SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/3/2014
8:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
God Gathers the Armies against Babylon
PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah
51:5-26
Message of the
verses: We are looking at the second
main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s outline, and in our study from yesterday we
looked at the first sub-point under this second main point which is why I named
this PT-2 for today’s SD.
God Speaks to the Jews (Jeremiah 51:5-10): “5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been
forsaken By his God, the LORD of hosts, Although their land is full of guilt
Before the Holy One of Israel. 6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life!
Do not be destroyed in her punishment, For this is the LORD’S time of
vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her. 7 Babylon has been a golden
cup in the hand of the LORD, Intoxicating
all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are
going mad. 8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Bring
balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed. 9 We applied healing to Babylon,
but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For
her judgment has reached to heaven And towers up to the very skies. 10 The LORD
has brought about our vindication; Come and let us recount in Zion The work of
the LORD our God!”
It is good to remember as we study these last two
chapters in our study of Jeremiah, as we have already looked at chapter 52,
that we remember that God is speaking to different peoples in these chapters
50-51.
As we look at these verses we can see that the Lord is
telling His people to get away from Babylon, and during the time when God,
through Cyrus allowed the Jews to return home to Jerusalem only 50,000 of them
left. Now I realize that Cyrus was of
the Medes and Persians, but I believe that perhaps what the Lord is telling the
Jews at this point is if you get a chance to leave, then get out. However, I believe that there is a spiritual
meaning for not only the Jews, but for us today, and that is that Babylon is a
picture of the world system, and God is telling us to stay away from this world
system. “The word is passing away” (1
John 2:17 NKJV). I have mentioned in an
earlier SD about a book or when it first came out, a paper that was written
many years ago entitled “Two Babylonians.”
I have also mentioned that the destruction of Babylon as seen in
Revelations 17-18 is the destruction of both of these Babylonians, and this
paper is about them. Alexander Hislop is
the writer of this booklet and it was published in 1853.
I believe that many of the Jews treated the Babylonians
with respect and even told them about the Lord.
Now we know that Daniel and his friends did this and so when we look at
verse nine we see the word “we” there and it probably refers to the Jews who applied
healing to Babylon. God’s people should
always be ready to forgive their enemies.
God Speaks to Babylon (Jeremiah 51:11-23): “11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The
LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His purpose is
against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple. 12
Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon; Post a strong guard, Station
sentries, Place men in ambush! For the LORD has both purposed and performed What
He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O you who dwell by many
waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end. 14 The LORD of hosts
has sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you with a population like
locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you." 15 It is He who made the earth by
His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He
stretched out the heavens. 16 When He utters His voice, there is a
tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the
end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain And brings forth the wind
from His storehouses. 17 All
mankind is stupid, devoid
of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his
molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them. 18 They are
worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And of the tribe of His inheritance;
The LORD of hosts is His name. 20 He says, "You are My war-club, My
weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 “With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the
chariot and its rider, 22 And with you I shatter man and woman, And with you I
shatter old man and youth, And with you I shatter young man and virgin, 23 And
with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the
farmer and his team, And with you I shatter governors and prefects.”
We see in these verses that God is going to destroy
Babylon, and we know that this happened when the Medes and Persians came upon
them as seen in Daniel chapter five.
However could this also be speaking of the end times when Babylon will
totally be defeated? I have not written
about the city of Babylon that has been rebuilt, and I found it interesting
that even though it is not that far from Bagdad that it never came under attack
when the war was going on in Iraq. There
are some who believe that the Babylon that is talked about in the New
Testament, a city where the antichrist will reign is going to be Rome, but
others believe it will be Babylon. I
believe it will be Babylon.
The following is from a February 2009 Blog written by
Joel Rosenberg: “Largely overlooked
by the Western news media over the past few weeks was an
enormously significant story. The government of Iraq is moving forward
with plans to protect the archaeological remains of the ancient City of
Babylon, in preparation for building a modern city of Babylon.
The project, originally started by the late Saddam Hussein, is aimed
eventually at attracting scores of “cultural tourists” from all over the world
to see the glories of Mesopotamia’s most famous city. What’s more, the Obama
Administration is contributing $700,000 towards “The Future of Babylon
Project,” through the State Department’s budget.”
God Speaks
to His General (Jeremiah 51:20-24) “20 He says, "You are My war-club, My
weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 “With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the
chariot and its rider, 22 And with you I shatter man and woman, And with you I
shatter old man and youth, And with you I shatter young man and virgin, 23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his
flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, And with you I shatter
governors and prefects. 24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of
Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,"
declares the LORD.”
We have
seen that Assyria was used of the Lord to punish Israel, and Babylon was used
to punish Judah, and now we see that God is going to use Cyrus and later
Alexander the great to punish Babylon.
God does have His generals, and since we are not in the times of the
Gentiles, God uses some of His generals to set in plan what He has for the
nations in order to bring about the end times where eventually the Lord Jesus
Christ will rule in His Millennial Kingdom.
God Speaks
to Babylon (Jeremiah 51:25-26): “25 "Behold,
I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth,"
declares the LORD, "And I will stretch out My hand against you, And roll
you down from the crags, And I will make you a burnt out mountain. 26 “They
will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be desolate forever," declares the LORD.”
This is
the last sub-point from the second main point from Warren Wiersbe’s outline
from his next to last chapter of his commentary on Jeremiah. He writes:
“The city of Babylon sat on a plain, but in the sight of the nations, it
was a huge destroying mountain that loomed on the horizon of history. By the time God was through with it, however,
Babylon would be nothing but an extinct volcano (‘a burnt mountain,’ Jer.
51:25). Nobody would even excavate the
ruins to find stones to build with; the city would be deserted and desolate
forever.” Now I have to say that I am a
bit confused about verse 26, and other verses that speak of Babylon being
destroyed forever, for as I just noted the city has been rebuilt and so perhaps
this means that after the events that will take place in Revelations 17-18 that
will spell the end of Babylon, and I do know that the religious system of Babylon
will be done at that time for the Lord will see of that when He returns to set
up His kingdom.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: We have one more main point to look at and
then we have the concluding chapter from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on
Jeremiah. I have mixed emotions as we
are close to conclude our study in Jeremiah and then move on to Lamentations to
look at it, and also begin to look at 2 Thessalonians a bit this month too. I am in awe of the Word of God and the things
that I learn from my study in it, and even though I do not understand
everything in it I do trust the Lord to work out all of the things that He has
written concerning Babylon will take place.
Memory verses for the week:
Colossians 3:1-7.
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep
seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. 2 Set your mind on things above,
not on the things that are on earth. 3
For you died and you life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed,
then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of you
earthy body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed,
which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is
because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of
disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Frogs” (Exodus 7:12).
Today’s Bible question:
“To whom did Jesus give power and authority over all devils?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/3/2014 10:14 AM
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