JEREMIAH 46-51 GOD RULES OVER ALL NATIONS2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 46-51 God Rules Over All Nations

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 2019. Well, this morning as we look at the book of Jeremiah and really finishing it up, looking at chapters 46 through 51, I've titled the message, God Rules Over All Nations.

God rules over all nations. Here in the closing portion of Jeremiah, Jeremiah changes his focus. He changes the scope of his prophecies. Up through chapter 45 of Jeremiah, he's been predominantly focused on the nation of Judah.

And God has been using Jeremiah to bring forth the word of the Lord to the nation of Judah, calling them to repentance, giving them opportunity to turn and get right with God before the judgment comes that would be executed through the nation of Babylon.

But now here in chapters 46 through 51, we see a change. There's a shift in focus. You can see that there in verse 1 of chapter 46, where it says, the word of the Lord, which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations.

And here we're widening the scope and not just looking at the nation of Israel or the nation of Judah, not just looking at the descendants of Abraham. Here we're looking at the surrounding nations that were around Israel and Judah and the region that was known in their day. And God is addressing them and giving forth his word to them. And as we work our way through these things, it is a reminder for us that God is not just the God of the Hebrews, right?

And he's not just the God of the Christians. He's not just the God of a location or a certain region, but God rules over all nations. And I would encourage you to consider this this morning, that if God is not big enough to rule over all nations, well, then he's not big enough for you to trust him with your life.

That we need to recognize as we look at these things that God is declaring authority, power, influence, and the right to bring judgment upon these nations. And it's not just a message of judgment that, you know, we have to work through, but it's also a reminder of the position and place of God, how big he is. He really is on the throne above all things, above all nation, above all powers, right?

Now, this past week, as we've been reading through these chapters, God has been addressing this whole region, this whole area that's shown on the map here. And to kind of just get you a little bit familiar with the geography, on the east side here, we have the Mediterranean Sea. That was the, you know, the predominant body of water that was known to them. And it was the coast of the nation of Israel and Judah for them.

There you see the main features of the area of Israel with the Sea of Galilee, that great lake at the top, and then the Jordan River that runs down from there into the Dead Sea at the bottom. And so this is, you know, prominent and probably you're familiar with these elements of the geography of the nation of Israel.

Down to the south and a little bit over, you see the Red Sea. That's what the nation of Israel crossed as they were exiting Egypt under the leadership of Moses. And right where the Red Sea is, the words are, that's the Sinai Desert. And so they were in that area for some time and then moved into the land of Israel.

But then heading over to the east, you have the Euphrates River. And it's a great river that runs from far north up top all the way down into the Persian Gulf down below. And that's where Babylon is located. That's where Abraham came out of. Remember, he was from Ur of the Chaldees. That's over there in that region near the Persian Gulf. And Persian Gulf area today, you know, known as Babylon.

Iraq and Iran. So you can check that out on your maps, you know, of today as well. But that kind of gives you just a little bit of a glimpse of this region. It's a wide expanse of territory that God is addressing here in these prophecies in Jeremiah chapters 46 through 51.

Now, as we look at these things, these nations and the fact that God rules over them, there's five different aspects of this that we want to consider together that we need to look at and understand. And so the first thing for us to consider as we look at these chapters is that God punishes nations for sin.

Now today as we work our way through the scriptures, it'll be a little bit different than usual. We're not sticking to a shorter passage and working our way verse by verse. We're going to be going through the chapters a couple different times, scrolling back and forth. So get your thumbs ready, you know, whether you're scrolling or turning pages. But to be able to jump back and forth between the chapters quickly and stay in tune with what the Lord is saying. As we begin to consider in chapter 46, the

the punishing of nations as a result of their sin. Now again, the first 45 chapters of Jeremiah really are focused on Judah. And God has been declaring that Judah will be punished for their sin and rebellion against God. And that's not necessarily difficult for us to comprehend. You know, we understand they're the people of God. And so it's not a surprise if when they rebel against him, he brings judgment. But sometimes we forget that

that God also is the God over, the Lord over all nations. And so beginning in chapter 46, God addresses the nation of Egypt. And so we have the nation of Judah. We're familiar with that. That's, you know, predominantly where the things of the Bible take place. But now God also looks to Egypt here in Jeremiah chapter 46. And here in chapter 46, God describes two battles that take place for Egypt.

God is speaking prophetically in advance of the defeats that Egypt will experience.

The first defeat takes place in the north above Israel, actually, where Babylon, what Babylon would do is they would go up the Euphrates River to the far north of Israel and then come down from the north to attack the nations and the peoples of the areas around Israel. And that was because that was a lot safer than to try to cut across the desert there. And so they would go up the Euphrates and then come down. And so what Egypt decided to do

was to try to put a stop to the armies of Babylon in the far north, there at the Euphrates River. And so it was a place called Carchemish. And Egypt went and met Babylon for battle there to try to withstand them and keep them from entering into the land. But Egypt, God said, would be defeated strongly. You can see that in verse 10 here of Jeremiah chapter 46. Here's what it says.

For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself on his adversaries. The sword shall devour, it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood. For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Here talking about Egypt, God describes and declares they head up

to the river Euphrates to meet the Babylonian army. And God describes this whole scenario as a sacrifice. That is, there's going to be much bloodshed and there is going to be a strong defeat against Egypt. And it was a strong defeat. They were hurt badly and they were not successful in defeating Babylon. And so they went home wounded, went home, you know, having lost many soldiers. And that battle was

They lost as a judgment of God. God said, I'm going to deal with you. I'm going to avenge myself. You're going to lose and be defeated as a result of your sin and rebellion against me. Again, it's important for us to consider that it may not be surprising when we're dealing with the nation of Israel and Judah, but

The nation of Egypt also, God says, you're accountable to be submitted to me. You're responsible to be obedient to me and to my revelation towards you. And Egypt, in refusing that, experiences this punishment from God. But that wasn't the only battle described here in Jeremiah chapter 46.

Then God goes on to describe another occasion, which actually happens a couple of decades later, where Babylon comes down all the way down into the land and then over to Egypt and actually defeats Egypt there.

on their own turf, defeats Egypt right there in their own land and beats them there later on. And you can see this in verse 25 here of Jeremiah 46. It says, Again, notice how God is describing this, that he is bringing punishment upon the land of Egypt.

He is disciplining them. He's bringing judgment for their sin, punishment for their sin upon the nation of Egypt. Well, Egypt is not the only nation that God is considering here. It's just the first. As we move on to chapter 47, God talks about and deals with the area of Philistia, which was there on the coast in between Judah and Egypt. That's where the Philistines had taken up residence.

Originally, they were from the island of Cyprus, but they moved there to that land next to Israel and Judah. And of course, they were perpetual enemies of the nation of Israel. So we're very familiar with the Philistines. David and Goliath, right? Goliath was that giant Philistine. The Philistines were that constant threat to the nation of Israel there. Well, they're still around during the time of Jeremiah.

And God says, not for much longer though, that the Philistines are going to experience the judgment of God. Looking at chapter 47, verse 6 and 7, it says this, O you sword of the Lord, how long until you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard, rest and be still. How can it be quiet? Seeing the Lord has given it charge against Ashkelon and against the seashore. There he has appointed it.

Talking about the battles that have been going on, the prophet says, how long until you're quiet to the sword of the Lord? And the response is, how can it be quiet? Because God has given a charge against Ashkelon. Now, Ashkelon was one of the major cities of the Philistines. It was conquered, defeated by Babylon. And so God says, this is my doing. This is the sword of the Lord, and I have appointed it.

Moving on into chapter 48, God addresses the nation of Moab. Moab.

In the nation of Moab, these were the descendants of Lot. And through one of Lot's daughters, you remember the two daughters, and then they came out. And so there was two generations or two nations that came forth from Lot. Moab was one, Ammon was the other. God will address them in chapter 49. But here's Moab in chapter 48, a whole chapter devoted to this people. And there was some great details that God shares about their sin and his destruction there.

that he would bring upon them. In Jeremiah chapter 48, starting in verse 42, it says, "...and Moab shall be destroyed as a people, because he exalted himself against the Lord. Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you, O inhabitants of Moab," says the Lord. "...he who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare."

For upon Moab, upon it, I will bring the year of their punishment, says the Lord. God here again declares he is bringing forth his punishment. And I think it's important to note that over and over, God is declaring and talking about his punishment. He's not, you know, being soft about it. He's not being quiet about it. He's being very clear. I am punishing this nation.

I am bringing forth judgment. And God is able to be bold and clear about that because he has the full rights to do so. He is the God who rules over all nations. And all nations are accountable to him. And any nation that does not submit to him, God has the full right and authority and privilege to bring judgment and to execute that judgment in any way that he sees fit.

Here speaking of Moab in verse 42, he says, because Moab has exalted himself against the Lord. He gives us a little bit of insight into the sin, the issue of Moab and this self-exaltation, this exalting of itself and thinking that it does not have to be accountable to God, that the nation does not have to be submitted to the Lord. And so God outlines here some steps. He says, look, I'm bringing my punishment here.

and first you're going to experience the fear. That's part of my punishment. And in the fear, some of you are going to try to flee. You're going to try to escape. You're going to try to get away. But those who flee from the fear, they're going to fall into the pit. So you hear about the news. You hear about the threat. You know that that pressure is coming. Okay, we got to get out of here. And so some of Moab will flee thinking that they can escape, but they won't escape. They'll instead fall into the pit. They're still going to experience the punishment of the pit that God has established for them.

But still, there's some who will try to climb out of the pit and try to still escape the judgment of God and still not receive what God has measured out for them as a result of their sin and self-exaltation. And so he says, those who climb out of the pit will be caught in the snare. There's no escape there.

There's no way to sidestep God's plan and God's purposes as he's bringing forth the judgment and the punishment for the nation of Moab. But we see that continue now in chapter 49. God addresses several chapters here in chapter 49. They're not dealt with in great detail, but in kind of quick succession. So we have the nation of Ammon in verses 1 through 6 here of Jeremiah chapter 49, and

Verse 1 says,

Now addressing the Ammonites. Again, these were descendants of Lot through the other daughter of Lot. And so this people had gathered together, become a great nation, but had begun to occupy land that God had given to Israel. You might remember there was the three tribes, right? Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh decided, you know, we want to stay on the east side of the Jordan. We like this territory. And so they occupied that. God gave them that territory. And so they occupied that.

Well, now the Ammonites have come in and have taken that territory and they inhabit that land. And God says, hey, why are you taking that territory that I gave to the people of Israel? You don't belong there.

And because of that, God says, I'm going to be throwing you out. I'm going to be dealing with you. And later on, my people are going to inhabit that land again. Again, God has the right. He gave that land to Israel. And so he has the right to maintain the ownership and the privilege of declaring who can be there and who should not be there. Well, then verses 7 through 22, God addresses the nation of Edom.

And the nation of Edom was in the southern part, south below Judah, south below the Dead Sea. These were the descendants of Esau. And reading a little bit about what the Lord says of them, we start in verse 14 of Jeremiah 49. It says,

In addressing Edom, God again says, there's punishment. I am going to make you small.

But as he gives us some insight into the hearts and the mindset of the nation of Edom, he says, look, your fierceness has deceived you. You think you're so strong. You think you're so fierce. And he describes their living conditions. And it's a rough area to live. You live in the crags of the rocks. And you think that because of your strength, because of your fierceness, you're protected, you're preserved, you're excluded from being submitted to me. But God says, no, your fierceness has deceived you. You've confused yourself.

You're impressed with your own strength. And as a result, I will make you small among the nations. Punishment, destruction, devastation will come. Well, God addresses the nation of Syria next in verses 23 through 27. This is in the north above Israel. Damascus is the capital of Syria, and that's who God addresses there.

And so he says in verse 27, I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad. He doesn't give us a lot of detail there, but he is kindling a fire. And again, notice how bold God is. God says, I will kindle a fire. I am going to do this. Again, he's not playing games. He's not blaming others. He's not, you know, like beating around the bush. He's just being very clear.

I'm going to bring punishment. I am going to kindle a fire because God, well, he has authority to rule over nations and to punish nations for their sin.

Verses 28 through 33, now give us the nation of Kedar. And that's down in the south on the other side of the Red Sea. It's actually the Gulf of Aqaba there. And in verse 32, it says, their camels shall be for booty, the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners and I will bring their calamity from all its sides, says the Lord.

They're going to be surrounded, hit on all sides, and it will be a calamity, God says. Well, as you look at these nations, you can see these are the nations that are immediately surrounding Israel and Judah. And you could kind of stop there and begin to understand and think, well, of course, God's addressing these nations. You know, they're right next door to his people, right next door to the Hebrews. And so it's appropriate for God to address them. But

Then as we continue on in chapter 49, verses 34 through 39, God stretches out the distance a bit and addresses the nation of Elam. This is over, kind of near Babylon, actually. It's near the Persian Gulf in the area of present-day Iran. And here we don't know much about this nation or what was going on, but the Lord has a word for them in verse 34.

It says,

God says, I'm going to beat them. I'm going to cast them out. And they're going to be so spread out. There'll be some Elamites in every nation. They're going to be spread so greatly. They're not the nearby neighbors of Israel and Judah. God here is declaring, I don't care where you are, nation. You are submitted to God or you face the punishment and the judgment of God.

God rules over all nations, including Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51, the greatest nation of their day, which was the nation of Babylon. And here in these two chapters, God goes through great detail and great lengths to talk about the destruction of Babylon and to call his people out of the midst of Babylon so they don't suffer from the judgment that God is about to bring upon them. In verse 23 of Jeremiah chapter 50, God says this,

How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken. How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations. I have laid a snare for you. You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon, and you were not aware. You have been found and also caught because you have contended against the Lord. The Lord has opened his armory and has brought out the weapons of his indignation. For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans."

Here God addresses the nation of Babylon. He says, look, you've been a hammer against the whole earth and you've brought great destruction, but you've been caught. You didn't think that you could be caught. You didn't think you had to worry about anything, but you've been trapped because you have contended against the Lord. God says, I've opened up my armory. And again, notice God is bold and unashamed.

I have brought out the weapons of my indignation and I'm going to bring my wrath upon you. You will be punished for your sin. Talking about Babylon, Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, Babylon is still a desolation. And that ruin is a reminder that God is governor of the nations and judge of all the earth. Israel is still among the nations because her God is the maker of all things.

The ruin of Babylon, the destruction of Babylon, the judgment of these nations, these are all reminders that God rules on high. He rules over all. He has authority over all, not just individuals, but over all nations and peoples. As we look at these things this morning, it's not to place a huge significance on the actual places and locations. I put kind of the regions on there to help you get a sense of the geography and where these peoples are, but

But the important thing to consider is not the specific exact locations or those kinds of details. The important thing for us to consider this morning is that God reigns on high and he deals with sin. He will punish all sin. That nobody gets away with anything under God's watch. All sin will be paid for.

And that includes the sin of nations, not just individuals, not just the sin of individual leaders within a nation, but the nation itself will be dealt with as a result of the sin of the nation. God punishes nations for sin. He's not just the God who rules and watches over Israel for discipline and judgment and chastisement as well as for blessing, right? It's not just Israel and Judah that God is concerned with. And it's not just Christians, right?

It's not just, you know, we have our God and he's the God of the Christians. And so, you know, he disciplines us and he takes care of us. He blesses us. And, you know, we need to work and relate to God in this way because he's the God of the Christians. He's the God of all nations. He's the God who reigns over all and every person,

whoever exists will be accountable to God. Every nation that ever exists will be accountable to God. And if you want to, you know, change the scale a little bit, you could say every company that ever exists will be accountable to God. Every family that ever exists will be accountable to God. That us individually, but in whichever way we group together, we also are accountable and responsible for what we do as a group. We're accountable to God.

And God will punish nations and companies and families and communities and, you know, however you want to group together, but he will bring punishment for sin. In these chapters, God addresses pride, the pride of Babylon, the pride of Edom. He addresses these nations trusting in themselves and their strength and their treasures and

He addresses, well, the occupying of land that God did not give to them. He addresses the mistreating of his people. He addresses sin after sin after sin amongst all of these nations. God is the one who sets the standard, not just for Israel, not just for Judah, not just for Christians, for all people. He rules over. Again, if God is not big enough to rule over all nations, he's not big enough to trust with your life.

But he is big enough. He is the God who rules over all. And it's why we can trust him. Because he is on the throne. And he will make all things right. In our climate today, we look around, the world around us, there's a lot of crazy things happening. Nations doing things that, well, if you look back,

to the world that you were born into, and then compare it to the world that we know now. I mean, there's some huge and radical differences in our own nation, in the nations around the world, of the things that are done against God and in violation of what God has said. And you need to understand, you need to know, that does not go unnoticed. It doesn't go unpunished.

Nobody gets away with anything. No nation gets away with anything. God will punish all nations for their sin. Well, continuing to consider these chapters and the authority that God has over the nations, kind of to reiterate this last point, here's the second thing to consider this morning, and that is God is bigger than the greatest nations, right?

All of these things that we've been talking about and the judgment that God has for sin of nations, it doesn't just apply to like, you know, kind of the smaller nations that don't have much might or strength, but the greatest of nations in their day, the greatest nation was Babylon. It was an impressive empire. The city itself built there on the Euphrates River was renowned for the size of its walls, the strength of this fortress that had been built there.

But they began to expand their territory and reach out and again, travel up the Euphrates River to the north and conquer all of that territory. And then from there, go down south to all of Israel and the land around Israel. And essentially the known world at that time was conquered and ruled by the Babylonian empire, the greatest of all nations. And if it had become even greater, it would have still been accountable to God.

Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 51 and look at verse 52 and 53. Jeremiah chapter 51, verse 52. It says,

yet from me plunders would come to her, says the Lord. God declares Babylon is strong. Babylon is a world empire, right? But even if it got stronger, even if Babylon were to mount up to heaven, if their walls reached the heavens, if they were able to fortify themselves to be incredibly stronger, even more than they were, God says, yet from me, the plunders would still come. There is nothing that Babylon could do

to take itself out of the authority of God. There is nothing that Babylon could do to defend itself against the punishment and retribution of God. No matter what Babylon did, however great it would become, however strong it would become, Babylon was still accountable to God. And they conquered much territory. They owned the land. They were the world empire, the superpower of the day.

In fact, God himself says this about Babylon. In the book of Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, who is king while they conquer all this territory and conquer the land of Israel and Judah. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a statue. Remember the statue with the head of gold and then the different elements and the different parts of the statue? He doesn't understand what the dream means. He

Calls the wise men, they can't interpret it. Finally, Daniel comes forward. He has the interpretation from the Lord. In Daniel chapter two, verse 37, Daniel gives this to the king. He says, you, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. And wherever the children of men dwell or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, he has given them into your hand. He has made you ruler over them all.

You are this head of gold. Daniel, speaking on behalf of God, says, you, King Nebuchadnezzar, are a king of kings. Every peoples, every person, the beast of the field, I have made you ruler over all of those things. All those people, all those beasts of the field, all the territories, all the regions, all the other nations, I've placed you at the top. I've placed you over. You are a king of kings. The greatest nation, the head of gold.

All the other nations that would come after and that image, that vision that he had, they're lesser, they're inferior. This is the premium, the top, the cream of the crop. This is the best, the strongest, the most powerful nation. Notice what God says. Nebuchadnezzar, I did that. I gave that to you. The only reason they had this power and this expanse was because God is the one who

who put that together and orchestrated it. Because God is bigger than the greatest of nations. Now, we could look at these things and think, okay, well, that's cute, you know.

Back in Jeremiah's day, nations, you know, what did they have? Bows and arrows and, you know, superpowers weren't really that super, you know, they were just the ones who happened to win those battles. But today, I mean, look at our nations today and the incredible, you know, powers that we have and information that we have and technology that we have and resources that we have and population that we have. I mean, today's nations are far greater. And that may be true in some ways, in some scales, but today,

What I would ask you to consider is the parable that Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 25. Remember the parable of the sheep and the goats? We're familiar with it, the dividing of the sheep and the goats, but sometimes we kind of miss some of the things that Jesus says in that parable. In Matthew chapter 25, as Jesus is given this, he says, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him.

and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. Here, this picture of dividing the sheep from the goats is picturing Jesus on the throne at his return. This is right before the millennial kingdom, right? As he establishes his kingdom first, he calls all the nations to stand before him and give account of their behavior. These are the nations that exist today, right?

Today's nations are still accountable to God. They will still stand before the Lord. They will be divided like sheep and goats, and the Lord will judge nations. Specifically in Matthew 25, he's talking about their relationship to Israel and how he treated the Lord's brethren. The nations will be dealt with and judged. That includes nations that exist today, as well as all the nations that have existed throughout history.

The prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 15, the nations are as a drop in a bucket. They're counted as small dust on the scales. As far as God is concerned, the nations are not threatening. They're not powerful. They're a drop in the bucket. They're a little speck of dust on the scale. You don't have to wipe off all the speck of dust to get an accurate measurement, right? That the Lord is able to deal with and handle the nations because they

They're big to us, but they're not big to the Lord. God is bigger than the greatest nations. Are you looking forward to next year? 2020 elections. We get a whole year of nonsense. It's just coming right our way. You ready for it? Not my favorite time. Not my favorite season. Maybe it's yours. That's okay. You're allowed that. But you know, no matter how those elections go, God's bigger.

Doesn't matter who wins. I'm not saying we shouldn't participate. But at the same time, it doesn't matter who wins. God's bigger. And he is working these things out to accomplish his purposes. And that brings us to the third thing for us to consider about God ruling over all nations. That is that God is using all nations to accomplish his purposes.

He's using the nations. He orchestrates, he coordinates, he puts things in motion. He raises up nations and tears down nations for his purposes. Babylon was raised up by God to be an instrument of judgment upon the nations. That was its purpose. God did that. Going back to Jeremiah chapter 47 for a moment. In Jeremiah 47, as God is addressing the Philistines,

We read verse 6. That sword of the Lord is Babylon. Babylon was God's instrument for bringing judgment upon all of these nations that we looked at. Babylon was God's instrument, God's tool for bringing judgment

that destruction that he had declared and was needed because of their sin. God declares that plainly in Jeremiah 27. Oops, that's not it. Where'd it go? Jeremiah 27.6. And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant and the beast of the field. I have also given him to serve him. This is my doing. I've given all these lands to him, for him to take, for him to occupy, for him to destroy, for him to take captives.

All of these nations. God says, I did that. I raised up Babylon to give them these lands and this territory. He is the sword of the Lord. Or Babylon is the sword of the Lord for a season. And then Babylon accomplished its purposes. And now God wants to deal with Babylon and address their sin and bring the punishment and the destruction that is deserved towards Babylon.

And so he raises up then the Medes and the Persians. We see this in Jeremiah chapter 51, verse 28 and 29. Verse 28 of Jeremiah 51 says, "...prepare against her the nations, with the kings of the Medes, its governors and all its rulers, all the land of his domain, and the land will tremble in sorrow. For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon."

to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitants. God says, okay, Babylon needs to be dealt with. So here are the Medes and the Persians, and they're going to join together to be the Medo-Persian Empire. And God says, I'm raising them up. And every purpose of the Lord shall be performed. God will accomplish his purposes through these nations joined together. And they will destroy Babylon. They will conquer Babylon. Again, if God is not big enough...

to rule over all nations, he's not big enough for you to trust your life to him. God is big enough. He rules over all nations. He holds them accountable for sin. Even the greatest of the greatest of the great nations, they're a drop in the bucket. They're his tools and his instruments to accomplish his purposes. Proverbs chapter 21 verse 1 says, "'The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water. He turns it wherever he wishes.'"

God turns and orchestrates and moves. He sees everything that's happening. And again, you can look around and you can see, wow, all of this. And what is God doing? Why don't we see God working? He is working. And every nation will give account. You can scale this down if you'd like to, though, as well. You can look at our nation. You can look at your company. You can look at your family, community. Again, however we gather together and wherever there are authorities, God moves the hearts of authorities around.

to accomplish his purposes, to accomplish whatever he wishes. And it's not that we have no responsibility or accountability personally, but it's also that it's not our responsibility. And we can trust in the Lord to take care of those things that we cannot control and take care of. God is going to bring justice. And every authority, every nation, every person will give account to God. He rules over all nations.

At the same time, he's using the nations to accomplish his purposes. Well, the fourth thing for us to consider this morning, God ruling over all the nations also includes God restoring nations. God restores nations. He doesn't just tear down. He also builds up. I think this is important to consider. There's that saying, right? Whenever you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right?

When you're a hammer, you just want to pound everything, right? You have a certain perspective and you want to fix everything the same way. And it's a saying because, well, you need to recognize that there's more ways to do things than just the one way that you see it. It's important to understand that God doesn't just punish nations. He's not just a God of judgment. He's not just a God of wrath, but God is also a God who heals and restores.

And throughout the prophecies of these different nations, speaking to Judah, speaking to Egypt, Ammon, Moab, and Elam, God declares to them, this judgment is coming. You will be punished, but also I'm going to bring you back. You're captives. You're going to be let out captive, but your captives are going to return and you'll be established once again. And so God spoke this to Egypt in Jeremiah chapter 46, verse 26. He spoke it to Moab in Jeremiah 48, 47, to Ammon in 49, 6, and

And then to Elam in chapter 49, verse 39. There's a cool little fulfillment of that in the book of Acts chapter 2, talking about the realm of Elam. They were around for the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.

As the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and they were speaking forth in tongues, the crowd that gathered was asking, how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, and then it goes on to list a bunch of other regions. But amongst those list of regions was the Elamites.

Those that God had pronounced judgment upon, he was bringing punishment, but their captives would return. And they did return. And the Elamites survived. Some of them were there at the day of Pentecost and had the opportunity to hear the gospel and receive it. God doesn't just bring judgment. He heals. He restores. He makes ways and opportunities for the gospel, for salvation, for

Now this requires and means that the judgment of God is measured exactly. And some of the things about God, you know, they're hard to understand. They're hard to fully grasp. I think the judgment of God in this way is pretty impressive for it to be that measured. How hard is that to judge a whole nation with the promise of a few that would return and be established? To guarantee that.

To have that kind of accuracy, it's the exact right amount of judgment. In other words, it's not God just flying off the handle and losing his temper and then this judgment unleashes, but it's exact and it's measured, it's specific, it's precise. And so God can restore nations. He builds up nations as well as holding them accountable for their sins.

Well, the final thing for us to consider as we look at God ruling over all the nations in these chapters in Jeremiah, here's the fifth thing to consider. God works with his people within nations. In the midst of all this, big things happening, you know, huge chess pieces being moved around as God is accomplishing his purposes with this nation and that nation and moving this and moving that and judging here and raising up and healing and restoring. There's all these big moves taking place.

And in the midst of all of that, somehow God is still able to know the number of hairs upon your head. Jesus tells us in Luke chapter 12, five sparrows are sold for two copper coins, but not one of them is forgotten before God. And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. It would be easy to understand if God was only concerned about the big moves, right? I got big plans, big picture. I got to work on all this stuff and kind of lose sight of

of the individual, to lose sight of you, or that sparrow that fell. One of the amazing things about God is that he's able to do both. He's got the big picture, he's moving the big pieces, but he's also able to work on the individuals, to work out his plans and his purposes and his people in the midst of these nations. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, "...throughout this prophecy, God gives words of hope to his people still in captivity."

They're guilty of sin, but God the judge will plead their case. The forsaken wife will be reunited to her husband and the nation will be vindicated. Israel was taken out of their land and placed into the land of Babylon. And God's going to deal destruction upon Babylon and yet preserve his people. Again, how do you do that? How can you bring complete destruction upon a nation and yet preserve another people in the midst of that nation?

God says he's going to do this. And back in Jeremiah chapter 46, verse 27 and 28, God says, do not fear, O my servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease. No one shall make him afraid. Do not fear, O Jacob, my servant, says the Lord, for I am with you. For I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you.

but I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you for I will not leave you wholly unpunished. Look at the balance. God's saying, I've driven you to these nations and I'm going to make a complete end of them. They're going to be wiped out completely. But even though you're in the midst of them, you're not going to be wiped out completely. You're going to be corrected because I do need to correct you. You're my child and I love you. You need discipline. And so I'm going to discipline you. You're going to be disciplined, but you're not going to be completely obliterated.

And so in the midst of all of these huge moves, God is correcting his people. Throughout these chapters, we also see God promise deliverance. Sometimes he's bringing correction. Sometimes he's bringing deliverance. In Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 34, God says, "'Their Redeemer is strong. "'The Lord of hosts is his name.'" The Redeemer of Israel, the Redeemer of his people, he is strong and he is able to redeem and rescue from the worst of situations and circumstances.

Sometimes God is redeeming and delivering. Sometimes he's correcting. Sometimes he's instructing. In the midst of the nations, in the midst of these huge plans that God has, he hasn't lost sight of his people individually. He has a plan and a purpose for each one of us. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 2, verse 9, the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.

God knows how to make a distinction, to deal with and bring the judgment that is necessary upon a people's while meanwhile delivering his child, the godly. He can make a distinction. He can make a separation. He works with his people within the nations. And so again, God rules over all nations. He's big. And if he's not big enough to rule over all nations, he's not big enough to trust your life to. But he is big enough. He does rule over all nations.

He does hold all peoples accountable for sin. Peoples individually and peoples that gather together collectively. He punishes nations for sin. And no matter how strong, how big, how advanced a nation becomes, God is bigger. He's still able to hold that nation to account of His word, His will, and His way. He's using nations for His purposes.

And we may not see all of that unfold. We may not see and understand the plans of God, but he is accomplishing his purposes through the nations that exist even today. He builds up, he tears down according to what he wishes and what is needed in this world. But in all the midst of that, again, big pieces moved around. He hasn't lost sight of you. He's working within you. And the fact that he can work on this scale should remind us and help us to surrender our lives to him.

to trust in him. He is able to do what's best. He knows what's best. He's able to accomplish what's best so we can rest in him and trust in him. Let's follow him and be faithful to him, knowing he's able to hold us accountable. If we walk away, if we wander, if we're faking it, he knows. We need to come to him in sincerity and truth and submit our lives to him. Let's pray.

God, I pray for each one of us as we consider these nations and your work amongst them. Lord, you are big. And sometimes we're impressed with ourselves. We're deceived by our own fierceness. We get confused and forget that we really are accountable to you, that you see all, that you know all. What's amazing, God, is knowing all and seeing all, you still love us and give us opportunity to turn to you, to be forgiven, and to have you fight for us, not against us.

to be on our side, and you move heaven and earth on our behalf to accomplish your purposes and your will for us. So Lord, we come to you as your people. Forgive us, wash us, turn our hearts towards you, Lord, that we might be your children, faithful to you. And as you work your work amongst the nations, Lord, help us not to lose sight of your rule, your power, and your authority, to trust in you, to rest in you,

and to submit ourselves to you completely. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.