Lamentations, Deal gently with those who are suffering

Lam 1:8-12 (NIV) Jerusalem has sinned greatly
and so has become unclean.
All who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns away.


9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
she did not consider her future.
Her fall was astounding;
there was none to comfort her.
"Look, O Lord, on my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed."


10 The enemy laid hands
on all her treasures;
she saw pagan nations
enter her sanctuary —
those you had forbidden
to enter your assembly.


11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they barter their treasures for food
to keep themselves alive.
"Look, O Lord, and consider,
for I am despised."


12 "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering
that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
in the day of his fierce anger?


• The writer is not identified.  He was an eyewitness to Jerusalem's destruction.  There is some resemblance to Jeremiah's writing style.  There are indications in Chronicles and Jeremiah, that Jeremiah wrote a lament
• The writer has clearly identified the reason for Israel's misfortune.  Verse 8 says Jerusalem has sinned greatly
• We have to be a little careful in differentiating between the old and new covenant else we end up taking a "health & wealth gospel" approach.  Why exactly has Israel been punished? (not revealed here in the passage, but in the book of Jeremiah and other books of the OT)
• She broke the conditions of the old covenant.  The new covenant has no such conditions, although the new covenant warns of discipline
• She did not heed the warnings of the prophets
• And most importantly, she committed idolatry
• As people pass by Jerusalem, what does Jeremiah want them to see? Or as a sufferer, how does Jeremiah view his suffering?
• There is no suffering like it; it is the worse that possibly can be
• The Lord has brought it upon Israel
• Actually there are two problems with the writer's emotional response, what are they?
• There is worse suffering, but when you are in the midst of suffering, your suffering always feel worse than anything around you
• While God did bring the suffering, it was really Israel and not God who are the initiators.  We always want to blame God.  It is a very normal reaction of someone in the midst of suffering.  Ignore statements of emotional pain during this stage of suffering


Lam 2:11-15 (NIV) My eyes fail from weeping,
I am in torment within,
my heart is poured out on the ground
because my people are destroyed,
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.


12 They say to their mothers,
"Where is bread and wine?"
as they faint like wounded men
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away
in their mothers' arms.


13 What can I say for you?
With what can I compare you,
O Daughter of Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
that I may comfort you,
O Virgin Daughter of Zion?
Your wound is as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?


14 The visions of your prophets
were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.
The oracles they gave you
were false and misleading.


15 All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;
they scoff and shake their heads
at the Daughter of Jerusalem:
"Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?"


• Actually, in these verses there is some rational arguments as to why they suffered, what is it?
• Their spiritual leaders failed them
• The leaders gave false and worthless teaching (apparently, they told them what they wanted to hear and not what they needed to hear)
• It is worthless teaching.  It didn't really deal with the issues which was their sin
• The leaders did not expose sin
• If they had exposed sin, it might have warded off captivity
• The teaching was false and misleading
• Misleading suggests that it did not offer real solutions.  I think "misleading" teaching is without application
• Or is without relationship to God's word
• What is the response of people who look upon Israel's situation?
• "I can't believe you were so stupid"
• "I can't believe you did not listen to God's message"
• The above two responses are exactly what people say today, but are we really that much different
• Do we act when our sin is exposed?
• Do we listen to God and make application to his word?
• Is God really a priority during the week, or just Sundays and Wednesday?


Lam 3:19-24 (NIV) I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:


22 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."


• In my quiet time journal, I wrote similar words to verses 19 and 20.  The bitterness and the ugly taste was so strong within me.  I wanted to believe with all my heart verses 21 to 24, but it seemed so difficult
• Ultimately, this is something that a person must get to individually.  You can preach it and teach it but each person must arrive at the point where they put there hope in God every morning for a better day
• Don't push someone who is not there yet
• Let then wallow in the pain
• Only when it seems like they will never progress out do you want to come in and gently remind them of hope
• Sometimes the church expects believers to jump to this point immediately and it is not possible for those who are honest with themselves and their emotions


Lam 3:25-33 (NIV) The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.


28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust —
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.


31 For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.


• Does the writer believe suffering is good, why?
• He doesn't really say why
• He does think it is a good thing to experience when you are young
• What should we do?
• Don't be so quick to fix a person's suffering
• "Let him sit alone in silence"
• "Let him WAIT"
• "Let him bear the yoke"
• Why?
• Because God is still in charge
• Because God does not willingly bring affliction
• In other words?
• There is purpose in suffering
• God has not forgotten the purpose (whatever we might think as outside viewers)
• APPLICATION: When our children are hurting or struggling, we need to be there for support, but be careful of fixing things, because you may be interfering with God is trying to do in their lives.  Make it a matter of prayer and don't be quick to jump into the situation


Lam 3:37-42 (NIV) Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
39 Why should any living man complain
when punished for his sins?


40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
42 "We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.


• What are some principles surrounding suffering from calamaties?
• God is sovereign but that does not mean he is the cause
• Some calamities are the result of the fall and a sinful world
• But all calamities are allowed by God
• Some calamities are because of sin
• In the OT, calamities were promised for failure to keep the covenant
• In the NT, there are warnings of discipline for disobedience
• In both cases, old and new covenant, salvation is never dependent on obedience but faith.  Rather obedience or lack of obedience is a missing out on the blessings offered (Sabbath-rest as Hebrews calls it)
• How should we respond to adversity?
• Examine our lives
• Seek God in prayer
• Repent of our sins


Lam 4:1-2 (NIV) How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at the head of every street.


2 How the precious sons of Zion,
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter's hands!


• One of the principles of suffering is how things that used to be so important lose their value during suffering
• Share story of Luke and trache incident, and feelings afterwards
• God uses suffering to change our value system
• Before suffering, we can see things from a very world perspective
• After suffering, the things of this world don't seem quite as important
• God uses suffering to change our affections


Lam 4:11-13 (NIV) The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;
he has poured out his fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed her foundations.


12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the world's people,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.


13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed within her
the blood of the righteous.


• Interesting, another reason given for Israel's sins, what is it?
• The prophets and priests shed the blood of the righteous
• How did they do that?
• It doesn’t say
• Maybe they did not stand up for the righteous, and the result was their death
• This could be specific to the time of Manasseh when the people went back to many of the old idols after Hezekiah had cleaned things up.  Hezekiah upset many people.  Manasseh tried to appease the people, which Hezekiah never did.  The voices of reason were probably put to death.  Essentially they gave the people what they wanted not what they needed
• One principle does come out.  Sometimes, in the old covenant, the suffering is not the fault of the individual suffering, but of individuals preceding.  The whole nation suffers because of the sin of some, and usually that is the leaders.  Which is why it is so important to have leaders who do the right thing even if it is not popular!


Lam 5:19-22 (NIV) You, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?
Why do you forsake us so long?
21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may return;
renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us
and are angry with us beyond measure.


• Even though Jeremiah knew God would bring the people back in 70 years, the pain overwhelms the truth.  What does Jeremiah feel?
• Israel is forgotten
• Israel may never be restored
• Israel is rejected
• It is interesting to note that Ezekiel 1:1, the next verses, which very likely are written at exactly the same time frame, tell a different story
• For us, Romans 8:28 is a key promise in the midst of all pain and suffering.  It does not say that God is the cause but it does say that for those who love God (believers) … "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

2 Kings 21:1-23:30, Show courage and maturity by depending on God and not others for who you are

Year	Event	Reference
640–609 b. c.	Josiah was king of Judah.	2 Kin. 22:1—23:30
628/627 b. c.	Josiah’s reform began with the removal of high places and all vestiges of foreign cults.	2 Chr. 34:1–7
627/626 b. c.	Jeremiah was called by God to prophetic office.	Jer. 1:1, 2
626 b. c.	Nabopolassar, gaining independence from Assyria, founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
622 b. c.	Josiah repaired the temple; the Book of the Law was found.	2 Kin. 23:1–25; 2 Chr. 34:8–35:19
612 b. c.	Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, fell to the Media-Babylonian coalition.
609–605 b. c.	Egypt ruled Palestine and Syria.
609 b. c.	Josiah was killed by the Egyptian army at the Battle of Megiddo.	2 Kin. 23:29; 2 Chr. 35:20–25



2 Kings 21:1-9 (NIV) Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my Name." 5 In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger.


7 He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them." 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.


• What do you notice of the contrast between Manasseh and his father Hezekiah?
• Everything Hezekiah destroyed, Manasseh restored
• "He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed" -- He specifically reversed course -- it makes your wonder why?
• "He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists." -- It was not because he wasn't spiritual
• Why does Manasseh switch directions so completely from his father, Hezekiah, the greatest of the kings of Judah?
• People make choices, sometimes against their very upbringing
• Hezekiah's decisions were very unpopular (destruction of the bronze snake) and the people's heart was not in it
• 2 Kings 21:9 suggests this
• Manasseh was essentially giving the people what they wanted
• His 55 year reign (might be the longest of all kings) doesn't suggest much opposition
• Manasseh represents the people wishes, whereas Hezekiah acted in accordance with what he felt was right
• Maybe Hezekiah's failure was in not getting the people on board
• Hezekiah implemented good ideas but he did not train or teach the people
• APPLICATION: Most people make two mistakes in regard to relationships
• They don't show they moral courage to stand up for what is right.  It is too important to please others than to please God.  Manasseh's lack of courage will destroy millions of people
• They can't live without being in a relationship.  God is not enough.  They are depressed, lonely, bored, if they are not in a relationship or hanging with friends.  It also shows a weak understanding of God.  Why even bother to walk with God?


2 Kings 21:10-16 (NIV) The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 "Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their foes, 15 because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of Egypt until this day."


16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end — besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.


• Two things result from Manasseh:
• Final judgment to completely destroy Judah and Jerusalem -- the only question is "when?"
• Whatever Manasseh's original motivations (i.e., people-pleasing or unbelief), sin has an effect on him as well -- Manasseh becomes a very evil person (tradition has it that he sawed Isaiah in half)
• Because of Manasseh's lack of moral courage his spiritual obedience disappears.  He leads Israel to become more evil than the nations before Israel
• You can't play "Christianity" or play "God."  Either you give God control or the world control.  You cannot serve two masters
• Manasseh will suffer and will repent of his sins after he is captured and taken to Babylon.  He does remove the idols and ultimately changes his practices, but he can't remove the consequences of his sins
• He and the people will live with those consequences
• Be careful of the consequences of a two-faced life


2 Kings 21:19-24 (NIV) Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He walked in all the ways of his father; he worshiped the idols his father had worshiped, and bowed down to them. 22 He forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.


23 Amon's officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. 24 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.


• Amon returns to the practices of his father's early reign
• He is assassinated by his own officials
• His officials are executed for their actions
• BOTTOM LINE: Not clear why he was assassinated.  The plotters are all executed either for the crime, lifting the hand against the king, or possibly the people like Amon, not clear.  Maybe they did not like Manasseh's turn back to God


2 Kings 22:1-2, 8, 11-13 (NIV)  Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
… 8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
 … 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's attendant: 13 "Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us."


• It really is hard to imagine a book becoming lost, but given the two reigns over the last 57 years and the lack of printing press technology, it is not so difficult
• A scroll was a priceless commodity that existed in only a small number of copies.  People could spend years copying a scroll, and then destroying it if there was so much as one error in it
• How does Josiah respond to the word and why?
• He humbles himself
• He seeks God through a prophet (it is somewhat surprising that he did not go to Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Nahum, or Habakkuk, but goes to Huldah who lives in Jerusalem)


2 Kings 23:1-3 (NIV) Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets — all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord-to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.


• Josiah does something that Hezekiah failed to do …
• Josiah reaches out the people
• Josiah involves the people in the rededication and renewal
• What is the first step in involving the people?
• The reading of the word
• God's word is powerful
• APPLICATION:
• You can have great ideas for what God wants to do, but if the heart of the body is not with you, you will not succeed.  You need strong Christian fellowship.  Few people can stand on their own
• God's word is powerful.  If you are not in the word you will have no power


2 Kings 23:4-16 (NIV) The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem — those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the Lord and where women did weaving for Asherah.


8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the shrines at the gates — at the entrance to the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which is on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.


10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan — Melech. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.


12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption — the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.


15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin — even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.


• I read all this, because it gives an idea of the degree to which the people had turned from God.  In fact, there is more in the verses which follow
• Notice two key events
• Destruction of high places that Solomon had set up (also have a lot of history)
• The destruction of one of the high places that Jeroboam had built (finally, also probably almost iconic at this point)
• 2 Kings 23:26-27 make one last very strong point -- too late
2 Kings 23:26-27 (NIV) Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger. 27 So the Lord said, "I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, 'There shall my Name be.'"
• APPLICATION: repentance takes away sins but not the consequence of sins

Jer 46:1-52:34, The spirit of Babylon is the spirit of rebellion against the rule of God st title

• Chapters 46 through 49 detailed God's judgment against the nations surrounding Israel: Egypt, Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, various Arab tribes, and Elam
• Chapters 50-51 concern Babylon herself and chapter 52 describes the lasts days of Judah and her kings


Jer 50:1-3 (NIV) This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians:


2 "Announce and proclaim among the nations,
lift up a banner and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but say,
'Babylon will be captured;
Bel will be put to shame,
Marduk filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols filled with terror.'
3 A nation from the north will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live in it;
both men and animals will flee away.


• Who are the gods Bel and Marduk?
• Bel is the storm god, and equivalent to Baal
• Marduk is the creator god and chief deity
• Who is the nation from the north?
• This is an area of some disagreement.  Babylon is attacked by the Medes from the east and later the Greeks from the west.  The route may come from the north, as in Israel's case, but there are other parts of this prophecy that argue that this is not what God was referring to …
• What will become of the city?
• It will never be inhabited again.  This has never happened and yet it is constantly repeated throughout Jeremiah's prophecy
• Revelation shows us that Babylon represents the end time power that crushes the earth.  Putting together Revelation and Jeremiah's prophecies leads us to believe that these prophecies are still in the future


Jer 50:4-7 (NIV) "In those days, at that time,"
declares the Lord,
"the people of Israel and the people of Judah together
will go in tears to seek the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten.


6 "My people have been lost sheep;
their shepherds have led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
and forgot their own resting place.
7 Whoever found them devoured them;
their enemies said, 'We are not guilty,
for they sinned against the Lord, their true pasture,
the Lord, the hope of their fathers.'


• The phrase "in those days" is often used for what?
• It is a reference to the end times, although it obviously could be used in the literal sense
• The problem is that verse 5 refers to something that has not happen yet
• The people have not yet, as a nation, bound themselves in an everlasting covenant.  The old covenant, the mosaic covenant, was temporary.  The unconditional covenants are God's promises to the people and to certain people.  The people have only bound themselves to the Mosaic covenant
• Verses 6 and 7 describe Israel/Judah's problem, what is it?
• They are lost sheep
• Isa 53:6 (NIV) We all, like sheep, have gone astray, // each of us has turned to his own way; // and the Lord has laid on him // the iniquity of us all.
• This week I read a comment by a Jew who tried to argue that the passage referred not to Jesus but to the nation because of verse 10
• Isa 53:10 (NIV) Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, // and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, // he will see his offspring and prolong his days, // and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
• He argued that since Jesus did not have offspring, he could not be the subject of the passage.  Interestingly, Paul, a trained Rabbi living at the time, saw offspring as spiritual as well as physical
• 1 Cor 4:14-15 (NIV) I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
• The spiritual leaders, the shepherds, have led them astray
• In Matt 12, it is the religious leaders, the shepherds who reject Jesus as the Messiah
• In the trial before Pilate, the people at the urging of the leaders again reject Jesus as the Messiah


Jer 50:18-20 (NIV) 18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:


"I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will bring Israel back to his own pasture
and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
his appetite will be satisfied
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, at that time,"
declares the Lord,
"search will be made for Israel's guilt,
but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive the remnant I spare.


• This passage also appears messianic, why?
• Because their sins are no more, they are gone, can't be found
• Hebrews tells us that the sacrifices only cover the guilt of sin, only Jesus' blood can remove sin completely


Jer 50:29-32 (NIV) "Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who draw the bow.
Encamp all around her;
let no one escape.
Repay her for her deeds;
do to her as she has done.
For she has defied the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,"
 declares the Lord.
31 "See, I am against you, O arrogant one,"
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
"for your day has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall
and no one will help her up;
I will kindle a fire in her towns
that will consume all who are around her."


• Assuming then that Babylon is Revelation's Babylon, there are two aspects of her character described here, what are they?
• She defies God.  This is willful disobedience to God.  Even more so, it refuses to acknowledge God's right to rule, or to be worship
• She is arrogant.  She believes she is the best ruler of her destiny.  She does not need God and in fact, believes she is better than God
• Many today defy God and in their foolishness spout arrogant words.  It is a fact that God will judge their sin some day soon.  Everything in our society points to greater degrees of lawlessness.  Flash mobs (recent internet stories), men of this age pretending to be Baptist pastors to support abortion and homosexuality, ….  Why do people do these things?  Because people do not believe in absolutes.  We have become like animals


Jer 50:35-40 (NIV) "A sword against the Babylonians!"
declares the Lord —
"against those who live in Babylon
and against her officials and wise men!
36 A sword against her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!
They will be filled with terror.
37 A sword against her horses and chariots
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become women.
A sword against her treasures!
They will be plundered.
38 A drought on her waters!
They will dry up.
For it is a land of idols,
idols that will go mad with terror.


39 "So desert creatures and hyenas will live there,
and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
along with their neighboring towns,"
 declares the Lord,
"so no one will live there;
no man will dwell in it.


• This is the part that has not been fulfilled yet and why many believe this prophecy is future oriented
• Also, as evidenced by the influence of people like Daniel and the testimony of Nebuzaradan, Babylon at this time was more godly than Israel
• But Babylon and the ferocity of its destruction is the picture the scriptures use of the one world government of the antichrist that is coming


Jer 51:6-9 (NIV) "Flee from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.
It is time for the Lord's vengeance;
he will pay her what she deserves.
7 Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord's hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balm for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.


9 "'We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave her and each go to his own land,
for her judgment reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the clouds.'


• This passage is really a warning to us.  Babylon represents a lot of things, a world government, a world religion, but I think it mostly represents a philosophy
• It is a philosophy that exalts man as his own god and the determiner of his actions
• It is a philosophy that rejects God's wisdom as revealed in the bible
• It is a philosophy that rejects God's definition of sin
• It is a philosophy that rejects God's existence (atheistic)
• We have a warning …
• Run from it
• Don't be destroyed because you engaged in her sins
• Don't drink thewine (or the kool-aid depending on your metaphor)


Jer 51:44 (NIV) I will punish Bel in Babylon
and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall of Babylon will fall.


• Bel is really Satan, much as every single deity is a rejection of God, so we agree with Satan
• Satan wants to take our affection off of God
• God wants those who worship in spirit and truth
• Satan will even use Christian religion to get people's eyes off of the real God.  I believe that after the rapture, there will be attendees of Christian churches wondering where most of the people are, and some churches will not see any noticeable difference in attendance