SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/29/2014
11:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Judgment on Kedar, Hazor and Elam
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah
49:28-39
Message of the
verses: We first will look at the
judgment on Kedar, and Hazor which cover verses 28-33: “28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of
Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the LORD,
"Arise, go up to Kedar And devastate the men of the east. 29 “They will
take away their tents and their flocks; They will carry off for themselves
Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels, And they will call out
to one another, ’Terror on every side!’ 30 “Run away, flee! Dwell in the
depths, O inhabitants of Hazor," declares the LORD; "For
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you And devised a
scheme against you. 31 “Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, Which
lives securely," declares the LORD. "It has no gates or bars; They
dwell alone. 32 “Their camels will become plunder, And their many cattle for
booty, And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair;
And I will bring their disaster from every side," declares the LORD. 33 “Hazor
will become a haunt of jackals, A desolation forever; No one will live there,
Nor will a son of man reside in it."”
13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the
order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and
Mibsam (Genesis 25:13).” We see from
this verse where the people of Kedar came from, but Dr. Wiersbe points out that
it is not known where the people of Hazor came from. Now there was a city in northern Palestine
named Hazor that is seen in Joshua 11, but this does not have anything to do
with these people.
These were two nomadic Arab nations which lived in the
desert and what we see here is some familiar phrases that we seen to describe
other nations that would be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar as God directed him to
do so. I am not saying that he knew that
God was directing him to destroy these nations like God told Joshua to destroy
nations in the Promised Land, but God was using Nebuchadnezzar to do his
bidding to destroy nations which were mostly worshipers of idols, and were also
complacent as we see in verse 31, and we also see that they had fear on every
side which is the other familiar phrase. Dr. Wiersbe writes that they happened in
599-598 B. C.
We will now look at the judgment that come upon Elam from
Jeremiah 49:24-29 “34 That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the
prophet concerning Elam,
at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying: 35 “Thus says
the LORD of hosts, ’Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, The finest of
their might. 36 ’I will bring upon Elam the four winds From the four ends of
heaven, And will scatter them to all these winds; And there will be no nation To which the outcasts of
Elam will not go. 37 ’So I will shatter Elam before their enemies And
before those who seek their lives; And I will bring calamity upon them, Even My
fierce anger,’ declares the LORD, ’And I will send out the sword after them
Until I have consumed them. 38 ’Then I will set My throne in Elam And destroy
out of it king and princes,’ Declares the LORD. 39 ’But it will come about in the last days That I
will restore the fortunes of Elam,’" Declares the LORD.”
I will give verses that also speak of Edam or the
Edamites: Gen. 14:1; Isa. 11:11; 21:2;
22:6; Jer. 25:25; Ezek. 32:24; Dan. 8:2.
Now the Edamites lived beyond the Tigris River which was across from
Babylon and this nation eventually became a part of the Medo-Persian Empire. The
Edomites were know for their archery and that is why the Lord says that He will
break their bows. The Babylonians would
defeat them and Dr. Wiersbe writes what would next happen: “Whenever a nation was defeated, the victors
would set up their king’s throne in the city gate (1:15; 39:3; 43:8-13), and
that’s what God promised to do in Elam (49:38).
He would let them know that He was King.”
Dr. Wiersbe continues “The Lord ended this description of
judgment with a promise of mercy. Why He
chose to restore Egypt, Moab, Ammon, and Elam is not explained, but they will
share in the kingdom of God’s grace.” I
truly wonder about this myself, but one thing is for sure and that we worship a
God who is gracious and merciful and for that I am thankful.
I think that it is important to look at what Dr. Wiersbe
wrote at the end of his commentary on the 49th chapter of Jeremiah
and so I will quote it as we end our study on Jeremiah chapter 49.
“As you studied these chapters, perhaps you became weary
of reading the same message: Judgment is
coming and there’s no escape. There’s a
sameness about what God said about these nine nations, and if we aren’t
careful, that sameness can produce ‘tameness’ and cause us to lose a heart
sensitive to the Lord’s message.
“Keep in mind, however, that these prophecies were
written about real men, women, and children, and that what Jeremiah wrote
actually came true. Whole civilizations
were wiped out because of their sins, and eventually Babylon itself was
destroyed. This means that multitudes of
people died and went into an eternity of darkness.
“God sees what the nations do, and He rewards them
justly. What Hezekiah said about the
Lord needs to be emphasized today: ‘O
Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God
over all the kingdoms of the earth’ (Isa. 37:16, NIV). Joshua called Him ‘the Lord of all the earth’
(Josh. 3:11), and both Jesus and Paul called Him ‘Lord of heavens and earth’
(Luke 10:21; Acts 17:24).
“God never gave the Law of Moses to any of the nations
that Jeremiah addressed, but He still held them accountable for the sins they
committed against Him and against humanity.
Because of the witness of creation around them and conscience within
them, they were without excuse (Rom. 1:17-32, especially v. 20) and guilty
before God.
“In recent history, the nations haven’t acted any better
than the ones recorded in Jeremiah 46-49.
Innocent blood is shed legally as millions of babies are aborted in
their mother’s wombs. International
terrorism, genocide, exploitation of people and material resources, war, crime,
the abuse of children, and a host of other sins have stained the hands of
nations with blood. What will they do
when the Judge becomes angry and starts to avenge the innocent?
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God’ (Hebrews 10:31).”
8/29/2014 11:57 AM
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