PM Nov 11th Jer 51

November 11^th   Jeremiah 51      Judgement on Babylon

1: Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; 2: And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. 3: Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. 4: Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. 5: For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. 6: Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. 7: Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 8: Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed. 9: We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. 10: The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. 11: Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. 12: Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. 13: O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. 14: The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

Praise the Lord

15: He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. 16: When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 17: Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 18: They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19: The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.

Babylon destroyed

20: Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; 21: And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 22: With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; 23: I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. 24: And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. 25: Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 26: And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD. 27: Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. 28: Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. 29: And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. 30: The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken. 31: One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, 32: And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 33: For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 34: Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. 35: The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

The Lord will save Israel

36: Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 37: And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 38: They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lion's whelps. 39: In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 40: I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. 41: How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! 42: The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 43: Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 44: And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 45: My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46: And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47: Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48: Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. 49: As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

The Lord speaks – Jews Babylon

50: Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51: We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house. 52: Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53: Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. 54: A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: 55: Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: 56: Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. 57: And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 58: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. 59: The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. 60: So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. 61: And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; 62: Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63: And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 64: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 52      G. Prophesy fulfilled – Jerusalem destroyed       Zedekiah the King

1: Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2: And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3: For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

The Fall of Jerusalem

4: And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about. 5: So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 6: And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. 7: Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain. 8: But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. 9: Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. 10: And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. 11: Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

The destruction of the Temple

12: Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, 13: And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: 14: And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. 15: Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. 16: But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen. 17: Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. 18: The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. 19: And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away. 20: The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 21: And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow. 22: And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these. 23: And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.

The deportation of Judah

24: And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: 25: He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. 26: So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. 27: And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land. 28: This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty: 29: In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons: 30: In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. 31: And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, 32: And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, 33: And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. 34: And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

Jeremiah records the prophecy of the judgment of Babylon. The Lord will send a strong wind that will bring destruction. The Lord will bring destruction in the same form in which they will wage war. This describes the fall of a restored Babylon during the tribulation. The Lord will break in pieces everything and everyone in the land. Jeremiah again writes on a scroll all of the evil deeds of Babylon so that the king of Babylon will know why the city will be destroyed forever. Then when the King has read the scroll he is to bind a stone to it and throw it into the river Euphrates. In this way Babylon will sink without trace. Zedekiah was an evil king who did evil in his day. his mothers name is recorded as she is responsible for his upbringing. (This has been described before by Jeremiah) the Babylonians carried away all the treasure of the temple. Evil-merodach king of Babylon brought Jehoiachin the king of Judah, and brought him out of the prison and enthroned him above all the kings of Babylon. He was well fed all the days of his life. And so the Lord disciplined Israel and judged the nations in the time of Jeremiah.

AM Nov 11th Heb 12

November 11^th   Hebrews 12       Superior Hope

1: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3: For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4: Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5: And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7: If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8: But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9: Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10: For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11: Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Superior Kingdom

12: Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13: And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

The writer encourages the Hebrews to run the race that is set before them, looking unto Jesus. And they are to remember the persecution Christ faced in case they become weary in their suffering. So far they have not given their lives up for him. The sign of the Lords love for his sons is his chastening and scourging. The scourging of the Lord is the suffering which the Hebrews receive from the hand of a loving Father to bring them back under his authority and submission. He will scourge his sons (Israel) until they submit to his will. Natural fathers may punish us for their own pleasure but God punishes his sons for their own blessing. It is not pleasant to be chastened, but it is fruitful in the righteousness that is developed in the lives of those who realise why the chastening has come. (Needless to say the writer is speaking of Gods ancient people not the Church which is his body. Those under Grace receive no scourging because Christ has borne all their punishment for them.)

PM Nov 10th Jer 49

November 10^th   Jeremiah 49      Ammon

1: Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities? 2: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD. 3: Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together. 4: Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me? 5: Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth. 6: And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

Edom

7: Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? 8: Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. 9: If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. 10: But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not. 11: Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. 12: For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it. 13: For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 14: I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15: For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men. 16: Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD. 17: Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 18: As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. 19: Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 20: Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. 21: The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea. 22: Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Damascus

23: Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. 24: Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. 25: How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! 26: Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts. 27: And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.

Kedar and Hazor

28: Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east. 29: Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side. 30: Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you. 31: Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. 32: And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD. 33: And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

Elam

34: The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. 36: And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. 37: For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: 38: And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD. 39: But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 50      Babylon

1: The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. 2: Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. 3: For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. 4: In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. 5: They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. 6: My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. 7: All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. 8: Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks. 9: For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. 10: And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. 11: Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; 12: Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13: Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 14: Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD. 15: Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. 16: Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

Israel will return

17: Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. 18: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19: And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20: In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

The people of Babylon

21: Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 22: A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23: How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! 24: I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. 25: The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26: Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. 27: Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. 28: The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29: Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; ccording to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. 30: Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. 31: Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. 32: And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. 33: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. 34: Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 35: A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. 36: A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. 37: A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. 38: A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. 39: Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40: As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. 41: Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 42: They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. 43: The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. 44: Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 45: Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. 46: At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

Next Jeremiah writes the Prophecy that he received concerning the Ammonites. The Lord says there will come a day when the people of Ammon will hear the sound of war from the Lord. The cities of Ammon will be totally destroyed. The King, priests and princes will be taken captive. The Lord will bring fear on them. Next he focuses on Edom. Both of these nations were very clever yet their wisdom will not save them. The children of Edom will be left fatherless and the widows who trust in the Lord will be left alive. The Lord swears that Bozrah will be left in total destruction. Anyone that sees Edom will be astonished. No-one will ever live there. The cry of Edom will be heard as far away as the Gulf of Aqabar in the south and Damascus in the north and the destruction of the men of Edom will be seen in Damascus. These prophecies will be seen in their full fulfilment prior to the Kingdom. Next Jeremiah speaks of Kedar and Hazor which is what we call Saudi Arabia. The Babylonians will be sent to destroy these kingdoms. Saudi Arabia will be a desolation for ever right through the Messianic kingdom – forever. Next Jeremiah speaks of Elam. The Lord will break the military might of that country which consists of artillery. The Lord will send four winds onto them and will scatter them to every nation on earth. The Lord will send armies against them until they are totally destroyed. Yet in the end (in the Kingdom) the Lord will bring those who are scattered back to the land of Edom. The next nation Jeremiah records Gods prophecy against is Babylon. The gods of Babylon will fall Bel and Merodach. God will judge Babylon because of the fact that they spoiled Israel. The sin of Babylon will be a sin against the Lord. In the later days Israel will go to war with Babylon and destroy it. Babylon will be totally destroyed for ever. The destruction will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. These passages look for forward in history to the time of the wrath of God on the nations.

AM Nov 10th Heb 11

November 10^th    

15: And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16: But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 17: By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18: Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 20: By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21: By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22: By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23: By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. 24: By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25: Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26: Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27: By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28: Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29: By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 30: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31: By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 32: And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34: Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35: Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38: (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39: And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

The thing that drove Abraham onward was that he had had a vision of a better country. If that were not true then he would have gone back. Babylon was a beautiful place. But he had seen a place that transcended everything in this world. That’s faith. That’s seeing what cannot be seen with the natural eye. The whole of Abraham’s life was a life of hearing and believing. Isaac eventually did the right thing and blessed Jacob. And when Jacob was dying, he did right blessing the two sons of Joseph. Joseph’s life was a live of believing too and in the end he did the right thing, prophesying of the Exodus and giving instruction about his burial. By faith, the parents of Moses hid him and when he was come to years, by faith Moses forsook Egypt because he saw the reproach of Christ as a greater thing than the wealth of Egypt. By faith he kept the Passover and by faith He went through the Red sea. And so the story of faith goes on and on. Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David and Samuel. They all obtained ‘The Good Report’ (That is, that they were righteous) i.e. ‘Such and such’ lived ‘so many’ years and he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord’ etc, They all received a good report but they did not receive ‘the promise’. In other words they lived as righteous men but they did not enter into the New Covenant! Nor did they enter The Messianic kingdom. However God has provided the personal appearance of the Messiah himself and they are all made perfect in their faith with us. For the OT saint faith led to obedience and to the testimony of God that they were righteous and to the promise of resurrection to eternal life.

PM Nov 9th Jer 46

November 9^th     Jeremiah 46      The Battle of Carchemish

1: The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; 2: Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. 3: Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. 4: Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. 5: Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD. 6: Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. 7: Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? 8: Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. 9: Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. 10: For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. 11: Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. 12: The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.

The Babylonian king is coming

13: The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt. 14: Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee. 15: Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them. 16: He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword. 17: They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed. 18: As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. 19: O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant. 20: Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north. 21: Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation. 22: The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. 23: They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable. 24: The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. 25: The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him: 26: And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD. 27: But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 28: Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

Jeremiah 47      The Philistines

1: The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. 2: Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. 3: At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands; 4: Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. 5: Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? 6: O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. 7: How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

Jeremiah 48      Moab

1: Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. 2: There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. 3: A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. 4: Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 5: For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. 6: Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. 7: For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together. 8: And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. 9: Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. 10: Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. 11: Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. 12: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. 13: And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. 14: How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? 15: Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 16: The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. 17: All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! 18: Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds. 19: O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done? 20: Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; and tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, 21: And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath, 22: And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, 23: And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, 24: And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 25: The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. 26: Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. 27: For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. 28: O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. 29: We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. 30: I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. 31: Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres. 32: O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. 33: And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. 34: From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. 35: Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods. 36: Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished. 37: For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. 38: There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD. 39: They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him. 40: For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. 41: Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42: And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD. 43: Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD. 44: He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. 45: They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. 46: Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. 47: Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

This chapter records the Prophecy of Jeremiah that he spoke against the Gentile nations in particular Egypt and Babylon. Its interesting that Jeremiah specifies who are the kings of both nations. Pharaoh-necho of Egypt and Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He also gives the exact timing. It was the forth year of Jehoiakim. The Lord describes the order of battle and even to the point of describing the mercenaries of Ethiopia, Libya and Lydia. The Ethiopians and Libyans are infantry with shields and the Lydian’s are archers. The Lord goes forth to war against the enemy nations and there is no cure for their injuries. The Lord foretold that Nebuchadrezzar would sweep into Egypt and destroy it. Yet in all this destruction Jacob is not to be afraid, they will return to the land of Palestine and non shall make them afraid. The Lord will discipline Israel but not destroy them completely. In the next chapter we have the word of God concerning the Philistines. The Lord describes a huge invasion against the Philistines which will completely overwhelm them. Lastly the Lord speaks against Moab, the eastern nation. The Lord lists the cities that will be destroyed and the fear and astonishment of the people. They relied on wealth and cleverness but these things will not save them. Moab had become soft and takes its ease thinking it would always be safe. The destruction of these nations is very fast so that there is hardly time to escape. Moab always rejoiced at the troubles of Israel, Yet God will avenge them of this sin. The lord describes the pride and arrogance and high mindedness of Moab. They thought they were clever. The Lord will break them like a vessel that has become useless. Those that escape will be destroyed by fire from heaven. These prophesies describe momentous events in world history and they are all in focus because of the relation of these nations to Israel. God is the God of Israel but he expects nations to be kind and helpful to his people. If they are not they will be destroyed.

AM Nov 9th Heb 11

November 9^th   Hebrews 11        B. Christ brings better benefits and duties – Practical      Superior Faith & Provision for us

1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2: For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3: Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4: By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5: By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7: By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8: By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9: By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11: Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12: Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13: These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14: For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

In this classic passage of the heroes of faith we have and interesting insight into the Jewish theology of the OT. First the writer defines faith. It is the believing of what cannot be seen. And then he goes on to describe faiths effects in the lives of the OT saints - they obtained a good report. So what is the writer saying? He is saying that these OT saints heard the word of God and believed it and their faith led to obedience to the revealed will of God and to the testimony of God that they were righteous. Now let’s see if that is so. Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice, because he believed God. In other words, Abel heard Gods instructions regarding how to present a sacrifice to God and he followed Gods directions correctly and therefore – ‘by which he obtained witness that he was righteous’, God testified (in some way, perhaps with fire from heaven!) to his acceptance of Abel’s gift. Enoch was translated because before his translation God testified to him that he pleased God. Enoch was a righteous man. Then the writer breaks off to explain that those who come to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (In this passage the reward is not mentioned yet every Hebrew reader would know that the reward of righteousness is resurrection into the Messianic Kingdom) Noah heard the word of God and sprang into action by building an ark and through this act he demonstrated that he was a righteous man. Abraham heard the word of God telling him to leave his home and go into a far country. He got up and went. Abraham’s faith in Gods promises (which led to obedience) and made him a righteous man. Sara also is credited as righteous because she believed God’s promise. So what were the promises they saw a far off? They saw the Messianic kingdom and they saw the Messiah reigning in righteousness over the whole world. And they believed Gods word and lived accordingly. So were they saved – as christians are? No. their salvation was found in the resurrection to eternal life. (The first resurrection at the beginning of the Kingdom Rev 20) In the OT God spoke to his people and they heard and believed and God declared them to be righteous. And he promised the resurrection to those who kept his word and obeyed his word.

PM Nov 8th Jer 44

November 8^th     Jeremiah 44      Jeremiah preaches against Egypt

1: The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying, 2: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein, 3: Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers. 4: Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. 5: But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. 6: Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day. 7: Therefore now this saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain; 8: In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9: Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10: They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers. 11: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah. 12: And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. 13: For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: 14: So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape. 15: Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16: As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. 17: But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. 18: But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19: And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? 20: Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, 21: The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? 22: So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 23: Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day. 24: Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt: 25: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. 26: Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth. 27: Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. 28: Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs. 29: And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil: 30: Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

Jeremiah 45      Jeremiah message to Baruch

1: The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, 2: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch; 3: Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. 4: Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. 5: And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

Even in Egypt the Lord still continued to give prophesies to Jeremiah. The Lord reminds Jeremiah of why the whole land of Judah is empty and why he had sent the men of Judah out of the land. Then the Lord asks why they have not remained in the land. He says you have committed a great evil against yourselves. The Lord asks, have you forgotten all the judgments l have brought on my people? Even now they have not humbled themselves before the Lord, nor have they feared him or obeyed his law. Then the Lord said because of this, l will set my face against you for evil, you will die in Egypt and never return. And l will punish Egypt where they have accepted you. Then the people who knew what they had done said, we will not listen to you. We will do whatever we want to do and we will worship the Queen of heaven. They also said that all the terrible things that have come upon them were due to not offering to idols. Jeremiah said no these things have happened to you because of your idolatry. The Lord swore that the men of Judah in Egypt would be totally destroyed by war and famine. Yet a very small number will escape back to Judah. The Lord also said that Pharaoh would be taken captive by his enemies.