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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“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 call
to mind 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 ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send
destroyers against her,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 51:49-53
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The Israelites could not have suffered a greater shame. They
had been given a rich gift by God, a land He gave them after a promise made to
Abraham, the man who many credited as being the very father of the Jewish
nation. It was their land exclusively and all God asked in return is that His
people remain faithful and obedient to Him just as Abraham was. If they did,
then they would be His people and He would be their God. If they didn’t then
God would bring His judgment upon them and the outcome would not be pretty.
Unfortunately, the Israelites failed in keeping their end of
the bargain and so God brought heavy consequences upon them which included sending
the Babylonians to them to destroy all they had built, leaving the nation in
ruins before hauling off many of the Israelites into seventy years of exile.
A once blessed and mighty nation had fallen, fallen in world
stature and fallen before God because of their sinfulness. But the God who sent
punishment upon His people to teach them a lesson about worshiping false gods
and idols was still the God of mercy, grace, and love and God would show that
side of Himself after the exile was over.
It might have been a long hard seventy years but God would
show His people that He was still the God of redemption. Look at His words as
we continue our study of Jeremiah 51:
“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 call to mind 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 ascends to the heavens and
fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,” declares
the Lord. Jeremiah 51:49-53
Israel had been wiped out at the hands of the Babylonians
with some slain in the process. Babylon had been used by God as an instrument
of judgment on other nations as well and again death resulted. War rarely
happens without casualties.
But note the Lord’s promise for in His own words, a day was
coming when Babylon was going to be punished as well. Once used as the hammer
by God to bring His consequences on the wicked nations and cities who had chose
to oppose Him, He now would turn the hammer on Babylon, bringing the Persians
to destroy the nation’s idols and leave the nation in ruins. God’s word earlier
in this chapter states that the once formidable empire would be reduced to
nothing, desolate and demolished.
It would be the Babylonians turn to experience shame. But as
for the Israelites, it was a different age, the age of redemption. Their days
of judgment were ending and they would be permitted to return home to rebuild
their homes, their lives, and their relationship with God. And they would want
to do that because to stick around Babylon would mean experiencing judgment and
its associated shame all over again.
So the Israelites did just that. They went home and were
restored to God’s favor while Babylon was taken down. All that God asked of His
people was that they not return to their sinful ways, that they would remember
Him, and that they would call to mind how holy Jerusalem was before the Babylonian
assault so they could make it that way once again.
My friends, yes we serve a God who holds His people
accountable for their actions. There is no doubt in that and the scriptures
validate it. But likewise, we serve a God who forgives and redeems His people
and He does so over and over and over again.
Today and every day, we should all rejoice and be glad for
the gift of His love and mercy and grace, a gift that He freely gives to all
His children.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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