Devotions

If They Had Stood in My Council

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There is a place for us to stand in the council of the Lord. Today, that comes in the still small voice, the Holy Spirit that is our teacher, comforter, friend. Jeremiah was pure in heart and yet, they plotted against him. Jesus said in Luke 6:22–23 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used to do the same things to the prophets”. And just as Jeremiah had questions about the way of the wicked, Jesus told us in John 16:33 “I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world”. Our place is to Colossians 3:1 “seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God”. 

I Did Not Know They Planned Against Me

Jeremiah 11:18–23
It says in Jeremiah 11:18 “Yahweh let it be made known to me” and here, there was something happening behind the scenes that Jeremiah needed to know. Jeremiah 11:19 gives his description of himself as “a gentle ram-lamb that is brought to slaughter”, willingly following as they led him where they wanted him to be so they could kill him “and I did not know that they planned plans against me”. And now, Jeremiah intercedes for himself in

Jeremiah 11:20 “But O Yahweh of hosts, who judges in righteousness, who tests the inmost being, and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have revealed my legal case”.

But none of this would be possible unless “the prophet appeared in the divine throne room, where the council met and decrees were issued (Kingsbury, “Prophets and the Council of Yahweh”; Nissinen, “Prophets and the Divine Council”). Isaiah was taken to the throne-room of Yahweh (Isa 6:1–8), and the throne of the LORD came to Ezekiel (Ezek 1:1–14, 26–28). Jeremiah was called by the word of the Lord (Jer 1:4). This word was Yahweh (Jer 1:6–7), but was embodied in human form (Jer 1:9)”.1

Even more now that Christ has come, it says in

Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”.

We might expect that those that knew Jeremiah best would be his strongest supporters, but “Jeremiah was born in Anathoth (Jer 1:1). It was here that he began to prophesy and here that the people of Anathoth rebuked him because he had accused them of breaking the covenant and had prophesied that evil would come upon them”.2

But this is as Jesus said in

Mark 6:4 ‘And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own household.”’

 

Why Does the Way of the Wicked Succeed?

Jeremiah 12:1–6
Jeremiah has just described himself as a gentle ram for the slaughter. We might describe him as innocent, or maybe better as one with no guile and with this perspective we might better understand his question in

Jeremiah 12:1 ” You will be in the right, O Yahweh, when I complain to you. Even so, let me speak my claims with you. Why does the way of the wicked succeed? All those who deal treacherously with treachery are at ease”.

And we might want an empathetic answer from the Lord, a pat on the head that says, I know it has been hard. But that isn’t what Jeremiah gets. The Lord says put on your strength because you haven’t faced the battle yet in

Jeremiah 12:5 “If you run with foot soldiers and they have made you weary, then how will you compete with horses? If you have fallen in a peaceful land, then how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

The Lord goes on and says there isn’t anyone you can expect to depend on in Jeremiah 12:6 “even your relatives, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you, even they call loudly after you. You must not trust in them”.

We sometimes forget that the “knowledge of good and evil” has entered the world. This “gentle ram”, this innocent, this one with no guile, just like us, must stand in the face of evil until the day of the Lord described in Isaiah 2:12, “Is 13:6, 9. Je. 46:10. Eze. 13:5. Am. 5:18. Mal. 4:5. 1 Co. 5:5. 1 Th. 5:2”3

They are Deluding You With Visions of Their Mind

Jeremiah 23:9–18 

If They Had Stood in My Council

Jeremiah 23:19–29
There is a “storm of Yahweh … a whirling tempest … upon the head of the wicked” in Jeremiah 23:19. There are times when we don’t understand what the Lord is doing and we may pray and ask and in Jeremiah 23:20 it “will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his mind”. There is no prayer or intercession that will change this. But, he also goes on to say in Jeremiah 23:20 “In latter days you will look closely at it with understanding”. It is always easier for us to understand what happened after the fact.

But that doesn’t mean the Lord didn’t try to tell us beforehand because in

Amos 3:7 “Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets”.

And even right here, there is a warning to those that say they are prophets in

Jeremiah 23:22 “But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds”.

So They Profit Not This People at All

Jeremiah 23:30–40

I Myself Have Given All These Lands

Jeremiah 27:1–7

Bring Your Necks Under the Yoke of the King and Live

Jeremiah 27:8–15

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Jeremiah 11:18-23
  • Jeremiah 12:1-6
  • Jeremiah 23:9-40
  • Jeremiah 27:1:15

References

  • 1. Heiser, M. S. (2016). Divine Council. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
  • 2. Peterson, J. L. (1992). Anathoth (Place). In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 1, p. 227). New York: Doubleday.
  • 3. Blayney, B., Scott, T., & Torrey, R. A. with Canne, J., Browne. (n.d.). The Treasury of Scripture knowledge (Vol. 1, p. 432). London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.
Devotions

Read Aloud All These Words

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Babylon has purged Judah taking the skilled and educated and compliant captive, driving out the rebellious, and leaving behind the poorest. Now the Lord hears the cry against Babylon for the slaughter, not just from Judah, but from all affected. Now, Jeremiah sends a prophetic word to Babylon, destruction is coming, they will sink and never rise again. But there are four “You must” actions: In Jeremiah 51:61-64, “And you must say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself spoke against this place, to destroy it”. And, in Jeremiah 51:63 “you must tie a stone on it, and you must throw it into the middle of the Euphrates” and in Jeremiah 51:64 “And you must say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, and she will not rise'”.

Yahweh Has Both Planned as Well as Performed

Jeremiah 51:11–19

Prepare the Nations for Holy War

Jeremiah 51:20–32 

I (the Lord) am Going to Contend Your Case

Jeremiah 51:33–39
Though the inhabitants of Zion were taken captive because of the sin of the nation, the rebellion of leaders against the Lord. From their captivity, they now say of Babylon in

Jeremiah 51:35 “May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,” the inhabitants of Zion will say; and “My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” Jerusalem will say.

In any conflict like this, there are innocents that are harmed and in

Jeremiah 51:36–37 Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to contend your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will cause her sea to dry up, and I will cause her fountain to dry up. 37 And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, an object of horror, and an object of hissing, without inhabitants.

 

The Glory of All the Earth is Seized!

Jeremiah 51:40–53
The fall of Babylon was swift, and shocking as described in Jeremiah 51:41 “Sheshach is captured, and the glory of all the earth is seized!” In the eyes of the world, the empire was vast and powerful, the city filled with splendor. And the downfall came during their festival, Sheshach, “from the goddess Shach, to whom a five days’ festival was kept … unbridled licentiousness was permitted; slaves ruled their masters, and in every house one called Zogan … was chosen to rule all the rest. He calls Babylon “Sheshach,” to imply that it was during this feast the city was taken”.1

But if we look at the foundation of this empire, we find in Jeremiah 51:48 “Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon” because it was built on slaughter in Jeremiah 51:49 “Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel, but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen”.

The Peoples Will Labor for Nothing

Jeremiah 51:54–58 

Read Aloud All These Words

Jeremiah 51:59–64
Jeremiah is a prophet of the Lord, not only for the children of Israel, but he spoke concerning many of the nations around them as he does here about Babylon. Many have been taken from Judah as captives to Babylon, (see Jer 52:27-30) but Jeremiah remains behind.

These words however, must be spoken in Babylon so, in Jeremiah 51:59 “Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah … the quartermaster” and in Jeremiah 51:61 “At your coming to Babylon, then you must see that you read aloud all these words”. This was to be a pronouncement, a decree of the Lords words, saying back to the Lord what he had already decreed in

Jeremiah 51:62 “And you must say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself spoke against this place, to destroy it, so that there will not be in it anything living, from humankind to animals, for it will be an everlasting desolation.’

Then, there was a required action, in

Jeremiah 51:63–64 “And then when you finish reading aloud this scroll, you must tie a stone on it, and you must throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64 And you must say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, and she will not rise, because of the face of the disasters that I am bringing on her, and they will grow weary.’ ”

These words, this action, was the connection between the decree in heaven, the realm of the spirit, and the physical world we live in. Things don’t just happen in our natural physical world, they happen because some force acts to make them happen. This decree, speaking the Lords and throwing the scroll into the Euphrates to sink were prophetic acts. And it is by these prophetic acts, acts of faith, that our physical world changes. “The reading was not intended to warn the Babylonians of the destruction threatened them, but was merely to be a proclamation of the word of the Lord against Babylon, on the very spot, for the purpose of connecting with it the symbolic action mentioned in v. 63f”2

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Jeremiah 51:11-64

References

  • 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 558). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
  • 2. Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 8, p. 454). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
Devotions

They Will Ask the Way to Zion

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Many say the Bible is the history of Israel, and it is, but it is much more than that. It is a record of the word of the Lord. It is revelation of the way the kingdom of God operates and we find here in the middle of Judah and Babylon, a promise to Elam. We might easily read over this but this is a promise that goes back to the time of Noah. The Lord never forgets. And the Lord will be their when they, in Jeremiah 50:4 “ask their way to Zion” and Israel returns. More importantly, in Jeremiah 50:20 “In those days and at that time,” declares Yahweh, “the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found”. 

I Will Restore the Fortunes of Elam

Jeremiah 49:34–39
First comes judgement, a scattering of the people, and then a promise in Jeremiah 49:39 “in the last of the days I will restore the fortunes of Elam”. But who is Elam? Elam is a son of Shem in Genesis 10:22, and Shem, was the son of Noah in Genesis 10:1. Abram is also a descendant of Shem in Genesis 11:26. We sometimes forget the lineage of these people groups but God never forgets. For example, these names we hear throughout history, Egypt, Assyria, Israel, all have ancestry through Noah in

Genesis 10:6 “And the sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan”.

and in

Genesis 10:8–11 “And Cush fathered Nimrod … 10 Now, the beginning of his kingdom was Babel … 11 From that land he went out to Assyria, and he built Nineveh …”.

Noah said of his sons in

Genesis 9:26–27 “Then he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem,and let Canaan (son of Ham) be a slave to them. 27 May God make space for Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave for him.”

But it is God’s promise to Noah, and this ancestry, that causes the Lord to say in

Isaiah 19:24–25 “On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, “May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel.””

Since we know the Lord’s throne will be in Jerusalem, a better understanding of what the Lord says in Jeremiah 49:38 “I will set my throne in Elam and I will destroy from there king and officials” might be, “the LORD taking over the reins of government by destroying their former leaders”.1

We might also note here, that what is referred to as “in the last of the days” in Jeremiah 49:39 began with the coming of Jesus Christ and the “Elamites were among the first who heard and accepted it (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) (Ac 2:9)”.2 

They Will Ask the Way to Zion

Jeremiah 50:1–10
At the end of the time of exile, a nation will come against Babylon in Jeremiah 50:3. And, “in that time … the people of Israel will come ” in Jeremiah 50:4 and “they will ask their way to Zion … They will come and join themselves to Yahweh by an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten”.

Those that “have devoured them (Israel, Judah, God’s people of the covenant)” in Jeremiah 50:7 will have an excuse “We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh”. But this is no excuse, this is simply the tactic of the accuser, the destroyer who takes by force and justifies his actions. The truth is, that anyone can choose righteousness rather than force and oppression, but now, in

Jeremiah 50:10 “And Chaldea will be as booty, all those who plunder her will be satisfied,” declares Yahweh.

 

The Guilt of Israel Will be Sought

Jeremiah 50:11–20
It is the guilt of sin that allows the oppressor to take what the Lord has given. We found Babylon claiming they were not guilty of any transgression against Israel because in Jeremiah 50:7 “they have sinned against Yahweh”.

But the nation has been cleansed, and in

Jeremiah 50:20 “In those days and at that time,” declares Yahweh, “the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I left behind.

The Lord, the righteous judge of heaven and earth has been bound by his word. The accuser has used the condemnation of sin and the required penalty of death, to separate them from what the Lord has promised. But Jeremiah looked forward to “those days”, to “that time” when Jesus Christ would give his life, the payment for sin. Now, Christ has risen and taken his place as our righteousness.

Declare in Zion the Vengeance of Yahweh

Jeremiah 50:21–32
Babylon rose up and the Lord gave them the kingdoms of the world in their time, and of them the Lord says in

Jeremiah 50:24 I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon. But you yourself did not know. You were discovered and seized, because with Yahweh you measured yourself.

Now, the judgments against Babylon are meted out in

Jeremiah 50:29 “Take revenge on her according to her deeds. According to all that she has done, so do to her. For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently, against the Holy One of Israel.

To Make Peace For the Earth

Jeremiah 50:33–46

Suddenly Babylon Has Fallen

Jeremiah 51:1–10

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Jeremiah 49:34-39
  • Jeremiah 50:1-46
  • Jeremiah 51:1-10

References

  • 1. Biblical Studies Press. (2006). The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Je 49:38). Biblical Studies Press.
  • 2. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 555). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Devotions

Seek the Prosperity of the City

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The Lord is separating the people and those that listen to him through Jeremiah go into captivity. How can this be for their good? But to those that go and trust him, he says in Jeremiah 29:7 ‘in its (Babylons) prosperity you will have prosperity’. And to those that rebel and flee and seek their own way, there is famine and the sword, and destruction. There is a command for the exiles in Jeremiah 29:6 ‘seek the prosperity of the city where I have deported you, and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh”. They are to be intercessors in the midst of a foreign land until, at the end of their exile, when in Jeremiah 29:14 “I will let myself be found by you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will restore your fortunes, and I will gather you from all the nations”. In our own lives, we have a short time to intercede and “pray on behalf of it (our generation) to Yahweh” that all might be saved.

Break the Jar Before the Eyes of the Men

Jeremiah 19:1–13 

There Were Two Baskets of Figs

Jeremiah 24:1–10
The Lord uses an object lesson to explain to Jeremiah the condition of the people. In this lesson, there is no in between. In fact, this is an example of extremes where one basket was very good and one was very bad as it says in

Jeremiah 24:2 The one basket had very good figs, like early figs, and the other basket had very bad figs that could not be eaten because of their bad quality.

This lesson is to describe two groups of people, and we know that if we line people up, we will find only a very few at each extreme and many more near the middle. So as we read this, it doesn’t fit our understanding of people and what they might believe and how they might behave. We might say most people are sometimes good and sometimes bad and some we might say are a little good and some a little bad.

There is a dividing line between the two groups, but not one that is easy for us to see. The first group gave themselves up and went into captivity according to the word of the Lord through Jeremiah and of them, the Lord says, “I will regard as good the exiles” in

Jeremiah 24:5 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans”.

But the other group resisted and fled and rebelled from the word of the Lord through Jeremiah so the Lord says of them in

Jeremiah 24:8 But like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality—for thus says Yahweh—so I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt.

 

Seek the Prosperity of the City Where I Have Deported You

Jeremiah 29:1-11
The Lord had carried the exiles to Babylon, a place where he now tells them that they can prosper in these well known verses in

Jeremiah 29:5–7 ‘Build houses and live in them … And seek the prosperity of the city where I have deported you, and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh, for in its prosperity you will have prosperity.’

and I believe that this word through Jeremiah is true for all time. Wherever we are, whatever situation, we are to be intercessors “And seek the prosperity of the city … and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh” as in Jeremiah 18:20 “Remember my standing before you to speak good for them, to avert your wrath from them”. And we should pray for them even if they are our enemies until the Lord says, as he did in Jeremiah 14:11 “You must not pray for this people”.

But Babylon isn’t to be their home forever, because the Lord also tells them in these widely quoted verses in

Jeremiah 29:10–11 “… ‘As soon as the time has passed, seventy years … I will … bring you back … 11 For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope.

There is though, in this exile, a truth for all time, that, as it says in

Romans 13:3–4 For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it, 4 for it is God’s servant to you for what is good. But if you do what is bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad.

If you read carefully through the history leading up to the exile, you will find the rebellious, those that did evil in the eyes of the Lord, were brought into judgement. Many though, were taken to Babylon and prospered, although they had their trials as Daniel in the lions den and his friends in the fiery furnace, but the Lord was with them. 

When You Search for Me, Then You Will Find Me

Jeremiah 29:12–23
Here is another widely quoted verse in

Jeremiah 29:13 “When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart”.

But few people read the context that begins in Jeremiah 29:10 “As soon as the time has passed, seventy years for Babylon” and in Jeremiah 29:12 “Then when you call on me …”.

This seventy years is a trying time for everyone, a time of purging of false prophets, a time where they are away from the temple, a time of disruption in their relationship with the Lord as a nation. And after the seventy years, “Then when you call”, then the nation will be restored and the people returned in

Jeremiah 29:14 “And I will let myself be found by you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will restore your fortunes, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.’

But this doesn’t mean the Lord is not with them during their captivity. In fact, the Lord worked miracles in the lives of Daniel and his friends, in the lives of Ezra and Nehemiah and others that called on the name of the Lord.

He Has Made You Trust in a Lie

Jeremiah 29:24–32

Zedekiah Did Evil in the Eyes of Yahweh

2 Kings 24:18–20

All … Likewise Increased in Unfaithfulness

2 Chronicles 36:11–14

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Jeremiah 19:1-13
  • Jeremiah 24:1-10
  • Jeremiah 29:1-32
  • 2 Kings 24:18-20
  • 2 Chronicles 36:11-14
Devotions

Remember My Standing Before You

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Jeremiah reminds the Lord that he has been the intercessor, the one bringing the Lords word to the people as one that in Jeremiah 23:22 “stood in my council … (and we know this because he) proclaimed my words to my people”. And, we also find that the prophet pleaded the cause of the nation before the Lord in Jeremiah 14:7–8 “Although our iniquities testify against us, O Yahweh, act for the sake of your name. Yes, our apostasies are many; we have sinned against you. 8 You are the hope of Israel, its savior in time of distress”. But the Lord now responds, “You must not pray for this people”, just as they have rejected doing good, so the Lord is rejecting the good he had planned for the nation. Finally, Jeremiah prays for his own life as they have plotted against him. 

You Must Not Pray for This People

Jeremiah 14:11–16
The Lord has come to the end with these people and instructs that Jeremiah should no longer pray “for their happiness” in

Jeremiah 14:11–12 So Yahweh said to me, “You must not pray for this people, for their happiness. 12 Although they fast, I am not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I am not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I am about to destroy them.”

But Jeremiah responds to the Lord that there are others in the land saying there will be “reliable peace” in

Jeremiah 14:13 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets are saying to them, ‘You will not see the sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.’ ”

There are times when we must wait to see who is speaking for the Lord. The Lord says in Jeremiah 14:15 “the prophets who prophecy in my name though I have not sent them … will perish”. So, it is important for us to observe the words of people to discern the true prophet from those that speak to please people.

Both Prophet and Priest Wander Around

Jeremiah 14:17–22

Who Will Have Compassion on You, O Jerusalem

Jeremiah 15:1–9 

The Clay Was Spoiled in the Hand of the Potter

Jeremiah 18:1–10
There were those in Jerusalem, the inhabitants of Judah, that said, this is the Lords nation, He will protect it for His name. But that is not what the Lord had said to them. There was a promise of good for the nation of Israel, and even for the divided nations remnant, Judah, except that in

Jeremiah 18:10 “But if it does evil in my sight, to not listen to my voice, then I will relent concerning the good that I said I would do to it”.

The condition “concerning the good that I said I would do” was that the nation does not do evil, that the nation listens to his voice. Good for the nation depended on the good and righteous lives of the people.

It Is Hopeless, We Will Go After Our Own Plans

Jeremiah 18:11–17 

Remember My Standing Before You

Jeremiah 18:18–23
Jeremiah stands as a prophet before the Lord, and says he is there “to speak good for them”, or as it says in

1 Corinthians 14:3 “But the one who prophesies speaks to people edification and encouragement and consolation”.

and also “to avert your wrath from them”, or as it says of Jesus Christ in

Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore also he is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, because he always lives in order to intercede on their behalf”.

and here Jeremiah asks for protection from those that have plotted against him and reminds the Lord of his faithfulness in fulfilling his role between the Lord and these people in

Jeremiah 18:20 “Should good be repaid in place of evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember my standing before you to speak good for them, to avert your wrath from them”.

As the Lord had instructed Jeremiah, he had done his best to warn the people in Jeremiah 36:6 by having Baruch read the scroll publicly (see “You Shall Read Aloud the Words of Yahweh” 1 November, 2018 You Shall Read Aloud the Words of Yahweh). And, Jeremiah has done his utmost as he warned the leaders, but in Jeremiah 36:22-23 the king burned the scroll as it was read to him.

This sounds very much like what we also read in Isaiah 59:12-21 “he who turns aside from evil is plundered” (see “A Redeemer Will Come to Zion” 9 October 2018 A Redeemer Will Come to Zion).

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Jeremiah 14:11-22
  • Jeremiah 15:1-9
  • Jeremiah 18:1-23
Devotions

Israel Will Dispossess his Dispossessors

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The Lord was using Nebuchednezzar to bring judgement on Judah and all of the surrounding nations. Each nation has its own outcome. Seventy year exile for Israel and of the land of Hazor, it says “a waste forever; no one will live there” in Jeremiah 49:33. For Edom, the reason for judgement is clear in Jeremiah 49:16 “the pride of your heart”. And at the end, Babylon itself will be judged. In the end, the Lord honors his promises and delivers righteous judgement. Knowing this, we can look at a map of Israel today and know that the land East of the Jordan that was given to Manasseh and Gad and Reuben, will come back into their possession. 

Israel Will Dispossess his Dispossessors

Jeremiah 49:1–6
During this time, the Northern Kingdom, the ten tribes, had been dispersed and their land overtaken. From the Exodus, and according to the Lords dividing of the land, Gad, Manasseh, and Reuben where on the East side of Jordan, but not encroaching on the territory the Lord had promised to Lots descendants, Ammon which was East of Gad and Moab which was East of the Dead Sea, half-way down, South of Reuben.

“Three times Lot is mentioned in non-narrative texts. Twice in Deuteronomy (2:9, 19) Israel is commanded not to engage Moab or Ammon in battle since the Lord promised them territory for being Lot’s children. The other reference (Ps 83:8) lists Lot’s children (i.e., Moabites and Ammonites) among Israel’s adversaries”.1

The territory of the Ammonites was promised to them as Lots descendants and in Jeremiah 49:6 “I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,” declares Yahweh”. But the Lord also promises the land to the sons of Israel and says in Jeremiah 49:2 “Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors,”. 

O You Who Dwell in the Clefts of the Rock

Jeremiah 49:7–22
This was the land, Edom, that “was inhabited by the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau (Gen. 36:1–17). Edom took advantage of Judah’s plight in 586 and occupied southern Judah”.2

Esau sold his birthright for a stew in Genesis 25:30 and took wives from the Canaanites. “The naming of Edom’s progenitor, reprobated by God, recalls the remembrance of the old curse on him for his profanity, both his sin and its punishment being perpetuated in his descendants (Heb 12:16, 17)”.3

Now, the Lord says of them in

Jeremiah 49:16 Your terror has deceived you, the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, you who seize the height of the hill. Though you make your nest high like the eagle, from there I will bring you down,” declares Yahweh.

 

All the Soldiers Will Perish

Jeremiah 49:23–27
For Damascus, their demise will happen quickly, because the prophet notes the city was not abandoned in

Jeremiah 49:25 How the city of praise has not been abandoned! The city of my joy!

and the “city of my joy refers to the “Powerful Damascus, the once-proud capital of the Syrian régime (Isa. 7:8) … ‘how completely deserted the city is!’ Verse 26 is repeated in 50:30, while verse 27 is cited from Amos 1:4.4

Fear comes in Jeremiah 49:24 and in Jeremiah 49:26 “her young men will fall in her public squares, and all the soldiers will perish in that day” and fire devours in Jeremiah 49:27.

I Will Scatter to Every Wind

Jeremiah 49:28–33
One word summarizes the action for people of this region in Jeremiah 49:30 “Flee”. The Lord is talking about Kedar and Hazor where “Kedar (cf. 2:10) designated a nomadic Arab tribe living in the Syro-Arabian desert, but used also to denote Bedouin generally. They bred sheep (Isa. 60:7), traded with Phoenicia (Ezek. 27:21) and were skilled archers (Isa. 21:16f.)”.4

But here, the Lord is clear about the attack coming by Nebuchadnezzer, “The war poem contains two summons to attack (vv. 28, 33), each followed by a list of the plunder (vv. 29, 32) and the scattering of the fugitives (vv. 30, 32)”.5

The Pride of Your Heart Has Deceived You

Obadiah 1–9

Because of the Violence to Your Brother

Obadiah 10–14

Your Deeds Will Return on Your Own Head

Obadiah 15–18

The Kingdom Will Belong to Yahweh (the Lord)

Obadiah 19–21

Our Iniquities Testify Against Us

Jeremiah 14:1–10

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Jeremiah 49:1-33
  • Obadiah 1-21
  • Jeremiah 14:1-10

References

  • 1. Spina, F. A. (1992). Lot (Person). In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 4, p. 372). New York: Doubleday.
  • 2. Martens, E. A. (1995). Jeremiah. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 548). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
  • 3. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 554). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
  • 4. Harrison, R. K. (1973). Jeremiah and Lamentations: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 21, p. 184). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • 5. Martens, E. A. (1995). Jeremiah. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 549). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.