declaration of the certainty of Babylon’s destruction. Her days were numbered, and the day of reckoning had been marked. Nowhere in Babylon would be spared that judgment. The whole land would be humiliated and brought to shame.  Again God made known that He would be bringing the people from the north to deal with her. As a result, all over her land would lay those who were slain. Then there would be great rejoicing both in heaven and on earth as Babylon fell.  

Having declared the fall of Babylon, Jeremiah 51:50-52 then went on to instruct the captives on what they should do.  Those who had escaped the sword in Jerusalem and were brought to Babylon were urged to remember the Lord in their exile. They must not forget how the sanctuary of the Lord in Jerusalem was desecrated and the shame and disgrace it had brought them.  

 

However, all their plight did not escape the attention of God, who would vindicate Himself. Babylon’s idols and graven images would be punished. None of Babylon’s “supposed” solid defenses would be strong enough to fortify her. Their fortification, no matter how high or lofty would not be able to keep God’s instrument of destruction from reaching her.  There was no way that they could keep God’s appointed destroyers from destroying the land.      

 

Like the people of God then, we should never forget God matter how tough our plight may be.  While we attempt to deal with whatever is happening to us, we must never forget God but rather keep our focus on God. Isaiah 40:28-30 challenges us to wait on God and keep our hope in Him.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Jeremiah 51:41-46 – Stay strong in the Lord

Jeremiah in 51:41-46 continues to describe Babylon’s downfall at God’s design. With the calamity happening to her, the people held captives by then were told to make their exodus.

The invasion of Babylon was clearly spelled out in verses 41-44. Referring to Babylon as Sheshak, God said it would be invaded by a massive army. The attackers would swarm her like mighty tumultuous waves, overflooding and ravaging the land and making it a land of horror. What would remain of Babylon after the attack would be an unpalatable and uninhabitable wasteland. Bel their chief God, which they believed had helped them, would be defeated. How could a false god stand against Yahweh, Judah’s Covenant Lord?  Hence Babylon who had consumed the nations would be made to forcefully vomit out her captives.  

 

Meanwhile, in verses 45-46, God instructed His people what to do when Babylon was experiencing the attack.   They were told to flee and each to save themselves from the fierce anger of the Lord. Here God was giving them advance notice so that they would not be faint-hearted. They were told not to be shaken by rumors that would be heard one year after another. The last two lines of verse 46 speak of changes in rulership. There would be much unrest, strife, rivalry, and violence as leaders sought to claim the throne.   

 

In the world, there will always be trouble and tribulation. The world is inundated with bad news because bad news sells. But our confidence should be in the Lord. When our roots are deeply planted in Him,  we need not be unduly petrified by what is happening in the world. All we need to do is to stay steadfastly connected to Christ and strengthen our faith and trust in Him. It is said that with Christ in our vessel, we can smile at the storm, nothing should ruffle us. He has got it all in His hand! 

Jeremiah 51 – God answers desperate and sincere prayer

Judah was captured by Babylon and was treated terribly. So in Jeremiah 51:34-35,  portrayed as a nation collectively, Judah complained about how badly they were treated before lifting a desperate cry to their Covenant Lord.  And the Lord whose lovingkindness never waned responded in verses 36-40.  Having heard their imprecatory prayer God assured them that He was going to “plead their case.” What God was going to do to Babylon is also described in these verses.  

Nebuchadnezzar representing Babylon was specifically named for how they had treated the nation of Judah. Like a monster, Babylon had swallowed up God's people, crushed and devoured them like delicacies. What they did to Judah left the nation empty. In verse 35, the captives, the people of God lifted a call to God to avenge them for their suffering. This was not just wishful thinking, but a sincere and desperate imprecatory prayer to God. As if standing before the Sovereign Judge, they pled with God saying, “May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon …And may my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea….”

In verse 36 God responded favourably.  He assured His people that He had heard their plea and would take up their complaints and exact vengeance on their behalf.  How would He do it? God was going to dry up Babylon's waters. Their water sources would be emptied. The Euphrates and its tributaries would be dried up. Babylon would be devastated and become a heat of rubble and make an uninhabitable wasteland. It would be Jackals’ haunt.  Verses 38-40 describe how Babylon like lions in their dens would enjoy their spoils.  And God would serve them with another kind of banquet till they become drunk to a point where their sleep would be perpetual. This was by way of saying that they would all be dead and never get up forever.  Babylon, which was once a devouring lion would be made a lamb for the slaughter.  

One lesson stands out in these verses. God hears the desperate cries of His people. He will come to their rescue and act on their behalf.  This presupposes that as His people, we must recognize His capability and His willingness to help His own. What’s also important is to realize how prone we are to stray in life and that we can never make it without His help. There must be a return to our faithful God no matter how far we have strayed from Him. We don’t need to be like God’s people of old who needed a crisis to wake them up.  Let us learn to be consistent in our walk with Him. Keep in mind what Jesus has said and come boldly to beseech our heavenly Father:-

“Ask, and it will be given to you; ^]seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!  (Matthew 7:7-11).

Jeremiah 51:27-33 – Change before it’s too late.

Babylon would be subject to judgment and here God was summoning the instrument He would use for the task. We see in Jeremiah 51:27-28 God sounding the rallying call. Since ancient wars would begin with sacred rites, the nations that would be used to deal with Babylon were called to commence their rites. The coalition forces that would destroy Babylon comprised the Medes and Persians. Particularly mentioned in verse 27 were Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. These three kingdoms situated in today's Armenia were all nations under the Medes. They were rallied to spearhead the task of devastating Babylon.

 

Meanwhile verses 29-30 describe Babylon trembling and quaking as if she was experiencing an earthquake. This attack by the Allied forces was the design of the Lord. It was His purpose to bring about the downfall of Babylon and make her a desolate wasteland. The fighting spirit of Babylon just melted. They no longer had the resolve to resist the attack. Verse 30 describes the situation this way:  

^“The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
Their strength is exhausted,
They are becoming like women;
Their dwelling places are set on fire,
The bars of her gates are broken.”     

 

Describing Babylon’s courier system, verse 31 pictures messengers passing messages from one to another to bring the news of the total capture of Babylon to the king. Every part of the waterways of the Euphrates was seized, and all her marshes were burnt, and the fighting men were said to be discouraged and petrified. Babylon was soon to be like a threshing floor being prepared for the trampling of the harvested grains. Using these agricultural images, God was telling Babylon that the impending judgment on her was looming soon.  

 

God had in His schedule a time for reckoning. God would call us to account. With wisdom, let us keep short accounts with Him. Be careful how we walk, and take time to align with God’s purpose. Make changes incrementally for the glory of God.  Don’t wait till reckoning time.

Jeremiah 51:20-26 – Our role is a divine/human collaboration

As established in our previous discussion, no nation was outside the sovereign control of God. He had the right to choose whichever nation He wanted to fulfill His plan for His people and the world. David in Psalm 24:1 declared that “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” And God had chosen to use Babylon as His instrument of judgment on His people to fulfill His purpose of straightening them up.

However, the Babylonians must realize that were merely God’s instrument and they were also liable for their atrocities. She was accountable to God.  He was going to use another power to deal with her. Rhetorically addressing the upcoming dominant power, the combined forces of the Medes and the Persians, Jeremiah 51:21-23 show how they would go about the assignment. And no one would be able to stand against this battle axe of God. Notice how thoroughly they would go about their task. This is how God declared to them in verses 21-23: 

“You are My war-club, My weapon of war;
And with you, I shatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
“With you, I shatter the horse and his rider,
And with you, I shatter the chariot and its rider,
And with you, I shatter man and woman,
And with you, I shatter old man and youth,
And with you,  I shatter young man and virgin,
And with you,  I shatter the shepherd and his flock,

And with you, I shatter the farmer and his team,
And with you, I shatter governors and prefects.”

 

The reason the Babylonians would be punished was stated in verse 24.  They would be dealt with for all the evil that they had done in Zion in the full view of the Lord. In verses 25-26 God declared that though Babylon was strong and powerful and appeared indomitable, He was going to repay them for their evil and atrocities.  God was going to devastate her and make her land a desolate wasteland. 

 

Being God’s instrument can be exhilarating. But we must never overstep our bounds. It is one thing to be granted the privilege but another to carry out His assignment with sensitivity with humility.  The focus of any God-given task we are given the privilege to do must not be on us, His instrument. It must always be for the purpose and the glory of God. Remember that even in discharging our God-given task, we still need His enabling. We can never do it without Him. Every assignment we are granted to do must be a divine-human collaboration. Without Him we cannot, and without us, God will not.    

Jeremiah 51:12-19 – Everything will happen as God had planned

Interestingly, the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel had all prophesied about Babylon. Jeremiah’s messages concerning Babylon’s fall, detailed in chapters 51-52, were delivered at the peak of her power when it seemed most unlikely for her to fall. But God who sovereignly controls history used Babylon to fulfil His purpose. She was part of God’s larger design to shape the direction and outcome of Israel and Judah, His covenant people. Having used her to fulfill His purpose, it was time for God to deal with Babylon. Here in Jeremiah 51:11-23, the prophet declared the attack of Babylon by the kings of the Medes. But it was the combined forces of the Medes and the Persians under King Cyrus that Babylon was toppled.

In no uncertain terms, Jeremiah 51:11-12 made it clear that it was the Lord's purpose to bring about Babylon’s fall. The time had come for Him to seek vengeance against Babylon for what they had done to His temple. He would arouse and stir up the spirits of the kings of the Medes to carry out His purpose. God was going to use them to launch the siege on Babylon with the purpose of destroying her.     

Addressing the Babylonians in Jeremiah 51:13, God guaranteed her destruction. Nothing, neither the waters surrounding Babylon nor the treasures they had amassed could guarantee her safety. Their end was drawing near. God continued to make known His intention in verse 14. He swore that an army like a swarm of locusts would engulf Babylon as they attacked her.   Verses 15-16 tell us that no one would be able to resist the Creator God, whose power created the earth, whose wisdom established it, and whose understanding stretched out the heavens.  He has always been the one who controlled the forces of nature – the wind, the clouds, the lightning, and the rain. God declared the stupidity of man to put their trust in their man-made gods and worthless idols.  This is how God put it in verses 17-18. He said:

All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his molten images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
They are worthless, a work of mockery;
In the time of their punishment, they will perish.

In contrast to the idols, the Creator God is the portion of His covenant people. Verse 19 made clear that He was the one who had chosen them and made the descendants of Jacob His own. 

Three takeaways: Firstly, God is sovereign. He is the creator God, and everything happens according to His purpose. He has full control over everything. People and nations are at His disposal to accomplish His purpose. Secondly, everything happens according to His schedule. Events that happen, especially those that His people will experience take place according to His timetable. Thirdly, it is futile to trust in our own supposed cleverness.  All our “idols” such as our wealth, career, car, position, etc.,  should never be what we rely on. Our trust should be in the Sovereign Lord alone.     

 

 

 

Jeremiah 51:6-10 – After God’s discipline comes vindication

Jeremiah 51:6-10 contains the exhortation to God’s people held the captives by Babylon. They were urged to flee and save themselves from the hands of Babylon’s enemies who would be attacking her. For the moment for her reckoning had come.  It was the time of the Lord’s vengeance, and He was going to punish her. For a while, Babylon was the golden cup in God’s hand and had been His vessel to deliver His judgment. Many nations had suffered at her hand but now the tide had turned, Babylon herself would be suffering God’s wrath.   

Like a drunken man, Babylon would fall, and could not get up. Besides, she would be inflicted with wounds all over her.  No balm applied to her by her sympathizers could not bring the healing she needed. For no balm could soothe her wounds. The sympathizers were instead told to flee from her. This is by way of saying that Babylon was beyond redemption.

 

In verse 6, God’s people held captives by the Babylonians were told to return to Zion assured that the Lord had brought about their vindication. There in Zion, they must publicly declare what God had done to Babylon on their behalf.  Praise is always due to God for the things He has done.

 

We are reminded that those whom God loves He disciplines. Hebrews 12:10-11 tells us that God “…disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” God wants to bring the best out of us. And He does it through tough discipline. 

Jeremiah 51:1-5 – God will bless those who are truly His

In Jeremiah 51 God’s message of Babylon’s destruction continues. Like in the previous one, this chapter is also interspersed with short messages to assure the people of God from Israel and Judah of His care.

In verses 1-5, God speaks of the doom of Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-Kamai. In other words, He was going to deal with the Babylonians. In verse 2, God said He would use their enemies to “winnow” them. Winnowing is a farming term. After harvesting, a farmer would thresh the harvest. Then he would toss the threshed harvest into the air to allow the wind to separate the chaff from the grain before gathering the grains together. The process of this “divine” winnowing on Babylon was to separate His people from the Babylonians. God was going to blow the Babylonians away to preserve the people of Israel and Judah for Himself.

 

Verses 3-5 describe the devastation of Babylon. God called upon their enemies not to relent in their attacks. They must go about their deadly destruction of Babylon. What would be left of the attack would be the corpses of Babylonians lying all over. God reveals two reasons for the destruction of Babylon in verse 5. Firstly, it was to prove that He had never forsaken Israel or Judah. Secondly, it was to reveal that Babylon was guilty before the Holy One of Israel.   

 

God puts a protective hedge over His people. He has acquired us for Himself and He promises to take care of us. Generally, God’s favor is upon all mankind. Matthew 5:45 says that God “…causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” However, for us who have a relationship with Him through Christ, we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness. We find His unique favor as we become partakers of divine nature. Psalm 147:11 tells us that “The Lord favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His lovingkindness.” 

Jeremiah 50:41-46 – It is a fearful thing to fall into God’s hand

In Jeremiah 50:41-46 we see a picture of the attack on Babylon. A people coming from the north of Babylon would come and crush it. Like a sea, they would mercilessly surge forward, attacking the daughters of Babylon meaning the citizens and inhabitants of Babylon. Verse 43 said that Babylon’s king was petrified and turned ashen when news of the attack reached him. Distress would gripe him, and his heart would melt with fear making him feel like a woman travailing in the pain of childbirth.

Whoever God had appointed would come against Babylon to destroy it.  Like a lion, this oppressor would attack Babylon’s capital. And no leader would be able to withstand whom God had appointed. Like a fearful flock, Babylon would have no capability to respond. The whole earth would then tremble when they heard of the desolation of Babylon.

In this passage, God made clear that judgment was coming upon the wicked, even those He had chosen as His instrument to deal with His people. Just because we are God’s instrument does not mean that we can do as we like. We must walk in tandem with Him. For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God. Who can withstand His wrath? It behoves us therefore to deal with the lingering effect and sin, flee it, and trust God instead and come under His protective hedge in Christ. 

Jeremiah 50:33-40 – God our defender

 In Jeremiah 50:33-34, God made known that He was aware of the plight of His people. Both Israel and Judah were oppressed.  They were held captives by their oppressors and were refused any freedom.  However, they should not be intimidated, for they had a Redeemer in God, the Lord of Hosts Himself. With the Lord of Hosts on their side, Israel and Judah should fear no one. Besides they would not be held captives for any longer than God had ordained. For God Himself would act vigorously on their behalf with the aim of bringing rest to the earth.  

Unlike God’s people, their captors the Babylonians had everything to fear. God declared what would happen to them in Jeremiah 50:35-40. Calamities would overtake them from every conceivable angle and nothing or anyone could prevent them from happening.  The sword would come upon practically every person and everything. Their leaders and wise men would fall. Their priests and religious leaders and diviners would be left looking like fools. Even their military machinery would be dismantled. Their warriors and chariots would be destroyed. The mercenary soldiers they had would become weak as women. Then their treasuries would be plundered.  Their land would be destroyed by drought which would cause the land to dry up,  leaving it in an uninhabitable condition for men for generations. It would be a habitat suitable only for beasts such as hyenas and ostriches. Babylon would become like uninhabitable Sodom and Gomorrah after their destruction, where no men could dwell.   

 

Here’s a thought for our application. The greatest threat in our lives is often not people who are outside of us but we, ourselves. We have nothing to fear when we are closely connected to God. When He is our protector, He will surely come to our rescue. Proverbs 18:10 assures us that: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.” Make the poresence of God our dwelling place and we shall have a strong defense!

 

Jeremiah 50:28-32 -Don’t let destroyed by arrogance

Babylon’s destruction was made known by the refugees returning to Zion. These refugees were captives taken from Jerusalem. And they obviously knew about the destruction of the temple, the place where God had established His name.  Hence, the destruction of Babylon was the vengeance of the Lord, for the destruction of His temple. This parenthetical statement in Jeremiah 50:28 shows the refugees returning to Zion to declare the Lord’s vengeance on Babylon.   

Resuming His call to bring judgment on Babylon, God in verses 29-30 then urged the attackers to increase their assault. Archers were summoned and commanded to surround Babylon to ensure that none would escape. They were urged to repay Babylon and to do to her people according to the cruel acts they had done to others. The judgment of God was due them for they had arrogantly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.  

 

In Jeremiah 50:31-32 God highlighted their arrogance and that would be the reason why they would be dealt with severely. God detests pride and arrogance. He will resist the proud but will give grace to the humble. And He had made this known many times in the Bible. No one can stand against God when He deals with their pride and arrogance. Hear what God said would happen to the arrogant Babylon. He said:   

“Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
Declares the Lord God of hosts,
“For your day has come,
The time when I will punish you.
“The arrogant one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will set fire to his cities
And it will devour all his environs.”

 

Babylon was arrogant and that had made her haughty. If we are not careful, we too can be infected by the disease of arrogance and what it can also do to us. Arrogance makes a person overestimates himself or herself and places undue importance on oneself. It gives a person the false impression that he or she is superior to anyone, and even God. And it can drive us to dominate others and look down on them. We need to know what God thinks about arrogance. He said, “Pride goes before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction. Arrogance is one thing that’s more dangerous than ignorance. 

 

 

Jeremiah 50:21-27 – God is the source of our achievements.

The subject of Jeremiah 50:21-27 is still God’s judgment of Babylon. Referring to Babylonians as Merathaim and Pekod, the Lord urged the continual attack on them to bring about Babylon’s downfall. Here, we see a play of words with the names of the two referred to. Merithaim sounded like “double ruin” and Pekod sounded like “punishment.” They were used to imply the outcome of Babylon. Her attackers were being urged to assault her and to “slay and utterly destroy it.” Verse 21 then explicitly said that what they were told to do were clearly the instruction of the Lord. The noise of the destruction and wrecking of Babylon affirmed what was taking place in Babylon.  

In a taunting tone, the Lord then laments the plight of Babylon. Ironically, Babylon which was once so mighty and powerful smashing others, was now herself being shattered. She was now at the receiving end of the strike. How the table had turned.  Once the dominant power of earth, Babylon, the hammer had been cut off and broken and had become the object of horror. Verse 25 makes affirms that the catastrophe of Babylon was the making of the Lord.  Here we are told that she had come against the Lord. But weren’t they God’s instrument in dealing with His people? How could they be said to be coming against the Lord when she was the instrument God had chosen to use? 

The answer probably lies in the fact that they had attributed their success to their god Marduk and claimed that it was this idol that had brought them success. This would certainly be an affront to God when they audaciously gave the credit of His work to an idol, a false idol.  In no uncertain terms, verse 25 asserted that the destruction of Babylon was the work of God. He had released all His divine arsenal against her to bring about her utter destruction.  Verses 25-27 then describe the effect of what God had brought upon Babylon. Her enemies would invade her granaries and carry away her grains as their spoils of war. And her warriors would be like sacrificial animals doomed for slaughter.

 

Babylon had attributed their success to their idol. They took the credit of God and gave it to their worthless god. We must never take away the credit that is due to God and give it to others. Always render to God what s God’s. Let us honor God for all the successes we have achieved in life.  He is the source of all that we have and all that we can potentially become in life. Don’t take that away from Him. 

Jeremiah 50:17-20 - God will forgive and pardon

In earlier verses, we saw a stirring of the hearts of God’s covenant people. Jeremiah 50:4-5 described those, both from Israel and Judah, who had a change of heart toward God. They sought after God with tears of repentance, looking for His direction. Willingly, they were returning to God, their covenant Lord and to Zion.

Calling Israel a scattered flock, Jeremiah 50:17-20 reveal how the covenant people of God fell prey to their enemies. Though Israel became two Kingdoms - the Northern Kingdom comprising ten tribes retained the name Israel, and the Southern Kingdom comprising two tribes came to be known as  Judah, God still discussed their history as one, He saw them as one scattered flock.

Referring to Assyria and Babylon as the two lions that had devoured His people, Jeremiah 50:17-20 discussed the devastation of Israel. They were destroyed by Assyria, which in turn was crushed by Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. The people of God from both Israel and Judah came under the dominion of Babylon. But in verse 18, God assured His people that just as He had destroyed Assyria, He would now do the same to Babylon. God was going to bring them back to their homeland. Like sheep, they would be restored to their homeland to gaze on His pasture. God was going to forgive and pardon them of all the sins they had committed against Him. No longer would their sin be held against them.

 

At the core of it all, God only has a good plan for His people. Just as He dealt with the flaws of Israel His people, He will also deal with ours before He restores us to His perfect plan. What a privilege! We are sheep of His pasture. Here what Psalm 103:9-14 say about Him.

He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children,

In the light of what we know about Him, let us worship and serve only Him.   

Jeremiah 50:11-16 – What we sow is what we will reap

Gleefully and maliciously, Babylon plundered Judah. She was obnoxiously arrogant, self-confident, and cocksure as she threshed the people of God, His very own heritage. Where did they find the gall to treat the apple of God’s eye with such audacity?  So God in Jeremiah 50:11-16 detailed her outcome. He would humiliate Babylon in His anger. The city of Babylon referred to as her “mother” would be put to shame and become entirely desolate. Babylon, God warned would become “…the least of the nations, a wilderness, a parched land, and a desert” and will be uninhabited. Her deplorable condition would be a horrible scene and would cause those who looking at her plight to whisper disapprovingly about them.  The rooster had returned to roost.   

In verses 14-16, God addressed attackers and goaded them to unleash their assaults mercilessly on Babylon. They were urged to bend their bows and shoot their arrows unsparingly. Why? For they had sinned against the Lord. Nowhere in Babylon was to be let off. Archers were told to surround everywhere and attack it. Every place in Babylon was to be torn down, her pillars to be destroyed, and walls to be broken. What they had done to others would be done to them.  This would enable the captives they had captured from other nations to flee and return to their own homeland.

 

Jesus taught in Matthew 7:12 saying, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you….” Another way of putting this would be: “Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you.” Never forget the law of reciprocity. Whatever we choose to do will always have an effect. What we sow we shall also reap. Here’s a quote from Stephen Covey’s book - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People -  “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”  So be careful what we sow!

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah 50:4-10 – Trust God and be responsible leaders

Just at the time when God was bringing judgment upon Babylon, there was also a stirring in the hearts of His covenant people.  The opportune time for them had to return to God. Jeremiah 50:4-5 described how both the people of Israel as well as those from Judah had a change of heart toward God. They earnestly sought God with tears of repentance. All they wanted was God’s direction for their lives. Turning their faces toward Zion they were returning to their Lord and to their unforgettable covenant with Him, which they had neglected.

How did the people of God wander so far away from God like lost sheep and end in such a miserable predicament? Jeremiah 50:6-10 provide us with the reason. It was the negligence of the leaders. They were wayward shepherds they led the people astray. They had made the people turn from the Lord to seek other gods. Unwittingly, the leaders had encouraged the people to participate in idolatrous worship. Instead of focusing on the mountain of the Lord, they were running after idols from hill to hill. They had forgotten the “resting place,” the temple of God, the only sanctuary that could provide the rest they sought.

 

Babylon, the instrument God used to chastise His people were arrogant. They even had the audacity to claim that they were not guilty of how they had assaulted God’s people. Their argument was that the Judean had brought this on themselves for sinning against the Lord and forsaking God, the only sanctuary for the righteous.  

 

In verse 8,  God encouraged His people to gallantly leave Babylon for the time had come. They must courageously, like male goats, seize the opportunity and be the first to head for their freedom. Verses 9-10 speak of the opportune time. God was dealing with the Babylonians.   He was bringing a horde of nations from the north to deal with them. Their enemies would plunder the land, carry away their goods, and leave them empty of their possession.

 

What lessons are there for us in these verses? Firstly we cannot get away from the fact that God is sovereign. He has the whole world in His hand. The outcome of our lives is determined by our relationship with Him and how much we trust Him.  Secondly, there is a lesson for us who are called into leadership. How we lead is critical. We must always lead people toward God and not away from Him. Never be the reason for their spiritual waywardness.  As leaders, be a blessing and not a curse. We must be responsible and have the right influence on the people.

 

Jeremiah 50:1-3 – What goes around comes around.

Babylon was the dominant power that God used as His instrument to deal with His people as well as the nations. Jeremiah throughout his ministry had called on the covenant people to yield to Babylon insisting that the Babylonians were but God’s tools to bring about His purpose. And though God would this nation, she would also be made to face the wrath of God for her arrogance and cruelty. This weeping prophet’s oracle on the judgment of God on Babylon can be found in Jeremiah 50 and 51 before the book closes in chapter 52 much like an appendix. The message Jeremiah had for Babylon is a lengthy one. As such, we shall dissect it segment by segment.

God’s message to them started plainly in Jeremiah 50:1-2 saying, “The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet.” The prophet was told to openly make the message known. It was to be proclaimed to the nations. Bel and Marduk were one and the same. Marduk was the chief god that the Babylonians worshipped. Marduk or Merodach had also v been referred to as Bel. God was saying that the deity the Babylonians depended on would be left powerless and incapable of saving them. Verse 2 said that “her images would be put to shame and her idols shattered and destroyed.  

How would God deal with Babylon? Verse 3 said, “…a nation has come up against her out of the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off, they have gone away!” This would be the end of Babylon which we will look at in more detail as Jeremiah’s message to them progressed. God would use a nation from the north to deal with Babylon leaving her in horror and without any inhabitant – both man and beast.  

The destruction of Babylon would be the climax of the book of Jeremiah. As a nation, Babylon and her cruel kings would be toppled.  In the precious few chapters of Jeremiah, we saw how Babylon, the dominant power overthrew and defeated the surrounding nations. Judah, Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, and Elam were all her victims. However, despite being God’s instrument of judgment, Babylon was not a law to herself. She was also answerable to God for her cruelty.  As we come to the close of the book, we cannot help but see a version of the rooster coming home to roost. What goes around always comes around. When God is using us be sure to stay humble and connected to Him. Don’t be too cocky when we are on the upper hand.

Jeremiah 49:34-39 – Make God pre-eminent in our lives

God had a message for the people of Elam in Jeremiah 49:34-39. Who were the Elamites and where were they from? As early as the book of Genesis, the Bible already talked about Elam. Genesis 10: 22 reveals that Elam was the name of one of the sons of Shem. That would make him a descendant of Noah. Genesis 14 narrates an incident where Abraham raised a fighting force to rescue his nephew Lot from the hand of King Kedarloamer of Elam and his allies. As a land, geographically Elam was located east of Babylon, extending to the coast of the Mediterranean.

In Jeremiah 25:25 God already indicated that Elam would be judged together with other nations. And in Jeremiah 49:34-39, the prophet again spoke concerning God’s judgment of Elam. This message came at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah who sought to form an alliance with the surrounding nations to deal with the rising Babylonian force. In saying that “…I am going to break the bow of Elam, the finest of their might” verse 35 suggests that Elam was a nation of might.  God was bringing disasters upon them. The message was as much to Zedekiah as it was to Elam.

In these last six verses of Jeremiah 49, God said that He would bring such a might upon Elam and scatter her people all over. He was going to shatter them before their enemies and bring great calamity upon them. In His fierce anger against them, God was going to bring the sword upon them until they were all done with.  God was going to set His throne in Elam after He had destroyed their rulers – their kings and princes. However, again in His mercy, verse 39 assured that God would restore their fortune in the last days.  

Apparently, Elam boasted of her military might. Strong as Elam thought she was, even then it would not be able to stand against the might of the Lord. In Jeremiah 49, one resounding truth kept surfacing. God was repeatedly telling each nation that there was no way their limited resources could prevent His from advancing. Ammon depended on her wealth and Molech their god. Edom thought that their high land, their wisdom, and their fortresses would make them impenetrable. But all that could not prevent God from reaching and dealing with them. Damascus thought that her fame could keep God out, but she too had to succumb to God. Kedar depended on her isolation and remoteness to keep God from reaching them, but there was no place on earth that man could go to hide from God. Now Elam depended on her might and her bow. But they all came to naught before the great God. 

It is true that no human resource can prevent what God has set in motion. Only in God’s plan can we find security. We must never allow any human resources we have to lure us into a sense of false security. No wealth, power, position, or status in life can ever bring us lasting security. Only in God are we forever secure. Let us put our total trust in God.  Learn to put Psalm 73:26 at the forefront of our minds as we seek to advance in life with God. “My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”      

 

Jeremiah 49:28-33 – Factor God in all that we do

Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest left no nations untouched. Jeremiah’s message in chapter 49 verses 28-33 had to do with the defeat of the desert tribe of Kedar dwelling in Hazor.  These tribal people were believed to be descendants of Kedar, one of the sons of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13). They were Bedouins that dwelled in tents, traveled on camels, and traded the sheep and goats which they reared.

Verse 28 called for the tribe of Kedar to be devastated. Though Nebuchadnezzar was not mentioned, he was obviously the person God was addressing. For he had been designated to execute His judgment. Verses 29-30 spelled what would happen to them. Everything they owned, their tents, flocks, and camels would be seized by the enemy. Their enemies would surround them, and terror would be experienced all around.

Verse 31 implied that they were confident people living with ease. Since they were wandering people, they had no city walls to protect. They were usually in isolation or moving around and these gave them a sense of false security. These verses said that their camel would be plundered, and their cattle would become their enemy’s booty. And God would scatter them, and they would experience terror all around. Hazor their dwelling place would be made desolate forever and no one would ever live there.

If there is any fault with the tribe of Kedar, it would be their complacency. When people are complacent, they tend to live life carelessly and capriciously. Living life responsibly requires that we evaluate and take stock of life. We make plans to include God in everything that we do. Without Him, there is no safety or security.   

Jeremiah 49:23-27 – Treating others with Respect

The message of Jeremiah in this portion of the Scriptures concerns the judgment of Damascus.  This capital city of Aram was later known as Syria and was captured by the Assyrians. Jeremiah saw the city undergoing divine judgment. She would be wrecked by war, defeated, and made to suffer at the hand of Babylon who was about to conquer the Assyrians.    

Just like the Ammonites and the Edomites, Damascus was earmarked for destruction. Jeremiah 49:23-27 described what would happen to Damascus and her people. Verses 23-24 said that on learning of the approaching Babylonian force, her people became filled with fear and driven into a deep sense of helplessness.  They were petrified and rendered incapable of fleeing. So distressed by the situation that they had to travail in pain like pregnant women in labor. The ruthless attack of the Babylonians left the streets filled with the victims of the great slaughters and devastated the city.   

The Prophet Amos had the most severe message for Syria and Damascus. The main reason for her judgment was her unrestrained cruelty.  No specific reason was given for the divine judgment here in this Jeremiah’s passage. But Damascus' past dealing with Judah was not flattering. 2 Kings 16 and Isaiah 7 narrated an incidence where King Rezin of Damascus and King Pekah of Israel combined to attack Jerusalem in the time of King Ahaz. Damascus was conquered by the Assyrians whom Ahaz solicited help from. Here we are told that She would be destroyed by the Babylonians.

How nations treated God’s covenant people matters to Him. If there is a lesson to learn it is the lesson of respect. How we treat people especially God’s people matter.   In the New Testament, we are called to treat all people with respect. So Paul admonished us in his letter to the Galatians that we are “to do good to all men, especially those in the household of God.”    

Jeremiah 49:12-22 – Stay pliant before God

God’s message of judgment on Edom which started in Jeremiah 49:7-11 continued in verses 12-22. In verse 12, God asked a rhetorical question. He wanted the Edomites to have a more apt evaluation of why they deserved the coming judgment. If people who were less deceiving of the judgment had to go through those harrowing experiences, what made them think that they could avoid it? In verse 13, God then swore that the Bozrah which was believed to be a fortified city place “…become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”

 

The Edomites had the delusion that the fort they had built around their rugged mountainous land would make them impenetrable and secure. Being deceived by this false notion, they reckoned that could ward off any attack.  Jeremiah in verses 14-16 then warned them that there was no place to shield them from God’s coming judgment.  No matter how high the mountain they had scaled even as high as where eagles would build their nest or how strong they thought their fortresses were, there would be no defense that could prevent God’s judgment from reaching them. There would absolutely be no safe place to shield them from God’s dealing. When God’s judgment rained on them, they would be  

 

In verses 17-22, God declared in no uncertain terms that Edom would be thoroughly overthrown.  Just like the devastation of the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Edom would be left utterly desolate leaving it unliveable. Babylon would come upon Edom like a ferocious lion pouncing upon a flock of sheep devouring them leaving them without a shepherd.  God guaranteed them that no Edomite would be able to withstand the force that He was releasing upon them to execute His judgment.  The Edomites would be rendered powerless to deal with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian force.

So thorough would be the devastation and Edom would be left despairing. This is how the New Living Translation paraphrased verses 20-22:

Listen to the Lord’s plans against Edom
    and the people of Teman.
Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep,
    and their homes will be destroyed.
The earth will shake with the noise of Edom’s fall,
    and its cry of despair will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.
Look! The enemy swoops down like an eagle,
    spreading his wings over Bozrah.
Even the mightiest warriors will be in anguish

 

Like lessons we learn from God’s message to the Ammonites, we also learn from the message to the Edomites that God abhors the proud. Pride will make one put him or herself against others and even God. Stay humble and pliant and pliable before God. Remember that pride will always make us forget that we are but frail humans. Remember what  Psalm 103:15-16 said about us:

 

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.