YOU AND WHOSE ARMY?
Opening Prayer
Lord, you are my strength, my rock, my high tower. I come to you for shelter and protection today.
Read JEREMIAH 50:29-46
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.
30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the Lord.
31 “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
“for your day has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32 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.”
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.
34 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.
35 “A sword against the Babylonians!”
declares the Lord—
“against those who live in Babylon
and against her officials and wise men!
36 A sword against her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!
They will be filled with terror.
37 A sword against her horses and chariots
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become weaklings.
A sword against her treasures!
They will be plundered.
38 A drought on[a] her waters!
They will dry up.
For it is a land of idols,
idols that will go mad with terror.
39 “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.
40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
no people will dwell in it.
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north;
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42 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, Daughter Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
and his hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44 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?”
45 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;
their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;
its cry will resound among the nations.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:38 Or A sword against
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
The events of history confirm God’s love and concern for his people; they show his power to save them, to carry out his purposes in them and through them.As Jeremiah delivered this bold proclamation, Babylon was a superpower, an empire in its heyday, with Israel and Judah under its full control. As we read it centuries later, so many are still held captive by cruel and corrupt regimes, poverty, sickness, addiction, mental health battles, loneliness, and more… ‘Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name’ (v 34).
Jeremiah’s first listeners would have understood the resonance and been reminded of another time their captors refused to let them go (Exodus 5 – 11). You can’t underestimate the power of the exodus story to build faith and trust in God and his ability to carry out audacious rescues. The God who had brought them out of slavery through parted waters would again deliver (Exodus 14:29-31). They could be confident of that.
These prophecies have sweeping scope, speaking of matters concerning nations and empires, armies and entire populations. This doesn’t mean God isn’t mindful of the relative minutiae of each of our lives, as Psalm 139 so beautifully reminds us. He knows us down to the very number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7). And with him on our side, there is nothing and no one we need fear.
Apply
Look to your past, to the history of your family. Where have you seen evidence of God’s faithfulness and power?
Closing prayer
Almighty God, give me eyes to see the spiritual realities of the challenges I face. Thank you for your care and protection as I face them.
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