Yes, these are the worst of times, no doubt. Everything is falling apart, and the nations are in crisis. But don’t despair, there is a silver lining.
Strange, isn’t it? Strange that I should be reading about the terror that is to strike all these lands, and yet be rejoicing about it. Try to see it from my perspective. All these lands that are being mentioned today lie to the east of Judah. Jeremiah speaks of them in reverse order, starting from the southeast and naming every nation one by one, moving to the northeast. Edom, the first city mentioned is located in the mountains far below Judah. You may remember the famous city of Petra is located in that region. The pathway into their stronghold was very narrow, and the mountain walls on each side are sheer and steep. They had a reason to be confident in their security…but no one can hide from God, or escape His judgment. The cities all have several things in common, they all have persecuted Israel in the past, and they all are “madly in love with idols” (50:38) Of the two, the reason they are being destroyed is the latter. If we learn anything from history we should learn this: you can’t disobey God and make Him angry by giving credit to others for what He has done, and get away with it.
I remember reading passages like these early in my Christian walk and being very confused. To that end, let me make a few quick observations here.
1. Zedekiah is the puppet king set up by Nebuchadnezzar, so Judah has already been taken over, but the temple still stands. Many of the people have been exiled already.
2. God has been telling Judah (and Israel north, which no longer exists) about this future for years. He made sure through the prophets that every one of them heard in advance what He was going to do.
3. Now that disaster is upon Judah, God tells them in advance what He is going to do to the nations around them. This would change my mind about where I could run for help. No sense in heading east or south. Every nation in that direction will be overthrown. In fact, I think God is setting this whole thing up so that they have nowhere to turn but back to Him. If I remember correctly, He said that was what He wanted from the very beginning.
4. Babylon, and their king Nebuchadnezzar, haven’t reached their pinnacle of power yet. They are still a fearsome force that no nation can defy. And true to His nature, God is already telling Judah (through Jeremiah) that they will fall from power, and their demise will be a coalition of nations from the north. So, about 80 years from this writing (maybe a little less) the Medes and the Persians (yes, a coalition) who live in the…..you guessed it, the northern part of the Babylonian kingdom….rose up and defeated the Babylonians. Remember the Babylonian king who was drinking in his hall when the hand of fire wrote on the wall? That’s when it happened. God sees Babylon on the rise, and He sees their fall from power. God sees everything.
5. God is forever telling us in advance what He is going to do.
Why? That’s simple, really; so we can be prepared. The only thing that we don’t often receive is a specific time table. A time table would sure be nice, right? Then again, what would a devout follower of Christ need with a time table? Even if I knew that God would not appear for another 1,000 years I doubt that knowledge would change my desire to serve Him. It may, however change the urgency with which I set about my tasks. I tend to be most effective in getting things done “at the last minute”. You should see me knock out work the day before vacation, or the last day of a missions trip….boy, I can really go. Knowing that it’s the “last minute” forces me to focus on the task at hand, and that leads to greater productivity. I actually could be that productive anytime, but I rarely have that focus.
Thinking along those lines, it’s probably a good thing that God didn’t tell us when He was going to return. If He had, perhaps those who brought the Gospel to America wouldn’t have been quite so determined. Those who planted churches may have held back a little, and maybe my ancestors wouldn’t have accepted Christ when and how they did. Less determination by those who came before could very well have sabotaged my opportunity to accept Christ. Hmmm. I wonder what the consequences would be if I “held back a little”….you know, take it easy, don’t work so hard or be quite as “radical”. What if I spent more time earning and building for myself, and less time for the church? What would be the consequences in 50 years? In 100? I promise you that I never want to find out.
One thing that keeps going through my mind as I read this passage, and it sort of takes me back to my original thought….that God forgives.
Israel and Judah have thumbed their nose at God. They have openly and publically rejected Him and sworn their allegiance to the gods of Egypt, Moab and Assyria (and others). They have no right whatsoever to expect anything from God except His anger.
And yet, I see God here promising to restore them and return them to their own land, and to make them prosperous and living at peace again.
God forgives! It’s never too late to call out to Him, and you can’t be so far away that He can’t bring you right back to Him in a second. Nothing is impossible for God, and that includes forgiving your sins and restoring your life with Him.
Let’s not be like the nations that couldn’t humble themselves, let’s readily admit our dependence upon our Creator, freely give Him credit for everything He has done and is doing, and renew our vow to serve Him willingly our entire lives. Let’s spend our days on earth praising God for all that He has done, both for us and for others, because He is worthy! Let’s thank Him continually for our salvation, our adoption and our future home in heaven. God is good!
Faithfully,
PR