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Jeremiah 46
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[00:00:00] Father, we thank you tonight as we look at your word, I pray that this is a kind of a challenging message to help us understand the sovereignty, your sovereignty, your ability to be over the nations of the world. And sometimes in life we get so consumed with what's currently happening in our world, it creates oftentimes a sense of apprehension, anxiety and fear and, and other times it creates maybe a little bit of belligerence. And so, Lord, I just pray right now that you will help us to develop a biblical worldview so that we can understand that you are fully in control of our broken world and you're working out your eternal purposes. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. So I'm going to have you turn in your Bibles. We've been doing a series on the book of Jeremiah. We're actually on chapter 46. There's 52 chapters in this book. By the way, Jeremiah is the longest book in the Bible. This is the lengthiest one.
[00:00:58] So no matter how perplexed, confusing and maybe even dark the days that we may be living in, I think there's in the past been darker times. And we can't guarantee there won't be more challenges in the future. But we can say this. God's word will not only endure, but his promises will come to pass. Even in hours where God decrees judgment, we'll always see that God shows his mercy because God is a very merciful and compassionate person. As we're coming now to the end of the book of Jeremiah, we've come to all the end of his messages to the people. Now he's speaking from chapter one. We heed these words from Jeremiah says he was a prophet to the nations. Now from chapters 46 to 52, God is going to speak through Jeremiah beyond the nation of Judah and Israel. He's going to speak actually to the nations around Judah and Israel and some of the things that God wants to say. And I believe God has a word for every single nation. God is interested in every nation in our world. God is interested in every person in our world. And we need to understand that, you know, we often focus, and I think rightfully so, on the. On God's covenant people in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel. However, we can quickly lose sight of the larger picture. God is a God of all nations and in relationship to the nations, as Isaiah points out, all the nations are like a drop in a bucket. So I know sometimes when we're reading the news or we're hearing about, you know, this nation doing that and this nation saying this and these people doing that, and. And we're thinking about how it's going to impact our lives. I want to remind us of something very significant.
[00:02:45] God is so much greater. God is sovereign over the nations of the world. And when you add up all the nations, they amount to a drop in the bucket in relationship to God. So who should we be more concerned about than all of these people making all of this noise? And our world right now, the people that are talking are almighty God. And, you know, a lot of times we get confused, too, because I think today we're getting bombarded with messaging. Half the time we don't know what's true anymore, what's not true. You know what I'm saying? We're confused. There's a little confusion out there. What's right? Can I just keep pointing you back to scripture? This is the truth. This is what's going to happen, folks. This is what we need to know. This is where you can build your life. And as you begin to look to the Word of God and you begin to apply it in your life, no matter what happens in our world, you and I, when the rains fall and the winds come, you and I will be standing on a rock because we've applied our lives and listened to the voice of God. Robert Davidson, in summarizing these chapters, gives us a sense of why their message is so important not only in the moment of human history, but also its relevancy for the moment we're living in today. He said there are certain dangers to which all religious people are exposed, and the more passionately they believe, the greater the dangers. This is an interesting statement. What is he saying? He's saying, as believers, there are some subtle things that we need to understand. He goes on to say, one of them is the danger of converting the God of whom we believe, the God in whom we worship, into our own patron saint. What does he mean by that? He means we're just privatizing. We're just making God our God in a sense that, you know, we think that maybe God exists primarily to meet our own needs. It's just about us, is what he's saying. To protect our interests, to answer our prayers. But God, as much as he loves you and I as individuals and he is concerned about us, there's a bigger picture we need to take a look at. We need to look beyond that. As a matter of fact, the danger is that we can privatize faith, and it often disconnects us with the larger drama that is happening around our lives. You know, sometimes we seem so overwhelmed by all the scope of what's going on. We can become like ostriches. We just stick our head in the sand and say, I'll just let the rest of those guys handle it. But that's not the best solution to the problem. You and I need to be engaged. We need to be engaged at least prayerfully about what's happening around us. And maybe God is calling us to do certain things in the bigger scope of things, and we need to be obedient to that.
[00:05:26] The tragedy with this approach is that others make decisions in our community and beyond that eventually impact our lives in very significant ways. And we all know that's true. You know, when Ottawa makes a decision, or Washington makes a decision, or, you know, Moscow makes a decision, or whatever country's making a decision, we don't always realize that at the time, but eventually it trickles its way down and begins to affect our lives.
[00:05:51] And so in a very real part, there's a larger community that you and I need to be engaged in and at least some meaningful measure. On the flip side, we can become so fixated on the larger picture, even advocating and supporting aggressive approach to national greatness and prosperity, often at the expense of other countries.
[00:06:14] And that too, God sees, and we're going to see today in this text how God handles those situations. Davison continues on and speaks of the prophetic ministry and its significance beyond the borders of the nation of Judah and Israel.
[00:06:30] From prophets from Amos to Jeremiah insisted that to believe in the Lord is to believe in a God who's ruler of all nations. And therefore this is a God whose purpose is all nations exist to serve, whether they know it or not. Even though they may not believe in God, God is still going to work in that country. He's got a purpose, a God whose universal standards of justice and righteousness nations, including Israel and Judah, would ignore at their own peril. God has a standard.
[00:07:02] I think that's true of every human being. And we'll all answer to this great God, this one who created us. So what happens when nations go astray? You know, we all know what happens when people go astray. We can see that God begins to deal with us. Maybe he allows our sin to discipline us. He calls us to Himself. There's an opportunity to change our mind and return to Him. But what happens when nations go astray? And it happens. I think the whole history of humanity is really a history of God's story and how he's interrelating with human beings through the ages. And because I'm an avid historian and thinker and love to read that stuff, I recognize God is always at work. Even when it seems in the darkest hours of human history, God is using different things to shape people and try to bring people, that individual or that nation, back to Himself.
[00:07:58] You know, there is always present an idolatry of power which often masquerades in our world of self interest. There's an idolatry of repression which often masquerades as the defense of law and order. And there's an idolatry of economic exploitation what often masquerades as the protection of our living standards. In other words, Davidson is saying here that, you know, we will maybe hear leaders saying things that. It sounds very good, but sometimes there's a hidden agenda and I just frame it this way. Leaders can communicate these ideologies that can exploit others to further their own self interest and agendas, often at the expense of the nation. And it can be misguided and they believe they're doing what's in the best interest of those they serve. But when it comes at the expense of others, it damages the people they're leading. And we will look around our world with uncertainty, instability and political posturing. One might fall prey to fear or maybe towards belligerence. However, neither approach is biblical nor is it an expression of genuine faith that God is truly in control of this world.
[00:09:11] These messages to the nations we're going to discover is that God is a God of righteousness. He has a standard.
[00:09:18] He's a God of justice. He's going to address all human sinfulness. In the close of chapter 45, we see that God is about to speak and bring disaster on people. Walter Brueggemann speaking on this text, he says God is about to disrupt all the present arrangements. And let me just give you what I'm thinking here. What he's about to do is that, you know, life had been moving along for a long period of time. There was one superpower, but God was now about ready to flip the table and change the whole future for these people.
[00:09:49] Wouldn't it be shocking right now if God is saying, I'm in the middle right now, about ready to flip everything in our entire world and change everything? So everything that you and I were banking on hoping and trusting in all of a sudden go sideways? A lot of people about that time would be freaking right out. They wouldn't know what to do.
[00:10:10] And as you and I, as God's children, I don't want you to Freak out. I want you to know what to do. I want you to have a confidence that God is going to look out for us, that he's going to take care of us even in the most challenging moments. And that could happen. We don't want to just live, you know, thinking that the world's just going to continue on the way it's always gone. Because that's a false hope and it may not happen that way.
[00:10:36] So how do we respond? Or how should we respond to what? We have little or no control over the behavior of countries. I don't have control over China, do you? Or Russia, or what's happening in Ukraine or Israel or Palestine. We don't have any control over these things.
[00:10:57] So how can we respond to that?
[00:11:00] An aggressive behavioral pattern by a nation. And I think there are some responses we can have, and I'm going to give you two of them today. How we can respond to those national aggressive behaviors, those very challenging times that are driven by national, maybe imperialistic concepts in their mind, or aggrandizement of a country. Step number one, what should we do? We need to trust God, you say. Well, that's the obvious. Yeah, well, we don't always do the obvious, do we?
[00:11:27] Many national powers have risen and they have fallen. Empires have been raised and they've come down. Isn't that amazing? And, you know, sometimes you have a superpower like Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar is the ultimate ruler of the entire known world at that time. And in one moment, God is warning him to humble himself. And he's not listening. And Daniel. And God sends a dream. And Daniel tells him what's going to happen to him. And he's walking around one of the great, what do you call the ancient wonders of the world, the hanging gardens of Babylon. And he's saying, man, I did all of this. And God goes, at that moment, he loses his brains, he loses his mind.
[00:12:09] He can't even function. He ends up like an animal in the backyard eating grass.
[00:12:16] Lost his mind.
[00:12:18] Amazing how God can take people down just like that. How God can take nations down just like that.
[00:12:25] And that nation Babylon does come down. We're going to read a little bit about it here further on in the book of Jeremiah. But here, God is now about to address these nations and specifically here, their aspirations and their behaviors. How many know nations have aspirations and behaviors? And God's going to speak to them. And right now, specifically in chapter 46, he's speaking to Egypt. This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, the prophet concerning the nations, concerning Egypt. This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates river by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the 4th year of Jehoiachin, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. So now we're basically getting a time frame. I really appreciate the fact that, you know, the scriptures give us actually a historical moment so we can actually look back in history, go, yeah, that's exactly what happened. And, you know, other writings from other nations actually correspond to what's actually happening here. This is actually ancient history.
[00:13:25] We notice, like in chapter 45, we're brought back to an earlier time. We're brought back to a time when Israel hasn't been totally exiled yet. They've had some taken to Babylon, but the city has not been destroyed. Jerusalem's not been destroyed. Jehoiachin is actually someone who is now looking to Egypt to help him against Babylon. And Jeremiah is saying, listen, that's a wrong approach. God is saying, you need to surrender to the Babylonians, because at this moment, God is using them to discipline the nations. And if you trust in Egypt, you're trusting in a broken reed, they're not going to save you. You're going to be in trouble. You know, sometimes in our lives we turn to everything but God. It's amazing to me how people could be in a crisis and they'll turn to all kinds of crazy things to get them out of their trouble. You know, God is just saying none of it's going to make a difference because in the end, even Egypt's going to be affected by Babylon. You're turning to the wrong thing. You're looking to the wrong place for solutions in your life.
[00:14:24] FB Huey gives us some background to make sense of this message. He said Egypt had dominated Syria and Palestine for most of the second millennia BC For a thousand years, these guys had been the dominant ruling power in the region. But in the latter part of that period, the power is now in decline. And after the 19th Dynasty in Egypt in the 1306-1200, has never again ever risen to the great power it's once been. You know what's interesting? Egypt has never been a superpower since. Very fascinating. And we're going to see that in this text. God says, yeah, I won't totally take you out. And in another text, God says, you're never going to rise to eminence ever again.
[00:15:04] Goes on to say, how are its rulers still had pretensions of greatness, and often engaged in political and military intrigue among the nations. So they were working behind the scenes trying to get all of these vassal states that were under Babylon to rebel against Babylon. And Jeremiah was warning Jehoiachin, don't do that. But Jehoiachin was stubborn, hardhearted, wouldn't listen to God. He's the guy that burnt all of the scrolls into the little fire pot. Chapter 45 and earlier, chapter 36. Sorry.
[00:15:36] Neco was on his way to aid the beleaguered Assyrians. This is earlier in their final struggle. This is like years before Jehoiachin. This is when his father Josiah, the last godly king, was ruling in Israel or in Judah. And with that final struggle in 609 when he was intercepted, Necob was intercepted by King Josiah at Megiddo. And it was the battle that followed resulted in Josiah's death, and Egypt gained control of that region. As a matter of fact, Egypt then decided to advance even further. And it says here the Egyptians also occupied Carchemish, located about 63 miles northeast of Aleppo on the Upper Euphrates. So they kind of moved up into the northern part, north of Israel, the nation of Israel. However, in one of the most decisive battles in history, the Babylonians, which was an emerging power, defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish in 605 BC, and now they became the undisputed power in the ancient Near East.
[00:16:40] Nebuchadnezzar pursued Neco to Egypt, but was interrupted by news that his father Nebopolassar had died, and he immediately returned to Babylon to secure his father's throne for himself. So that's a little bit of a background. Some of you go, I don't really care about that, Pastor. But you'll understand it in a moment because they're going to describe a battle here, and I wanted you to have the kind of a background understanding of what's really going on here. So now Jeremiah is going to depict a major battle scene in which we now know, in hindsight, shifted the political landscape. In a powerful poetic imagery, Egypt's self confidence is now described as they're entering into this battle with the Babylonians at Carchemish. Now, you have to understand they had gone up, they had already defeated one army. And as we read these words, we get this feeling of a heightened tension of the moments prior to the battle. Commanders are now shouting orders. This is what you're going to hear. Let's pick up the poetry that Jeremiah is speaking by. Prepare your shields. Both large and Small march out for battle. Harness the horses, mount the steeds, take your positions with helmets on. Polish your spears, put on your armor. Well, four years previously, the Egyptian army had defeated, had come along and tried to help the Assyrians, and they had won this battle in 609. And they had killed Josiah there on the plains of Megiddo and had gone up to the Euphrates. So they felt like, hey, we're controlling this part of the world right now.
[00:18:10] But then you have this terrifying defeat. Look at verse five. What do I see? They're terrified. They're retreating. Their warriors are defeated. They're fleeing in haste without looking back. And there's terror on every side, declares the Lord. This is a strange and terrifying situation that's going on. Goes on to say, the swift cannot flee, nor the strong escape. In the north, by the river Euphrates, they stumble and they fall. FB Huey says by ignoring the battle. A subtle but ironic contrast between the elaborate preparations of the Egyptians and their humiliating defeat and flight is now emphasized. They're trapped on the shores of the river Euphrates and there's no escape.
[00:18:56] What a terrifying moment. This is, a terrifying moment for Egypt.
[00:19:01] This contrast between expectation and reality. I'm going to stop and pause here and just say this. This so often happens in our lives. We have expectations and then there's reality. You know, a lot of people are saying a lot of things right now in our world, expectation. But the reality may be something totally different than what you're listening to.
[00:19:23] And I'll tell you why. Because they're not in charge. God is.
[00:19:28] God is in charge. And we need to keep that in the back of our mind. God is in charge.
[00:19:33] Listen to this. It says in verse seven, who is that that rises like the Nile like rivers of surging waters? Egypt rises like the Nile like rivers of surging water. She says, I will rise and cover the earth. I will destroy cities and their people.
[00:19:50] Pretty strong language. Charge, you horses. Drive furiously, you charioteers. March on, you warriors. Men of cush put who carry shields, Men of Lydia who draw the bow. Temperament explains the meaning of the self aggrandizement of the nation and God's decision to discipline that nation. They were haughty and arrogant and puffed up. Now watch what happens. He says this in verse 7, the oracle changes Toneh describes the enormous pride of Egypt. This pride takes us back. Before the battle, the River Nile was the pride of the nation. Why, all of its fertility and its tremendous wealth depended on an annual flooding of the Nile. And as the waters receded, it left behind this productive soil. The nation of Egypt is here described or compared to the Nile in its rising out of its natural boundaries in order to cover the earth.
[00:20:43] In other words, the surging Nile is used as a metaphor of Egypt's imperialistic impulses that were operative in their attempt to fight Babylon in far away Carchemish. They wanted to cover the earth like the flooding Nile covers the ground. That's the description. Can you see the metaphor he's using? This is what they're thinking is we're going to prevail over the whole earth. We're just taking over. Well, it's one thing to say it.
[00:21:07] Reality is a new story.
[00:21:09] I can tell you if you study history, how many nations have risen up and say we're going to take over the world later to go flaming down into defeat. We see it many times.
[00:21:19] The men of Putlidi and Cush are actually mercenaries. They're hired by the Egyptians, they're serving Egypt. And I don't care how strong our armies are, I don't care how much technology we have. The psalmist reminds us of this important consideration in Psalm 20. It says, Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They're brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. Isn't that a beautiful thing? What's he saying?
[00:21:47] Don't look at what you have, look at who God is.
[00:21:52] Don't look at how great your current position is in life. That could all crumble in a moment. You know, we're really frail as human beings. We can lose our economic resources very quickly. We could lose our health very quickly. We can lose a lot of things very quickly. We are very fragile, but we sometimes forget that, especially when life is on the high point. And we can see that in the story, the battle is determined really by God. Look at verse 10. But that day, what day? At the battle of Carchemish belonged to the Lord. You go, wait a minute, Israel wasn't even in this battle. That's right. Egypt, Babylon, God was there. God determined the outcome of that battle. It changed the whole political landscape for now, for the rest of time, it flipped everything. Why am I saying this to us? I think sometimes we live with a false sense of security. We think life is always going to be the way it is right now. What happens if God decides to flip the page like he just did there?
[00:23:01] A day of vengeance for vengeance on his foe. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, until it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the Almighty will offer sacrifice in the land of the north, by the river Euphrates. It's almost like God is saying, yeah, this is going to be an offering. I'm taking down Egypt and all of these lives are going to be offered up as a sacrifice. They're being taken out. It's quite a sobering thought.
[00:23:28] Go up to Gilead, get balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. But you try many medicines in vain. There's no healing for you. The nations will hear of your shame. Your cries will fill the earth. One warrior will stumble over another. Both will fall down together. Now, that word Gilead, a lot of us may not understand, but Gilead was actually in Judah. Gilead was noted for the ability to process a healing balm that brought. It was a medicinal bomb that brought healing to those that were afflicted. But you know what? Even Judah, in her rebellion against God, there was nothing that could heal her of her brokenness. And just like Egypt, nothing will be able to heal her of her brokenness.
[00:24:13] They're going to hear of their shame, their demise.
[00:24:16] Both of them had been in rebellion against God's purposes and now were suffering without remedy. Warren Worsbee said when the Egyptian army approached the battlefield, they looked like the Nile and flood season. The military leaders were sure of victory. Their mercenaries were eager to fight. But the Lord had determined that Egypt would lose the battle. Wow.
[00:24:38] That day belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty. It was a holy war in that God offered Egypt as a sacrifice. Egypt's wounds were incurable and her shame was inevitable. But let me move on to the second point. I only have two.
[00:24:54] If our first response in an uncertain world is to trust God, the second is a realization that God will discipline all perpetrators.
[00:25:05] God will deal with all injustice. Isn't that amazing?
[00:25:09] He will address evil. God will deal with all unrighteousness. God will address these powerful nations that take advantage of weaker nations. God's going to address that.
[00:25:22] Nations that become aggressive ultimately suffer and they're dealt with. Walter Brueggemann makes this clarifying observation from biblical and political history. He says nations which do not honor God and do not honor God's people are standing under judgment and will be destabilized.
[00:25:42] Yahweh is sovereign, not nations. No matter how powerful they'll be finally and ultimately and is finally and ultimately absolute value. No matter how powerful they are, they're not in absolute value. In other words, what he's saying here is that no nation is beyond God's decree, no nation is beyond God's standard.
[00:26:03] We need to understand that.
[00:26:06] He goes on to point out from Paul Kennedy's book, the Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Now he's writing from a secular point of view. He has no theological understanding. So you and I are looking at this and we're interpreting it through a theological lens. We're seeing, yeah, God is behind all this. Here's a person that doesn't believe in God and he's saying, this is interesting. Kennedy proposes that every nation state, because of its population, territory and natural resources, is entitled to a certain share of the world's wealth. When a nation state overreaches that share in an act of self aggrandizement, which is self importance, that nation places itself in jeopardy and stands at risk in the process of world politics.
[00:26:46] Kennedy's argument is that no nation state dares to conduct itself as though it were an ultimate end in itself.
[00:26:56] In other words, you know, see, some people act like, I can do what I want. No, you can't. You're going to do as much as God allows you to do, and he's going to stop you.
[00:27:09] He says, it's this far and no further.
[00:27:12] And we need to understand that not only as an individual, but also as a nation before almighty God. The God factor I call in human affairs.
[00:27:22] We cannot understand human history without the God factor, without the fact that it's about God who's ruling and reigning over this planet and he's conducting the affairs of this world. Now we have a second conflict between Egypt and Babylon. But now it's 20 years later. Jerusalem has already fallen. They've all gone into exile. Some of them, as we've been listening to in the last few weeks, have run against the council of God's Word into Egypt as if that was the place of safety.
[00:27:51] Remember, I told you it's not going to be a safe place.
[00:27:54] A new king is over the land of Egypt. It seems that, Jeremiah, that this new king has been making promises to the last king of Judah, but that only created more trouble for Judah and it was defeated. Nebuchadnezzar now directs his focus on Egypt. Not only has Egypt's military expansion been halted on the banks of the Euphrates, but the conflict now moves to Egypt.
[00:28:21] Once again we notice in poetic language that it is the Lord who is allowing Babylon to prevail.
[00:28:28] Babylon is seen as God's instrument in disciplining the nation of Egypt. This is the message the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to attack Egypt. Announce this in Egypt and proclaim it in Migdol. Proclaim it also in Memphis and Taphenes. These are cities in Egypt, by the way. Take your positions. Get ready for the sword devours those around you.
[00:28:53] Why will your warriors be laid low? They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down. What is he saying? They're not going to be able to win because God's fighting against them. How many know if God is not for you, you're hooped. And that's why we can say with confidence that if God is for you, who can be against you?
[00:29:09] So you might be a little, little nothing here. And you're gonna win because you know, it all depends on who the partner is that you have.
[00:29:18] Think about this. Let's say you're playing a tennis match, you're playing doubles, and you have the world champion tennis player on your team.
[00:29:27] You may not be a good tennis player, but don't worry about it. You're going to be alright. You're probably going to win that game.
[00:29:34] What do you think?
[00:29:37] You know, if I had the best world greatest tennis player playing with me right now, I could challenge any one of you in this room and we would win because they would not be dependent on me one iota. I'd be totally dependent on this person.
[00:29:49] And that's what you and I need to understand with God. If God is for us, who can be against us? Why are we sweating all of these things in our lives and letting anxiety rule and reign in our lives when God is our partner?
[00:30:02] As long as you and I are doing what he's asking us to do, we're fine. But when we start doing our own thing now, we're going to get into trouble because instead of having God on my team, I have God now on the other side of the net.
[00:30:15] That's a little scary. That's like having that top professional tennis player on that team and I'm looking at who's on my team. Hmm. And even if there's everybody in the room here, we're just going to get in each other's way, right? That's usually the way it works.
[00:30:33] The boast of Egypt is crushed. They will stumble repeatedly, they'll fall over each other. They will say, get up. Let us go back to our own people and our native lands, away from the sword of the oppressor. These are the now mercenaries saying we're, you know, cutting our losses. We're heading out of town. We're not going to stay and fight these guys.
[00:30:56] Isn't that sad, paying these guys all this money? There they will exclaim Pharaoh, King of Egypt is only a loud noise and he's missed his opportunity.
[00:31:05] The mercenaries in Egypt's army now abandons their post, flee for home as they see the futility of what's transpiring. God promises an agent as his divine discipline. And the prophet describes Babylon now as two significant mountains. As surely as I live, declares the Lord, whose name is the Lord Almighty One will come who's like Mal Tabor among the mountains, like Carmel by the sea. Now, most of us, we read this. This is poetry. And you go, I don't get anything he's talking about here. Well, let me just point out to you something. If you go to Israel today, Mount Tabor is in the middle of the plains of Megiddo. And it stands. It just stands out. It's a mountain in the middle of a plain. How many know you're going to notice a mountain in the middle of a plain?
[00:31:55] Mount Carmel is another mountain that's affixed to the Mediterranean Sea. And it just jets up from the Mediterranean. You notice it. So what is he saying? He says, I'm going to raise up someone who's going to be a mountain.
[00:32:09] Okay, you're going to notice it. And then he says, pack your belongings for exile. You who live in Egypt from Memphis will be laid waste and lie in ruins without inhabitants. Memphis was one of their capitals and it was going to be taken out. He says, Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly is coming against her from the north. A gadfly is a very annoying insect that is going to trouble and annoy this nation. In other words, Babylon is going to come along. And most scholars believe that Egypt never did, you know, occupy. Sorry, Babylon never did occupy Egypt. But what they did was they went in and defeated them to such a degree. And they stripped their country of their economic prowess and wealth and took it back home with them. And they left them without much power.
[00:33:00] Now he goes on, the mercenaries in their ranks are like fattened calves. In other words, they've been growing up and they've been enjoying life in Egypt. They too will turn and flee together. They will not stand their ground, for the day of disaster is coming upon them, the time for them to be punished.
[00:33:16] Wow.
[00:33:19] Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent as the enemy advances in force. They will come against you with axes like men who cut down trees. They will chop down her forest, declares the Lord, dense though it be, they are more numerous than locusts that cannot be counted. Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame, given into the hands of the men of the north. Now, Babylon, of course, is coming from the north. And Tremper Longman explains the significance of Egypt. Well, he is like a fleeing serpent. He says there the serpent was an important symbol in Egypt. How many have ever noticed, when you're watching a movie, the Egyptians, what do they have on their heads? They have a cobra.
[00:34:00] How many have noticed that? You know what that's called? It's called a uraeus. It's on their headdress and it's usually it basically.
[00:34:14] Let me go back here, okay? The serpent is hissing. It stands no chance against the enemy that comes like a locust plague or like men who cut down trees.
[00:34:23] So what is this? It's a stylized cobra head that was used in ancient Egypt to symbolize royalty, divinity and protection.
[00:34:32] So it's one of their gods.
[00:34:35] They're honoring their gods. And what he's saying is like they're being attacked and the serpent is running away and it's hissing, but it's got no power against what's coming against it. That's what he's trying to tell us in a very poetic language.
[00:34:52] Simply put, these gods of Egypt are impotent before the true and the living God in dealing with the nation of Egypt.
[00:34:59] In other words, if we're trusting in the wrong thing and God's going to come against us, nothing's going to stand in the way of God dealing with us exactly the way he wants to. Nothing can do it. You know, when we put our trust in anything or anyone other than our Lord, we will be disciplined, defeated, and deeply disappointed.
[00:35:18] That's true. Now, can God come against us like that, in power? Absolutely. He can do that, and he can do that, and he's done that. But how does God generally come to us?
[00:35:29] In humility, in kindness, in grace, offering us to repent, offering us goodness, forgiveness, lack of condemnation, restoration. That's how God comes. You want to know how God comes? Think about it. He came like a baby, you know, 2,000 years ago. He came as a baby 2,000 years ago. That's how God came. This is how God could come. Here's the shocking thing. You know, we've looked at Christianity, and it's a faith of love. But I'm going to say something to all of us. Jesus is going to come back, but not as a baby. He's going to come back as a warrior, and he's going to judge the nations of the world. And that's the part that's going to be terrifying to a lot of people, because right now, he's offering us mercy, he's offering us forgiveness, he's offering us grace. But when he comes back again, it will be a time to reckon the account books. It'll be a time to measure people's lives and give an account for their lives. Okay? So the reason for God's discipline upon the land of Egypt, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, I'm about to bring punishment on Ammon, the God of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods, their kings, and those who rely on Pharaoh because Pharaoh thought he was a God. He says, I'm actually going to basically punish their idols.
[00:36:50] Can I just say this? This is going to be shocking. But I'll apply this now to us, because sometimes we go, this is totally unrelated to where we're living. Pastor, what are the idols in Canada right now?
[00:37:01] Money.
[00:37:03] Money. Come on, you can't serve God in money. Money. Can you imagine if God says, I'm going to punish all the gods of Canada, what is that going to look like?
[00:37:14] All of a sudden, we're going to have economic disaster.
[00:37:18] What are people going to do then?
[00:37:20] What are people going to do then?
[00:37:23] And I'm going to say this. A lot of young people, you have no idea unless you start studying history books or going through things. But I'll just say this. Just think of our grandparents living through the dirty 30s, they called it, because the dust was so bad. I actually read a novel here just this couple of weeks ago where, you know, one of the sandstorms were so bad that actually suffocated a person to death.
[00:37:47] You know, it was awful, and there was no work and, you know, 25% of the people were unemployed and there were food lines everywhere and people were starving. I'm just telling you what it was like. You see, we have this idea that life will always be like this. But I'm telling you, it may not always be like this. So what are you trusting in? Are you trusting in something that could disappear overnight, or are you going to trust in the true and the living God? And God says, I'm going to judge these gods. If he can judge the gods of Egypt, he can judge the gods of Canada, can he not? Absolutely. He's. God goes on to say, I will give them into the hands of those who want to kill them. I'll give them into Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in time past, declares the Lord. So God says, I'll still show mercy. I could wipe you all out, but I won't. And here's a special word of promise of preservation for God's people. How many are thankful that God goes, oh, while I'm doing all of this, I still got my eye on you, Israel. I still got my eye on you, child of God. I'm still looking out for you. Listen to what he says. Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant. Do not be dismayed, Israel. I will surely save you. Out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will once again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. How many go? I like that verse. Hang on to that. If you're trusting in God. God says, I'll take care of you. That's what he's telling you. I will take care of you. Verse 28, last verse. Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you, declares the Lord. If God is with me, I'm happy.
[00:39:23] As long as I have God's presence, I'm happy. Because if I have God with me, I'm okay. We're going to make it, though. I will completely destroy all the nations among which I've scattered you. I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but only in due measure. I will not let you go entirely unpunished. So we can quickly say, I know that God is over all the nations. But reality is that we often act as if the political realities are greater in our lives. How many say that's true? We can say, intellectually, I know God is over everything, but right now I feel like I'm totally hung up on what's happening in the moment. Isn't that the test? Isn't that kind of the temptation? I think so. We see nations jockeying for positions of power and prominence in our world. Brash statements are made, nations are flexing their muscles. But in the end, it's God's world. It's God's world.
[00:40:20] Thank God for that.
[00:40:24] Just as in the Battle of Carchemish ended the millennium Egyptian dominance in the ancient near east, it came about as directed by God. Our trust cannot be in military or economic vitality, but in being subservient to God. And when nations walk humbly before God, God will sustain and protect those nations.
[00:40:51] However, if we walk in arrogance and autonomy from God, regardless of what we have achieved, we're walking on the verge of a major collapse and a Shift in our place in this world. And what can we do then but to trust in God and watch as God disciplines nations, be it our own nation or the nations around us.
[00:41:14] So what's the key then, Pastor? I'm looking at it. You and I.
[00:41:20] You know what God's doing? He's watching how we're responding. We're his kids. We're his children. We represent his kingdom.
[00:41:28] Are we representing it? Well, you know, my prayer for our church is that you and I will learn how to love each other. That when people come here, they'll go, these people love each other. Yeah, because Christianity is about loving one another. It's so important. Let's stand.
[00:41:49] So, yeah, this is not normal gospel preaching, but it is prophetic preaching.
[00:41:57] Jeremiah was talking to a nation of Egypt.
[00:42:02] He'd moved past the people of God. He moved into the fact that he wants. God wants us to know, I'm the God of all nations.
[00:42:12] And God loves people from every nation.
[00:42:16] Isn't that beautiful?
[00:42:18] You know what? God loves people from every nation on this planet. Planet.
[00:42:23] There are no high nations or low nations with God. They're all people he created.
[00:42:30] We need to understand that.
[00:42:32] And Jesus Christ came. He didn't just die for the Jewish people, which he did do, but he died for all people all over the world because he's the God of all nations. And all nations are going to be held accountable to God.
[00:42:48] And can you imagine our nation with all of the richness of our history with Christianity and the way we've been blessed economically in so many. Which ways?
[00:42:59] To whom much has been given? What does the Bible say?
[00:43:03] Much is required.
[00:43:05] God is expecting more from us.
[00:43:08] You know, when I look at my life, I go, I don't deserve the good life God blessed me with. First of all, he saved me. I was pretty broken. He saved me, turned my life around.
[00:43:19] Then he began to repair my brokenness, and he began to do a work in my life, just like he wants to do a work in your life.
[00:43:26] And God is so great, I want you to know he can repair the most broken life. He can forgive the greatest sins.
[00:43:33] He can move you from the ash heap way up here.
[00:43:39] But he does that for a reason. Whatever God is doing, there's a reason for it.
[00:43:44] He's in control.
[00:43:46] If he's in control of your life and my life, he's in control of nations.
[00:43:51] So what do I learn from this? Fear not what's happening. Don't get anxious about what's happening in the world. Be a person that is developing and cultivating this relationship with God.
[00:44:02] Amen. Walk humbly before God. Listen to what God is speaking into your life and saying. I'm gonna do what God wants me to do. You know, my prayer is like, I want to be like a good angel. Good angels, you know what they do? They don't care what the assignment is. They go, I delight to do God's will. That's all I want to do. You tell me what you want me to do. You know, oh, you want to clean that toilet, no problem, Jesus. I'm happy to do that. I'm happy to serve you whatever way you want me to serve you.
[00:44:29] That's what he looks for. Are we going to walk with God in humility like that? And our eyes are fixed on him, serving him wholeheartedly. That's what he wants. And you know, he wants to bless you. I believe that. I'm a dad. I love blessing my kids, I love blessing my grandkids. But you don't bless people when they're being disobedient and they're bullying other people. You don't bless that behavior. Come on now.
[00:44:57] You address that behavior, you discipline that behavior, and God will discipline the nations.
[00:45:04] So what do we need to do? I think we need to pray a lot for our country. I think we need to pray for our southern neighbor. We need to pray for the nations of our world. We need to have an interest that, you know, people are doing the right thing and not the wrong thing. Amen. Okay, so, Lord, we thank youk this morning. It's a different sermon, but maybe it'll help us understand that you're in control of this world, that all the nations are like a drop in the bucket to you. They're all accountable to you, Father, and we're all going to stand before you one day individually and collectively as a nation. And Lord, if our nation rises, we rise with it. If our nation, you know, turns its back on you and rebels against you, we're going to suffer with our nation. It's the way it works. So, Father, help us to be the best citizens we possibly can be. Help us to be the people that are concerned about those around us, that we're not going to live indifferent lives. Lord, we're going to walk in obedience to you, because we know that your eyes are upon us. They're upon us as individuals, they're upon us as families. They're upon us as a nation. Help us, Lord, to honor you with our lives. In Jesus name, Amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
