Monday, April 25, 2016

A MESSAGE TO BABYLON: NO HEALING



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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 our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.’”

Jeremiah 51:8-9

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When you get injured and suffer pain, when you suffer from some form of affliction, or when you experience emotional brokenness, what do you yearn for more than anything?

Isn’t it healing?

We all want recovery from the things we are going through.

Recently, my mother broke a bone in her back after a hard fall. For days and days, the pain was so intense that she couldn’t eat anything because she would just get sick and lose everything she had eaten. She then not only dealt with pain but the weakness that came from not being able to eat. We prayed and prayed for healing, for the broken bone to begin to mend, for the pain to subside, and for her nausea to depart so she would have an appetite to eat again.

Thankfully, our prayers have been answered and each day, she recovers a little more as the Lord, our Great Physician, heals her from the inside out.

My mother was fortunate. Healing happened for her. But what if a person or people found themselves in a position where healing was not going to be possible. Can you imagine how hard that might be, to live with no hope of recovery?

As we see in today’s scripture passage from Jeremiah 51, part of the judgment God would place on the Babylonians involved the removal of their healing. Look again at these words:

“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 our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.’” Jeremiah 51:8-9

The mighty Babylonian empire was about to fall and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Such is what happens when anybody chooses to oppose God. He will triumph every single time, no matter how powerful an entity might become in the world.

And in the case of the Babylonians, their punishment went beyond just being destroyed. For they would not recover from the annihilation God was bringing. Babylon would never be healed.

This would be evident to Babylon but it would also be clear to other nations who might want to come to assist. For look again at the words of those who may have wanted to help:

“‘We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.’”

The judgment of Babylon was more than anyone on earth could handle. This is because the judgment came with a power that was not of the earth but rather the heavens where the Lord God Almighty rules with full authority over His creation. The once seemingly insurmountable empire would be reduced to ruins and would remain that way.

It was the ultimate bad news.

So how in the world could we ever glean anything positive out of this today? How can we possibly glean good news from the bad?

Well believe it or not, there is a powerful takeaway for us all.

For in the midst of a life situation where none of us can be healed because of our sinfulness, God, not wishing for any of us to perish, sent His one and only Son Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins and offer us the opportunity to experience healing, not just in the here and now but forever. Thus, there is one way to true healing and that way is through placing your faith and trust in Jesus as Savior. For when we do, the words of the scriptures come to life:

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Have you found your way to true healing today?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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