Jeremiah 51:1-10. If you notice the dates on the reading list you will see that it has been a while since I wrote. As I have explained before that does not mean that my relationship with God has been neglected. I want this blog to be a way for anyone who uses it to spend time with God on a regular basis but it is not the only way. I spend time with God as I prepare to teach my Junior High class each week, I spend time with God as I listen to Christian radio when I am traveling around for work, I spend time with God when I go to church each week, I spend time with God as I think about Him and pray to him during my day, and I spend time with God as I interact with Christians and others. I love these times of reading and studying just for these posts. I want to know God better through his word, the Bible, and I want to help others understand too. It is frustrating when the stuff we have to do every day and the stuff that happens every day makes it difficult to sit down and study and write. I hope there will be less of that kind of stuff in the future and I will be able to be more consistent bringing new posts to this site.
Today’s reading continues the message to and about Babylon. Remember that the last remnant of the Jewish nation had been taken as captives to Babylon. This was planned by God because they had filed to honor Him during much of their time in the land. In the law which God gave to Moses to run the nation with there were certain festivals that the Jewish people were supposed to celebrate. These festivals were supposed to help the people remember God and what he had done for them. Some festivals were a day, some a week and others were longer. Every seventh year the people were supposed to let their fields go unplanted. It was to be a year of rest and trust as they watched how God provided for them. Evidently they didn’t oblserve this “Sabbath” year for centuries as they lived in the land (Sabbath is Hebrew for seventh). Because of this neglect God chose to exile the people in Babylon for seventy years, the number of Sabbath years they had not observed (See 2 Chronicles 36:21).
In verses 1-4 of today’s reading we see that the LORD (Yahweh) is going to bring a destroyer (or destroyers) against the Babylonians. As we saw in yesterday’s post (well the one before this one anyway) Cyrus, a king under Babylonian control, was getting out of control or taking control and conquering the Babylonian kingdom. In verse 1 we see a parallel name for Babylon, Leb-kamai. Leb-kamai is an athbash for Chaldea (a synonym for Babylon). An athbash is a word formed by reversing the alphabet and then substituting letters into a word. Z-Y-X for A-B-C. Hebrew manuscripts do not contain vowels, only consonants. The consonants in Leb-kamai (in Hebrew) substitute for the consonants in Chaldea. What is interesting about this substitution or athbash is that the meaning of Leb-kamai is “
the heart of those who rise against me”. So we see God bring a destroyer against those whose heart has risen against the one true God, Yahweh.
In verse 3 the army of Babylon is told not to bend their bows or put on their armor. Some Bible experts say this is because it would be useless for them to fight against the army that God had chose to defeat them, and that is certainly true, they would lose this time and the army would be destroyed. But there may be a hint of mercy here too. If the army was going to be destroyed but some abandon it before the destruction maybe they would be spared. Remember that God is a God of many chances and a God of mercy to those who will respond to him.
In verses 5-6 the focus turns to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. In verse 5 we see that Judah (the southern half of the former nation of Israel, the people actually in exile in Babylon) and Israel (the northern half of the former nation of Israel, these people were scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire about 200 years earlier) had not been forgotten by Yahweh. He is the God of Armies (hosts). I think this implies that the coming destruction of Babylon is an opportunity from God for the Jewish people to be restored to their land. What is totally amazing is the second half or verse 5 tells us that God is coming to get his people in spite of the fact that their land (representing their lives back home before the exile) was full of guilt.
In spite of the guilt of the Jewish people God was going to restore them to the land. The exile had been a specific punishment for a specific violation of God’s rules and the time had been served. It is interesting that God is called the Holy One of Israel in this verse. The word holy means “separate, special, dedicated”. Sometimes I use the idea of special dishes that families have that they only use for Thanksgiving or Christmas. These dishes are special or dedicate, the word holy might apply here. Another example is a wedding dress it is special or dedicated. Can you imagine how horrified your grand-mothers would be if she found you playing in the yard with mud pies and leaves on her special dishes, having a tea part for frogs. Or what would you think if you were at a wedding and suddenly some one threw black paint on the Bride’s dress. God is that way too he is pure or holy and some things just don’t fit with him; when we show him disrespect or we disobey him that is offensive to him (the Bible calls those kinds of things “sin”). It is wrong and he won’t allow. The idea of death in the Bible is the idea of separation and the Bible tells us that the consequence of sin (disobedience and disrespect toward God) is death or separation from God. Just last night I saw a show on TV where one of the characters thought she was being punished by God for something that happened. She asked another character if she believed in God and the other character said “not really”. The second girl then went on to explain that she didn’t like the concept of a “god” out there punishing and hurting people. The second girl then told the first that, “she had heard somewhere, maybe the Bible, that God is love and that she liked that idea.” We need to remember that God is loving but that he is also pure, we are the ones who messed up and if we get a second chance from God it is only because of his great love for us (See Romans 5:8, John 3:16).
In verse 6 we see an example of God’s love when he tells the Jewish people to flee from Babylon and not be a part of her destruction. And remember that Bazbylon is Leb-kamai, “those whose heart was risen against” the one true God. The end of verse 6 uses language that tells us that Babylon was getting what she deserved.
In verse 7 we see that the nation of Babylon has had an influence on a lot of people but none of it has been good. Nebuchadnezzar, who had been used by God to punish the Jewish people for those 70 years, struggled with pride. God even showed him who was really in control and Nebuchadnezzar responded, but it seems like the lesson was lost, at least on Nebuchadnezzars son and grand-son. Human effort and pride were the legacy of Babylon from the very beginning (see Genesis 11:1-9) up until it’s conquest by Cyrus. In verse 6 we are told that the nations who believed Babylon’s lies about man being the greatest were crazy. It is crazy to deny God’s existence and that he is supreme.
In verse 8 we see the mercy of God when we are told to cry over the destruction of Babylon and to try to ease her pain and even heal her. God is a God of second chances, he loves people and want a good relationship with us. But remember he is holy and fair and sin needs to be dealt with.
In verse 9 we see that Babylon didn’t respond to the healing and the time has come to give up on her. Back in verse 6 the Jews were told to go home and avoid the destruction that was coming, now after one last chance, they are told to give up and leave. Verse 9 ends by hinting at the story in Genesis 11. There, in Babylon, man tried to climb up to God, that prideful attitude had lasted for centuries and was the real reason for the destruction of Babylon. God is very patient but eventually he will deal with those who consistently reject him. It took 490 years and he finally punished the Jewish people and made sure his rule about the Sabbath Year was honored. For Babylon it took over two thousand years before he dealt with their consistent worship of themselves. That’s a lot of patience.
Verse 10 ends with the Jewish people saying they were “vindicated”. That word means that they had been shown to be right. The destruction of Babylon and return of those Jews who were still trusting in God for their future to their old home land was proof that they had faith in the one true God. There response was to tell everyone what Yahweh had done for them.
I think it is interesting in our society how many people want God to be love but hate the idea of vengeance or payback. Lately there have been a lot of reports of police shootings or other tactics that have left people dead. When the investigators conclude that the officers were justified in their use of force there are protests and riot; everyone wants “justice”. They want the officers punished for what they think were wrong acts. There are all sorts of things going on in our world that have people crying for “justice”. Often these people have already made up their minds and don’t want to wait for the truth or facts; there is very little patience and even less forgiveness. God waits hundreds and thousands of years before acting and according to Peter he has waited all of mankind’s history for people to turn back to him, and we are guilty and deserve punishment. Still he waits hoping some will turn to him (2 Peter 3:9). God is awesome and we are pretty pathetic. There is a limit though both for our personal lives and for mankind as a whole and we don’t know the time of either of them. In Hebrews 4 the author wars us that God wants us to live in peace with him but many have missed the opportunity; they didn’t trust Got with their lives and eternity. In Hebrews 4:7 the author tells us that today is the day we need to respond to God. God wants you to be a part of his forever family. If you haven’t trusted Jesus to deal with your disobedience and disrespect toward God do it today. Let Jesus take the punishment, let Jesus pay for your guilt, actually he already has don’t let his sacrifice for you be wasted. Turn your life over to the one true God, Yahweh, and have a great forever.
God thank you for dying for my sins. Help me not trust in my own strength, goodness, character, wisdom or whatever all of them will leave me short of living for you, they already have. I am guilt and deserve to be banished forever. Thank you that Jesus paid that price for me. Thank you for giving me many, many chances. Help me honor you today. Let me share your love with other. And let me be forgiving too.