Disobedience Yields Destruction
Note: This combines yesterday's and today's readings.
This last part of Jeremiah completes the historical narrative through chapter 43. Chapters 42 and 43 are remarkable in that Jeremiah tells Johanan and the rest of the remnant still in Judah the answer to a prayer that THEY ASKED HIM to PRAY!!! After Jeremiah prays and gets an answer from God, he tells them in clear, concise, and certain language that they are to stay in the land and not flee to Egypt.
In verse 5, the people tell Jeremiah, "Whether we like it or not we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea." Yet ten days later (v. 7) when Jeremiah give his impassioned answer to them, their reaction is directly against God and borders on insanity. "You lie! The Lord God hasn't forbidden us to go to Egypt!" the say in 43:2. This defiance of God seals their fate and they are destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar invades Egypt.
The rest of the chapters are various and ominous prophecies against the nations that persecuted Israel. In particular the prophecies against Babylon are particularly dire. These are in chapters 50 and 51. Many of the passages seem to have a dual purpose in that they prophecy destruction to ancient Babylon but have similar language to that of Revelations and its prophecy against spiritual Babylon (see 51:6-10 and 51:41-44).
Ultimately, Jeremiah is a tragic book and a sad book. The price the prophet paid and the life he had to live because of Judah's disobedience are pathetic and sad. But Jeremiah was a faithful prophet, fearless in speaking the Word of the Lord regardless of the personal consequences he suffered. He is an example to every true minister of God who cries out against sin.
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That is interesting that you mention the similar language of Revelations in chapter 50/51. Martha and I are just finishing up Jeremiah and I had commented to her last night about how chapter 50 sounds so much like Revelations.
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