Read Jeremiah
50-52 & Hebrews
6
To discover:
As you read note what God
has to say about his people.
To ponder:
Finally God’s word
now comes to Babylon . Although this
people have been the agent he has used in bringing judgement on others, and
their king his servant, he will still hold them accountable for the evil this
entailed. So he urges Jeremiah to proclaim amongst the nations that Babylon
will be captured and her idols metaphorically shamed and filled with terror.
The description of what will come from the north (the Medo-Persians and their
allies) is similar to previous oracles against other nations. But what is key
here, is that this is God’s means of delivering his people. So we are told in
those days the people of Israel
(the northern kingdom) and Judah
(the southern) will seek God with tears (of repentance), ask the way to Zion ,
and bind themselves to God with an everlasting covenant that will not be
forgotten (50v1-5, see 31v31-35). As with Isaiah, the return from exile and the
new covenant established in Christ are compacted together as the one act of God
in which he restores his people as one nation.
God describes his people like lost
sheep led astray by their shepherds (leaders), forgetting their resting place
and devoured by those (the Babylonians) who consider themselves without guilt
because the Israelites sinned against God – their true pasture, ie. their place
of rest (50v6-7). Yet now he urges them to feel Babylon
(50v8-10). He declares that the city will be destroyed because she rejoiced in
pillaging his inheritance – ie. Judah .
So he calls the nations to take up positions and attack, executing his
vengeance (50v11-16). Noting Israel was first oppressed by Assyria and then
Babylon, he declares he will punish Babylon as he did Assyria, but bring Israel
back to graze in both the north and south of the land, promising her guilt and
sin will not be found, as the remnant will be forgiven (50v17-20). This of
course looks us to the gospel.
50v21-30 speak of God in wrath and
vengeance calling the enemy to attack and destroy Babylon, repaying and
punishing her for defying him, whilst the refugees from the city declare in
Jerusalem how the LORD has taken vengeance for their destruction of his temple.
This vengeance was warranted, as the temple was the heart of Israelite religion
and the very place of God’s presence. To destroy it was to destroy the very
means of maintaining God’s covenant relationship with his people and so the fulfilment
of his promises. Likewise, God’s most serious judgement is for those who stand
against his Son as the focal point of his relationship with his people.
What follows is clarification that
despite their captivity, Israel ’s
redeemer is strong and will defend their cause. So Babylon
will fall and never again be inhabited because God is against her in her
arrogance and idolatry (50v31-40). With a repetition of previous language, God
then describes the army approaching and the terror gripping the Babylonians. He
stresses none can resist him, and that the earth will tremble at the sound of
Babylon being captured, because of its significance (50v41-46). This same
divine strength means we can be sure that nothing will hinder God’s final
exclusion of all evil from his kingdom.
51v1-5 reiterates that this complete
destruction of Babylon is because
God has not forsaken Israel
and Judah .
Despite their guilt, he is still their God. And so, once more, he urges them to
flee Babylon so they are not
destroyed because of her sins. Babylon
is pictured as a gold cup from which God’s wrath was poured out on the nations,
but now she will fall and be beyond healing. God’s people seem gracious in
saying that would have healed Babylon
– a reference perhaps to their role in bringing the knowledge of God to the
nations. But recognising this is impossible, they determine to return to their
homeland, desiring to tell in Zion
how God has vindicated them as his, by delivering them from such a superpower
(51v6-10). Yet again, as the LORD calls the Medes against Babylon ,
we are told it is vengeance for his temple (51v11-14).
God’s power and wisdom displayed in
creation is then outlined as a means of contrasting his reality with the
worthless and fraudulent Babylonian idols (51v15-18). As the maker of all
things, and especially Israel, the tribe of his inheritance (ie. his special
possession), he is also the maker of Babylon who he had used as a war club
against all categories of people (51v19-23), but who he will now repay for the
wrong they have done in Zion. Once more therefore, he stresses he is against
the city, will totally destroy it, and calls the nations against it (51v24-29).
The exhaustion of the Babylonian warriors is the described, as is the messenger
telling the Babylonian king the city is captured (51v30-33). A prayer is then
put in the mouth of the Israelites, calling for their blood to be upon
Nebuchadnezzar. And God responds that he will defend their cause and avenge
them, punishing the city and its gods (51v34-44). He then calls the people to
run from Babylon , and not lose
heart in hearing rumours that could imply Babylon
will not fall. No, he is clear: Because of Israel’s slain, no matter how
fortified she might seem, he will punish her idols, disgrace her land, and heaven
and earth will rejoice over this. So the effort the captive nations put in to
building the city will come to nothing, as it simply burns (51v45-58). All this
reminds us that people will be judged not only for their rejection of Christ,
but their oppression of his people.
51v59-64 gives us the context to all
these words. They were to be read by a Seraiah on arriving in Babylon with king
Zedekiah, adding a prayer that would acknowledge it was the LORD who had said
he would do all these things. Seraiah was then to tie the scroll to a stone and
throw it into the Babylonian river Euphrates , no doubt
as a symbolic action for the fall of Babylon
itself.
The book ends with an account of the
fall of Jerusalem , how Zedekiah was
taken to the king of Babylon , the
temple, palace and walls of Jerusalem
destroyed, and the people exiled. It can be found in 2 Kings 24v18-25v30 (see
notes there). It’s a fitting conclusion because the entire book explains why
this happened. It was not because of any weakness in the LORD, but because of
his anger at the people’s evil and idolatry (52v3). It also explains God’s
future for the people – that he will destroy Babylon ,
bring them home, and reunite them in the context of a new covenant. The king of
Babylon ’s kindness towards Jehoicahin
(52v31-34) was a hint at this future, demonstrating that whatever could be
thought, God had not forsaken his people.
Praying it
home:
Praise God that he
does not forsake his purposes, and will ensure they are fulfilled. The theme of
judgement is extremely strong in the book of Jeremiah. Pray that you would not
forget what you have learnt about it.
Thinking
further:
Well done
for finishing Jeremiah. It is not an easy book.
If you receive
this post by email, visit bible2014.blogspot.co.uk
and make a comment.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment