A MESSAGE TO BABYLON: A PROMISE FULFILLED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“‘The Lord has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.’”

“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 destroyed.”

Jeremiah 51:10-13

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

Here’s a truth we can always hold onto.

God always fulfills His promises. He always does.

As we have seen in our study of the Old Testament, God’s promises are always intended to lead us to good. He never ceases to give us direction so we know what He expects from us and as long as we remain obedient to doing all He calls us to do, we can remain in His favor and experience the richness of His blessings. However, if we fail to do what He wants us to do, we have seen God send warnings through His prophets which are nothing more than promises of punishment if His people choose to not repent of their sins and continue to disobey His commands.

In today’s scripture passage from Jeremiah 51, we find snapshots of three promises of God that were fulfilled.

First, we need to remember what got the Israelites to a point of vindication.

The people of Israel and Judah had sinned against God and continued to do so despite the warnings He sent regarding judgment. It got to the point where God became fed up with His people and so He brought the Babylonian forces upon them, destroying their land and leaving everything in ruins before taking the Israelites away into a seventy year exile.

God had promised judgment and judgment is what His people received because God always fulfills His promises.

Second, we read that the people of Israel were vindicated by God.

“‘The Lord has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.’”

Once the Israelites had paid the penalty God imposed, we know that the Babylonians were overthrown by the Persians who promptly allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland and return they did, rejoicing in an opportunity to rebuild their homes, their lives, and their relationship with God.

God had promised vindication and redemption and this is what the Israelites received because God always fulfills His promises.

Finally, the Babylonians had sinned against God and although they were used by Him as an instrument of His judgment, this did not excuse them from experiencing it themselves. For God promised judgment on anyone who would choose to worship false gods and idols, commanding that there be no other gods before Him. He made it clear that He was a jealous God and would bring punishment on anyone who disregarded, disrespected, and dishonored Him through the way they worshiped.

The Israelites had violated this and experienced God’s judgment. Ditto for the Babylonians who found their once mighty empire destroyed. In both instances, we find that God indeed fulfills His promises.

And that brings us to today and the most important promise God has ever given His people. It reads like this:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

How simple is the Gospel?

As simple as these promises:

If you believe in Jesus, you will not perish but have eternal life.

If you choose to reject Jesus, you will perish and be gone forever.

God is going to fulfill one of these two promises in your lifetime.

Which one is it going to be for you?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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