In today’s section, we read about:
The continuation of the Lord’s judgment on the nations – Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Elam and Babylon
In the midst of these words of dire consequences, there is the promise of future hope for Israel
Jeremiah’s message is sent to Babylon to bear testimony to God’s certain future judgment
Jerusalem falls and the people are taken into exile
The beginning of the lament after Jerusalem’s fall
Some thoughts which occurred to me today:
There are messages to pretty well all the nations around Judah, many of whose history has long overlapped with that of Israel – Moab (descendants of Lot and one of his daughters – Gen 19:37), Ammon ((descendants of Lot and one of his daughters – Gen 19:38), Edom (descendants of Esau – Gen ch 36).
The main thing that strikes me today though is the repeated warnings against Babylon – which may very well be top dog at the moment, but will soon be destroyed so utterly that it will not be inhabited for generation after generation. It is a reminder of God’s complete control, and a pointer that only His will is the one that matters.
It was interesting that God makes promises to restore the fortunes of both Moab and Ammon in the days to come (48:47, 49:6), as well as Elam (49:39).
The reason for God’s judgment on these nations is that they have put their trust in other things and, above all in other gods, rather than in the one true God.
As with all of Jeremiah’s prophecy, here we see the greatness of the God who holds the threads of history in His hand – “For who is like me, and who can challenge me? / What ruler can oppose my will?” (50:44); “the Lord will fulfil all his plans against Babylon” (51:12); “The Lord made the earth by his power, / and he preserves it by his wisdom. / With his own understanding / he stretched out the heavens” (51:15); “But the God of Israel is no idol! / He is the Creator of everything that exists, / including his people, his own special possession. / The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!” (51:19); “everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged” (51:29); “I will be your lawyer to plead your case, / and I will avenge you. / I will dry up her river, / as well as her springs, / and Babylon will become a heap of ruins, / haunted by jackals. / She will be an object of horror and contempt, / a place where no one lives” (51:36-37); “For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment; / he always repays in full” (51:56).
In Lamentations, the full realisation of what God’s judgment is actually like is slowly sinking in. The most telling verse for me was 1:18 ““The Lord is right,” Jerusalem says, / “for I rebelled against him.””
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