JEREMIAH 512010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 51

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

All right. Well, this evening we're in Jeremiah chapter 51. As we continue our study through the book of Jeremiah, coming to the end, we're just about finished. Lord willing, next week we'll finish up with chapter 52 and have the book of Jeremiah completed, which is always very exciting.

This evening, though, as we look at chapter 51, we're continuing the subject of Babylon and the judgment that is coming upon Babylon. We dealt with this last week as well in chapter 50, and Jeremiah continues here in chapter 51 to declare that the nation of Babylon is going to be judged for its wickedness, for its rebellion against God. Although it was a nation that was used by God, and it was a nation that God...

used as an instrument of judgment upon the nation of Judah and other nations, they also have rebelled against God. And so God says, now it's your turn. You've been used as an instrument of judgment for a while, but now you're going to experience my judgment for your rebellion against me. And so we pick it up in chapter 51, looking at verse 1. It says, Thus says the Lord...

Verse 1.

Against her let the archer bend his bow and lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men. Utterly destroy all her army. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans and those who thrust through in her streets. Verse 5. For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Here we have some pretty amazing things. God is sending a message to the nation of Babylon. Now, Babylon rose up under Nebuchadnezzar to become a very great nation.

As Jeremiah is writing these things, we find out at the end of the chapter, Babylon is really kind of at the height of its success, the height of its glory. It's the fourth year of King Zedekiah as Jeremiah is writing these things. Now, if you remember, King Zedekiah, he was a king of Judah, and he was the last king of Judah before the final destruction that Babylon brought upon the nation of Judah.

was finally destroyed in the 11th year of King Zedekiah. And so here what Jeremiah is writing is in the 4th year of King Zedekiah. It's several years, 7 years before Babylon finally conquers Jerusalem. And at this time, during this season, Babylon is huge.

Babylon is incredibly strong. Babylon is fierce. It seems impossible to think that Babylon could ever be destroyed, the city as well as the nation. It seems that their armies really could not be defeated. They were victorious virtually everywhere they went. They had a little bit of trouble with Egypt, but ultimately they ended up conquering there as well. And so Babylon was this huge nation, this powerful force that

And here God is promising, in the height of this nation, in the vast expanse that it had grown to, God is promising that this nation is going to be judged. He says, I'm going to raise up against Babylon, against those who dwell in Lebkamai, or it's a code word for Chaldea. He says, I'm going to raise up a destroying wind. I'm going to send winnowers to her in the day of doom.

He pronounces this day of doom upon this mighty nation. He says that there's going to be people against her all around. The archer is going to bend his bow. He says, don't spare her young men. Utterly destroy all her army. He says, the slain are going to fall and be thrust through in the streets.

And so Jeremiah proclaims this word of God to the nation of Babylon. And again, at the end of the chapter, we'll see that this was actually taken to the city of Babylon to be read aloud for the city to hear. And so this prophecy is going forth. This prophecy is proclaiming that Babylon is going to be destroyed.

And you can imagine the hearers in Jeremiah's day, in Jeremiah's hometown of Jerusalem, they would have thought, how could this be? Babylon is such a great and powerful nation. The nation of Babylon, the city of Babylon, as it's read there, they would have thought, there's just no way, it's just not possible for Babylon to be destroyed.

But that's what God said. And of course, we have the benefit of being able to look back at history and we know that exactly the things that God says here are the things that take place. Babylon is overthrown. The city of Babylon is destroyed and leveled. It's ruins. It's fulfilled exactly the way that God said. I really like verse 5 as well in this portion. It says, "...for Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah..."

Not forsaken by who? By His God, the Lord of hosts. Check this out. Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. We have been dealing with a lot in the book of Jeremiah, the sin of the nation of Judah. They were completely rebellious against God and it brought upon them their final destruction. Captivity being led into Babylon. But here God says...

He's not forsaken them. Even though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel, God has not forsaken them. This is something that is comforting. It's something that we should know. That even though we may fill our lives with sin, God has not forsaken us. So many times, those who have stumbled, those who have backslidden, those who have fallen away, those who have fallen into sin...

They get the feeling, they sense that God has forsaken them, that God has given up on them, that God's done, you know. We feel like God is tired of forgiving us sometimes. But God says to the nation of Judah, you're not forsaken. Even though you filled your land with sin, sin against me, you rebelled against me, I've not forsaken you. Now, by no means is this, you know,

to go ahead and fill your life with sin. No, because you will be taken into captivity. You will experience the repercussions for that. But even in the midst of those consequences, even in the midst of God's judgment, He has not forsaken you. And He's still there for you. Just as He's still there for the nation of Judah. He still allows them to have relationship with Him.

to get right with Him. He still allows them the opportunity. And just in the same way, He allows us to have that opportunity to get right with God. And yes, we may experience the consequences of our disobedience and rebellion, but God has not written us off. And He's still waiting. Much like the father of the prodigal son who was there waiting.

The son experienced the consequences and he messed up his life and he desired to eat the pig's food as a result. But when he turned back, he was received. In the same way, when we turn back to God, we're received. God has not forsaken you. If you feel that way, please understand. God has not forsaken you. He's still there for you. Verse 6.

He says,

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us go, everyone to his own country. For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. The Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

Here God gives some instruction to his people there in the midst of Babylon. You remember Babylon conquered Jerusalem and the nation of Judah and took God's people captive into the land of Babylon. And so God is now telling them, now's the time, get out of there. Flee from the midst of Babylon. There's some dual fulfillments that you can look at if you like here in chapter 51. Verse

the fulfillment immediately of these things taking place historically as the Medo-Persian Empire comes in and conquers Babylon and then the immediate history afterwards even with Alexander the Great and then his generals and how the city was leveled. But then there's also the possibility of a far yet to be fulfilled fulfillment

which will take place in the future. And you can look at Revelation chapter 18 as God deals with the nation or the city of Babylon there in that chapter. And there's some parallels that take place and you can check those out and I encourage you to do so. Even in Revelation chapter 18 verse 4, God...

speaks out to the city of Babylon and says, Come out of her, my people. In the same way that he says here, flee from the midst of Babylon. And so you can kind of see that parallel between the Babylon that was and that was destroyed, as God said, but as Babylon will be yet again in the future, it will be destroyed and God gives some similar warnings. And you can find those in Revelation chapter 18. But God tells the people to flee. Right?

Now, if you remember, we shared last week about King Cyrus, who conquered Babylon, and he did so in a very ingenious way, in that there was not a real battle to take the city of Babylon. He

He was able to divert the flow of the Euphrates River and break through the river gates and come in without really much of a fight, without laying siege to the city. And so he was able to come in and for the most part, for the inhabitants of Babylon, they went to bed one night and they were Babylonian citizens. And then they woke up the next morning and they were

Medo-Persian citizens. And there was just a new empire overnight or a new leadership, new government overnight for those inhabitants of the city of Babylon. And it was at that time that Cyrus sets...

the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, free. He gives them the opportunity to go back to their land. And so it makes sense here as God says, flee from the midst of Babylon. Prior to this, they were there against their will. They were transported there. They were not allowed to go back to inhabit their homeland. But when Cyrus came in, he gave them the ability to go back to Jerusalem.

and to establish themselves. And so God says, flee from the midst of her. Because although the city was conquered and although the nation and the armies are going to be defeated by Cyrus, the city itself remained for some time and then was later destroyed. And so he's giving his people an opportunity to get out of there before the city itself is judged, before the devastation really hits their land. Cyrus sets them free.

So God says, flee from the midst, get out of there. Because even though they've been conquered politically, even though the armies have been conquered, pretty soon the physical structures are going to be affected and the people are going to be affected. And God is seeking to preserve his people from being judged along with Babylon. And so he says, for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance.

he shall recompense her. God is bringing judgment, vengeance upon the nation of Babylon. And so he calls out his people that they would not be judged along with those in Babylon that he's bringing his vengeance upon.

He says that Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand. And he's referring here to the drinking of wine, which is a picture of judgment. He's saying that Babylon was used by God to bring judgment upon many nations, but now Babylon has fallen and Babylon is experiencing the judgment that they have brought upon other nations.

And so God is calling his people out. There in verse 10 it says, The Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come, let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God. Zion is Jerusalem. And so they're saying, Let's go back to Jerusalem. Let's go there and declare the work of God, how he has set us free, how he has delivered us, the work that he has accomplished. In verse 9 he says, We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed.

I thought this was interesting and I'm just going to throw it out kind of as a side note and you can think about it and play with it in your mind. But there's many times, you know, that we would heal things that God would see destroyed. We would prefer for, you know, the situation to be fixed and God says...

That's done. Don't try to fix it. I'm not working there anymore. That's done. The judgment has been cast. Move on. Get out of there and go on to the area that I have called you to. And there's sometimes those areas that we work really hard to repair and fix and try to heal. But maybe God is saying, hey, you just need to let that go. Let it die. Let it be destroyed and move on now to the things that I actually have called you to.

we would heal many times what God says needs to be destroyed. Verse 11. He says, Verse 11.

Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon. Make the guards strong. Set up the watchmen. Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself, surely I will fill you with men as locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you.

Here as God continues on pronouncing the judgment of Babylon, He makes it very clear that this is God's doing.

He says there in verse 11, "...the Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings." He says, "...for His plan is against Babylon." He says, "...because it is the vengeance of the Lord." In verse 12, he says, "...for the Lord has both devised and done." He says in verse 14, "...the Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself, surely I will fill you with men as locusts." He's making it very clear, this is my doing. This is the work of God.

that they would know that it is coming to pass, that they would know that it's going to take place, that they would know it's as a result of their rebellion against God. What's interesting about this, again, Jeremiah is writing this in the fourth year of Zedekiah,

The Medes are not a threat to Babylon at this time. They're not a powerful nation. They're not a powerful... The Medo-Persian Empire was a gathering together of several different peoples and nations, a uniting together. And they were not gathered together yet. There was not a powerful army yet.

Yet, they were not a threat to Babylon at that time. It's similar to as we saw in the book of Isaiah. God was promising that this nation Babylon was going to come and be a world power and conquer. And at the time that Isaiah prophesied it, Babylon wasn't a big deal. It was like, what are you talking about? That's like the city of Norco. They're not going to take over the United States. That's crazy. In the same way, here Babylon's this world power and God says, the Medes.

They're going to gather together. They're going to take over. And be like, what are you talking about? They're not even a threat. But 70 years later, the work is accomplished. And the Medo-Persian Empire comes against Babylon and is victorious. Because God said, that's what's going to happen. God's word is 100% accurate. Every detail.

He mentions the means. He names them. He, earlier in Jeremiah, specifies the name of the commander, or Cyrus, as he comes in. God calls him his servant. He's able to, with complete accuracy, declare the future. He doesn't predict it. He declares it because he knows what is going to take place.

God makes it clear, this is my doing and every detail is fulfilled exactly the way that God said it would be. Verse 15, He has made the earth by His power. Jeremiah stops here for a second to consider this God that he's talking about. This God has made the earth by His power. He has established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heaven by His understanding.

When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain. He brings the wind out of his treasuries. Everyone is dull-hearted without knowledge. Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image, for his molded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Here Jeremiah goes on as he's declaring these things that God has said. He says, let's take a moment and consider the source.

Let's consider who it is that's declaring these things. Let's take a moment and think about who is this God that we're talking about, that we're making reference to. Now you would understand that in the nation of Babylon, like in many other nations, there was multiple gods that they would worship.

And so when you talk about God, you could be talking about this idol or that idol or this other idol or this group of idols of this nation or this group of idols of that nation. You could be talking about a lot of different gods. And so Jeremiah says, let me remind you who this God is. He is the maker of all things. There's only one God who's the maker of all things. There's only one creator of the universe.

It's the God that we worship. The author. The creator. He says the portion of Jacob is not like those other gods. He says those other gods, they're dull-hearted, they're without knowledge. They're dead. They're not alive. He says the metalsmith, the workers who fashion those idols, they're brought to shame because the gods that they worship are the gods that they make. And they have no life. There's no breath in them. They're a work of errors.

The finest craftsmen made errors on the idols that they carved. They were not gods. But the God who has proclaimed these things, He's established the world by His wisdom. And He's stretched out the heaven by His understanding.

This is the God that we worship. This is the God that says, "I want to have relationship with you so much that I'll send my son to die on the cross, to pay the price, to take your punishment so that you can have access to me." That Creator of the universe says, "I want to spend time with you and I want to know you. I've established the world by my wisdom. I've stretched out the heaven with my understanding."

I have control of the waters, the multitude of the waters in heavens, the storms. God is in control of all of these things. He's huge. Huge doesn't quite describe the fullness, the extent of God. He's magnificent and that doesn't quite explain and describe how incredible our God is. He's the maker of all things. The Lord of hosts is His name. Lest we forget...

who it is that we mean when we talk about God. He is the maker. He has all power and all wisdom and all understanding. He keeps the world working. And of course the point here, if God is big enough to make all things, if He's the one who keeps the systems going in the world, if He's the one who holds the whole world in His hand, you cannot fight against Him and win.

You cannot thwart His work. His word will be accomplished.

That's so important for us to know. You know, James tells us to not be hearers of the Word and so deceive ourselves. How do we deceive ourselves? We hear the Word of God and we think, eh, it doesn't matter so much in my life. It doesn't apply to me. That's not really important for me. I don't have to practice that. I don't need to be obedient in that. No, don't deceive yourself and think that you can disregard the Word of God and be okay. No, understand that He is the Maker of all things. You don't

Get away with disobedience. You don't get away with disregarding His Word. You can't fight against God and win, and you can't keep His Word from being fulfilled. Even as the rain comes down from heaven and waters the earth and produces grass, the Word of God comes forth and it will produce what God has sent it forth to do. You cannot keep God's Word from coming to pass. So don't just...

Hear the word or read the word and deceive yourself by not practicing it. Put it into action because He's the maker of all things. You cannot thwart His word or His work. Verse 20. He says, You are my battle axe and weapons of war. For with you I will break the nation in pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms. With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider. With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider. Verse 20.

With you also I will break in pieces man and woman. With you I will break in pieces old and young. With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden. With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock. With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen. And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers. Verse 24. And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea.

For all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight, says the Lord. Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth, says the Lord. And I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you down from the rocks and make you a burnt mountain. They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever, says the Lord."

At one time, Babylon was God's instrument. Just as before Babylon, Assyria was God's instrument. In Isaiah chapter 10, God calls the nation of Assyria the rod of His judgment. That nation was God's rod. That nation was being used by God to bring judgment upon the nations that needed to be judged. Then God raises up Babylon.

And Babylon is his instrument. Babylon is his tool for bringing judgment, for accomplishing God's work upon the earth. And now Babylon is going to be a recipient of judgment by the battle axe that God has raised up, by the new rod of judgment that God is raising up, the Medo-Persian Empire. You see, our God is a God who raises up nations and casts them down according to his will.

to accomplish His purposes. We don't serve a little God. He uses us and we are grateful for that. Man, the opportunity to be a part of His work and to go on the mission field degree or be a chaplain in the fire department or you be a missionary to your family or in the workplace. That's awesome and that's so exciting. But God's not limited to person by person. God is able to orchestrate nations. He's got the whole world in His hands. Quite literally.

physically, politically, militarily, everything. He's in control. God knows what's going on. And He is able to use all of these things to accomplish His work. And so He says, you are My battle axe. Now, the Medo-Persian Empire is coming to bring judgment upon this nation of wickedness. And they're going to break in pieces, just as Babylon broke in pieces before it. Now, the Medo-Persian Empire is going to come and break in pieces.

All of these different areas. It's going to be shattered completely. God is using them to bring this judgment. He says, I'm going to repay Babylon for all the evil they have done in Zion and your sight, says the Lord. They've done evil and they're going to be repaid. Don't get confused and think that because God has used you, you will not be repaid.

Don't get confused and think that because God has accomplished things in your life and through your life, that it means that He's not going to deal with those areas of rebellion. He says, you will be repaid. At one time you were my instrument, but now you will be repaid for all the evil that you've done. He says, I'm against you. You've destroyed the earth. You're a destroying mountain. I've stretched out my hand against you.

And he describes the judgment being so complete that they will not take from you a stone for a corner or a stone for a foundation. You're not going to go to Babylon and say, oh, I could use this to build my new house and take it and use it as part of your foundation. It's going to be so complete that, well, the materials are just going to be worthless. It's just going to be rubble. Even God's instruments will be judged according to their obedience or disobedience to God.

Verse 27. He says, Set up a banner in the land. Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations against her. Call the kingdoms together against her. Ararat, Mini, Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her. Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, its governors and all its rulers, all the land of his dominion.

Verse 2.

Here God describes really the soldiers of Babylon as they will cease fighting. He says that, again, he's raising up

against Babylon. The kingdoms are gathering together. He says, call the kingdoms together against her. Kingdoms from the north. Kingdoms part of the Medes. He says, prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes. And the land is going to tremble. There's going to be this gathering together. And the land is going to fear. And he says, every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon. Again, you cannot thwart the work of God alone.

You cannot escape the word of God. It is going to be fulfilled just as God has said. And so the result there in verse 30 is that the mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting and they've remained in their strongholds. Instead of coming out to meet the army that's against them, they've holed up, they've recruited or they've retreated back into their strongholds.

They don't have the strength to fight anymore. They're not the powerful army that they once were. Their soldiers have ceased fighting. Their might has failed and says they've become like women. No longer the fierce warriors that they once were, but now they're terrified. They're freaked out. They know they've been beaten. He describes in verse 31 the runners meeting one another, going to the king of Babylon to announce that the city is taken.

And it's pretty interesting as he describes this here because if you're familiar with Daniel chapter 5, well you know that Belshazzar was ruling in Babylon, in the city of Babylon, but he was sharing the rule, sharing the reign with his father. And Belshazzar in Babylon, while his father was out with the army...

Farmy for short. His father was out with the army outside of Babylon, but there in the city of Babylon, Belshazzar is throwing a feast, he's having a party, he's getting drunk, he's blaspheming the name of God. And you remember the hand writes on the wall, and God says, this night the kingdom is going to be taken and divided. And that's the night that Cyrus comes in and conquers the city, takes the city without a real fight. And so the picture here is the messengers now running to...

Belshazzar's father, the king, and saying, the city is taken. They came in overnight. They conquered the city. It's taken. And you can imagine the hearts of the soldiers melting as they have this city that they thought was, it could never be conquered, they thought. It was incredible. We talked about it a little bit last week that it's described for us quite extensively. And the...

The measurements, the description is, well, it's impressive. Again, Haley describes Babylon's walls being 300 feet high, 80 feet thick, 35 feet below the ground so that people could not dig underneath the walls in order to get into the city. It was massive. It was huge. It was thought, there's no way. It's not possible for this city to be defeated. And so when they get the news, the city's been taken away.

The soldiers' hearts, they melt. This was what they were relying upon. This is what their faith was in. They now begin to think, well, if that city was taken, what can we do? If that city was taken, if the city of Babylon was conquered, we're beaten. And so their might failed. They became like women. They ceased fighting and retreated to their strongholds. The men of war were terrified. Verse 33 says,

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor. When is it time to thresh her? Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest will come. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has swallowed me up like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies. He has spit me out.

Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion, we'll say, and my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, Jerusalem, we'll say. Therefore, thus says the Lord, behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment and a hissing without an inhabitant.

They shall roar together like lions. They shall growl like lions' welts. In their excitement I will prepare their feasts. I will make them drunk that they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake, says the Lord. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.

He says, Babylon is going to become a heap. Here at the beginning in verses 33 through 35, it's the inhabitants of Israel, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, complaining against Babylon and saying, God, they did all of these things to us. How long are you going to let this go, this evil that they have done? And so God says, I'm going to plead your case. I'm going to take vengeance. They

He says, I'm going to prepare them a feast. I'm going to make them drunk. Again, it's a picture. The drinking of wine and being drunk is receiving the fullness of God's judgment. And so they're going to be judged completely. Verse 41.

Verse 2.

Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. So God now continues on to say that Shishak is taken, or it's a code word for Babylon. Babylon is taken. The praise of the whole earth has been seized. The glory of the earth was the city of Babylon. The wonders there, the hanging gardens, the magnificent walls and structures, the Tower of Babel there in the middle of the city. But it's taken. It's gone. The thing that the whole earth thought, that can never happen, it took place.

God says her cities are now a desolation, a dry land, a wilderness. No one's going to go through there. He says, I will punish Bel in Babylon. Bel was one of the gods that they worshipped. So God was defeating and showing that that was a false god, an idol with no breath in it. The nations are not going to stream there anymore. It's not going to be the place of excitement. It's not going to be the place where captives go. It's going to be desolate. The wall of Babylon shall fail. Verse 45 says,

My people, go out of the midst of her, and let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the Lord, and lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land. A rumor will come one year, and after that in another year, a rumor will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

Therefore behold, the days are coming that I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon. Her whole land shall be ashamed, and all her slain shall fall in her midst. Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing joyously over Babylon. For the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says the Lord. Again God calls His people out. He says, ìHey guys, get out of there. Itís not over yet.î

Yes, they've come in, they've conquered the city. Now you've been set free. Here's your chance. Get out of there. Leave Babylon. Go back to the promised land. Go back to the land of Israel. There was a movement back to the land of Israel. You read about it in Nehemiah as well as Ezra. God's people came back to the land at that time. But there was also many who stayed behind.

Many who had been set free but said, I'm comfortable here in Babylon. I don't want to go. God says, get out of there. Don't stick around. It's not over yet. Deliver yourself from the fierce anger. God says, look, I'm bringing judgment upon this place. And remember, this letter, these prophecies are going to be taken to Babylon and read aloud for the people to hear. God's saying, get out of there.

When the opportunity is there, when Cyrus sets you free, run because judgment is coming. God says, I'm going to bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon. Her whole land is going to be ashamed. And if you're there, you're going to experience that judgment as well. The heavens and the earth and all that's in it will sing joyously over Babylon for the plunders are going to come to her from the north. Justice is going to be done and heaven will rejoice. You have the opportunity now.

to get out, go out from the midst of her, God tells them. Sometimes Christians are set free, but they don't leave when they have the opportunity, those things that God has delivered them from. Something to consider in your life. You know, the word says, Jesus said, He who the Son sets free is free indeed. There's things that God has set you free from. There's things that God seeks to deliver you from. There's areas of your life, perhaps, that God says,

You're done with that. Now get out of there before the hammer falls, before judgment comes. Again, we cannot thwart the Word of God. We cannot escape what the Word of God says will come to pass. So let's not deceive ourselves and let's take action and let's run to this King of Kings and Lord of Lords who desires greatly to set us free, to have relationship with us, to bring us into eternity. Verse 49 says,

As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. You who have escaped the sword, get away. Do not stand still. Remember the Lord afar off and let Jerusalem come to your mind. Again, God's calling His people back there. Let that come to your mind. If you escape the judgment that's coming, don't stick around and see if you'll survive the next round. Get to Jerusalem. Let it come to your mind. Verse 51, We are ashamed...

Verse 1.

The people say, we're ashamed because we've heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces as they recognize what they've done in rebelling against God, the nation of Judah. And how the strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house and Babylon came in and demolished the temple and ripped off the gold and the temple was defiled. The people say, oh, shame has covered our faces as a result. And so God says, therefore the days are coming.

I'm going to judge Babylon. He says, though Babylon were to mount up to heaven. Think about that for a second. They've got, you know, big walls. They've got impressive structures. He says, no matter what they do, if they were to mount up to heaven, if they were to build the biggest stronghold ever to face the earth, which they had, though she were to fortify the height of her strength, God says, yet from me plunders would come. Again, you cannot escape the word of God. You cannot thwart the work of God.

His word will come to pass exactly as he has said. Verse 54. The sound of a cry comes from Babylon and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans.

Verse 1.

The sounds of cry are going to come, he says. There's going to be devastation.

The Lord is plundering Babylon. He says and explains that this is taking place because the Lord is the God of recompense. How many times have I quoted Galatians chapter 6 verse 7 and 8? Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he also will reap. If he sows to the flesh, he'll reap from the flesh corruption or destruction.

If he sows to the Spirit, he'll reap from the Spirit everlasting life. God is the God of recompense. We reap what we sow. He surely will repay according to our deeds, according to our obedience. In Babylon's case, he says, I'm going to make them drunk. Again, a reference to them receiving the fullness of his judgments.

No one is going to escape. The princes, the wise men, the governors, the deputies, the mighty men, they're all going to experience. They're not going to escape this judgment. So he says the broad walls of Babylon will be utterly broken. Something unimaginable for the people of Jeremiah's day. How could that take place? How could that happen? But God says it's going to take place. Who says it? The king, whose name is the Lord of hosts, the maker of all things.

He promised. He said, this is what's going to happen. And you fast forward in history and you find this is what happened. Babylon was broken. The walls were destroyed. It was left desolate, just as God said. Verse 59, the word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Sariah, the son of Nariah, the son of Meshiah, when he went with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign, and Sariah was the quartermaster.

So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Sariah, When you arrive in Babylon and see it and read all these words, then you shall say, O Lord, you have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it.

neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever. Now it shall be when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then you shall say, Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. And so he gives all of this prophetic word of the Lord against Babylon. And now he speaks to this man, Sariah.

This man was an officer of King Zedekiah. And in the fourth year of King Zedekiah there in Judah, he was summoned. There's some dispute among scholars about why he was summoned, but many believe or most believe that Nebuchadnezzar called all of Judah

the kings of the surrounding nations to come to remind them of who they're to be loyal to, to see the massive place that Babylon has created, to remind them that they are to be obedient and to pay tribute and to pay their taxes and so on and so forth. And so in the fourth year of King Zedekiah, King Zedekiah goes to Babylon and Sariah goes along with him from Judah to Babylon.

And Jeremiah gives him this book, all of these prophecies that he's written down, all of these words that we read tonight as well as last week, these prophecies of judgment upon Babylon. And he says, Go and when you get there, read it. And when you finish reading it, throw it in the Euphrates River. And as it sinks, proclaim, just as this scroll sank, so the nation of Babylon will sink. It will be no more. It will be desolate.

What a task, huh? Could you imagine being this guy? Well, thanks, Jeremiah. Couldn't you pick someone else? But he's called to go. To deliver a message that seems impossible. To deliver a message that would not be favored well. To deliver the message of God. Again, written probably about 70 years before many of these things are fulfilled. God's word comes to pass exactly as he declared. The worship team is going to come up and close us in a song and

as they do as we spend this time in worship, I just want to encourage you to consider your heart before the Lord. A couple of things that stand out to me from tonight's chapter that I've already pointed out, but just to remind you, you know, for those who feel like God has forsaken them, you can in this time of worship come to God. He's not forsaken you. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He invites you.

Come by faith in Jesus Christ and the completed work upon the cross. Maybe for some, you're the one who's been set free, but you continue to persist in your old lifestyle. And like the Jews who were set free under Cyrus, but they said, ah, we don't want to go back. You know, it's going to require some faith and we're comfortable here. Maybe you're just continuing on in comfort and not willing to take those steps that God has called you to do.

I want to encourage you. Would you surrender that area of your heart, that piece of your life to the Lord and take advantage of the freedom that God has given you? Move out of the comfort zone because we must not forget who it is that we're talking about when we talk about God. He's the maker of all things. His word comes to pass. So let's not deceive ourselves by hearing the word of God and doing nothing about it. Let's put it into practice.

Let's come to Him. He's not forsaken us. Let's step out in faith. He's set us free. Let's go forward and do the things that God has called us to do. And let's not be deceived and think, hey, God's been using us. He's not going to deal with this area of my life where I'm not being obedient. Don't be deceived. God is the God of recompense. And so if there's areas in your life that you need to get right, let's take this time. Let's take this time. He's here for us. He offers to us

He offers to us a fullness of relationship. He offers to us a life and life more abundant. Let's not play around, but let's engage for real in the relationship that God has called us to. Let's worship the Lord together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.