Scripture
Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a jackal’s den, a desolation and an object of scorn without inhabitants.
~Jeremiah 51:37, CSB
Quote
The bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.
~Martin Luther
Jeremiah 46-51 is his prophecies concerning the nations surrounding Israel and also his prophecies of Babylon. By the way, I visited the site of ancient Babylon {Northern Iraq} ten or so years ago and it is a heap of rubble, a jackal’s den and no one lives there. During Jeremiah’s life time, Babylon was at the pinnacle it’s power. Nebuchadnezzar was basically ruling the known world. The Chaldean army was feared by all and no one could stand against them but as Jeremiah predicted: Babylon would fall. As I was reading through the prophecies of the nations, I noticed several things they had in common. [1] They all had a problem with pride. In Jeremiah 48:42, Jeremiah states…“Moab will be destroyed as a people because he has exalted himself against the LORD.” To the Babylonians, Jeremiah said, “The arrogant will stumble and fall with no one to pick them up.” Speaking of Edom, Jeremiah said, “As to the terror you cause, your arrogant heart has deceived you.” This is what pride does, it deceived the heart. The Edomites took refuge in the clefts, the high places but there is no place so high that God can not bring us down. There is no one so rich that He can not make poor. There is no one so powerful that He can not bring to utter defeat. All these nations became obsessed with their own power and they discounted the awesome power of the LORD. [2] They all trusted in something other than God {Yahweh} and this includes Judah. The Jew were worshiping the Queen of Heaven. The Egyptians had so many gods that Jeremiah doesn’t go into the list. Moab was worshiping Chemosh while Ammon was worshiping Milcom and both Chemosh and Milcom involved child sacrifice. In Babylon, they worshiped Bel and Marduk. All the nations were worshipers of idols. They all had other gods rather than Yahweh. [3] They and their false gods were all judged and destroyed. If you are trusting in something or someone other than Jesus, eventually, you will see the object of your trust and affection destroyed. God will tolerate no rivals.
Those who rebel against God have no future. Jeremiah’s word to the Jews in Babylon was: when the time comes, get out of Babylon because it is marked for destruction. Had you and I been living in Jeremiah’s day, we might have laughed at his advice. Judging by the human eye and intellect, Babylon appeared to have a great future. The city of Babylon was one of the wonders of the world. Yet Jeremiah warned the Jews to leave Babylon when their 70 years of exile was up. Let this serve as a warning to us: this sin cursed world, that we live in, has no future. If you want to ignore God’s word and lay up for yourselves treasures here on earth–go right ahead but eventually you will see those treasures go up in smoke. If you are a follower of Christ, you must understand, our future is not here on earth; this is not our home.
- First of all, I want to praise God for the rain and the cool weather. Both were exceedingly refreshing.
- I have to brag on Big L who had an outstanding 2nd half last night. Danville came within 40 seconds of winning there first game and we scored three touchdowns and little Waldell scored two of them. That boy is like a shot out of cannon. Big L was disruptive on defense and had several tackled. He would have had two or three sacks if he had his grand daddy’s speed [when I was his age]. Of course he weighs 220 and I weighed 120.