Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 14

Uprooted - The Words of Jeremiah

Thank you, Jeff Schiefer, for creating the
"Uprooted" sermon series graphic!A sermon series on The Book of Jeremiah preached from April 2022 to March 2023 for Lanse Free Church.
01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
33. "What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch" - Jeremiah 45:1-7
34. "Concerning the Nations" - Jeremiah 46:1-49:39
35. "Babylon Must Fall" - Jeremiah 50:1-51:64
36. “So Judah Went Into Captivity, Away from Her Land” - Jeremiah 52:1-34

���So Judah Went Into Captivity, Away from Her Land��� [Matt's Messages]

���So Judah Went Into Captivity, Away from Her Land���Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMarch 26, 2023 :: Jeremiah 52:1-34
The Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending.
It doesn���t get all sweetly tied up nicely with a bow on top and everybody living ���happily ever after.��� Feel-good boppy music playing in the background as the credits roll.
No. The Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending. But it does have a holy ending.
It shouldn���t be surprising to us by now. This has not been a happy book. For forty years, the Weeping Prophet Jeremiah has been a broken record about a broken covenant and the broken nation and the burnt city that would come of it. And we should not be surprised that the very last chapter is about that sad prophecy coming to pass.
The previous chapters (50 and 51) looked further ahead, down the road, when the wicked city of Babylon must fall.  But first the wicked city of Jerusalem must fall. And fall, it did.
We���ve already read about the fall of Jerusalem in chapter 39. And we read about it 2 Kings 24 and 25, with many of the very same details (see also 2 Chronicles 36). You might get deja vu from reading Jeremiah 52 (insight from John Goldingay).
But we know that whenever the scripture repeats itself, what it���s saying a second time or a third time must be very important so we ought to pause and pay close attention.
What may be surprising about Jeremiah 52 is that it wasn���t written by Jeremiah. In fact, Jeremiah is never even mentioned. I said earlier that these were ���The Words of Jeremiah Son of Hilkiah,��� but that isn���t quite right. The Lord has included these words in Jeremiah���s book, but these are not his words. The last verse of the previous chapter said that the words of Jeremiah had ended there (51:64).
So the LORD has raised up another author to put this appendix(?), epilogue(?), post-script(?) historical addendum(?) onto the end of Jeremiah���s book to make sure that we get the point���Jeremiah���s prophecies have and will all come true.
Perhaps it was Baruch. Or maybe Baruch���s son because it really extends several years into the future. We don���t know who wrote it, but we do know that He was inspired by the LORD to include it with the Words of Jeremiah to be for us the Word of God.
Let���s look at it together. And as we do, I want to point out three things about the LORD that we can confidently say because we���ve read all of Jeremiah, but especially this chapter. And then apply those three things to our lives today.
 
Jeremiah chapter 52, verse 1. The story backs up to 597 BC and the beginning of the reign of the last king of Judah. Verse 1.
���Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence��� (vv.1-3).
We���ve learned a lot about Zedekiah in the last few months. He was a thumbs-down king, just like every king was ever since his father Josiah died. His brother Jehoiakim had been a terrible thumb-down king. He was the one who burned the scroll of Jeremiah. 
And Zedekiah wasn���t like that, but he never was holy. He would ask for advice. He would seek counsel from the prophet, but he would never do what the prophet said God wanted him to do. And eventually it caught up with him. And the whole nation went down. And they went into exile. The LORD ���thrust them from his presence��� (v.3). What scary words are those?!
#1. THE LORD���S ANGER IS HOLY.
We see in verse 3 that the LORD was angry, and that is scary, because the LORD is God! He is omnipotent and sovereign, so when He gets angry, terrible things may happen. But His anger is not capricious or moody or impulsive. He never gets up on the wrong side of the bed. When He is angry, it���s about something worth being angry about. The LORD���S anger is holy. Look at verse 2 again.
���[Zedekiah] did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence��� (vv.2-3).
Everything terrible thing we���re going to read about that God does here is perfectly just and right and righteous and holy. The kings and the people broke the covenant. They worshiped other gods. They did evil in the eyes of the LORD, the holy eyes of the LORD. No wonder the judgment fell.
We live in a day when holiness seems silly and unimportant. Holiness seems trite and trivial and foreign to our ears. Nobody cares about being holy. Everybody cares about being happy, but few care about being holy. God cares about being holy. He is holy, holy, holy. And He wants us to be holy, too.
We live in a time when people think, ���I���m not so bad, and God���s not so mad.��� But the fact is that we are bad, and God is mad, and God���s anger is holy.
That���s why the Cross, right? The Cross is about God���s love for us, yes, but it���s also about God���s holiness, right? We have been unholy, and so we needed Jesus to do what He did on the Cross to make us holy once more. ���God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God��� (2 Cor. 5:21 NIVO). That���s what was going on at the Cross. What we are heading into celebrating the next few weeks. 
���He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness (holiness); by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray (unholy), but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (holy once more)��� (1 Pet. 2:24-25 NIVO).
His anger is holy, and that���s why Jesus died like He did. And that allows us now to live a holy life ourselves.
I hope that studying the prophecy of Jeremiah has helped us to cultivate a hatred of our sin and love for God���s holiness. When we see how seriously God feels about idolatry and pride and wickedness, and the lengths He went to save us from those things, I hope that we have been led into repentance from our hearts. We can learn from the errors of Judah. What sins are you repenting of, what idols are you smashing, what areas of holiness are you growing in?
The LORD says, ���Be holy as I am holy.��� And we see here just how holy He is. He was so holy that He demolished His favorite city on Earth. V.3 once more.
���Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They camped outside the city and built siege works all around it. The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. [About 18 months.] By the ninth day of the fourth month [Janaury 15, 588BC] the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.
Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 
There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death��� (vv.3-11).
Like I said, the Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending, but it does have a holy ending. And it also has an honest ending. This is what truly happened, and what Jeremiah had said would happen, came true.
#2. THE LORD���S WORD IS TRUE. Listen to Jeremiah 32, verse 4. ���Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes��� (Jer. 32:4).
And that���s exactly what happened. Nebuchadnezzar was, in fact, the last thing Zedekiah saw. Nebuchadnezzar killing his sons. The end of the line, both figuratively and literally.
In Jeremiah 34:3-4, the LORD says to Jeremiah, ���Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon��� (Jer. 34:2-3).
Everything Jeremiah said would happen is exactly what happened. The LORD���s word was true. All of those other prophets were false. They were full of lies. But Jeremiah���s mouth was full of truth.
The lies sounded so good. We want to believe the lies, but we must believe the truth. And the truth was that the city was going to fall. Verse 12.
���On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem��� (vv.12-14).
If you want to know how this felt, read the next book of the Bible, the Book of Lamentations. It felt to them like the end of the world. And was the fulfillment of the word of the LORD.
You see those words ���broke down��� in verse 14? That���s the same Hebrew word that was used in chapter 1 to describe what Jeremiah���s words would do. Remember that? The six things?
The LORD said to Jeremiah, ���Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and...TEAR DOWN [same words in Hebrew as v.14], to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant��� (Jer. 1:9-10).
The Babylonians systematically tore down the walls around Jerusalem until the walls were completely dismantled and the city demolished. And, just as promised, the people were taken into exile. V.15
���Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. [Apparently they needed some workers.] But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields��� (vv.15-16).
And then they went after the temple of the LORD. Verse 17.
���The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. [Let the looting begin!] They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings���all that were made of pure gold or silver. The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the LORD, was more than could be weighed[!]. Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. The bronze capital on top of the one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred��� (vv.17-23).
Do you remember the beauty of the temple of the LORD?
Solomon���s glorious temple with all of its gold, and silver, and bronze?
All of these things were described as they were put up in 1 Kings 6, 7, and 8, and now they are inventoried as they are stolen away in Jeremiah 52. And the entire time that the exiles are in Babylon, they are stored away in the treasury of the Babylonians. 
Just like Jeremiah (and Micah before him) had said. ���Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets��� (Jeremiah 26:18).
But, keep this in mind, these items were inventoried and kept. The ones that weren���t smashed up were stored away, and there will actually be a future for them! There���s a glimmer here of hope. Even as, in His holiness, the LORD is bringing judgment on His temple. But how depressing it must have been to see those precious items stolen away and the temple of the LORD, the temple of LORD, the temple of the LORD torn down.
And the leaders of Judah killed. Verse 24. ���The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of his men who were found in the city. Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath [modern day Syria], the king had them executed. So Judah went into captivity, away from her land��� (vv.24-28).
That���s our sermon title for today. And it reminds us that this is all going according to plan. These terrible things are all God���s holy threats come true. Including the exile. This is not a mistake. This does not take God by surprise. It is, in fact, the judgment of God. For forty years, Jeremiah has been saying that Judah will go into captivity. 
Judah will go into captivity. Judah will go into captivity. 
���So [v.28] Judah went into captivity, away from her land.���
The LORD is faithful to keep His promises, including His threats. And He���s been threatening this for more forty years. He���s been saying that this would come since the book of Deuteronomy. If they did not repent, they would be thrust out of the land.
Verses 28 through 30 give some stats on that. ���This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; in his twenty-third year, 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard. There were 4,600 people in all��� (vv.28-30). In those three particular deportations. There was one before it and probably others. And those numbers are probably just the men or even just the leaders. The full count was probably much higher and doesn���t include all of those died in the process.Babylon has won. Judah has lost. Just as the LORD has said.
You know what this chapter is kind of like? It���s like the post-credit scenes in a modern movie. These days if you go to a movie in the theatre, you don���t get up until after the credits are all over. I���ve made the mistake of leaving before they���re all done. Because a lot of movies, especially the super-hero ones I like, have these extra scenes that take place in the middle of or after the credits that kind of tell the rest of the story or set things up for the next movie.
���Jeremiah the movie��� is over, but here���s these scenes that show us that everything that Jeremiah predicted came true. Jeremiah is vindicated as a true prophet. In these scenes, we watch Jerusalem be besieged. We see the walls be breached. We see Zedekiah have to watch his sons die. We see his eyes come out. We watch the walls of Jerusalem be torn down. We watch the temple things be stolen before our very eyes. We see the city burn. We watch the leaders be executed at Riblah. We watch the waves of thousands of Jewish people go into captivity in Babylon. Just like Jeremiah said. Do you see it?
The Word of the LORD is true. Every single word. Do you trust what you read in here? Do you know what it says? Do you believe it? The LORD will keep every one of His promises, including His threats.
I hope that studying the Book of Jeremiah this last year has put some steel in backbones to stand with the word of God no matter what. 
On Friday, Joel Michaels and I went up near Rochester for an ordination council of a new pastor in our district. Pastor Jake Buss. And it was so encouraging to hear Jake explain the Word of God and what he believes about it and how he stakes his life on it.
This book doesn���t always say what I want it to say! But it says what I need it to say. And it says what is true. And for those who belong to Jesus, it also always says a word of hope.
The book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending, but it does have a hopeful ending.
There���s a hint of hope, at least. For one, we know that Babylon does not win forever. They may be the winners at end of chapter 52, but we just read chapters 50 and 51 last week, and we know that Babylon must fall. And when it does, God���s people will rejoice. 
And we know that those golden things from the temple are going to show up again, and the temple is going to return. This afternoon, you might want to read the book of Ezra, chapter 1. All those things from verses 17 through 23 make the trip back from Babylon to Jerusalem! And get used again!
But the hope is bigger than that. It���s not just in a temple that will be destroyed yet again in the first century AD. The hope that we really look forward to is that a son of David will be king forever. And there is a little hint of that in the last four verses of the chapter 52. Look at verse 31.
���In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon [Nebuchadnezzar���s son, 561BC], he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. 
He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table. Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death��� (vv.31-34).
Now, that���s not a happy ending.
Jehoiachin was only king in Judah for 3 short months. And then he spent 37 years[!] in prison in exile. He never made it back to Judah. And none of his seven sons became king either. He lived to see thousands of his kinsmen captive with him and having to live year after year in Babylon. He probably saw his eyeless uncle Zedekiah hauled into the prison with him to live out his days.
This was not a happy ending.
But it was a hopeful one. This last post-credit scene has the new king of Babylon come in and invite Jehoiachin to sit at his table as a fellow king. To change his clothes and act like a king again, till the day of his death. We don���t know when that was.
There are no words in this last post-credit scene. There���s no quotation marks. We just see the old man change clothes, put on royal robes and eat royal food.
And we think, ���Oh, oh, I know what���s going to happen in the next movie!���
Not only will Babylon fall because God said it would.Not only will the temple return because God makes a way for it.But God has promised that a son of David will arise.
Wicked Zedekiah was NOT the end of the line!
God said it in this book. Jeremiah chapter 23, ������The days are coming,��� declares the LORD, ���when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness������ (Jer. 23:5-6 NIVO).
And we know another name for Him.
We find it in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 1 where it says, ���After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah [which was another name for Jehoiachin] was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud,  Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ��� (Matt. 1:12-16 NIVO).
This scene is setting us up for that story still to come!
#3. THE LORD���S GRACE IS AMAZING!
After all of this righteous judgment and just condemnation, after all of this holy anger poured out, God still has a plan to bless His people with His grace! God will send His Son from the line of this king in exile[!] to make every good promise He has ever made come true.
Promises of a New Covenant enacted by His blood.Promises of a hope and future.Promises of good plans for us.Plans to prosper us and not to harm us.Plans for our shalom.
Plans for a hope and a future. Because of His amazing grace. The Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending, but all who belong to Jesus definitely will.

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. ���Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!��� - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. ���This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!��� - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. ���My People For My Renown��� - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. ���Insult and Reproach All Day Long��� - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "���My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good��� - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. ���Under the Yoke��� - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. ���I Know the Plans I Have for You��� - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. ���I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love��� - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
33. "What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch" - Jeremiah 45:1-7
34. "Concerning the Nations" - Jeremiah 46:1-49:39
35. "Babylon Must Fall" - Jeremiah 50:1-51:64

“So Judah Went Into Captivity, Away from Her Land” [Matt's Messages]

“So Judah Went Into Captivity, Away from Her Land”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMarch 26, 2023 :: Jeremiah 52:1-34
The Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending.
It doesn’t get all sweetly tied up nicely with a bow on top and everybody living “happily ever after.” Feel-good boppy music playing in the background as the credits roll.
No. The Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending. But it does have a holy ending.
It shouldn’t be surprising to us by now. This has not been a happy book. For forty years, the Weeping Prophet Jeremiah has been a broken record about a broken covenant and the broken nation and the burnt city that would come of it. And we should not be surprised that the very last chapter is about that sad prophecy coming to pass.
The previous chapters (50 and 51) looked further ahead, down the road, when the wicked city of Babylon must fall.  But first the wicked city of Jerusalem must fall. And fall, it did.
We’ve already read about the fall of Jerusalem in chapter 39. And we read about it 2 Kings 24 and 25, with many of the very same details (see also 2 Chronicles 36). You might get deja vu from reading Jeremiah 52 (insight from John Goldingay).
But we know that whenever the scripture repeats itself, what it’s saying a second time or a third time must be very important so we ought to pause and pay close attention.
What may be surprising about Jeremiah 52 is that it wasn’t written by Jeremiah. In fact, Jeremiah is never even mentioned. I said earlier that these were “The Words of Jeremiah Son of Hilkiah,” but that isn’t quite right. The Lord has included these words in Jeremiah’s book, but these are not his words. The last verse of the previous chapter said that the words of Jeremiah had ended there (51:64).
So the LORD has raised up another author to put this appendix(?), epilogue(?), post-script(?) historical addendum(?) onto the end of Jeremiah’s book to make sure that we get the point–Jeremiah’s prophecies have and will all come true.
Perhaps it was Baruch. Or maybe Baruch’s son because it really extends several years into the future. We don’t know who wrote it, but we do know that He was inspired by the LORD to include it with the Words of Jeremiah to be for us the Word of God.
Let’s look at it together. And as we do, I want to point out three things about the LORD that we can confidently say because we’ve read all of Jeremiah, but especially this chapter. And then apply those three things to our lives today.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.] 
Jeremiah chapter 52, verse 1. The story backs up to 597 BC and the beginning of the reign of the last king of Judah. Verse 1.
“Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence” (vv.1-3).
We’ve learned a lot about Zedekiah in the last few months. He was a thumbs-down king, just like every king was ever since his father Josiah died. His brother Jehoiakim had been a terrible thumb-down king. He was the one who burned the scroll of Jeremiah. 
And Zedekiah wasn’t like that, but he never was holy. He would ask for advice. He would seek counsel from the prophet, but he would never do what the prophet said God wanted him to do. And eventually it caught up with him. And the whole nation went down. And they went into exile. The LORD “thrust them from his presence” (v.3). What scary words are those?!
#1. THE LORD’S ANGER IS HOLY.
We see in verse 3 that the LORD was angry, and that is scary, because the LORD is God! He is omnipotent and sovereign, so when He gets angry, terrible things may happen. But His anger is not capricious or moody or impulsive. He never gets up on the wrong side of the bed. When He is angry, it’s about something worth being angry about. The LORD’S anger is holy. Look at verse 2 again.
“[Zedekiah] did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence” (vv.2-3).
Everything terrible thing we’re going to read about that God does here is perfectly just and right and righteous and holy. The kings and the people broke the covenant. They worshiped other gods. They did evil in the eyes of the LORD, the holy eyes of the LORD. No wonder the judgment fell.
We live in a day when holiness seems silly and unimportant. Holiness seems trite and trivial and foreign to our ears. Nobody cares about being holy. Everybody cares about being happy, but few care about being holy. God cares about being holy. He is holy, holy, holy. And He wants us to be holy, too.
We live in a time when people think, “I’m not so bad, and God’s not so mad.” But the fact is that we are bad, and God is mad, and God’s anger is holy.
That’s why the Cross, right? The Cross is about God’s love for us, yes, but it’s also about God’s holiness, right? We have been unholy, and so we needed Jesus to do what He did on the Cross to make us holy once more. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21 NIVO). That’s what was going on at the Cross. What we are heading into celebrating the next few weeks. 
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness (holiness); by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray (unholy), but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (holy once more)” (1 Pet. 2:24-25 NIVO).
His anger is holy, and that’s why Jesus died like He did. And that allows us now to live a holy life ourselves.
I hope that studying the prophecy of Jeremiah has helped us to cultivate a hatred of our sin and love for God’s holiness. When we see how seriously God feels about idolatry and pride and wickedness, and the lengths He went to save us from those things, I hope that we have been led into repentance from our hearts. We can learn from the errors of Judah. What sins are you repenting of, what idols are you smashing, what areas of holiness are you growing in?
The LORD says, “Be holy as I am holy.” And we see here just how holy He is. He was so holy that He demolished His favorite city on Earth. V.3 once more.
“Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They camped outside the city and built siege works all around it. The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. [About 18 months.] By the ninth day of the fourth month [Janaury 15, 588BC] the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.
Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 
There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death” (vv.3-11).
Like I said, the Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending, but it does have a holy ending. And it also has an honest ending. This is what truly happened, and what Jeremiah had said would happen, came true.
#2. THE LORD’S WORD IS TRUE. Listen to Jeremiah 32, verse 4. “Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes” (Jer. 32:4).
And that’s exactly what happened. Nebuchadnezzar was, in fact, the last thing Zedekiah saw. Nebuchadnezzar killing his sons. The end of the line, both figuratively and literally.
In Jeremiah 34:3-4, the LORD says to Jeremiah, “Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon” (Jer. 34:2-3).
Everything Jeremiah said would happen is exactly what happened. The LORD’s word was true. All of those other prophets were false. They were full of lies. But Jeremiah’s mouth was full of truth.
The lies sounded so good. We want to believe the lies, but we must believe the truth. And the truth was that the city was going to fall. Verse 12.
“On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem” (vv.12-14).
If you want to know how this felt, read the next book of the Bible, the Book of Lamentations. It felt to them like the end of the world. And was the fulfillment of the word of the LORD.
You see those words “broke down” in verse 14? That’s the same Hebrew word that was used in chapter 1 to describe what Jeremiah’s words would do. Remember that? The six things?
The LORD said to Jeremiah, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and...TEAR DOWN [same words in Hebrew as v.14], to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:9-10).
The Babylonians systematically tore down the walls around Jerusalem until the walls were completely dismantled and the city demolished. And, just as promised, the people were taken into exile. V.15
“Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. [Apparently they needed some workers.] But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields” (vv.15-16).
And then they went after the temple of the LORD. Verse 17.
“The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. [Let the looting begin!] They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings–all that were made of pure gold or silver. The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the LORD, was more than could be weighed[!]. Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. The bronze capital on top of the one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred” (vv.17-23).
Do you remember the beauty of the temple of the LORD?
Solomon’s glorious temple with all of its gold, and silver, and bronze?
All of these things were described as they were put up in 1 Kings 6, 7, and 8, and now they are inventoried as they are stolen away in Jeremiah 52. And the entire time that the exiles are in Babylon, they are stored away in the treasury of the Babylonians. 
Just like Jeremiah (and Micah before him) had said. “Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets” (Jeremiah 26:18).
But, keep this in mind, these items were inventoried and kept. The ones that weren’t smashed up were stored away, and there will actually be a future for them! There’s a glimmer here of hope. Even as, in His holiness, the LORD is bringing judgment on His temple. But how depressing it must have been to see those precious items stolen away and the temple of the LORD, the temple of LORD, the temple of the LORD torn down.
And the leaders of Judah killed. Verse 24. “The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of his men who were found in the city. Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath [modern day Syria], the king had them executed. So Judah went into captivity, away from her land” (vv.24-28).
That’s our sermon title for today. And it reminds us that this is all going according to plan. These terrible things are all God’s holy threats come true. Including the exile. This is not a mistake. This does not take God by surprise. It is, in fact, the judgment of God. For forty years, Jeremiah has been saying that Judah will go into captivity. 
Judah will go into captivity. Judah will go into captivity. 
“So [v.28] Judah went into captivity, away from her land.”
The LORD is faithful to keep His promises, including His threats. And He’s been threatening this for more forty years. He’s been saying that this would come since the book of Deuteronomy. If they did not repent, they would be thrust out of the land.
Verses 28 through 30 give some stats on that. “This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; in his twenty-third year, 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard. There were 4,600 people in all” (vv.28-30). In those three particular deportations. There was one before it and probably others. And those numbers are probably just the men or even just the leaders. The full count was probably much higher and doesn’t include all of those died in the process.Babylon has won. Judah has lost. Just as the LORD has said.
You know what this chapter is kind of like? It’s like the post-credit scenes in a modern movie. These days if you go to a movie in the theatre, you don’t get up until after the credits are all over. I’ve made the mistake of leaving before they’re all done. Because a lot of movies, especially the super-hero ones I like, have these extra scenes that take place in the middle of or after the credits that kind of tell the rest of the story or set things up for the next movie.
“Jeremiah the movie” is over, but here’s these scenes that show us that everything that Jeremiah predicted came true. Jeremiah is vindicated as a true prophet. In these scenes, we watch Jerusalem be besieged. We see the walls be breached. We see Zedekiah have to watch his sons die. We see his eyes come out. We watch the walls of Jerusalem be torn down. We watch the temple things be stolen before our very eyes. We see the city burn. We watch the leaders be executed at Riblah. We watch the waves of thousands of Jewish people go into captivity in Babylon. Just like Jeremiah said. Do you see it?
The Word of the LORD is true. Every single word. Do you trust what you read in here? Do you know what it says? Do you believe it? The LORD will keep every one of His promises, including His threats.
I hope that studying the Book of Jeremiah this last year has put some steel in backbones to stand with the word of God no matter what. 
On Friday, Joel Michaels and I went up near Rochester for an ordination council of a new pastor in our district. Pastor Jake Buss. And it was so encouraging to hear Jake explain the Word of God and what he believes about it and how he stakes his life on it.
This book doesn’t always say what I want it to say! But it says what I need it to say. And it says what is true. And for those who belong to Jesus, it also always says a word of hope.
The book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending, but it does have a hopeful ending.
There’s a hint of hope, at least. For one, we know that Babylon does not win forever. They may be the winners at end of chapter 52, but we just read chapters 50 and 51 last week, and we know that Babylon must fall. And when it does, God’s people will rejoice. 
And we know that those golden things from the temple are going to show up again, and the temple is going to return. This afternoon, you might want to read the book of Ezra, chapter 1. All those things from verses 17 through 23 make the trip back from Babylon to Jerusalem! And get used again!
But the hope is bigger than that. It’s not just in a temple that will be destroyed yet again in the first century AD. The hope that we really look forward to is that a son of David will be king forever. And there is a little hint of that in the last four verses of the chapter 52. Look at verse 31.
“In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon [Nebuchadnezzar’s son, 561BC], he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. 
He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table. Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death” (vv.31-34).
Now, that’s not a happy ending.
Jehoiachin was only king in Judah for 3 short months. And then he spent 37 years[!] in prison in exile. He never made it back to Judah. And none of his seven sons became king either. He lived to see thousands of his kinsmen captive with him and having to live year after year in Babylon. He probably saw his eyeless uncle Zedekiah hauled into the prison with him to live out his days.
This was not a happy ending.
But it was a hopeful one. This last post-credit scene has the new king of Babylon come in and invite Jehoiachin to sit at his table as a fellow king. To change his clothes and act like a king again, till the day of his death. We don’t know when that was.
There are no words in this last post-credit scene. There’s no quotation marks. We just see the old man change clothes, put on royal robes and eat royal food.
And we think, “Oh, oh, I know what’s going to happen in the next movie!”
Not only will Babylon fall because God said it would.Not only will the temple return because God makes a way for it.But God has promised that a son of David will arise.
Wicked Zedekiah was NOT the end of the line!
God said it in this book. Jeremiah chapter 23, “‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness’” (Jer. 23:5-6 NIVO).
And we know another name for Him.
We find it in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 1 where it says, “After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah [which was another name for Jehoiachin] was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud,  Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matt. 1:12-16 NIVO).
This scene is setting us up for that story still to come!
#3. THE LORD’S GRACE IS AMAZING!
After all of this righteous judgment and just condemnation, after all of this holy anger poured out, God still has a plan to bless His people with His grace! God will send His Son from the line of this king in exile[!] to make every good promise He has ever made come true.
Promises of a New Covenant enacted by His blood.Promises of a hope and future.Promises of good plans for us.Plans to prosper us and not to harm us.Plans for our shalom.
Plans for a hope and a future. Because of His amazing grace. The Book of Jeremiah does not have a happy ending, but all who belong to Jesus definitely will.

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
33. "What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch" - Jeremiah 45:1-7
34. "Concerning the Nations" - Jeremiah 46:1-49:39
35. "Babylon Must Fall" - Jeremiah 50:1-51:64

���Babylon Must Fall��� [Matt's Messages]

���Babylon Must Fall���Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMarch 19, 2023 :: Jeremiah 50:1-51:64
Baruch���s brother Seraiah tied these two chapters of Jeremiah to a rock and tossed them into the Euphrates river.
Do you know this story? To understand these two chapters, it helps to start at the end.
It turns out that Jeremiah sent a copy of the main contents of these two chapters, Jeremiah 50 and 51, all the way to Babylon with Seraiah son of Neriah, who was probably his assistant Baruch���s brother. And Jeremiah sent a copy of these two chapters all the way to Babylon with Seraiah when King Zedekiah had to go there in 593 BC. And Jeremiah told Seraiah to read the words of the prophecies out loud. And then pray that God would fulfill them and then tie the scroll to a stone and throw the whole thing into the river with a big splash!
I love it that Jeremiah is at it again with his dramatic symbolic acts! He���s got yet even one more of these prophetic props up his sleeve at the very end of his book. This one by remote! Jeremiah isn���t even there, but he���s telling Seraiah what to do. Seraiah is supposed to tie these words to a rock and let it sink into the Euphrates. And then what?
Now, this drowning of the scroll is the opposite of when Jehoiakim burnt the scroll. That was somehow trying to keep the prophecy from coming true and showing disdain and contempt for the Word of God. And trying to destroy the Word of God. This was actually part of the Word of God. This was the Word of God being fulfilled. Enacting the Word of God.
Because what these words said were that ���Babylon Must Fall.��� That���s our sermon title for today taken from verse 49 of chapter 51. ���Babylon Must Fall.��� Like this scroll hitting the bottom of the Euphrates, the kingdom of Babylon must sink down to rise no more.

Last week, we read about God���s judgment coming on nine different nations. The LORD���s prophecies ���concerning the nations��� that surrounded Judah. Sometimes their allies, but more often than not, their enemies. Starting with Egypt in the South and West, the prophecies curled around Judah heading East and North.
And now in chapters 50 and 51, we have the final prophecies that concern one last kingdom, the kingdom from the north, the greatest enemy of Judah there ever was, the empire that conquered them and the entire civilized world. The empire that burned the city of Jerusalem, and destroyed the temple of the LORD, and carried off the people of Judah into exile. In these two chapters, we have the prophecies ���concerning Babylon.���
What do you think we���re going see when we read them? The people of Judah would have been very interested to hear what the LORD had to say was going to happen to Babylon. They didn���t like to hear what Jeremiah had to say about what was going to happen to them. They tried to ignore him for 40 years about that! But they would have cocked an ear and listened with interest to find out what Yahweh prophesied to Babylon. What kind of things do you think He���s going to say?
A lot of it is just like what we saw last week. There is a lot of justice. There is a lot of judgment and vengeance and punishment. Remember ���the sword��� from last week? ���The sword of the LORD.���  That sword is going to come out swinging through these two chapters as ���Babylon Must Fall.���
We���re also going to see the LORD shaming the false gods. Yahweh alone is God, and He will brook no rivals. The gods of Babylon will be shamed and defeated and disgraced.
We���re also, once again, going to see the LORD humbling the arrogant. No kingdom had ever been as prideful as Babylon! Therefore no kingdom would ever be as humbled.
And along the way, we���ll also see the LORD rescuing His people and giving them rest from their enemies. These chapters are heavy if you are the people of Babylon, but they are delightful if you are people of Judah! The people of Judah would have just rejoiced to hear these things. They would have cried tears of joy. 
And maybe of disbelief. It might have been very hard for them to believe these prophecies. They sounded too good to be true! Nothing in these prophesies seemed very likely at the time. Babylon was at the heights of power in the whole entire world! But the LORD said that Babylon must fall.
Let���s just read our way through it and see what���s there, and then when we get to the end, I���ll have 3 points of application for our lives today.
Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 1.
���This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians:���
[By the way, your Bible may say ���Chaldea��� and the ���Chaldeans.��� That���s how the Hebrew actually reads. The Chaldeans were the ethnic group that had risen to rule Babylon at this moment starting with Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar. They were the Chaldeans who were ruling Babylon, and so to keep things simple, many English Bibles uses ���Babylon��� and ���Babylonia��� in those verses to keep things straight. Back to verse 1.]
���This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians: ���Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, 'Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.'
A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both men and animals will flee away��� (vv.1-3). 
This is something that Judah has longed to hear for a very long time. Babylon is going to be captured. All they���ve heard year after year is that Judah is going to be captured. But the LORD says that after that Babylon is going to get it, too. And it���s going to be an enemy from the north that does it! 
All these years, Judah has been warned about this enemy from the north that is going to lay waste to their land. But Babylon is going to have a northern enemy do it to them, too.
And you see what���s going to happen to their gods? That���s who Bel is (it���s like Baal) and Marduk also known as ���Merodach.��� That���s the chief god of Babylon. He���s going to be shamed and scared! I love that picture. Babylon���s gods are going to be terrified and helpless to stop the LORD from judging them. At long last!
And, at long last, there will finally be real repentance among the people of Judah. Look at verse 4.
������In those days, at that time,��� declares the LORD, ���the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten��� (vv.4-5).
This is just like the promises of chapters 30 through 33. Promises of restoration and the new permanent covenant written on their hearts! At long last. V.6
���My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. [Bad kings.] Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, 'We are not guilty, for they sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.'���
The people who had conquered Judah were right that Judah deserved their punishment. But that did not mean that they were right to conquer them. They were oppressors, and when the LORD was done using them to judge His people, He was going to judge them! Babylon must fall.
So Judah must flee. V.8
������Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock. For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed. So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,��� declares the LORD.��� (Vv.8-11).
Now, this command to ���flee��� is interesting. It���s not something that Judah is supposed to do right away. In chapter 29, in the letter to the exiles, written perhaps at the very same time[!], the LORD told them to settle down and build houses and pray for the peace and prosperity of Babylon for the time being.
But only for the time being. When the seventy years of their sentence is up, they are supposed to get out of Dodge. Settle in but don���t get too comfortable. Because Babylon must fall.
Why must they fall? Why must this ���alliance of nations��� rise up from the north to plunder them? Because of how they have treated God���s people! V.11 The LORD says:
������Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions, your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nations���a wilderness, a dry land, a desert. Because of the LORD's anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds��� (vv.11-13).
Do you see how this is justice? Babylon has done wrong against God���s people, and they will not get away with it. There will be blood. V.14
������Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.���
That���s justice. And at the same time, it���s salvation���for God���s people. V.16
���Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor [Babylon] let everyone return to his own people, let everyone flee to his own land.
���Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria [in the northern kingdom]; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon��� [in the south]. Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ���I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
But I will bring Israel back to his own pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead��� (vv.16-19).
The Savior will ���like a Shepherd lead us, [so] much we need [His] tender care. In [His] pleasant pastures feed us, For our use [His] folds prepare[d].��� - Dorothy Thrupp 
This justice on God���s enemies means salvation for God���s people.
Total salvation. Including total forgiveness! Look at verse 20.
���In those days, at that time,��� declares the LORD, ���search will be made for Israel's guilt [and there was so much of it! We have seen so much of it], but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah [and there was so much of it!], but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare��� (v.20).
You and I know how that is even possible! It���s because of what Jesus Christ did at Calvary.
���You laid down Your lifeThat I would be set free���Oh, Jesus, I sing forAll that You've done for me
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!��� (Phil Wickham)
They will search for our guilt and our sins, but none will be found! That���s why we have a hope and future
But Babylon does not have a hope or a future. V.21
������Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,��� declares the LORD. ���Do everything I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction! How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations!
I set a trap for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the LORD. The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians. 
Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant. Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.
Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple��� (vv.21-28).
He doesn���t stop, does He? Babylon thinks of themselves as ���the hammer of the whole earth.��� They can pound wherever they want. They can pound whoever they want. But now the those who have been doing the pounding are going to get the pounding.
And, make no mistake, it is the LORD who is now doing the pounding! V.29
������Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,��� declares the LORD. 
���See, I am against you, O arrogant one,��� declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, ���for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her������ (vv.29-32).
There���s that theme of humbling the prideful, isn���t there? Don���t raise yourself up. Humble yourself and let the LORD do it. Babylon was so arrogant, and so Babylon must fall. V.33
���This is what the LORD Almighty says: ���The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. 
Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
[Salvation by ���the sword.��� V.35]
���A sword against the Babylonians!��� declares the LORD��� ���against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men! A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror. A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become women. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered. A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.
���So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,��� declares the LORD, ���so no one will live there; no man will dwell in it.
���Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, O Daughter of Babylon��� (vv.33-44).
A sword, a sword, a sword, a sword. If you don���t have room in your concept of God for the sword of the LORD, you need to learn to make room for the justice of God. Babylon must fall. And so it will. V.43
���The king of Babylon has heard reports about them [the attacking armies], and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. [This actually happened to king Belshazzer in Daniel chapter 5!] Like a lion coming up from Jordan's thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?��� Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; he will completely destroy their pasture because of them. At the sound of Babylon's capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations.���
Babylon will fall.
Imagine being an Israelite in exile and hearing this prophecy from the pen of Jeremiah. You���ve been told that Jerusalem is going to fall. And here you are living your life in Babylon, among your captors and oppressors.
And then you hear that justice is coming. They are going to get what is coming to them. And then you hear more about it in chapter 51:
���This is what the LORD says: ���See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai. [That���s a play on words. A cryptogram for Chaldea that also means ���The Heart of My Attackers.��� The LORD is attacking them. V.2] I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.
Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her army. They will fall down slain in Babylon, fatally wounded in her streets. [Why?] For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. [He���s going to save them in spite of their sins!] 
���Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD's vengeance; he will pay her what she deserves��� (vv.1-6).
There���s that call to flee again. When the seventy years are up, they are supposed to pick up their stuff and run out of Babylon like their lives depended on it. Because they did! Because Babylon must fall. 
Verse 7. ���Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. 'We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the clouds.'
'The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.'��� 
There���s that salvation theme again. This judgment of God���s enemies means the salvation of God���s people. V.11
������Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon.
You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be cut off. The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.
���He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. ���Every man is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.  They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.  He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the tribe of his inheritance���the LORD Almighty is his name��� (vv.11-20).
In this section, the LORD finally names the next major world power that is going to take down Babylon. It will be the Medes. We���ll learn later that it will be the Medes and the Persians together. It will take a massive alliance of nations to conquer Babylon, but it will happen.
They are coming from the north like a swarm of locusts. However, they aren���t the real power that will make Babylon fall. That will be the LORD Himself, the only real and true God.
These words in verses 15-19 were used before in chapter 10. The LORD cut and pasted them from chapter 10 when He was going to judge Judah. The very same real God (unlike the shameful fake gods, the very same real God) will now judge Babylon.
Babylon has been used by God but not excused by God. Verse 20.
������You are my war club, my weapon for battle���with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver, with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and maiden, with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials��� (vv-20-23).
How���s that for repetition? I���m not sure who the war club is here. Half of me thinks it���s Cyrus, the king of the Persians who is going to make Babylon fall. But the other half of me thinks it���s talking about Babylon itself and how God used Babylon but didn���t excuse Babylon. God used them to bring His righteous justice through their unrighteous oppression. Either way, now He���s going to bring them down. V.24
������Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,��� declares the LORD. ���I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,��� declares the LORD. ���I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,��� declares the LORD.
���Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. [Territories of the Medes.] Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. Prepare the nations for battle against her���the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule.
The land trembles and writhes, for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand���to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there.
Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken. One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured, the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified������ (vv.24-32).
He doesn���t stop, does He? He has one big message, and He wants us to get it. V.33
���This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ���The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come.���  ���Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out.
May the violence done to our flesh be upon Babylon,��� say the inhabitants of Zion. ���May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,��� says Jerusalem��� (vv.33-35).
We see here, at last, not just real repentance and real rest and real redemption for Judah, but we see, at last, real retribution for Babylon. V.36
���Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ���See, I will defend your cause and avenge you [Judah]; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter���then sleep forever and not awake,��� declares the LORD. ���I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats. ���How Sheshach will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! What a horror Babylon will be among the nations! The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no man travels.
I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall.���
������Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD. Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,��� declares the LORD.
���Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem.���
���We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's house.��� 
���But days are coming,��� declares the LORD, ���when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,��� declares the LORD. 
���The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.
I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake,��� declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty. This is what the LORD Almighty says: ���Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for the flames������ (vv.36-58).
���The days are coming.��� How many times have we read those words and rejoiced in the last few months?  Because God���s salvation is on the way.
And also because God���s justice is on the way. The days are coming when God will bring complete justice against this great and terrible city. Babylon must fall. Justice demands it.
Do you see the main themes running through there? 
The idols of Babylon punished, shamed, and disgraced.
The people of Judah being told to run out of there so they aren���t caught up in Babylon���s downfall, as well. They are supposed to (v.50) remember the LORD and think on Jerusalem.
And that constant drumbeat of justice. Nothing will stop it.
Verse 53 reminds us that Babylon is where the tower of Babel was. ���Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,��� declares the LORD.��� Nothing will stop God���s justice. Because that is Who He is! V.56 reminds us, ���God is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.��� We forget that to our detriment.
Let���s pause right here, and let me give you the three very brief points of application.
#1. REPENT OF THE SINS OF BABYLON.
Just like last week, we are told of this justice to come to warn us to not be like the unrepentant nations, from Egypt to Elam, the nations who do not turn from their sins against the LORD. The nations that embrace the false gods of the idols. Last week: Amon, Chemosh, Molech. This week, Bel and Marduk. 
Idols will not save, but they will condemn.
Justice is coming. Perfect justice is on the way. The sword will be unsheathed on the unrepentant. Babylon is so proud. They will not repent. Not in large scale. There is no ���and yet��� in chapters 50 and 51 like there were in several places in chapters 46 through 49. Babylon will not be saved, so do not be like them.
Justice is coming. Repent!
As the poet Johnny Cash wrote:
������ Well you may throw your rock and hide your handWorkin' in the dark against your fellow manBut as sure as God made black and whiteWhat's down in the dark will be brought to the light
��� You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you down��� (Johnny Cash) 
Repent of the sins of Babylon.
The good news is that God is gracious towards the repentant. Amazingly gracious, as we���ve been singing. In fact, He gave His own beloved Son so that we need not perish at His sword but instead gain eternal life! To all believe! To all who repent and trust in His Son.
Do not be like Babylon in chapter 50 and 51, but be like Israel and Judah in chapter 50 and 51. Truly repent. Go in tears to seek the LORD your God. Ask the way to Zion and turn your faces toward it. Trust in the Mediator of the new everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
And you will gain a hope and a future. And you will find rest for your soul. A Shepherd with ���grace to cleanse, and power to free...Blessed Jesus, early let us turn to Thee.���
Repent of the sins of Babylon and find that your sins cannot be found again.
Application point number two. It���s like the first one, but just a little bit different.
#2. RETREAT FROM THE SINS OF BABYLON.
What I mean is���don���t go there. Don���t follow them into their sin. All of the verses throughout chapter 50 and 51 that tell Judah to run, to flee, to get out of Babylon while they can.
Like the billy-goats running ahead of flock, bursting to get out of there (50:8).
All the places where the LORD says, ���Come out of her, my people!��� (51:45).
I���ve got a Bible study for you to do this afternoon. Where do you think these two chapters show up the most in the New Testament? There is a chapter in your Bible that is devoted to building on the theology of Jeremiah 50 and 51. Does anybody know what it is?
It's Revelation chapter 18.
You might want to read it this afternoon and note all of the ways that it builds right off Jeremiah 50 and 51. Because Babylon is more than just a historical city and kingdom from the sixth century before Christ. Babylon stands for much more than that now. Babylon stands for the whole world system of worldiness. Babylon is all of humanity united in sin and wickedness. It is the city of sin personified.
And in Revelation chapter 18, verse 4, John the Revelator says, ���Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ���Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins...��� (Rev. 18:4 NIVO).
God���s beloved people are told not just to repent of the times when we have fallen into Babylon���s ways, but to run from that temptation now.
Don���t flirt with sin.Don���t flirt with idols.Don���t flirt with pride.Don���t flirt with mistreating God���s people.Don���t flirt with wickedness. 
���Come out of her!��� Run, flee, take flight! ���Leave and do not linger��� (51:50).
Because Babylon must fall. And it will. And when it does...when it finally at last falls for good...God���s people will rejoice.
#3. REJOICE THAT THE SINS OF BABYLON WILL BE JUDGED.
I think that���s hard for us at times to do. We love a good salvation story and rejoice when anyone repents and is saved. And rightly so! God gets the glory. He loves to save! 
But God also gets the glory from His perfect justice. And when people refuse to repent, we should rejoice when God brings His justice down. Look at verse 48 of chapter 51.
������Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,��� declares the LORD.���
Heaven and earth and all that is them, rejoicing over the downfall of Babylon.
And that���s not just an Old Testament thing. Listen to what Revelation 18 says about this for the final Babylon, the bigger Babylon. When the ultimate Babylon falls, Revelation 18:20 says, ���Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you��� (Rev. 18:20 NIVO).
���Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!��� (Rev. 18:2 NIVO).
Rejoice! Shout for joy! Because God is just. Anyone who has experience injustice will feel this more than others. And the greater the injustice you have experiences, the greater you will long for and rejoice when true justice comes. Rejoice that God is a God of retribution (51:56). Justice will be done and will be seen to be done. Inarguably. Everything wrong will be made right���either at the Cross or in the eternal judgment. Babylon must fall.
We will be so happy. When we are perfected, we will be so happy that God has judged the nations, especially the nation of nations, the final Babylon. It must fall and never rise again.
That was the point that Jeremiah wanted to make to the exiles in Babylon. That���s why he sent Seraiah with this mission. Look at verse 59.
���This is the message Jeremiah gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign.
Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon���  all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. [Everything we have just read.] He said to Seraiah, ���When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. [Like I just did.] Then say, 'O LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither man nor animal will live in it; it will be desolate forever.' When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will fall.' The words of Jeremiah end here��� (vv.59-64).
Next week, Lord-willing, we���ll see what God included as an appendix to Jeremiah���s scroll, but these are all the words that he wrote for us. And it���s a fitting last word to come from the one who said that they would fall into the hands of Babylon.
He says that Babylon must fall and sink down into the waters and drown and never come back again.
I imagine those exiles standing in the land of Babylon watching the water, looking to see if those words float back up to the surface. But they don���t. God���s word will stand. And Babylon will fall, at long last.
And not just that Babylon then, but the ultimate Babylon one day. In Revelation chapter 18, John has a vision of angel recreating this prophetic sign from Jeremiah 51 on an scale we can���t imagine.
He says, ���Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: ���With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again������ (Rev. 18:21 NIVO).
Never to be found again.
God���s word will stand. And Babylon will fall.
And we will rejoice!
***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. ���Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!��� - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. ���This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!��� - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. ���My People For My Renown��� - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. ���Insult and Reproach All Day Long��� - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "���My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good��� - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. ���Under the Yoke��� - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. ���I Know the Plans I Have for You��� - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. ���I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love��� - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
33. "What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch" - Jeremiah 45:1-734. "Concerning the Nations" - Jeremiah 46:1-49:39

“Babylon Must Fall” [Matt's Messages]

“Babylon Must Fall”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMarch 19, 2023 :: Jeremiah 50:1-51:64
Baruch’s brother Seraiah tied these two chapters of Jeremiah to a rock and tossed them into the Euphrates river.
Do you know this story? To understand these two chapters, it helps to start at the end.
It turns out that Jeremiah sent a copy of the main contents of these two chapters, Jeremiah 50 and 51, all the way to Babylon with Seraiah son of Neriah, who was probably his assistant Baruch’s brother. And Jeremiah sent a copy of these two chapters all the way to Babylon with Seraiah when King Zedekiah had to go there in 593 BC. And Jeremiah told Seraiah to read the words of the prophecies out loud. And then pray that God would fulfill them and then tie the scroll to a stone and throw the whole thing into the river with a big splash!
I love it that Jeremiah is at it again with his dramatic symbolic acts! He’s got yet even one more of these prophetic props up his sleeve at the very end of his book. This one by remote! Jeremiah isn’t even there, but he’s telling Seraiah what to do. Seraiah is supposed to tie these words to a rock and let it sink into the Euphrates. And then what?
Now, this drowning of the scroll is the opposite of when Jehoiakim burnt the scroll. That was somehow trying to keep the prophecy from coming true and showing disdain and contempt for the Word of God. And trying to destroy the Word of God. This was actually part of the Word of God. This was the Word of God being fulfilled. Enacting the Word of God.
Because what these words said were that “Babylon Must Fall.” That’s our sermon title for today taken from verse 49 of chapter 51. “Babylon Must Fall.” Like this scroll hitting the bottom of the Euphrates, the kingdom of Babylon must sink down to rise no more.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Last week, we read about God’s judgment coming on nine different nations. The LORD’s prophecies “concerning the nations” that surrounded Judah. Sometimes their allies, but more often than not, their enemies. Starting with Egypt in the South and West, the prophecies curled around Judah heading East and North.
And now in chapters 50 and 51, we have the final prophecies that concern one last kingdom, the kingdom from the north, the greatest enemy of Judah there ever was, the empire that conquered them and the entire civilized world. The empire that burned the city of Jerusalem, and destroyed the temple of the LORD, and carried off the people of Judah into exile. In these two chapters, we have the prophecies “concerning Babylon.”
What do you think we’re going see when we read them? The people of Judah would have been very interested to hear what the LORD had to say was going to happen to Babylon. They didn’t like to hear what Jeremiah had to say about what was going to happen to them. They tried to ignore him for 40 years about that! But they would have cocked an ear and listened with interest to find out what Yahweh prophesied to Babylon. What kind of things do you think He’s going to say?
A lot of it is just like what we saw last week. There is a lot of justice. There is a lot of judgment and vengeance and punishment. Remember “the sword” from last week? “The sword of the LORD.”  That sword is going to come out swinging through these two chapters as “Babylon Must Fall.”
We’re also going to see the LORD shaming the false gods. Yahweh alone is God, and He will brook no rivals. The gods of Babylon will be shamed and defeated and disgraced.
We’re also, once again, going to see the LORD humbling the arrogant. No kingdom had ever been as prideful as Babylon! Therefore no kingdom would ever be as humbled.
And along the way, we’ll also see the LORD rescuing His people and giving them rest from their enemies. These chapters are heavy if you are the people of Babylon, but they are delightful if you are people of Judah! The people of Judah would have just rejoiced to hear these things. They would have cried tears of joy. 
And maybe of disbelief. It might have been very hard for them to believe these prophecies. They sounded too good to be true! Nothing in these prophesies seemed very likely at the time. Babylon was at the heights of power in the whole entire world! But the LORD said that Babylon must fall.
Let’s just read our way through it and see what’s there, and then when we get to the end, I’ll have 3 points of application for our lives today.
Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 1.
“This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians:”
[By the way, your Bible may say “Chaldea” and the “Chaldeans.” That’s how the Hebrew actually reads. The Chaldeans were the ethnic group that had risen to rule Babylon at this moment starting with Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar. They were the Chaldeans who were ruling Babylon, and so to keep things simple, many English Bibles uses “Babylon” and “Babylonia” in those verses to keep things straight. Back to verse 1.]
“This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians: ‘Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, 'Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.'
A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both men and animals will flee away” (vv.1-3). 
This is something that Judah has longed to hear for a very long time. Babylon is going to be captured. All they’ve heard year after year is that Judah is going to be captured. But the LORD says that after that Babylon is going to get it, too. And it’s going to be an enemy from the north that does it! 
All these years, Judah has been warned about this enemy from the north that is going to lay waste to their land. But Babylon is going to have a northern enemy do it to them, too.
And you see what’s going to happen to their gods? That’s who Bel is (it’s like Baal) and Marduk also known as “Merodach.” That’s the chief god of Babylon. He’s going to be shamed and scared! I love that picture. Babylon’s gods are going to be terrified and helpless to stop the LORD from judging them. At long last!
And, at long last, there will finally be real repentance among the people of Judah. Look at verse 4.
“‘In those days, at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten” (vv.4-5).
This is just like the promises of chapters 30 through 33. Promises of restoration and the new permanent covenant written on their hearts! At long last. V.6
“My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. [Bad kings.] Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, 'We are not guilty, for they sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.'”
The people who had conquered Judah were right that Judah deserved their punishment. But that did not mean that they were right to conquer them. They were oppressors, and when the LORD was done using them to judge His people, He was going to judge them! Babylon must fall.
So Judah must flee. V.8
“‘Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock. For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed. So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,’ declares the LORD.” (Vv.8-11).
Now, this command to “flee” is interesting. It’s not something that Judah is supposed to do right away. In chapter 29, in the letter to the exiles, written perhaps at the very same time[!], the LORD told them to settle down and build houses and pray for the peace and prosperity of Babylon for the time being.
But only for the time being. When the seventy years of their sentence is up, they are supposed to get out of Dodge. Settle in but don’t get too comfortable. Because Babylon must fall.
Why must they fall? Why must this “alliance of nations” rise up from the north to plunder them? Because of how they have treated God’s people! V.11 The LORD says:
“‘Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions, your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nations–a wilderness, a dry land, a desert. Because of the LORD's anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds” (vv.11-13).
Do you see how this is justice? Babylon has done wrong against God’s people, and they will not get away with it. There will be blood. V.14
“‘Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.”
That’s justice. And at the same time, it’s salvation–for God’s people. V.16
“Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor [Babylon] let everyone return to his own people, let everyone flee to his own land.
‘Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria [in the northern kingdom]; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon’ [in the south]. Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
But I will bring Israel back to his own pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead” (vv.16-19).
The Savior will “like a Shepherd lead us, [so] much we need [His] tender care. In [His] pleasant pastures feed us, For our use [His] folds prepare[d].” - Dorothy Thrupp 
This justice on God’s enemies means salvation for God’s people.
Total salvation. Including total forgiveness! Look at verse 20.
“In those days, at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘search will be made for Israel's guilt [and there was so much of it! We have seen so much of it], but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah [and there was so much of it!], but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare” (v.20).
You and I know how that is even possible! It’s because of what Jesus Christ did at Calvary.
“You laid down Your lifeThat I would be set free”Oh, Jesus, I sing forAll that You've done for me
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” (Phil Wickham)
They will search for our guilt and our sins, but none will be found! That’s why we have a hope and future
But Babylon does not have a hope or a future. V.21
“‘Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,’ declares the LORD. ‘Do everything I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction! How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations!
I set a trap for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the LORD. The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians. 
Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant. Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.
Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple” (vv.21-28).
He doesn’t stop, does He? Babylon thinks of themselves as “the hammer of the whole earth.” They can pound wherever they want. They can pound whoever they want. But now the those who have been doing the pounding are going to get the pounding.
And, make no mistake, it is the LORD who is now doing the pounding! V.29
“‘Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,’ declares the LORD. 
‘See, I am against you, O arrogant one,’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, ‘for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her’” (vv.29-32).
There’s that theme of humbling the prideful, isn’t there? Don’t raise yourself up. Humble yourself and let the LORD do it. Babylon was so arrogant, and so Babylon must fall. V.33
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. 
Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
[Salvation by “the sword.” V.35]
‘A sword against the Babylonians!’ declares the LORD– ‘against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men! A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror. A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become women. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered. A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.
‘So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,’ declares the LORD, ‘so no one will live there; no man will dwell in it.
‘Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, O Daughter of Babylon” (vv.33-44).
A sword, a sword, a sword, a sword. If you don’t have room in your concept of God for the sword of the LORD, you need to learn to make room for the justice of God. Babylon must fall. And so it will. V.43
“The king of Babylon has heard reports about them [the attacking armies], and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. [This actually happened to king Belshazzer in Daniel chapter 5!] Like a lion coming up from Jordan's thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?’ Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; he will completely destroy their pasture because of them. At the sound of Babylon's capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations.”
Babylon will fall.
Imagine being an Israelite in exile and hearing this prophecy from the pen of Jeremiah. You’ve been told that Jerusalem is going to fall. And here you are living your life in Babylon, among your captors and oppressors.
And then you hear that justice is coming. They are going to get what is coming to them. And then you hear more about it in chapter 51:
“This is what the LORD says: ‘See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai. [That’s a play on words. A cryptogram for Chaldea that also means “The Heart of My Attackers.” The LORD is attacking them. V.2] I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.
Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her army. They will fall down slain in Babylon, fatally wounded in her streets. [Why?] For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. [He’s going to save them in spite of their sins!] 
‘Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD's vengeance; he will pay her what she deserves” (vv.1-6).
There’s that call to flee again. When the seventy years are up, they are supposed to pick up their stuff and run out of Babylon like their lives depended on it. Because they did! Because Babylon must fall. 
Verse 7. “Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. 'We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the clouds.'
'The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.'” 
There’s that salvation theme again. This judgment of God’s enemies means the salvation of God’s people. V.11
“‘Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon.
You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be cut off. The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.
‘He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. ‘Every man is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.  They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.  He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the tribe of his inheritance–the LORD Almighty is his name” (vv.11-20).
In this section, the LORD finally names the next major world power that is going to take down Babylon. It will be the Medes. We’ll learn later that it will be the Medes and the Persians together. It will take a massive alliance of nations to conquer Babylon, but it will happen.
They are coming from the north like a swarm of locusts. However, they aren’t the real power that will make Babylon fall. That will be the LORD Himself, the only real and true God.
These words in verses 15-19 were used before in chapter 10. The LORD cut and pasted them from chapter 10 when He was going to judge Judah. The very same real God (unlike the shameful fake gods, the very same real God) will now judge Babylon.
Babylon has been used by God but not excused by God. Verse 20.
“‘You are my war club, my weapon for battle–with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver, with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and maiden, with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials” (vv-20-23).
How’s that for repetition? I’m not sure who the war club is here. Half of me thinks it’s Cyrus, the king of the Persians who is going to make Babylon fall. But the other half of me thinks it’s talking about Babylon itself and how God used Babylon but didn’t excuse Babylon. God used them to bring His righteous justice through their unrighteous oppression. Either way, now He’s going to bring them down. V.24
“‘Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,’ declares the LORD. ‘I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,’ declares the LORD.
‘Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. [Territories of the Medes.] Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. Prepare the nations for battle against her–the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule.
The land trembles and writhes, for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand–to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there.
Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken. One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured, the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified’” (vv.24-32).
He doesn’t stop, does He? He has one big message, and He wants us to get it. V.33
“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come.’  ‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out.
May the violence done to our flesh be upon Babylon,’ say the inhabitants of Zion. ‘May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,’ says Jerusalem” (vv.33-35).
We see here, at last, not just real repentance and real rest and real redemption for Judah, but we see, at last, real retribution for Babylon. V.36
“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘See, I will defend your cause and avenge you [Judah]; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter–then sleep forever and not awake,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats. ‘How Sheshach will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! What a horror Babylon will be among the nations! The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no man travels.
I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall.”
“‘Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD. Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,’ declares the LORD.
‘Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem.’
‘We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's house.’ 
‘But days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,’ declares the LORD. 
‘The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.
I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake,’ declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty. This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for the flames’” (vv.36-58).
“The days are coming.” How many times have we read those words and rejoiced in the last few months?  Because God’s salvation is on the way.
And also because God’s justice is on the way. The days are coming when God will bring complete justice against this great and terrible city. Babylon must fall. Justice demands it.
Do you see the main themes running through there? 
The idols of Babylon punished, shamed, and disgraced.
The people of Judah being told to run out of there so they aren’t caught up in Babylon’s downfall, as well. They are supposed to (v.50) remember the LORD and think on Jerusalem.
And that constant drumbeat of justice. Nothing will stop it.
Verse 53 reminds us that Babylon is where the tower of Babel was. “Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,’ declares the LORD.” Nothing will stop God’s justice. Because that is Who He is! V.56 reminds us, “God is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.” We forget that to our detriment.
Let’s pause right here, and let me give you the three very brief points of application.
#1. REPENT OF THE SINS OF BABYLON.
Just like last week, we are told of this justice to come to warn us to not be like the unrepentant nations, from Egypt to Elam, the nations who do not turn from their sins against the LORD. The nations that embrace the false gods of the idols. Last week: Amon, Chemosh, Molech. This week, Bel and Marduk. 
Idols will not save, but they will condemn.
Justice is coming. Perfect justice is on the way. The sword will be unsheathed on the unrepentant. Babylon is so proud. They will not repent. Not in large scale. There is no “and yet” in chapters 50 and 51 like there were in several places in chapters 46 through 49. Babylon will not be saved, so do not be like them.
Justice is coming. Repent!
As the poet Johnny Cash wrote:
“… Well you may throw your rock and hide your handWorkin' in the dark against your fellow manBut as sure as God made black and whiteWhat's down in the dark will be brought to the light
… You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you down” (Johnny Cash) 
Repent of the sins of Babylon.
The good news is that God is gracious towards the repentant. Amazingly gracious, as we’ve been singing. In fact, He gave His own beloved Son so that we need not perish at His sword but instead gain eternal life! To all believe! To all who repent and trust in His Son.
Do not be like Babylon in chapter 50 and 51, but be like Israel and Judah in chapter 50 and 51. Truly repent. Go in tears to seek the LORD your God. Ask the way to Zion and turn your faces toward it. Trust in the Mediator of the new everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
And you will gain a hope and a future. And you will find rest for your soul. A Shepherd with “grace to cleanse, and power to free...Blessed Jesus, early let us turn to Thee.”
Repent of the sins of Babylon and find that your sins cannot be found again.
Application point number two. It’s like the first one, but just a little bit different.
#2. RETREAT FROM THE SINS OF BABYLON.
What I mean is–don’t go there. Don’t follow them into their sin. All of the verses throughout chapter 50 and 51 that tell Judah to run, to flee, to get out of Babylon while they can.
Like the billy-goats running ahead of flock, bursting to get out of there (50:8).
All the places where the LORD says, “Come out of her, my people!” (51:45).
I’ve got a Bible study for you to do this afternoon. Where do you think these two chapters show up the most in the New Testament? There is a chapter in your Bible that is devoted to building on the theology of Jeremiah 50 and 51. Does anybody know what it is?
It's Revelation chapter 18.
You might want to read it this afternoon and note all of the ways that it builds right off Jeremiah 50 and 51. Because Babylon is more than just a historical city and kingdom from the sixth century before Christ. Babylon stands for much more than that now. Babylon stands for the whole world system of worldiness. Babylon is all of humanity united in sin and wickedness. It is the city of sin personified.
And in Revelation chapter 18, verse 4, John the Revelator says, “Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins...” (Rev. 18:4 NIVO).
God’s beloved people are told not just to repent of the times when we have fallen into Babylon’s ways, but to run from that temptation now.
Don’t flirt with sin.Don’t flirt with idols.Don’t flirt with pride.Don’t flirt with mistreating God’s people.Don’t flirt with wickedness. 
“Come out of her!” Run, flee, take flight! “Leave and do not linger” (51:50).
Because Babylon must fall. And it will. And when it does...when it finally at last falls for good...God’s people will rejoice.
#3. REJOICE THAT THE SINS OF BABYLON WILL BE JUDGED.
I think that’s hard for us at times to do. We love a good salvation story and rejoice when anyone repents and is saved. And rightly so! God gets the glory. He loves to save! 
But God also gets the glory from His perfect justice. And when people refuse to repent, we should rejoice when God brings His justice down. Look at verse 48 of chapter 51.
“‘Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,’ declares the LORD.”
Heaven and earth and all that is them, rejoicing over the downfall of Babylon.
And that’s not just an Old Testament thing. Listen to what Revelation 18 says about this for the final Babylon, the bigger Babylon. When the ultimate Babylon falls, Revelation 18:20 says, “Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you” (Rev. 18:20 NIVO).
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” (Rev. 18:2 NIVO).
Rejoice! Shout for joy! Because God is just. Anyone who has experience injustice will feel this more than others. And the greater the injustice you have experiences, the greater you will long for and rejoice when true justice comes. Rejoice that God is a God of retribution (51:56). Justice will be done and will be seen to be done. Inarguably. Everything wrong will be made right–either at the Cross or in the eternal judgment. Babylon must fall.
We will be so happy. When we are perfected, we will be so happy that God has judged the nations, especially the nation of nations, the final Babylon. It must fall and never rise again.
That was the point that Jeremiah wanted to make to the exiles in Babylon. That’s why he sent Seraiah with this mission. Look at verse 59.
“This is the message Jeremiah gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign.
Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon–  all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. [Everything we have just read.] He said to Seraiah, ‘When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. [Like I just did.] Then say, 'O LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither man nor animal will live in it; it will be desolate forever.' When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will fall.' The words of Jeremiah end here” (vv.59-64).
Next week, Lord-willing, we’ll see what God included as an appendix to Jeremiah’s scroll, but these are all the words that he wrote for us. And it’s a fitting last word to come from the one who said that they would fall into the hands of Babylon.
He says that Babylon must fall and sink down into the waters and drown and never come back again.
I imagine those exiles standing in the land of Babylon watching the water, looking to see if those words float back up to the surface. But they don’t. God’s word will stand. And Babylon will fall, at long last.
And not just that Babylon then, but the ultimate Babylon one day. In Revelation chapter 18, John has a vision of angel recreating this prophetic sign from Jeremiah 51 on an scale we can’t imagine.
He says, “Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again’” (Rev. 18:21 NIVO).
Never to be found again.
God’s word will stand. And Babylon will fall.
And we will rejoice!
***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
33. "What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch" - Jeremiah 45:1-734. "Concerning the Nations" - Jeremiah 46:1-49:39

���Concerning the Nations��� [Matt's Messages]

���Concerning the Nations���Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMarch 12, 2023 :: Jeremiah 46:1-49:39
Jeremiah was born to be a prophet to the nations.
Way back in chapter 1, the LORD told Jeremiah that before he was even born, he had a calling on his life, and it was a calling to speak for God, not just to the nation of Judah but beyond that nation to the nations. To the foreign nations surrounding Judah.
Jeremiah wrote in chapter 1, verse 5, ���The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ���Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations������ (Jer. 1:4-5 NIVO).
We���re coming down to the homestretch on the book of Jeremiah, and we haven���t yet seen that many direct prophecies to the nations. We���ve read some of them. They have been sprinkled in there all along. But here at the end, Baruch and Jeremiah (Barry and Jerry) have collected and compiled about 10 of them and placed them here together in this one section. Six whole chapters worth of prophetic messages to the nations.
They were written at different times and addressed to ten different kingdoms. Today, I���d like to work our way through the first nine. Don���t worry. It will move quickly. Each of these prophecies are fairly similar. They have their own flavor, but the message God has for each one is basically the same.
Interestingly, the Greek translation of Jeremiah, called the ���Septuagint��� places these prophecies in the middle of the book of Jeremiah. Right after chapter 25, verse 13. And if you check it out, you can see how they might fit there.
But the Hebrew version has them all here together basically at the end like in our English Bibles. And they build and build into a cascading crescendo. The first one is Egypt (south and west of Israel) and the last one (east and north of Israel) is Babylon. Lord-willing, we���ll get to that one next week.

Most of the time, I struggle to read these. You know, when you���re doing your Bible reading, this is one of those places where I get tempted to just skim. Just scroll.
I���m not good at poetry, and I���m not good at geography. And that���s what���s going on here! Poetry and geography. But there is also really good theology. So it pays for us to slow down and to think about what the message is here for us today.
These chapters are really foreign to us���because they are about foreign nations. As foreign as Judah is, we���re used to reading about them. Israel was the people of God at the narratival center of the story of the Old Testament. But these nations are really exotic and strange. We don���t know that much about them.
But Israel did. They were Israel���s neighbors. Sometimes their allies but even more often their enemies. Israel would have listened in to these prophecies with great interest. Judah needed to hear what Yahweh had to say to these nations because it would seriously affect them.
These prophecies are important because the LORD is not just the God of Israel. He is not just a local tribal deity. The LORD is the God of the whole earth. All people everywhere are accountable to Him. He made all of the nations (Acts 17:31), and He will judge all of the nations.
Do you remember what the LORD told Jeremiah His job was going to be full of as he prophesied to the nations? Back in chapter 1, verse 10, He said this. It should sound familiar by now:
���See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant��� (Jer. 1:10 NIVO).
Six things. And we���ll see them all here in these chapters: Uproot, Tear Down, Destroy, Overthrow, Build, and Plant. Nations and Kingdoms. Look with me at chapter 46, verse 1.
���This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations:���
There���s our title for today, ���Concerning the Nations.���
Verse 1 is like the heading for the next several chapters. Each time we meet a new nation, it will say, ���Concerning [this one]��� and then later ���Concerning [that one.]���
And the first one in chapter 46 is Egypt. Look at verse 2.
���Concerning Egypt: This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:���
Did you get all of that? If you are Snack and Yack kid, you won���t have any trouble coming up with an answer for the handout question, ���What is a word or a name you heard for the first time today?��� You could probably fill up 50 handouts with them!
Jeremiah is sent to give a message against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt who reigned from 610-595 BC. He���s the guy whose army was defeated at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. That���s the same year as last week���s story about what Jeremiah the Prophet told Baruch his scribe. That was a very important year in ancient near eastern history and the history of Judah.
Pharaoh Neco was a very powerful king. His army killed Judah���s King Josiah in 609BC, and he installed the next two kings of Judah after him, including King Jehoiakim! But as powerful as he once was, he was going to be defeated. Thus saith the LORD. V.3
������Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle! Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armor! 
What do I see? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated. They flee in haste without looking back, and there is terror on every side,��� declares the LORD. [Remember that phrase? That���s one of Jeremiah���s favorites. It was almost his nickname. ���Terror on every side.���] ���The swift cannot flee nor the strong escape. In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall��� (vv.4-6).
They like to think of themselves as a world-dominating power, but they are going down. V.7
���Who is this that rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters? Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters. She says, 'I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy cities and their people.' Charge, O horses! Drive furiously, O charioteers! March on, O warriors��� men of Cush and Put who carry shields, men of Lydia who draw the bow. [Egypt���s African allies.]
But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty���a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, till it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates��� (vv.7-10.
Today, I have five points of theology that I think that Jeremiah is trying to get across to the nations and to Israel as they listen in. And I think that all five of them have applications for our lives today, as well. Here���s number one. It���s probably obvious by now:
#1. THE LORD WILL SURELY JUDGE THE NATIONS.
You can hear the words of vengeance and wrath. ���Terror on every side.��� Disaster. Destruction. Punishment. Justice.
One key word here that gets repeated again and again and again is ���the sword.��� Like there in verse 10, ���The sword will devour till it is satisfied.���
And that sounds scary. But it is just. These nations have sinned against the LORD, breaking His moral law again and again and often harming God���s own people. And the LORD promises justice to break out upon them. Egypt will not get away with anything. They will be judged. And nothing they do will stop it. V.11
������Go up to Gilead and get balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt. [Remember the medicine in Gilead. You���re going to need it!] But you multiply remedies in vain; there is no healing for you. The nations will hear of your shame; your cries will fill the earth. One warrior will stumble over another; both will fall down together������ (vv.11-12).
And that���s just the first defeat up north at Carchemish. In the second half of the chapter, we see a second defeat. This time down south actually in Egypt. V.13
���This is the message the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt: ���Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it also in Memphis and Tahpanhes: 'Take your positions and get ready, for the sword devours those around you.' [The sword.] Why will your warriors be laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD will push them down. They will stumble repeatedly; they will fall over each other. They will say, 'Get up, let us go back to our own people and our native lands, away from the sword of the oppressor.'  There they will exclaim, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise; he has missed his opportunity.'
���As surely as I live,��� declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty, ���one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains, like Carmel by the sea. [Nebuchadnezzar, doing the LORD���s will for Him.] Pack your belongings for exile, you who live in Egypt, for Memphis will be laid waste and lie in ruins without inhabitant.
���Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly is coming against her from the north. The mercenaries in her ranks are like fattened calves. They too will turn and flee together, they will not stand their ground, for the day of disaster is coming upon them, the time for them to be punished.
Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent as the enemy advances in force; they will come against her with axes, like men who cut down trees. They will chop down her forest,��� declares the LORD, ���dense though it be. They are more numerous than locusts, they cannot be counted. [Sound familiar? The serpent is the symbol of Egyptian royalty. Think about the Pharaoh���s snake crown. But what defeats the snakes? The plague of locusts. This time it will be a locust-like plague of Babylonians. V.24] 
The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame, handed over to the people of the north.��� The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ���I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh. I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past,��� declares the LORD��� (vv.13-26). Now, there are things at the end of that section that I want you to notice because they are themes that are going to keep popping up throughout this section.
First, notice the god of Egypt that is being punished by Yahweh. His name is Amon, god of Thebes. The LORD is whipping on him. The LORD will brook no rivals.
And second, notice that word, ���however��� in verse 26. ���Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past.��� That���s something, isn���t it? Jeremiah says that there will be a time when Egypt is restored. Hold on to that idea while we think about the main idea here, which is: 
The LORD will surely judge the nations.
Egypt seemed so powerful. Remember a couple of weeks ago when we studied chapters 41-44 when the surviving people of Judah were so tempted to go down to Egypt? It seemed so safe compared to everywhere else.
But Egypt was not safe. They were especially not safe from the judgment of the LORD. He was going to send Nebuchadnezzar down with ���the sword.��� The LORD will surely judge the nations.
What is the application of that to our lives today? Well, it should cause us to repent, I think, if we have not yet. God���s justice is perfect and unstoppable. And that means that if we do not turn from our sin, then the perfect justice of God is coming for us.
That was obviously true for Judah. How many times we have pointed that out in the last 11 months? But it was also true for Gentiles who were not the covenant people of God. Judgment was coming for them, too.
And it���s coming for all one day. That���s what Hell is. The unstoppable justice of God on the nations. These kind of chapters should sober us as we consider the perfect justice of God.
Of course, it also should make us think about the Cross, right? Because that was the unstoppable justice of God meted out on the righteous Son of God. He took the punishment that you and I deserved. Which lead us right into point number two:
#2. THE LORD WILL MERCIFULLY RESCUE HIS PEOPLE FROM THE NATIONS.
Look where Jeremiah goes at the very end of the prophecy concerning Egypt. He talks directly to the people of Judah. Egypt is going to be defeated and so...Verse 27.
������Do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel. I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you,��� declares the LORD. ���Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.������
Doesn���t that sound good?! It was good! And it should sound familiar, too. Because Jeremiah has already given us these exact words back in chapter 30. These words come from what we called ���The Book of Hope��� or ���The Book of Promise,��� ���The Book of Comfort��� (chapters 29-33). The LORD has promised to not utterly destroy His people but to send them into exile and one day bring them out of exile!
That���s what 29:11 is all about right? He���s got good plans for them. Plans to ���shalom��� them and not to harm them. plans to give them a hope and a future. To save them out of a distant place���whether that be Babylon or Egypt or the land of slavery to sin. The LORD is going to show mercy and rescue His people.
And that makes all of the difference. Hear these words of comfort:
���Do not fear...do not be dismayed...[You] will again have shalom and security, and no one will make [you] afraid...I am with you, declares the LORD.��� I don���t know about you, but I need to hear those words each and every day. I need rescued from my enemies, and they are worse enemies then Egypt or Babylon. They are the world, the flesh, and the devil. But my Savior is greater than my enemies. And He has not only died on the Cross. He has come back from the dead! Amen?! It���s so easy to live scared because we have great enemies. But the LORD will mercifully rescue His people from the nations.
Okay. That���s ���Concerning Egypt.��� The second one is much shorter. It���s chapter 47. ���Concerning the Philistines.��� Verse 1.
���This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza: This is what the LORD says: ���See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Fathers will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp. 
For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor. Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves?
���'Ah, sword of the LORD,' you cry, 'how long till you rest? Return to your scabbard; cease and be still.' 
But how can it rest when the LORD has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?������ (vv.1-7).
Do you feel how heavy these are? The people of Israel were probably cheering when they heard this one, though! Think about all of the times when the Philistines hurt them through the years. And now the Philistines were finally going to be judged.
Do you see ���the sword��� there in verse 6? They talk directly to the sword. ���Ah, sword of the LORD...how long till you rest?��� The Philistines cry out for the sword to be put away, but it will not be until the LORD���s perfect justice is satisfied.
Chapter 48. The next prophecy is very very long. But the idea is basically the same. 
This time, it���s Israel���s distant relatives who are also ancient enemies. Verse 1.
���Concerning Moab: This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ���Woe to Nebo [leading city of Moab], for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered. Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon men will plot her downfall: 'Come, let us put an end to that nation.' You too, O Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you. [There���s ���the sword��� again.]
Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction. Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard. 
Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert. Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials��� (vv.1-7).
Who are all of these people and where are they? Moab was east of Israel, east of the Dead Sea. And they came from Abraham���s cousin Lot���s incestuous relationship with one of his daughters. They had grown to be Israel���s enemies and fought them many times. 
Many of these places are not on any map. And, I think, that���s proof that God���s prophecies here were fulfilled. God is promising to wipe them off of the map. And so He did.
But this one name ���Chemosh,��� in verse 7, I want you to really notice. Who is that? He���s the chief god of Moab. Chemosh is the one that Moab worships instead of Yahweh.
And see what the LORD says about him? Chemosh is going to go into exile!
I love that. Chemosh doesn���t just get defeated by the LORD. The LORD sends him off into exile with the punished people of Moab.
Let���s make that point number three.
#3. THE LORD WILL TRULY SHAME THE FALSE GODS OF THE NATIONS.
When the LORD surely brings His sure judgment, the false gods will be seen to be gods that are false. And the LORD will shine out as true.
There is a battle of deities here. And it might look like the LORD is losing when He allows His people to suffer judgment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and be drug off into exile in Babylon. But, in the end, it will be clear that that was the LORD���s doing. It wasn���t like Babylon���s gods were stronger than Yahweh. No, Nebuchadnezzar was doing God���s work. And every false god will be seen to be false when the LORD is done with them.
That was definitely true of Moab���s gods. Verse 8.
���The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the LORD has spoken. Put salt on Moab [completely destroy the land!], for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them. ���A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD's work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!
���Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another���she has not gone into exile. [The LORD has been patient.] So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged. [Like a fine wine.]
But days are coming,��� declares the LORD, ���when I will send men who pour from jars, and they will pour her out; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs.
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel��� (vv.8-13).
The days are coming! How many times have we heard that? Such good news for the people of God. But terrible news for the people who are not the people of God. And even more terrible for their false gods. ���Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh!��� They will be so sorry they ever trusted in that idol! It will be so obvious that it was a false god.
What is the application for us? We need to topple our idols, too! Judah kept on worshipping false gods. That���s how they got into this mess. Chemosh seemed like a good bet like Money, Sex, Power, and Popularity seem to us today.
But the LORD will truly shame the false gods of the nations.
What gods are you tempted to honor today with your life?
What does your life say?
What comes out of your mouth?What comes out of your paycheck?What comes out of your time priorities?
What are you worshipping?
Is it the One true triune God or a false god worshiped by the nations?
They are going down and going down hard. Verse 14.
������How can you say, 'We are warriors, men valiant in battle'? Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,��� declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
���The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly. Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, 'How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!' ���Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon, for he who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, 'What has happened?' Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed. Judgment has come to the plateau���to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath, to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, to Kerioth and Bozrah���to all the towns of Moab, far and near. 
Moab's horn is cut off; her arm is broken,��� declares the LORD. ���Make her drunk, for she has defied the LORD. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule. Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her? Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.
���We have heard of Moab's pride���her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart��� (vv.14-29).
Let���s make that point number four of five.
#4. THE LORD WILL UNERRINGLY HUMBLE THE NATIONS.
He knows what He���s about. He���s about shaming the idols and humbling the proud. Did you hear all of words that refer to pride in verse 29? I think there���s 5 in 1 verse! ���We have heard of Moab's pride���her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart��� (vv.14-29).
Moab was big on herself. She thought she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And it led to all kind of sin. But the LORD is the greatest thing ever, and He will see to it that in the end the prideful are humbled and the humble are lifted up.
Verse 30. ���I know her insolence but it is futile,��� declares the LORD, ���and her boasts accomplish nothing. Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth. I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, O vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes. Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy��� (vv.30-34).
Isn���t that interesting?  I would have thought that the LORD will be crowing as He humbles them. But even as He brings His perfect justice and takes them down every notch, he still weeps over them as He does. Even though they aren���t His covenant people, He still weeps! I think we need to keep that in mind when we think about God���s heart. It is so full of compassion. And He does not take delight in the death of the wicked, even when He rightly brings the wicked to death.
Moab will meet with death. V.34
������The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up. In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,��� declares the LORD. [Shaming their gods.]
���So my heart laments for Moab like a flute; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth. On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,��� declares the LORD. ���How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.���
This is what the LORD says: ���Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab. Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor. Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD. 
Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of Moab,��� declares the LORD. ���Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment,��� declares the LORD. ���In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.���
���The noisy boasters!���
I don���t know about you, but I don���t want to be known to the LORD as a noisy boaster. I have been a noisy boaster. But I want to humble myself before Him. And let Him lift me up (James 4:10). Because you see what happens to the noisy boasters? V.46
���Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity. ���Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,��� declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.���
There���s another one of those different endings. There���s that little note of hope in the last verse. ���Yet I will restore...��� Most of the chapter is doom and gloom and rightly so. But the LORD can���t help but sneak in some mercy and grace, because that���s just Who He is. But we know He shows it to those who are repentant and humble.
That���s one of the things I worry the most about the United States of America. We are not, by and large, a humble nation. We think we are wonderful. We think we���re the best. We have grown proud.
���USA. USA. USA!���
I love this country, but it is a nation that thinks highly of itself, and it could very well go the way of Moab. And one day, of course, it will. Because judgment is coming on the nations. It has happened before: ���He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword...��� (Julia Ward Howe). It can and will happen again.
One more chapter today. And now the nations come fast and hot. We���ve looked so far at 3 in 3 chapters. Now here are 6 more in one chapter. Chapter 49. Verse 1.
���Concerning the Ammonites: This is what the LORD says: ���Has Israel no sons? Has she no heirs? Why then has Molech taken possession of Gad? Why do his people live in its towns?���
What���s going on? What���s happened is that the nation of Ammon has stolen some tribal territory from Israel. Ammon was also the result of Lot���s incestuous relations with his other daughter. Ammon is north of Moab and east of the Jordan and almost always at enmity with Israel. Their king Baalis was behind the assassination of governor Gedaliah we learned about a couple of weeks ago.
And their chief god was named ���Molech��� (also rendered ���Milcom���). And Molech and his people had stolen land from the Israelite tribe of Gad. So Yahweh says their days were numbered. Verse 2. 
���But the days are coming,��� declares the LORD, ���when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites [capital city]; it will become a mound of ruins, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire. Then Israel will drive out those who drove her out,��� says the LORD. ���Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed! Cry out, O inhabitants of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; rush here and there inside the walls, for Molech will go into exile, together with his priests and officials. 
[False gods shamed. The prideful humbled. V.4] 
Why do you boast of your valleys, boast of your valleys so fruitful? O unfaithful daughter, you trust in your riches and say, 'Who will attack me?'  I will bring terror on you from all those around you,��� declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. ���Every one of you will be driven away, and no one will gather the fugitives. ���Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,��� declares the LORD��� (vv.2-6).
There it is again. Another one of those ���yets.��� Keep storing those up. ���Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites.���
Next is Edom. The children of Esau, to the south of the Dead Sea. Also related to Israel. Esau was Jacob���s brother. Also often their enemies. V.7
���Concerning Edom: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ���Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed? Turn and flee, hide in deep caves, you who live in Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.
If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? If thieves came during the night, would they not steal only as much as they wanted? But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, so that he cannot conceal himself. His children, relatives and neighbors will perish, and he will be no more.
Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me.��� This is what the LORD says: ���If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. 
I swear by myself,��� declares the LORD, ���that Bozrah will become a ruin and an object of horror, of reproach and of cursing; and all its towns will be in ruins forever.��� I have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, ���Assemble yourselves to attack it! Rise up for battle!��� 
���Now I will make you small among the nations, despised among men. The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle's, from there I will bring you down,��� declares the LORD. ���Edom will become an object of horror; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. As [nearby] Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, along with their neighboring towns,��� says the LORD, ���so no one will live there; no man will dwell in it. ���Like a lion coming up from Jordan's thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?��� Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Edom, what he has purposed against those who live in Teman: The young of the flock will be dragged away; he will completely destroy their pasture because of them. At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble; their cry will resound to the Red Sea. Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor��� (vv.7-23).
You can see how the same ideas keep cycling through. Here the emphasis still on pride. Esau���s descendants thought they could stay up high on their rocky mountainous terrain and repel all attackers.
The pride of their hearts had deceived them. And verse 15 says that the LORD was going to make them small. The principle is this, ���God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble��� (1 Pet. 5:5 NIVO). Either we will make ourselves small or God will do it for us.
Nation number six. Verse 23.
���Concerning Damascus [capital of Syria]: ���Hamath and Arpad are dismayed, for they have heard bad news. They are disheartened, troubled like the restless sea. Damascus has become feeble, she has turned to flee and panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her, pain like that of a woman in labor. Why has the city of renown not been abandoned, the town in which I delight?  Surely, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,��� declares the LORD Almighty. ���I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad������ (vv.23-28).
Judgment is coming. Not just about Judah but upon her neighbors to the north. Notice, again, the LORD���s heart for these people���even though they weren���t His covenant people! But see also His perfect justice.
Nations seven and eight. Verse 28.
���Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the LORD says: ���Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East. Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. Men will shout to them, 'Terror on every side!' [There it is again.]
���Flee quickly away! Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,��� declares the LORD. ���Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you; he has devised a plan against you. ���Arise and attack a nation at ease, which lives in confidence,��� declares the LORD, ���a nation that has neither gates nor bars; its people live alone. Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be booty. I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places and will bring disaster on them from every side,��� declares the LORD. ���Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, a desolate place forever. No one will live there; no man will dwell in it.������ (vv.23-33).
Kedar was a kingdom of Arab clans further out from these other nations. And Hazor was probably a nomadic kingdom out that way as well. They thought, in their pride, that because they were more remote and mobile and didn���t have walls, that they were safe. But they weren���t safe from Nebuchadnezzar, and they certainly safe from the LORD.
Which takes us to nation number nine. Last one for today. And the furthest away from Israel which tells us that God will judge every nation on earth, not just the ones nearby. Verse 34.
���This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ���See, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the heavens; I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where Elam's exiles do not go. I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives; I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger,��� declares the LORD. ���I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them. I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials,��� declares the LORD.
���Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come,��� declares the LORD.���
Elam was east of Babylon, far away in the lower Tigris Valley. It was founded by one of Shem���s sons, grandson of Noah from Genesis 10. Assyria had conquered Elam decades before this, and now Babylon would conquer them, too. They were famous for their archery, but their bows would not save them now.
The sword of the LORD will reach them no matter where they are. And that should give us pause out here in this kingdom so many miles away from Israel. And tell us that there is no kingdom on earth where God���s justice will not be found. And also tell us that there is no nation on earth where God���s grace will not be found.
Here���s point number five and last:
#5. THE LORD WILL FINALLY SAVE THE NATIONS.
Grace always has the last word. We have seen now at least four times that in these chapters filled with God perfect judgment that God gives a glimmer of grace still yet to come.
Egypt. 46:26Moab. 48:47Ammon. 49:6And now even Elam. 49:39
���Yet...yet...yet...yet���
And He uses the same phrase ���restore the fortunes��� for these pagan nations that He used for Israel in chapter 29 and 30. It���s a play on the word ���shuv,��� to turn. The LORD is going to ���turn the turnings.��� He���s going to change everything. Not just for Israel, but also for these nations! And, guess what? He did it!
Think about these things:
Egypt. (46:26.) You and I know someone who is Egyptian and does not stand under the judgment of God but under His grace. He lives near here, and he tries every day to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the nations at Penn State University.
Moab. (48:47.) Do you know who was a lady from Moab? A woman named Ruth who was the grandmother of a King named David which puts her in the bloodline of our Savior, King Jesus.
Ammon. (49:6.) Do you know what country is in modern day Ammon? It���s the country Jordan. One of my pastor friends was a missionary there for many years. And someone you and I know is Jordanian who does not stand now under the judgment of God but under God���s grace because of Jesus. She also lives near here. And she tries to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the nations at PSU.
And how about Elam? Obscure little Elam far away. (49:39.) Dr. Luke tells us in Acts chapter 2, that on the Day of Pentecost when Peter was preaching his first big sermon about the gospel of Jesus Christ. There in the crowd were some Elamites listening and becoming a part of the church on the day it was born (Acts 2:4-9, 11).
Jeremiah was born to be a prophet to the nations for their salvation! The LORD told Jeremiah, ���See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant��� (Jer. 1:10 NIVO). And we have a part in that. We have a great commission to take this gospel (don���t keep this good news about Jesus to yourself, but take this gospel) to the world (Matthew 28:19-20). "We���ve a story to tell to the nations!" 

***

Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. ���Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!��� - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. ���This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!��� - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. ���My People For My Renown��� - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. ���Insult and Reproach All Day Long��� - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "���My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good��� - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. ���Under the Yoke��� - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. ���I Know the Plans I Have for You��� - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. ���I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love��� - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
33. "What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch" - Jeremiah 45:1-7

“Concerning the Nations” [Matt's Messages]

“Concerning the Nations”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMarch 12, 2023 :: Jeremiah 46:1-49:39
Jeremiah was born to be a prophet to the nations.
Way back in chapter 1, the LORD told Jeremiah that before he was even born, he had a calling on his life, and it was a calling to speak for God, not just to the nation of Judah but beyond that nation to the nations. To the foreign nations surrounding Judah.
Jeremiah wrote in chapter 1, verse 5, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations’” (Jer. 1:4-5 NIVO).
We’re coming down to the homestretch on the book of Jeremiah, and we haven’t yet seen that many direct prophecies to the nations. We’ve read some of them. They have been sprinkled in there all along. But here at the end, Baruch and Jeremiah (Barry and Jerry) have collected and compiled about 10 of them and placed them here together in this one section. Six whole chapters worth of prophetic messages to the nations.
They were written at different times and addressed to ten different kingdoms. Today, I’d like to work our way through the first nine. Don’t worry. It will move quickly. Each of these prophecies are fairly similar. They have their own flavor, but the message God has for each one is basically the same.
Interestingly, the Greek translation of Jeremiah, called the “Septuagint” places these prophecies in the middle of the book of Jeremiah. Right after chapter 25, verse 13. And if you check it out, you can see how they might fit there.
But the Hebrew version has them all here together basically at the end like in our English Bibles. And they build and build into a cascading crescendo. The first one is Egypt (south and west of Israel) and the last one (east and north of Israel) is Babylon. Lord-willing, we’ll get to that one next week.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Most of the time, I struggle to read these. You know, when you’re doing your Bible reading, this is one of those places where I get tempted to just skim. Just scroll.
I’m not good at poetry, and I’m not good at geography. And that’s what’s going on here! Poetry and geography. But there is also really good theology. So it pays for us to slow down and to think about what the message is here for us today.
These chapters are really foreign to us–because they are about foreign nations. As foreign as Judah is, we’re used to reading about them. Israel was the people of God at the narratival center of the story of the Old Testament. But these nations are really exotic and strange. We don’t know that much about them.
But Israel did. They were Israel’s neighbors. Sometimes their allies but even more often their enemies. Israel would have listened in to these prophecies with great interest. Judah needed to hear what Yahweh had to say to these nations because it would seriously affect them.
These prophecies are important because the LORD is not just the God of Israel. He is not just a local tribal deity. The LORD is the God of the whole earth. All people everywhere are accountable to Him. He made all of the nations (Acts 17:31), and He will judge all of the nations.
Do you remember what the LORD told Jeremiah His job was going to be full of as he prophesied to the nations? Back in chapter 1, verse 10, He said this. It should sound familiar by now:
“See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10 NIVO).
Six things. And we’ll see them all here in these chapters: Uproot, Tear Down, Destroy, Overthrow, Build, and Plant. Nations and Kingdoms. Look with me at chapter 46, verse 1.
“This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations:”
There’s our title for today, “Concerning the Nations.”
Verse 1 is like the heading for the next several chapters. Each time we meet a new nation, it will say, “Concerning [this one]” and then later “Concerning [that one.]”
And the first one in chapter 46 is Egypt. Look at verse 2.
“Concerning Egypt: This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:”
Did you get all of that? If you are Snack and Yack kid, you won’t have any trouble coming up with an answer for the handout question, “What is a word or a name you heard for the first time today?” You could probably fill up 50 handouts with them!
Jeremiah is sent to give a message against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt who reigned from 610-595 BC. He’s the guy whose army was defeated at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. That’s the same year as last week’s story about what Jeremiah the Prophet told Baruch his scribe. That was a very important year in ancient near eastern history and the history of Judah.
Pharaoh Neco was a very powerful king. His army killed Judah’s King Josiah in 609BC, and he installed the next two kings of Judah after him, including King Jehoiakim! But as powerful as he once was, he was going to be defeated. Thus saith the LORD. V.3
“‘Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle! Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armor! 
What do I see? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated. They flee in haste without looking back, and there is terror on every side,’ declares the LORD. [Remember that phrase? That’s one of Jeremiah’s favorites. It was almost his nickname. “Terror on every side.”] ‘The swift cannot flee nor the strong escape. In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall” (vv.4-6).
They like to think of themselves as a world-dominating power, but they are going down. V.7
‘Who is this that rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters? Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters. She says, 'I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy cities and their people.' Charge, O horses! Drive furiously, O charioteers! March on, O warriors– men of Cush and Put who carry shields, men of Lydia who draw the bow. [Egypt’s African allies.]
But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty–a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, till it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates” (vv.7-10.
Today, I have five points of theology that I think that Jeremiah is trying to get across to the nations and to Israel as they listen in. And I think that all five of them have applications for our lives today, as well. Here’s number one. It’s probably obvious by now:
#1. THE LORD WILL SURELY JUDGE THE NATIONS.
You can hear the words of vengeance and wrath. “Terror on every side.” Disaster. Destruction. Punishment. Justice.
One key word here that gets repeated again and again and again is “the sword.” Like there in verse 10, “The sword will devour till it is satisfied.”
And that sounds scary. But it is just. These nations have sinned against the LORD, breaking His moral law again and again and often harming God’s own people. And the LORD promises justice to break out upon them. Egypt will not get away with anything. They will be judged. And nothing they do will stop it. V.11
“‘Go up to Gilead and get balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt. [Remember the medicine in Gilead. You’re going to need it!] But you multiply remedies in vain; there is no healing for you. The nations will hear of your shame; your cries will fill the earth. One warrior will stumble over another; both will fall down together’” (vv.11-12).
And that’s just the first defeat up north at Carchemish. In the second half of the chapter, we see a second defeat. This time down south actually in Egypt. V.13
“This is the message the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt: ‘Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it also in Memphis and Tahpanhes: 'Take your positions and get ready, for the sword devours those around you.' [The sword.] Why will your warriors be laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD will push them down. They will stumble repeatedly; they will fall over each other. They will say, 'Get up, let us go back to our own people and our native lands, away from the sword of the oppressor.'  There they will exclaim, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise; he has missed his opportunity.'
‘As surely as I live,’ declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty, ‘one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains, like Carmel by the sea. [Nebuchadnezzar, doing the LORD’s will for Him.] Pack your belongings for exile, you who live in Egypt, for Memphis will be laid waste and lie in ruins without inhabitant.
‘Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly is coming against her from the north. The mercenaries in her ranks are like fattened calves. They too will turn and flee together, they will not stand their ground, for the day of disaster is coming upon them, the time for them to be punished.
Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent as the enemy advances in force; they will come against her with axes, like men who cut down trees. They will chop down her forest,’ declares the LORD, ‘dense though it be. They are more numerous than locusts, they cannot be counted. [Sound familiar? The serpent is the symbol of Egyptian royalty. Think about the Pharaoh’s snake crown. But what defeats the snakes? The plague of locusts. This time it will be a locust-like plague of Babylonians. V.24] 
The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame, handed over to the people of the north.’ The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh. I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past,’ declares the LORD” (vv.13-26). Now, there are things at the end of that section that I want you to notice because they are themes that are going to keep popping up throughout this section.
First, notice the god of Egypt that is being punished by Yahweh. His name is Amon, god of Thebes. The LORD is whipping on him. The LORD will brook no rivals.
And second, notice that word, “however” in verse 26. “Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past.” That’s something, isn’t it? Jeremiah says that there will be a time when Egypt is restored. Hold on to that idea while we think about the main idea here, which is: 
The LORD will surely judge the nations.
Egypt seemed so powerful. Remember a couple of weeks ago when we studied chapters 41-44 when the surviving people of Judah were so tempted to go down to Egypt? It seemed so safe compared to everywhere else.
But Egypt was not safe. They were especially not safe from the judgment of the LORD. He was going to send Nebuchadnezzar down with “the sword.” The LORD will surely judge the nations.
What is the application of that to our lives today? Well, it should cause us to repent, I think, if we have not yet. God’s justice is perfect and unstoppable. And that means that if we do not turn from our sin, then the perfect justice of God is coming for us.
That was obviously true for Judah. How many times we have pointed that out in the last 11 months? But it was also true for Gentiles who were not the covenant people of God. Judgment was coming for them, too.
And it’s coming for all one day. That’s what Hell is. The unstoppable justice of God on the nations. These kind of chapters should sober us as we consider the perfect justice of God.
Of course, it also should make us think about the Cross, right? Because that was the unstoppable justice of God meted out on the righteous Son of God. He took the punishment that you and I deserved. Which lead us right into point number two:
#2. THE LORD WILL MERCIFULLY RESCUE HIS PEOPLE FROM THE NATIONS.
Look where Jeremiah goes at the very end of the prophecy concerning Egypt. He talks directly to the people of Judah. Egypt is going to be defeated and so...Verse 27.
“‘Do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel. I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’”
Doesn’t that sound good?! It was good! And it should sound familiar, too. Because Jeremiah has already given us these exact words back in chapter 30. These words come from what we called “The Book of Hope” or “The Book of Promise,” “The Book of Comfort” (chapters 29-33). The LORD has promised to not utterly destroy His people but to send them into exile and one day bring them out of exile!
That’s what 29:11 is all about right? He’s got good plans for them. Plans to “shalom” them and not to harm them. plans to give them a hope and a future. To save them out of a distant place–whether that be Babylon or Egypt or the land of slavery to sin. The LORD is going to show mercy and rescue His people.
And that makes all of the difference. Hear these words of comfort:
“Do not fear...do not be dismayed...[You] will again have shalom and security, and no one will make [you] afraid...I am with you, declares the LORD.” I don’t know about you, but I need to hear those words each and every day. I need rescued from my enemies, and they are worse enemies then Egypt or Babylon. They are the world, the flesh, and the devil. But my Savior is greater than my enemies. And He has not only died on the Cross. He has come back from the dead! Amen?! It’s so easy to live scared because we have great enemies. But the LORD will mercifully rescue His people from the nations.
Okay. That’s “Concerning Egypt.” The second one is much shorter. It’s chapter 47. “Concerning the Philistines.” Verse 1.
“This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza: This is what the LORD says: ‘See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Fathers will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp. 
For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor. Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves?
‘'Ah, sword of the LORD,' you cry, 'how long till you rest? Return to your scabbard; cease and be still.' 
But how can it rest when the LORD has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?’” (vv.1-7).
Do you feel how heavy these are? The people of Israel were probably cheering when they heard this one, though! Think about all of the times when the Philistines hurt them through the years. And now the Philistines were finally going to be judged.
Do you see “the sword” there in verse 6? They talk directly to the sword. “Ah, sword of the LORD...how long till you rest?” The Philistines cry out for the sword to be put away, but it will not be until the LORD’s perfect justice is satisfied.
Chapter 48. The next prophecy is very very long. But the idea is basically the same. 
This time, it’s Israel’s distant relatives who are also ancient enemies. Verse 1.
“Concerning Moab: This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Woe to Nebo [leading city of Moab], for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered. Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon men will plot her downfall: 'Come, let us put an end to that nation.' You too, O Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you. [There’s “the sword” again.]
Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction. Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard. 
Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert. Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials” (vv.1-7).
Who are all of these people and where are they? Moab was east of Israel, east of the Dead Sea. And they came from Abraham’s cousin Lot’s incestuous relationship with one of his daughters. They had grown to be Israel’s enemies and fought them many times. 
Many of these places are not on any map. And, I think, that’s proof that God’s prophecies here were fulfilled. God is promising to wipe them off of the map. And so He did.
But this one name “Chemosh,” in verse 7, I want you to really notice. Who is that? He’s the chief god of Moab. Chemosh is the one that Moab worships instead of Yahweh.
And see what the LORD says about him? Chemosh is going to go into exile!
I love that. Chemosh doesn’t just get defeated by the LORD. The LORD sends him off into exile with the punished people of Moab.
Let’s make that point number three.
#3. THE LORD WILL TRULY SHAME THE FALSE GODS OF THE NATIONS.
When the LORD surely brings His sure judgment, the false gods will be seen to be gods that are false. And the LORD will shine out as true.
There is a battle of deities here. And it might look like the LORD is losing when He allows His people to suffer judgment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and be drug off into exile in Babylon. But, in the end, it will be clear that that was the LORD’s doing. It wasn’t like Babylon’s gods were stronger than Yahweh. No, Nebuchadnezzar was doing God’s work. And every false god will be seen to be false when the LORD is done with them.
That was definitely true of Moab’s gods. Verse 8.
“The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the LORD has spoken. Put salt on Moab [completely destroy the land!], for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them. ‘A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD's work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!
‘Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another–she has not gone into exile. [The LORD has been patient.] So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged. [Like a fine wine.]
But days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will send men who pour from jars, and they will pour her out; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs.
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel” (vv.8-13).
The days are coming! How many times have we heard that? Such good news for the people of God. But terrible news for the people who are not the people of God. And even more terrible for their false gods. “Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh!” They will be so sorry they ever trusted in that idol! It will be so obvious that it was a false god.
What is the application for us? We need to topple our idols, too! Judah kept on worshipping false gods. That’s how they got into this mess. Chemosh seemed like a good bet like Money, Sex, Power, and Popularity seem to us today.
But the LORD will truly shame the false gods of the nations.
What gods are you tempted to honor today with your life?
What does your life say?
What comes out of your mouth?What comes out of your paycheck?What comes out of your time priorities?
What are you worshipping?
Is it the One true triune God or a false god worshiped by the nations?
They are going down and going down hard. Verse 14.
“‘How can you say, 'We are warriors, men valiant in battle'? Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,’ declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
‘The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly. Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, 'How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!' ‘Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon, for he who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, 'What has happened?' Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed. Judgment has come to the plateau–to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath, to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, to Kerioth and Bozrah–to all the towns of Moab, far and near. 
Moab's horn is cut off; her arm is broken,’ declares the LORD. ‘Make her drunk, for she has defied the LORD. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule. Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her? Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.
‘We have heard of Moab's pride–her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart” (vv.14-29).
Let’s make that point number four of five.
#4. THE LORD WILL UNERRINGLY HUMBLE THE NATIONS.
He knows what He’s about. He’s about shaming the idols and humbling the proud. Did you hear all of words that refer to pride in verse 29? I think there’s 5 in 1 verse! ‘We have heard of Moab's pride–her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart” (vv.14-29).
Moab was big on herself. She thought she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And it led to all kind of sin. But the LORD is the greatest thing ever, and He will see to it that in the end the prideful are humbled and the humble are lifted up.
Verse 30. “I know her insolence but it is futile,’ declares the LORD, ‘and her boasts accomplish nothing. Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth. I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, O vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes. Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy” (vv.30-34).
Isn’t that interesting?  I would have thought that the LORD will be crowing as He humbles them. But even as He brings His perfect justice and takes them down every notch, he still weeps over them as He does. Even though they aren’t His covenant people, He still weeps! I think we need to keep that in mind when we think about God’s heart. It is so full of compassion. And He does not take delight in the death of the wicked, even when He rightly brings the wicked to death.
Moab will meet with death. V.34
“‘The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up. In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,’ declares the LORD. [Shaming their gods.]
‘So my heart laments for Moab like a flute; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth. On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,’ declares the LORD. ‘How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.’
This is what the LORD says: ‘Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab. Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor. Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD. 
Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of Moab,’ declares the LORD. ‘Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment,’ declares the LORD. ‘In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.”
“The noisy boasters!”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be known to the LORD as a noisy boaster. I have been a noisy boaster. But I want to humble myself before Him. And let Him lift me up (James 4:10). Because you see what happens to the noisy boasters? V.46
“Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity. ‘Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,’ declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.”
There’s another one of those different endings. There’s that little note of hope in the last verse. “Yet I will restore...” Most of the chapter is doom and gloom and rightly so. But the LORD can’t help but sneak in some mercy and grace, because that’s just Who He is. But we know He shows it to those who are repentant and humble.
That’s one of the things I worry the most about the United States of America. We are not, by and large, a humble nation. We think we are wonderful. We think we’re the best. We have grown proud.
“USA. USA. USA!”
I love this country, but it is a nation that thinks highly of itself, and it could very well go the way of Moab. And one day, of course, it will. Because judgment is coming on the nations. It has happened before: “He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword...” (Julia Ward Howe). It can and will happen again.
One more chapter today. And now the nations come fast and hot. We’ve looked so far at 3 in 3 chapters. Now here are 6 more in one chapter. Chapter 49. Verse 1.
“Concerning the Ammonites: This is what the LORD says: ‘Has Israel no sons? Has she no heirs? Why then has Molech taken possession of Gad? Why do his people live in its towns?”
What’s going on? What’s happened is that the nation of Ammon has stolen some tribal territory from Israel. Ammon was also the result of Lot’s incestuous relations with his other daughter. Ammon is north of Moab and east of the Jordan and almost always at enmity with Israel. Their king Baalis was behind the assassination of governor Gedaliah we learned about a couple of weeks ago.
And their chief god was named “Molech” (also rendered “Milcom”). And Molech and his people had stolen land from the Israelite tribe of Gad. So Yahweh says their days were numbered. Verse 2. 
“But the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites [capital city]; it will become a mound of ruins, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire. Then Israel will drive out those who drove her out,’ says the LORD. ‘Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed! Cry out, O inhabitants of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; rush here and there inside the walls, for Molech will go into exile, together with his priests and officials. 
[False gods shamed. The prideful humbled. V.4] 
Why do you boast of your valleys, boast of your valleys so fruitful? O unfaithful daughter, you trust in your riches and say, 'Who will attack me?'  I will bring terror on you from all those around you,’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. ‘Every one of you will be driven away, and no one will gather the fugitives. ‘Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,’ declares the LORD” (vv.2-6).
There it is again. Another one of those “yets.” Keep storing those up. “Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites.”
Next is Edom. The children of Esau, to the south of the Dead Sea. Also related to Israel. Esau was Jacob’s brother. Also often their enemies. V.7
“Concerning Edom: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed? Turn and flee, hide in deep caves, you who live in Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.
If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? If thieves came during the night, would they not steal only as much as they wanted? But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, so that he cannot conceal himself. His children, relatives and neighbors will perish, and he will be no more.
Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. 
I swear by myself,’ declares the LORD, ‘that Bozrah will become a ruin and an object of horror, of reproach and of cursing; and all its towns will be in ruins forever.’ I have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, ‘Assemble yourselves to attack it! Rise up for battle!’ 
‘Now I will make you small among the nations, despised among men. The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle's, from there I will bring you down,’ declares the LORD. ‘Edom will become an object of horror; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. As [nearby] Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, along with their neighboring towns,’ says the LORD, ‘so no one will live there; no man will dwell in it. ‘Like a lion coming up from Jordan's thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?’ Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Edom, what he has purposed against those who live in Teman: The young of the flock will be dragged away; he will completely destroy their pasture because of them. At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble; their cry will resound to the Red Sea. Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor” (vv.7-23).
You can see how the same ideas keep cycling through. Here the emphasis still on pride. Esau’s descendants thought they could stay up high on their rocky mountainous terrain and repel all attackers.
The pride of their hearts had deceived them. And verse 15 says that the LORD was going to make them small. The principle is this, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5 NIVO). Either we will make ourselves small or God will do it for us.
Nation number six. Verse 23.
“Concerning Damascus [capital of Syria]: ‘Hamath and Arpad are dismayed, for they have heard bad news. They are disheartened, troubled like the restless sea. Damascus has become feeble, she has turned to flee and panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her, pain like that of a woman in labor. Why has the city of renown not been abandoned, the town in which I delight?  Surely, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad’” (vv.23-28).
Judgment is coming. Not just about Judah but upon her neighbors to the north. Notice, again, the LORD’s heart for these people–even though they weren’t His covenant people! But see also His perfect justice.
Nations seven and eight. Verse 28.
“Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the LORD says: ‘Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East. Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. Men will shout to them, 'Terror on every side!' [There it is again.]
‘Flee quickly away! Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,’ declares the LORD. ‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you; he has devised a plan against you. ‘Arise and attack a nation at ease, which lives in confidence,’ declares the LORD, ‘a nation that has neither gates nor bars; its people live alone. Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be booty. I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places and will bring disaster on them from every side,’ declares the LORD. ‘Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, a desolate place forever. No one will live there; no man will dwell in it.’” (vv.23-33).
Kedar was a kingdom of Arab clans further out from these other nations. And Hazor was probably a nomadic kingdom out that way as well. They thought, in their pride, that because they were more remote and mobile and didn’t have walls, that they were safe. But they weren’t safe from Nebuchadnezzar, and they certainly safe from the LORD.
Which takes us to nation number nine. Last one for today. And the furthest away from Israel which tells us that God will judge every nation on earth, not just the ones nearby. Verse 34.
“This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘See, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the heavens; I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where Elam's exiles do not go. I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives; I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them. I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials,’ declares the LORD.
‘Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come,’ declares the LORD.”
Elam was east of Babylon, far away in the lower Tigris Valley. It was founded by one of Shem’s sons, grandson of Noah from Genesis 10. Assyria had conquered Elam decades before this, and now Babylon would conquer them, too. They were famous for their archery, but their bows would not save them now.
The sword of the LORD will reach them no matter where they are. And that should give us pause out here in this kingdom so many miles away from Israel. And tell us that there is no kingdom on earth where God’s justice will not be found. And also tell us that there is no nation on earth where God’s grace will not be found.
Here’s point number five and last:
#5. THE LORD WILL FINALLY SAVE THE NATIONS.
Grace always has the last word. We have seen now at least four times that in these chapters filled with God perfect judgment that God gives a glimmer of grace still yet to come.
Egypt. 46:26Moab. 48:47Ammon. 49:6And now even Elam. 49:39
“Yet...yet...yet...yet”
And He uses the same phrase “restore the fortunes” for these pagan nations that He used for Israel in chapter 29 and 30. It’s a play on the word “shuv,” to turn. The LORD is going to “turn the turnings.” He’s going to change everything. Not just for Israel, but also for these nations! And, guess what? He did it!
Think about these things:
Egypt. (46:26.) You and I know someone who is Egyptian and does not stand under the judgment of God but under His grace. He lives near here, and he tries every day to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the nations at Penn State University.
Moab. (48:47.) Do you know who was a lady from Moab? A woman named Ruth who was the grandmother of a King named David which puts her in the bloodline of our Savior, King Jesus.
Ammon. (49:6.) Do you know what country is in modern day Ammon? It’s the country Jordan. One of my pastor friends was a missionary there for many years. And someone you and I know is Jordanian who does not stand now under the judgment of God but under God’s grace because of Jesus. She also lives near here. And she tries to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the nations at PSU.
And how about Elam? Obscure little Elam far away. (49:39.) Dr. Luke tells us in Acts chapter 2, that on the Day of Pentecost when Peter was preaching his first big sermon about the gospel of Jesus Christ. There in the crowd were some Elamites listening and becoming a part of the church on the day it was born (Acts 2:4-9, 11).
Jeremiah was born to be a prophet to the nations for their salvation! The LORD told Jeremiah, “See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10 NIVO). And we have a part in that. We have a great commission to take this gospel (don’t keep this good news about Jesus to yourself, but take this gospel) to the world (Matthew 28:19-20). "We’ve a story to tell to the nations!" 

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Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
33. "What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch" - Jeremiah 45:1-7

“What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch” [Matt's Messages]

“What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMarch 5, 2023 :: Jeremiah 45:1-5
I like to call him “Mr. Blessing.”
This chapter of Jeremiah is not about Jeremiah. Jeremiah is in it. He’s the prophet. He prophesies. But the prophesy of Jeremiah 45 is not for Jeremiah and only obliquely about Judah.
The prophecy of Jeremiah 45 is a personal prophesy given to Mr. Blessing, Baruch son of Neriah. His name, "Baruch," means “blessing.” This is not the first time we’ve met him in this book, but it will be the last.
Baruch son of Neriah was Jeremiah’s executive secretary. His administrative assistant. He’s the one who registered the deed for that field that Jeremiah bought from his crazy cousin Hanamel. He’s been Jeremiah’s right hand man for many years. He shows up at least 4 times in the book. 
The most famous thing Baruch ever did was write down the words of Jeremiah on the scroll. Remember the scroll? Chapter 36? We studied it together one month ago today. Jeremiah dictated 23 years worth of prophecies for Baruch to write down on a scroll and then read it from a balcony above the New Gate in the temple to all the people. That was Mr. Blessing.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE]
You know what’s fascinating? Baruch might be the only person in the Bible whom we have their fingerprint. Some archeologists (not all of them) believe that we might have the actual fingerprints of Baruch son of Neriah from some clay document markers potentially dated to this time period in the kingdom of Judah. They actually have his name on them and somebody’s hardened fingerprint in the clay! Maybe Mr. Blessing’s!
If you are a Snack and Yack kid, you might want to draw a picture of a fingerprint down in the righthand corner. Or just a picture of Mr. Blessing himself. What do you think Mr. Blessing might have looked like?
One thing we know about him was that at one time he was very very sad.
Baruch was very sad. And when he was so sad, the LORD sent Baruch a message through the Prophet Jeremiah. And that became our chapter 45.
It feels a little out of place. It’s yet another flashback. It doesn’t flow historically out of chapter 44. It is not chronological. And chapter 46 starts something altogether different once again. 45 just sits here, a little five verse chapter stuck in a funny place.
But there are probably a number of reasons why this is the place it’s placed in our Bibles.
For one, Baruch was just mentioned last week in chapter 43. The people of Judah who wanted to go to Egypt blamed Baruch for inciting Jeremiah to lie and to say that they should not go down to Egypt so that Babylon could grab them. This chapter reminds us that Mr. Blessing wasn’t like that at all. He was no conspirator. He was faithful. He was truthful. The LORD speaks to him words of grace and encouragement.
And this chapter also gets us set up for chapters 46 through 51 because it talks about what God is going to do throughout the land and on all people (vv.4-5). And the next 6 chapters are about all people, about the nations, and what God is going to do with the nations.
And it also pulls a Paul Harvey and tells “the rest of the story” of Baruch son of Neriah. By the end of chapter 44 we knew about what happened to all 5 of the kings, and to Gedaliah, to Jeremiah, and to his African friend Ebed-Melech. Tying up the loose ends. This chapter gives us a final word on Mr. Blessing who was Jeremiah’s faithful scribe.
Those are some of the possible reasons why chapter 45 is right here in our Bibles.
What’s really important is to understand what it says.
And what it says is, “What Jeremiah the Prophet Told Baruch.” That’s our sermon title for today, and it comes from verse 1. Look at it with me, if you will. Chapter 45, verse 1.
“This is what Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, after Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating:”
Do you see when this was? This is from the big event in chapter 36! This is 605BC. Still almost 20 years before the Fall of Jerusalem that we’ve been reading about the last couple of weeks in the Book of Failures. This is a flashback to the reign of wicked King Jehoiakim. And it’s from the very time when Baruch had scribbled the words of Jeremiah on the scroll.
Do you remember what happened to that scroll? Jehoiakim happened to that scroll! He made his assistant Jehudi read every single word of it, and then cut it up roll by roll and burnt the scroll in the fire. It was wintertime, and King Jehoiakim warmed himself by burning Baruch’s handwritten copy of the Prophecy of Jeremiah in his fireplace.
And where was Baruch at that moment? He was in hiding. They didn’t want the king to know where Baruch was or he might have been cut and burnt up, too. I think that’s one of the reasons why Baruch was so sad. You would be too. 
Anybody ever have something you’ve made lost or destroyed? I’ve written whole sermons or papers and pressed “delete” at the wrong time! It would be even worse if someone stole my message and burnt it up.
This was a scroll with 23 years worth of prophecies inscribed on it. The only copy in existence. Handwritten. Up in smoke. Deliberately.
But I think there may have been an even deeper reason why Mr. Blessing was so sad. I think it was sad just to think about what was written on that scroll! His boss, Jeremiah, was a broken record about a broken covenant and the broken nation and burnt city that was going to come of it.
And that’s what Baruch had to write down. Sentence after sentence. Twenty-three years worth of, “Repent! Why won’t you repent? If you keep doing what you’re doing, then judgment will fall. Exile is on the way. You are breaking the covenant and worshiping other gods. Repent! You are not going to repent. Jerusalem will be destroyed.” Twenty three years of that.
For the last 10 months, we have been reading those words once a week. Imagine having them to write them out longhand as they were coming from the mouth of Jeremiah. And think about them. And see them lived right before your eyes.
And nobody listens to them! Year and after year, the same message, and the same lack of repentance, and the same judgment coming on the way.
Of course Baruch is sad. It’s really hard to be a faithful prophet in a day of decline. We’ve seen that, right? Well, what must it have been like to be the assistant of a faithful prophet in a day like this? It had to hurt, too. It had to wear you out. 
Think about all of the times that Baruch was there with Jeremiah in his suffering.
Sometimes his boss was in the prison by himself. Down in the cistern stuck in the mud. Other times, Baruch was with him in prison taking notes. Sometimes they had to go on the run together and hide out from the wicked king. Later on, they were both taken hostage and drug off to Egypt against their wills. And blamed for all the trouble of it!
And nobody read their book. And when they did read it, they burned it. No wonder he was sad. Jeremiah was sad, and so was Mr. Blessing.
And, apparently, Baruch expressed that deep sadness either to Jeremiah or to the LORD or maybe both...and the LORD answered him. Trough Jeremiah.
All week, I’ve been saying that this sermon is “what Jerry told Barry.”
What Jeremiah told Baruch. What do think the LORD may have to say to Baruch? Well, it might surprise you. I’ve got three brief statements to summarize it, and they all apply to us today, too. Here’s number one.
#1. THE LORD KNOWS YOUR PAIN.
Look with me at verse 2.
“‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: You said, 'Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.'’”
Can you feel how he feels? That’s a lot of pain in one verse. Look at all the pain words. “Woe...sorrow...pain...worn out...groaning...no rest." That’s heavy! Baruch was miserable. He did not feel like Mr. Blessing. The NET Bible translates “Woe to me!” as “I feel so hopeless.”
“This being an assistant to a prophet is hard work. There’s a real cost here. I hate Jeremiah’s message that I have write down. It’s so heavy. And they never listen. And they burn it. I’m so tired of it.”
And just think–this is still almost 20 years from when Jerusalem actually fell! If he felt this way in 605BC, how did he feel by 586?
He even puts the blame on God. “You said, 'Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.'’” He’s not necessarily saying that the Sovereign God is bad, just that the Sovereign God has allowed a boatload of pain to sail into his life. And He has.
But the LORD knows about his pain. He has heard him. You see that from verse 3. We wouldn’t know that Baruch was hurting if the LORD didn’t tell us. 
He knows all about it. And He knows what it feels like Himself. Look at verse 4.
“The LORD said, ‘Say this to him: 'This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land.” What’s that mean? How is that an answer to Baruch’s lament? Yahweh is saying, “Yes, you do have pain. It does hurt. There is a terrible thing going to happen. In fact, I feel it (so to speak) even more deeply than you do.”
Notice what he says, “I will overthrow what I have built and uproot (there is our series title once again, ‘I will uproot’) what I have planted.”
What’s He talking about?
He’s talking about His beloved people.He’s talking about His beloved Judah.He’s talking about His beloved Jerusalem.
He has built it up. He has planted it. And now, in His perfect holiness, He has to destroy it! Yahweh has to tear it down and pull it up by the roots.
Now on an ultimate level God is impassible and can’t be hurt. He is completely blessed, full of eternal happiness that nothing can shake. We had a whole wonderful lecture on that glorious truth at the EFCA Theology Conference last month. But God allows Himself to be pictured as injured by the sin of His people. And He allows Himself to be truly described as grieving over the destruction of His beloved city. He knows pain.
And when He came as a man, then He experienced pain in a whole other way. Jesus Christ experienced all of the same kinds of suffering as Baruch did. Everyone who wants to be faithful to the Lord will experience suffering. Jesus Christ suffered and died on a cruel instrument of torture and death. He knows pain.
Do you need to hear that this morning? Maybe you are experiencing suffering right now because you are faithfully following Christ. It seems like nothing goes right for you. Here you are trying to do what is right, and nothing goes right for you. So many are against you. It can be really hard to be faithful. Are you tired?
That’s one of the reasons why we’re studying the book of Jeremiah–to see how following the Lord often comes with high price tag. He’s not called the Weeping Prophet for nothing. And here we have his weeping prophetic assistant. And Jesus wept over Jerusalem, too. He was “hurt” by their rejection. And if they rejected Him, how do we think we are going to escape?
Jesus said, “Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (Jn. 15:20 NIVO).
He knows pain. And He knows best.
#2. THE LORD KNOWS BEST.
Snack and Yack kids, you might want to put these sentences on one of those three lines on the hand out: The first was, “THE LORD KNOWS YOUR PAIN.” The second is “THE LORD KNOWS BEST.”
The Lord wants us to accept His good plan. Look at verse 5.
“Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.'’
Now, it sounds like the LORD is gently rebuking Baruch. And that is highly likely. Baruch probably had some aspirations and ambitions that were going to need to be dashed. His grandfather Maaseiah was the mayor of Jerusalem when Josiah was king. His brother Seraiah was a staff officer for King Zedekiah. Baruch came from a notable family of leaders. 
Baruch probably expected to be a leader himself one day. Maybe he’d be the next prophet? Maybe kings would turn to him for a word of counsel and word from God? But here he’s 23 years into his career, and nobody listens to him. He read his book to the people and no revival came. And that’s maybe part of why he’s sad. 
And the LORD says, “It’s okay. You don’t have to be a Somebody. You don’t have to be an influencer. You don’t have to be a celebrity. You don’t have to be a boss. You don’t have to be a big shot.”
The LORD says, “All of that is up to me. Don’t seek great things FOR YOURSELF. Your life is not about you. Seek them not.”
What did our Lord Jesus say? “[S]eek first his kingdom and his righteousnes...” (Matt. 6:33 NIVO). Not your kingdom or my kingdom.
One of the things I love about my upcoming sabbatical is how it reminds me that this church is not my church. And it’s not even your church. It’s God’s church. Somebody asked me this week at Stay Sharp how I will keep from worrying about my church while I’m away from y church. And I’m sure I won’t do it perfectly, but I will be saying to myself. “It’s not my church. We are not here seek Pastor Matt’s kingdom. We are seeking the Lord’s kingdom and the Lord’s righteousness.” It’s a great check to our ambitions. “Should you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.”
However, this sentence could mean something else, too. The Hebrew could be translated something like, “Should you BY YOURSELF seek great things?” In other words, “Should you pray, Baruch, that all of these things I’ve said I would do to Judah would not come to pass? Should you pray that I would be even more patient with Judah’s sins and rescue them from Babylon one more time?
Those could be great things. Should you seek them? No. “Seek them not.” “For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD.” He’s saying don’t bother praying for more patience. If they will not repent, I will pour out the boiling pot and bring my scalding justice on Judah. And not just on Judah but on all rebellious people.  On the nations! That’s what we’re going to see, Lord-willing, next Sunday. He has judgment waiting for His own people and all who stand in rebellion against Him.
God knows best. His plans are perfect, even the ones that hard to accept. Disaster is on the way for Jerusalem. There’s no good news to share. Not in the short run. In the long run, there’s all king of good things we learned are coming the Book of Hope (chapter 29-33).
The plans the LORD has for His people. Plans for shalom. Plans for a future.The great reversal one day of all of these judgments.The New Covenant that will be ratified with Jesus’ blood.
In the long run, there’s lots of good news. But in the short run of Baruch’s life, there’s only disaster. And that’s...right. The Lord knows best. You and I can accept whatever comes from the LORD’s hands, even the hardest stuff, because we know that He is all wise, all good, and perfectly just.
The Lord knows best. Do you believe that? The Lord knows best. And the LORD promises to bless.
#3. THE LORD PROMISES TO BLESS.
In the last few words, Jeremiah told Baruch that in spite of everything else going wrong around him, the LORD was going to bless Baruch with long life. Look at verse 5 once more.
“...but wherever you go I will let you [Baruch] escape with your life.”
That doesn’t sound like much, but think about all of the death and destruction around him. And Baruch escapes it all. It’s the exact same thing that the LORD promised Ebed-Melek because he trusted in the the Lord and rescued Jeremiah from the muddy cistern. The words are literally, “escape with your life as a prize of war.” You are going through a battle, and what you will win is your own life. Not much else, but that’s something in this situation.
And the LORD kept that promise!
Baruch lived through the time when he was hiding from Jehoiakim.Baruch lived through the time when his boss was in prison and everybody hated him.Baruch lived through the time when he was accused of pulling the strings to turn the people over to Babylon.
Baruch lived through the time when he was hostage in Egypt.
“...but wherever you go I will let you [Baruch] escape with your life.”
Some scholars believe that after Jeremiah died, Baruch might have made it back to Jerusalem or even to join the exiles in Babylon. 
Baruch was faithful. He stayed faithful. He kept doing his small part. He kept putting one foot in front of the other. Even through the slog. Even through the fatigue. Even through the pain. Even through the exhaustion.
One commentator I read this week said we all like to sing, “Dare to be a Daniel,” but the real challenge is can we “Bear to be a Baruch?” (Christopher J.H. Wright).
Baruch did. And He was blessed. He got to keep his life. 
And more than that, He was blessed to be used by God for all future generations. Because look at what we’re doing right now! We’re reading the Book of Jeremiah. How do we have this thing in our hands?
Remember chapter 36? After the scroll was burnt, what did God say to do next? “Write it all down again. And this time I’m going to add in some more.” The very reason we have the book of Jeremiah to read today in our Bibles is because of Baruch son of Neriah slogged away through the sorrow, through the pain, through the groaning, and through the exhaustion. He re-wrote the book of Jeremiah and kept it safe in all of his journeys!
Baruch sought first the kingdom, and what did Jesus say would happen when we do that? Don’t seek great things for yourself...” But seek first [the Lord’s] kingdom and [the Lord’s] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt. 6:33 NIVO). Your life and the gratefulness of all generations of believers who are reading the book of Jeremiah for ourselves today.
I guess there’s good reason we might call him, “Mr. Blessing.”

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
32. "Do Not Go to Egypt" - Jeremiah 42:1-44:30

“Do Not Go to Egypt” [Matt's Messages]

“Do Not Go to Egypt”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchFebruary 26, 2023 :: Jeremiah 42:1-44:30
We have now reached the bleakest part of the Book of Jeremiah which could be called “The Book of Failures” (chapters 34-44).
We have read about the failures of Jehoiakim who tore up and burnt the holy Scriptures!
We have read about the failures of Zedekiah who spun around in cowardly indecision leaving Jeremiah to be beaten and sunk into the mud of a dirty cistern.
We have read about the failures of the people of Judah to keep the covenant they had made with Yahweh. Failure after failure after failure, and those failures finally resulted in the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. 
I think that the only really good part of reading about their failures is that we can learn from them so that we don’t have to fail in the same way ourselves (Romans 15:4).
And that’s what I want us to do today as we dig into the last 3 chapters of the Book of Failures, starting in chapter 42.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Okay, so in chapter 42, the LORD tells this group of Israelites through Jeremiah, “Do Not Go to Egypt.” What do you think they do in chapter 43?
Yep. It’s not called the Book of Failures for nothing. But we can learn from them.
Do you remember where we are in the story? We covered a lot of ground last week. We are in the chaos that came after the fall of Jerusalem in 586BC. In chapter 39, we read about the walls of Jerusalem being breached and the city being burnt. Just like Jeremiah said it would. King Nebuchadnezzar took over just like Jeremiah said he would. He blinded Zedekiah and drug him off to Babylon, just like Jeremiah said he would.
King Nebuchadnezzar installed a man named Gedaliah to be the leader of the people of Judah and took Jeremiah out of captivity put him in Gedaliah’s care. Gedaliah offered for the Jews left over in the land to settle down and submit to Nebuchadnezzar and be blessed. But one of his leaders assassinated him while they were eating together. Ishmael. And Ishmael massacred many more people and led a rebellion against Babylon.
Does this sound familiar? We covered a lot of ground last week.
Another one of Gedaliah’s leaders chased down and fought Ishmael. His name was Johanan son of Kareah. And he won the fight even though Ishmael himself escaped. But Johanan rescued the  hostages, one of whom was probably Jeremiah himself. And they hightailed it south to “Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem” (41:17).  That’s where they were at the end of chapter 41. They were scared that Babylon was going to blame and punish them for Ishmael’s rebellion. They are scared of Nebuchadnezzar’s retribution.
And they are trying to come up with a plan for what to do next. What’s next?
Their idea is go to Egypt. That’s often been a tempting idea for Israelites when they feel pressure from other nations. They get the idea that it would be smart to head down to Egypt. Why?
Egypt represents power and stability. Yes, Egypt lost to Nebuchadnezzar in the battle of Carchemish in 605BC, but Nebuchadnezzar hasn’t actually come down and taken over Egypt. They seem safe from that at this point. A few years back, Egypt attacked Babylon’s armies, and it drew Nebuchadnezzar’s men off of siege of Jerusalem. Remember that? Egypt always seemed strong and powerful and maybe safer than all the other alternatives.
So Johanan seems to be in charge right now since Gedaliah is dead, and he and his buddies are thinking about taking this big group of Israelites out of the now-occupied territory of Judah into the land of Egypt.
But first they had a great idea–best idea they have had so far. They decide to ask old man Jeremiah if they should. Look with me at chapter 42, verse 1.
“Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, ‘Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.’” (vv.1-3).
That’s really good! Though I have a feeling, what they’re really saying is, “Please ask the LORD to bless our plans to go to Egypt.” But that’s not what they say. They say, “Tell us where we should go and what we should do.” And Jeremiah says, “Okay. I will.” Verse 4.
“‘I have heard you,’ replied Jeremiah the prophet. ‘I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you.’ 
Then they said to Jeremiah, ‘May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God’” (vv4-6).
I wish we could stop right there. It sounds really good. What they say is really good! And it would be good for you and I to say the same things. “Where you lead me, Lord, I will follow.”  “We will obey the LORD our God.” And they get a good word back. Ten days later. Verse 7.
“Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest. He said to them, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:
'If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.'” (vv.7-12).
Doesn’t that sound good?!  The LORD tells these people to stay put. To stay in the land of Judah. And He gives them big promises if they do. Did they sound familiar? “I will build you up band not tear you down.” That’s from chapter 1, isn’t it?  “I will plant you and not [what?] uproot you.” That’s the title of this whole series! We’ve seen that language again and again throughout the book. He says that He is “grieved” or He relents from the disaster He has inflicted on them. It has hurt Him, so-to-speak, to destroy His beloved Jerusalem, and if they will obey Him now, He won’t have to keep the judgment coming. 
He’s not saying that He made a mistake, but He’s pleading with them that they not make the same mistake they have before so they can have a different outcome. If they stay in Judah, they will be blessed. Just like the ones now in Babylon. They should settle down and pray for the shalom of Babylon. So the LORD will give these surviving Israelites shalom in Judah.
They have nothing to fear. Not even from Nebuchadnezzar. He says it three times in one verse! “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.” That’s also language repeated from chapter 1. It all ties together.
This is God’s heart for God’s people! These are wonderful promises akin to the promises of Jeremiah 29:11. "‘For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (Jer. 29:11 NIVO). 
“I will show you compassion so that Nebuchadnezzar will have compassion on you and restore you to your land” (v.12). This is God’s heart for God’s people!
But there is a flipside to God’s promises, and that is God’s threats. V.13
“‘However, if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so disobey the LORD your God, and if you say, 'No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,' then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.' 
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. [He knows what they’re going to choose!] You will be an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.'
‘O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, 'Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.' I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you. So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle’” (vv.13-22).
The LORD warns them, through Jeremiah, that if they go to Egypt like they are tempted to, everything they are scared of happening to them in Judah will actually happen to them in Egypt.
God is saying, “Do not go to Egypt!” That way lies death.
If you obey and stay, you will be blessed.If you disobey and go to Egypt, you will be in danger.
It’s that simple. Thanks for asking.
And so, having listened to Jeremiah for the last 40 years and seeing that everything he prophesied came true just like he said, including both God’s good promises and His awful threats, these Israelites believed Jeremiah and settled down right where they were in Judah and were blessed.
I wish. 
You can tell that Jeremiah knew what they were going to do before they did it anyway. He’s should be used to it by now. They do not listen. They decide to go to Egypt. Even worse, they call Jeremiah a liar. Chapter 43.
“When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God-- everything the LORD had sent him to tell them–Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, 'You must not go to Egypt to settle there.' But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon” (vv.1-4).
That’s a conspiracy theory if I ever heard one! Mr. Blessing? Jeremiah’s administrative assistant, Baruch, is pulling the strings behind the scenes and getting Jeremiah to say these things so that they all end up in the hands of the Babylonians? I don’t think so. I think they just plain old don’t want to do what Jeremiah says. They know better.
I have just two points of application for this message today. And they are both what we can learn from these folks’ failures.
#1. THEY IGNORED GOD’S PROMISES AND BROKE THEIRS.
They ignored God’s promises and broke their promises. God told them both how good it would be if they stayed in Judah and how hard it would be if went to Egypt. And they just plain or ignored Him.  They put their fingers in their ears. Jeremiah had seen it all before. Here they go again. Ask him what to do, then do the exact opposite.
I, of course, have never done this before, and neither have you, right? It’s much easier to ask God to bless our plans than it is to submit to His. But that’s where the true blessing lies.
They ignored God’s promises. In fact, they accused Jeremiah of being a false prophet!  I think that might be the worst thing he was ever called. He might have been depressing prophet. Or a discouraging prophet. But he was not a false one. He was faithful one. Jeremiah faithfully shared God’s promises (and His threats!), and these people disregarded both. And they willfully went their own way. 
God said, “Do not go to Egypt.” So they went to Egypt. Look at verse 4.
“So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD's command to stay in the land of Judah. Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered [returned refugees! Leaving once again]. They also led away all the men, women and children and the king's daughters whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. [Probably against their will.] So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes.”
You know what they forgot?
They forgot how bad it was in Egypt.They forgot their slavery in Egypt.They forgot their bondage in Egypt.They forgot that the LORD had rescued them from Egypt.
This big story started in Exodus and here at the end of the story in Jeremiah, they have gone full circle back to Egypt.
That’s what sin is, isn’t it? Believing the tempting lie of what sin promises and ignoring the greater promise of God? Egypt promises all kinds of things: power, prosperity, pleasure, security. But the LORD says, “Do not go to Egypt. Trust Me. Don’t go there. It’s the land of slavery and death.”
It’s not Egypt itself that was the problem. It was choosing Egypt over God. Jeremiah and Baruch were not sinning because they went captive to Egypt. Neither was Joseph. Neither was Jacob went Joseph brought him there in God’s will. And, of course, it wasn’t wrong for baby Jesus and His family to be refugees in Egypt for a time to escape from Herod.
But these folks were specifically told to stay home in Judah, and they ignored God’s promises and broke their own. They had said, “We will obey the LORD our God!” and it didn’t last 11 days.
Let’s learn from their failure. Let’s listen to God’s promises and keep ours.
Because the LORD is sure to keep His! Look at verse 8.
“In Tahpanhes the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ‘While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes. Then say to them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd wraps his garment around him, so will he wrap Egypt around himself and depart from there unscathed. There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt'” (vv.8-13).
I love it that Jeremiah gets to do another weird prophetic object lesson, even in captivity in Egypt!
He’s supposed to bury these big stones near the Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. I have no idea how he pulls that off! I’m sure the Pharaoh wouldn’t be good with this. Especially if he found out what they symbolized.
Here’s what they symbolize: Egypt is not safe.
God will send Nebuchadnezzar even there, and he’ll set up his throne right over those stones. And Nebuchadnezzar did attack Egypt in 582 and 568 BC and got out of it unscathed. God always keeps His promises...and His threats. Let’s not forget. Egypt is not safe, and neither are their gods.
The Egyptians loved their many gods, and the Israelites were always tempted by them. But Jeremiah says that all idols are like “scarecrows in a melon patch,” ineffectual and lifeless and losers. But these Israelites have still not yet learned that lesson which is the point of chapter 44. Look with me at verse 1.
“This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt–in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis–and in Upper Egypt: ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, 'Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!' But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today” (vv.1-6).
Does this sound familiar? It sure does. Even though Jeremiah is now a captive refugee in Egypt, he is still a broken record about the broken covenant.
It seems that some time has passed between chapter 43 and chapter 44. The surviving Israelites have settled in several different places in Egypt, even though they shouldn’t have. And now the LORD is sending them a message about their continued idolatry. And the message started with a lesson from history. “You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah.”
“You remember why all that happened, right? Well, now you’ve gone down to Egypt, and nothing has changed. If anything, you guys down in Egypt have dug in deeper into worshiping idols. Why are you doing that?!!!"
Look at how he interrogates them in verse 7:
“‘Now this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women, the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant? Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations on earth. Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your fathers and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law and the decrees I set before you and your fathers.
‘Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach. I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives’” (vv.7-14).
No one has learned anything! You might think that having watched Jerusalem fall and barely escaped with your families’ lives, you might consider your ways. But these folks clearly have not.
Here’s how I want to say point number two. Here’s how they failed in chapter 44:
#2. THEY IGNORED GOD’S STORY AND TOLD THEMSELVES THE WRONG ONES.
These Israelites in Egypt ignored God’s story and told themselves the wrong stories in its place.
The history lesson is God’s story. He’s been telling them the story that they are living in year after year after year. He’s been sending those prophets telling His story. And He’s been telling them what’s up through Jeremiah for more than 40 years now!
And they have disregarded His story, and told themselves ones they like better. Stories about idols and how great they are. Look at verse 15.
“Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods [these are Jews!], along with all the women who were present–a large assembly–and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, ‘We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD!
We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.
But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.’ The women added, ‘When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?’”
Can you believe this?! You have to give them credit for their honesty. These folks aren’t saying one thing and doing another. These folks are saying, “We are going to worship our idols, and that’s it. That’s the end of the story.” Blatant, defiant, idolatrous. 
I almost wish I had titled this message from verse 17, “We will certainly do everything we said we would.” because last week’s message was about how the LORD “has done just as He said He would.”
But this is terrible, what they say they are going to do. They are going to worship the same goddess that Jeremiah was preaching against in his famous temple sermon back in chapter 7. The Queen of Heaven which was probably Ishtar of Babylon, also known as Anet or Ashtoreth or Astarte. Probably the planet Venus being worshiped as the goddess of war, of love, and of fertility.
Remember those “Queenie Cakes” that the whole family could make together for family worship time? These people promise to worship her to Jeremiah’s face.
And look at the story they tell themselves about what it’s like to worship her. Look again at verse 17.
“At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.”
In other words, worshiping idols really works. We’re not giving that up. It’s our ticket to prosperity and joy. In fact, when Josiah made us stop doing it, that’s when things fell apart. 
Do you see how they bought into a false narrative about how the world works? That’s what sin is, isn’t it? Satan feeds us a lie about how the world works, and we bite right into it. We tell ourselves all kinds of stories about how our idols will make us happy, don’t we? If I dedicate my life to this, then I will be satisfied.
An idol is anything that takes the place that God deserves in our lives. It could be anything. Most of the time, it’s not as blatant as the Queen of Heaven.
It’s often Money.It could be Sex.It could be Family.It could be Sports.It could be Entertainment.It could be Work.It could be a particular Relationship.
Often it’s a good thing that has morphed into be a god-thing in our lives.
And we tell ourselves that it’s not big deal. In fact, we tell ourselves that our idol isa a good thing that actually makes our lives work.
What wrong stories have you been telling yourself recently?
I often use my gluttony as illustration of this. I tell myself that a big second helping will be just the thing to make me happy. It’ll give me more strength. I deserve it. It will go to waste if I don’t put it inside of me.  Last time I ate a second plateful, I was so happy afterwards. My life was just a dream.
Is that true? No, of course, not. But I have spun that story to myself to motivate myself to feed my idolatry–quite literally. 
What wrong stories have you been telling yourself recently?
These folks told themselves that worshiping the Queen of Heaven was better than worshiping the Lord of Heaven and Him alone. And they should have known better.
So one more time Jeremiah speaks to the people of Israel, right now living in Jerusalem. These are actually the last recorded words of Jeremiah in history. The things we’re going to read in the next few chapters were written earlier.
And what Jeremiah had to say was the same kind thing that he’s been saying for the last four decades. Verse 20.
“Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him,  ‘Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? [Here’s the real story!] When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.’
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said, 'We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.' ‘Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! 
[Oh, sure, now you keep your promises!]
But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name,' says the LORD, 'that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, ‘As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives.’ For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand–mine or theirs.
'This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,' declares the LORD, 'so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.' This is what the LORD says: 'I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life'” (vv.20-30).
The LORD is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if Judah continues to act like Judah even in Egypt, then the LORD will treat them like He did when they were in Jerusalem. And the fate of Pharaoh will show that Yahweh means business.
These stories, by themselves, are not very encouraging. The chaos of the immediate aftermath of the Fall of Jerusalem and is not very heart-warming.
You may have hoped to hear something more inspiring this morning at church. But this is the Word of the LORD to us. We see their failures and are reminded of ours. We have, at times, ignored God’s promises and broken our own. We have, at times, ignored God’s story and told ourselves false ones. We have gone to Egypt and worshiped others gods before Yahweh.
Until we see our sin, we can’t really comprehend our salvation. Here’s God’s Story: God sent His Son for people who did all of that. I don’t know about you, but I would have given up on these people, not promised them a hope and a future! I wouldn’t have sent my Son to take their place. But God did. God so loved His enemies that while we were still sinners, Jesus Christ  died for us so that all who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life. Have put your faith and trust in Him? If not, I invite you to do so right now.
These sad stories may not have been what you wanted to hear this morning at church. But this is the Word of the LORD to us this morning. And we can learn from their failures.
It’s much easier to just ask the Lord to bless our plans than to submit to His, but that is true way of blessing. Let us believe God’s promises (and His threats) and keep our promises to obey Him. And let us believe God’s story (including the hard parts) and continue to tell ourselves the true story. And root out and topple every idol that threatens to take His place. And then be blessed.
I think that verse 27 of chapter 44 is the scariest verse of here. The LORD says that He is “watching over them for harm, not for good.” That’s the same word as He used in chapter 1 to say that He’s watching over His word to see that it is fulfilled.
And it’s the exact opposite of chapter 29:11. As long as they persisted in rebelling against Him, He is watching over them for harm, not for good. But when we repent and put our faith in the Lord, He promises us the opposite of harm. He promises us shalom.
 "‘For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jer. 29:11 NIVO). 

***

Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
31. "He Has Done Just As He Said He Would" - Jeremiah 39:1-41:18

“He Has Done Just As He Said He Would” [Matt's Messages]

“He Has Done Just As He Said He Would”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchFebruary 19, 2023 :: Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
The happy words of Jeremiah 29:11 come from what we called “The Book of Comfort” or “The Book of Hope." And they are true, and what they have to say will come true. The LORD does knows the plans He has for His people. They are plans of ultimate shalom, not of ultimate harm. They are plans for a hope-filled future.
But they are plans for down the road. First, there must be exile. First, there must be justice. First, there must be consequences for the disobedience and sins of God’s people. First, there must be judgment.
Ever since chapter 34, we have not been in the Book of Hope, but in the “Book of Failure.”  We have seen the failures of Jehoiakim who tore up and burnt the holy Scriptures! We have seen the failures of Zedekiah who spun around in cowardly indecision. We have seen the failures of the people of Judah to keep the covenant they had made with Yahweh. Failure, failure, failure. They had only one job, but they refused to do it.
And for forty years, the Prophet Jeremiah has been a broken record about that broken covenant and the broken and burnt city that will come from it. And now, that judgment has arrived.
Our passage for today begins with the words, “This is how Jerusalem was taken...”
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
The title of this message is “He Has Done Just As He Said He Would.” And the subject of that sentence is the LORD. The LORD has done just as He said He would do.
And that should not be a surprise. We know from the rest of the Bible that God always keeps His promises. He is faithful that way; praise His name!
But it might be a surprise to find out who says those words in today’s chapters. It might be a very unlikely person to you and me.
And it might not be very surprising that the LORD has done just as He said He would, but it is still pretty scary! Because of what He said He would do. He said that He would burn down His own beloved city. Or, a least, see that it was burnt down and see that all of its citizens are carried off into captivity.
We’ve reached one of the lowest points in the whole story of the Old Testament, the sack of Jerusalem and what came next.
What I want to do today is to read through three chapters of God’s Word. The next six chapters basically tell the story in historical order of how Jerusalem fell and the chaos that followed. We’ll take three chapters today (39, 40, and 41), and, Lord-willing, we’ll take the next three chapters together next Sunday (42, 43, and 44).
And while I want us to go slowly enough to explain features of the story, I’m going to save most of the application for four brief summary points at the end.
So as I read, be thinking to yourself, “How does this apply to my life today?” “If the LORD has done just as He said He would, and He’s the same God today as He was then, then what difference does this story make for my life this week?”
Do you remember back in chapter 1 when the LORD asked the young prophet Jeremiah what He saw, and the young prophet Jeremiah said, “I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north...” (1:13). Do you remember that? His vision?
A great big pot bubbling with cooking oil in it. And it’s threatening to tip over from the north and pour down onto the land of Judah. Do you remember that?
And do you remember what the LORD said next, what that meant? He said, “‘From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,’ declares the LORD. ‘Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah. I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made’ (Jer. 1:13-16 NIVO).
Do you remember that? That day is now here.
It’s been forty years, but it has now arrived. The boiling pot is going to be poured out. Let’s look at Jeremiah chapter 39, verse 1.
“This is how Jerusalem was taken: In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year, the city wall was broken through.
Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon” (vv.1-3).
The boiling pot has been poured out. Nebuchadnezzar has sent his army a few times against Judah. They have been effectively ruling Judah now for more than a decade. They have drawn off the cream of the crop into exile, including king Jehoiachin and his mom and put King Zedekiah on the throne in Jerusalem.
But Zedekiah has rebelled. And Nebuchadnezzar won’t stand for it. He has been patient, but now he’s going to take down the city and drag its residents off into exile in Babylon.
This last siege goes about 18 months. From January 588BC in verse 1 to July 18th, 586BC in verse 2. The ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
They broke through. And just like Yahweh said in chapter one, they set up their thrones in the gates of the city and took total control.
Zedekiah thought this was about to happen, and so he had escape route planned. And he makes a run for it. Verse 4.
“When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah.
But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 
There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon” (vv.4-7).
The LORD said this was going to happen, too (21:7, 34:3, 38:14-23). He said that Zedekiah would see Nebuchadnezzar with his own eyes and also not die of violence. So the last thing that Zedekiah ever saw was Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar killing his sons. But he didn’t die. Zedekiah was taken off to Babylon, blind.And then they burnt the city. V.8
“The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.” What a short sentence to describe what was incomprehensibly awful to the people of Jerusalem!
To see how Jeremiah felt about it, read the book of Lamentations. Have you read that lately?
It starts, “How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks” (Lam. 1:1-2 NIVO).
Five chapters like that, full of sorrow and tears. Those walls that have given them safety, security, and shalom have been broken down. The Babylonians have pulled them down. Just like the LORD said would happen (28:1-10, 27:1-15, 32:1-5l 37:1-10)!
And then the exile. Verse 9.
“Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people.”
Exile has occurred. Just like He said. The streets are empty. It’s like a post-apocalyptic world. The dystopian future has arrived.
The majority are gone. Just a few scattered people, here and there, are left. Mostly the poor who don’t seem to be a threat. V.10
“But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.” 
Isn't that interesting? These folks who often were mistreated by their Jewish kinsmen are now given vineyards and fields by the pagans! The LORD moves in mysterious ways His justice to perform! 
And it's not just the poor who are surprisingly well-treated. Jeremiah is, too! V.11
“Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: ‘Take him and look after him; don't harm him but do for him whatever he asks.’ So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people.”
You wonder how Nebuchadnezzar knew about Jeremiah! I guess word gets around. And Nebuchadnezzar probably liked what he thought Jeremiah’s message was. It seemed pretty pro-Babylon, right? “Babylon is going to win. Give up! Judah is going to lose. Surrender! Settle down, exiles and seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon” (see Jeremiah 29). 
“I like this guy!” Nebuchadnezzar says. 
So Babylon takes better care of the Prophet Jeremiah than did the Kings of Judah! Jeremiah’s feet are no longer in the mud. He isn’t even under house arrest in the courtyard of the guard. He is placed in the custody and care of the newly appointed governor Gedaliah who is a basically good man from a good family. How weird is that?!
So that’s where Zedekiah is and where Jeremiah is. Where is Ebed-Melech? Whatever happened to that African guy who rescued Jeremiah from the cistern? Here’s where we find out the rest of his story. Verse 15.
“While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him: ‘Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.'” Those are the most hope-filled words in these three chapters! Ebed-Melech is saved. The rescuer is rescued. And not because he earned it. It doesn’t say that he somehow earned his way to this salvation. It says that he is rescued because He trusted in the LORD. He put his faith in Him. That’s where his courage came from, to speak those uncomfortable words to the king. Ebed-Melech put his confidence in the LORD. He was like the tree in chapter 17. Remember that tree? It was our last memory verse:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jer. 17:7-8 NIVO). That was Ebed-Melech. Flourishing because of his faith. 
But these last three verses are also haunting verses because the LORD says that the destruction is imminent and it is the fulfillment of the LORD’s promises. Look again at verse 16.
“'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes.” He is going to do what He said He will do. And now He has.
From my perspective, it would be fine to end the book right here.  The city is destroyed. The people are in exile. Zedekiah is blind. Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech are safe. Close the book. But that’s not what Jeremiah did. He didn’t stop there, and neither did God.
So we turn the page to chapter 40 and see what happened next. And, in a word, it’s chaos. More chaos. More judgment. Look at verse 1.
“The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon” (v.1).
Oops! Nebuchadnezzar had said to look after Jeremiah, but he has somehow gotten swept up and re-arrested with the folks being shipped to Babylon. That was probably okay with him because he knows what he said in chapter 29. But Nebuzaradan is under strict orders to take care of him, so when he finds Jeremiah, he pulls him out of the line-up and...says something completely amazing to him. Look at verse 2.
“When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, ‘The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the LORD has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him” (vv.2-3).
Do you see who said the words of our title for today? “He has done just as he said he would.”
It wasn’t the prophet. It was the pagan! Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah, “The LORD your God poured out the boiling pot on Jerusalem. And it’s because you folks were such sinners!”
Can you imagine the look on Jeremiah’s face? In my mind, he’s smiling and shaking his head. He can’t believe what he’s hearing here. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say for forty years!”
For forty years he’s basically been just about the only person saying it. And now it’s actually happened an the pagan is telling it to him.
Verse 1 says that word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, but he never delivers a prophecy in chapter 40. Nebuzaradan does. He sees what the Judahites refused to see. They have brought this on themselves and God has followed through on all of His threats. He has done just as he said he would.
Nebuzaradan invites Jeremiah to come with him to Babylon. That might have been a nice vacation. He was clearly being well-treated. But Jeremiah decides to stay with the people in the land. V.4
“But today I [Nebuzaradan] am freeing you [Jeremiah] from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.’  However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, ‘Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.’ Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land” (vv.4-6).
But, of course, that’s not the end of the story either. Here’s what happened next. V.7
“When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah–Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, and their men [some of those guys are going to be important for the next few chapters]. Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. ‘Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians,’ he said. ‘Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.’ When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit” (vv.7-13).
Gedaliah seems to be about the best thing that could have happened to Judah at that time. He is pulling together the various leaders from throughout the land who are left behind, a remnant, and instead of organizing them as an insurgency, he has encouraged them to settle down in the land, submit to Babylon like Jeremiah said, and experience an abundant harvest. A little taste of shalom. But it doesn’t last. It all falls apart. The leaders are not godly and attack each other from within. V.13
“Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, ‘Don't you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?’ [Both of those guys were named in verse 8. Johanan has intel on Ishmael and gives a warning. V.14] But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.  Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, ‘Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?’ [It’s like mobster offering to take out a rival in the gang.] But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, ‘Don't do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true” (vv.13-16).
But, sadly, it was. Gedaliah was apparently too trusting. He didn’t know what was in the heart of his men (cf. John 2:24-25). And he paid for it, and so did Judah. Chapter 41, verse 1.
“In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king's officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. [What treachery! What an atrocity!] Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there.”
This is rebellion. Flat-out rebellion. But it gets worse. Verse 4.
“The day after Gedaliah's assassination, before anyone knew about it, eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD. [They know it’s been torn down. They are mourning the fact that there is no temple. See their sacrifices are bloodless. They know there is no altar. And they lamenting. V.6]  Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. [The big fake!] When he met them, he said, ‘Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.’ [Whom he had killed the day before.] When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. But ten of them said to Ishmael, ‘Don't kill us! We have wheat and barley, oil and honey, hidden in a field.’ So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. [You can tell that Ishmael is no patriot. He’s just a greedy bloodthirsty rebel. V.9] Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.
Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah–the king's daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites [who had been apparently funding this rebellion]” (vv.4-10).
Now, here’s Johanan again. He’s the one who tried to warn Gedaliah. He still wants to stop Ishmael. Verse 11.
“When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites” (vv.11-15).
Johanan has won. But now what? What should they do next? They should probably ask Jeremiah, right?
We haven’t heard from him this whole chapter! He was living with Gedaliah. Was he killed? Was he one of the men in buried in the cistern after all? No. He survived. Perhaps he was one of those that Johanan has rescued here in chapter 41. We don’t know. We don’t know because they don’t ask him anything. Not yet. Not until the next chapter. And when they do, they don’t listen. 
No, Johanan decides that the best thing to do is head towards Egypt. He figures Nebuchadnezzar is going to hear about the rebellion in Judah, and send some guys in to stamp it out. And anybody with a sword is in trouble of reprisal. So he panics and runs the South. V.16
“Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the survivors from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had brought from Gibeon. And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land” (vv.16-18).
Obviously, we’re still in the middle of the story of the end. There’s more to come next time. But what points of application do you already have in your mind? 
For me, the key thing here is what Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah. That pagan guy knew what was up!
“The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the LORD has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would” (40:2-3). Here are four points of application to consider.
#1. REPENT.
Nebuzaradan said, “All this happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him” (40:3). The pagan said that! Jeremiah said that for forty years! How often did he call them, invite them, plead with them to “shuv”? To turn. To turn back. To repent. All of this could have been avoided if they had listened and turned around while there was still time. 
Seeing the smouldering ruin of Jerusalem should make every person stop and consider the direction of their life.
We tend to assume that God will not keep His threats. We take His patience for weakness.We take His longsuffering for ambivalence.We assume that we’re not so bad and God’s not so mad.
But the Fall of Jerusalem should reminds us of the holiness of God.
He has done just as he said he would. Tremble. And take his threats seriously.
Are you harboring unconfessed sin in your life? Are you refusing to repent? Are you running from God? Hear His inviting call to come to Him. Turn while you can. He wants you back! But don’t assume that He won’t do everything He said He would do to the unrepentant. Including judgment.
Come to Jesus Christ for cleansing.  Turn from your sin and trust in the Savior and what He did on that Cross.  
“He took [your] sins and [your] sorrows, He made them His very own;He bore the burden to Calvary, and suffered and died alone.” (Charles Gabriel)
Repent and put your faith and trust in the Savior’s love for you. Come to Jesus Christ for cleansing.  Come back to Him. Confess your hidden sins. Repent of those things you don’t want to let go of. He is faithful and just and will forgive all your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.  But do not presume upon His mercy. Come and receive it! Repent.
#2. LAMENT.
He has done just as he said he would. And that led Jeremiah and all of the remnant to lamentations. When they surveyed the destruction of their beloved city, they sang songs of sadness and sorrow.
And to the degree that we see God carrying out His threats and bringing His painful discipline into our world, we can lament, as well. It’s right and good to weep over sin and sorrow and suffering. Even if the suffering is warranted, even if someone had it coming, it’s okay to weep over the consequences. And the collateral damage.
I confess that I just shake my head as I read these chapters about Gedaliah and Ishmael and Johanan. They show up at the end, make all kinds of mistakes that affect other people, and then die and go off the scene. So much chaos. And it didn’t have to be that way. And it’s right that God has brought this chaos as a judgment on the people because of their sin. But we don’t have to be all happy about it. We can weep over the consequences even if we see that they are just.
There are probably people in your life right now who are suffering from self-inflicted pain. They have sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. And the tornado is wrecking the lives of the people around them.  It’s okay to hurt for them. And not just the people that they have hurt, but how they are hurting themselves.
Our Lord Jesus wept over this same rebuilt city several hundred years later. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:37-38 NIVO). Lament.
#3. DEPEND.
In all of this, don’t forget about Ebed-Melech! Don’t forget that the LORD always keeps for Himself a remnant who trust and obey. Remember that Ebed-Melech was like that tree from Jeremiah 17. He puts his faith and confidence in the LORD and was rescued. He rescued Jeremiah, and the LORD rescued Him. Chapter 39, verse 18, He said to Ebed-Melech, “I will save you; you iwll not fall by the sword but will escape with your life; because you trust in me, declares the LORD.”
Trust and obey! That’s the way. He has done just as he said he would. So we should, too! We should put our faith and trust in Him and then do what He asks us to do. 
What is He asking you to do these days? Does it take courage? We may be in the Book of Failures, but there are still profiles of courage even in these dark chapters.  Ebed-Melech stepped out in faith and rescued Jeremiah from the mud. You and I can step out in faith and do whatever God has called us to do, as well.
Perhaps there is someone you need to invite to the Wild Game Dinner this year? When Jamie was talking, you had a thought of who you might give a ticket to. Or maybe you thought, “I could do that” when Jamie had the list of things that still need done. Or maybe you thought, “I need to flat out talk to that one guy about Jesus. Trust and obey. Depend on God and do what He says.
#4. REJOICE!
He has done just as he said he would. And if He will keep His all threats to do what is bad, how much more will He keep all His promises to do what is good?!
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jer. 29:11 NIVO).
Nebuzaradan might not have believed that. But we do!
We believe that He will do just as He said He would.

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Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26
28. "Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19
29. "The Scroll" - Jeremiah 36:1-32
30. "Sunk In the Mud" - Jeremiah 37:1-38:28