Jeremiah 46-52

Well, turn in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 46 to 52.

If you've not got a Bible, it'd be great to get one.

And let me say thank you.

Thank you for turning up each week.

This series on Jeremiah has certainly stretched me,

and it really has stretched you.

And there's been times when I've been preaching on 1.75 speed,

and you've been very, very patient with it.

I hope it's done you good.

It's done me a lot of good.

Do pray.

I'm off to Wales.

Tomorrow, to preach, I'm at a conference.

So each morning until next Sunday,

I'm doing a series in Acts

at the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance Conference,

which sounds a lot more glamorous than it is.

But, yeah, do pray that that would be a good time.

And then I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks.

Let's bow our heads in prayer again.

Father, we ask that the same,

your same Holy Spirit who inspired Jeremiah,

Jeremiah,

our Lord, that he would enlighten our hearts and minds,

and that you would speak to us tonight at the end of this magnificent and yet difficult book.

And so we pray for your help in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

I came across an article this week,

which had a quotation from a book I'd never heard of,

The Canticle for Leibovitz.

I don't know if you've read it.

The book envisages a dystopian scene far into the future,

where the world as we know it is finally falling apart.

And as they survey the wasteland that was Earth,

a scientist asks the priest,

how can such a great and wise civilization have destroyed itself so completely?

Perhaps comes the answer from the priest,

by being materially great and materially wise and nothing else.

By being materially great and materially wise and nothing else.

Sooner or later, individuals, nations, civilizations,

that are materially great and materially wise and nothing else,

do pay a heavy price.

And we live in a part of the world which is materially great

and materially wise and nothing else.

In the UK, over the past 15 years,

we have systematically made decisions

which undermine the foundation of society as we know it,

with barely a nod in the direction of serious and moral debate.

We've redefined marriage.

We've proposed and are proposing again assisted suicide.

We have allowed abortion up to birth in certain instances

with children with a disability.

And we are proposing conversion therapy.

And at the same time as all those things,

we are still one of the most effective producers and consumers

in human history.

But we're not bothered, are we, really, where the rubbish goes.

We are materially great, materially wise and nothing else.

And we are remarkably similar to the Babylonians

and the Egyptians and the Philistines

and every other nation that populates the pages of chapters 46 to 52.

On Sunday, May the 3rd,

when we began that journey,

and it was May the 3rd this year,

when we started our journey in Jeremiah,

we read these words from chapter 1 and verse 5.

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

And before you were born, I consecrated you.

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

And then verse 10,

See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms

to pluck up and to break down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.

But having gone through the book,

what is strange about those verses?

What's strange about those words,

especially in the light of the last 45 chapters?

As you cast your mind back over the past 11 weeks in Jeremiah,

can you remember much about the nations?

And there has been, I think, the occasional throwaway comment,

but Jeremiah's preoccupation and God's preoccupation

has been entirely with Judah.

As the Lord pleads for those people to submit

to the inevitable judgment,

to take the pathway of grace,

which will lead them into and eventually out of exile in Babylon.

And so in chapter 1,

if Jeremiah was expecting foreign travel,

he must have been a bit disappointed.

God appointed him as a prophet to the nations,

and he only gets to go to Egypt,

dragged by his disobedient compatriots.

And so in chapter 46,

after a very long wait,

Jeremiah does eventually

get to be a prophet to the nations,

as God had said.

Now, interestingly,

the dates when you go through them

at the start of some of these oracles

show that this has been a feature of his ministry

for many years.

But as Jeremiah and Barak

shape Jeremiah's ministry

into a book,

they hold off on the material

to the nations

right to the end.

Why?

It's because in the final version

of Jeremiah's book,

the second half of chapters 25 to 31,

51,

trace

one of the most radical reversals

in all of human history.

Back in chapter 25 and 26,

Judah is

united.

Babylon is the weapon

in God's hands.

And Jeremiah finally comes

to terms with this.

And he emerges

out of his angst

to bring the word of God

to the generations of the exiles.

There's a new force, isn't there?

A new freshness

that helps them

to look beyond

the exile

to God's dramatic intervention

in the new covenant.

He calls them to repent,

to face their sins,

to throw themselves

on God in faith.

He explains that

as they do that,

then God will dramatically

reverse their fortunes.

In chapter 46 to 51,

every nation,

including both Egypt

and Babylon,

and every new Babylon

that's going to emerge

in the future,

is punished

and God's people

are rescued.

This is the final message

of the book.

It's the final version

of the book,

which is then packed off

in the diplomatic bag

and sent to Babylon.

And it isn't really a surprise

it would have come

as quite a comfort

if you'd just been transported

to Babylon

in exile

that these nations

which have committed

such heinous crimes

will not get away with it.

These seven chapters,

they are long, aren't they?

If you read them,

they are graphic

and they are incredibly rich

in imagery.

They cover a huge

geographical area

and a significant time span.

But their message

they bring out

is they bring

our extraordinary journey

to a close.

It can be summed up

in two things, really.

These chapters ask

two things of us

as a church.

And the first is

that we go

to all the world.

We go to all the world.

Every so often

in the Old Testament,

here at the end

of Jeremiah,

in Amos,

in the middle of Ezekiel,

the horizons

suddenly expand

and they take in

not just Judah

or Israel,

all those

little ex-Nation states

in the southeast corner

of the Mediterranean,

but they take in

every nation

of the world.

Completely unexpectedly,

Jeremiah speaks

about the fate

of Egypt

in chapter 46

and the once

great Philistia

in chapter 47

and Judah's second

cousin Moab

and Ammon

in Edom

and then Damascus

and Kedor

and Hazor

and Eon

and the much

less significant

Babylonian vassal states

before embarking

on a sweeping

condemnation

of Nebuchadnezzar's

Babylon

and every superpower

that will arise

in its wake

and the very fact

that God

addresses

all the nations

and God commands

all the nations

is something

that you and I

can easily miss

and it's so

staggeringly,

breathtakingly,

politically incorrect

but the God

of the Bible

is unapologetically

the God

of all the nations

that God,

the creator

of the cosmos

retains his authority

over all nations

as they spread

across the earth

from the table

of nations

in Genesis chapter 11

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

to its dismissal

of Pharaoh's hubris

in the Exodus

to his holding

Moab

and Edom

and Ammon

to account

for the way

that they treat

his people

as they walk

through the wilderness

in numbers

to his judgment

on the Canaanite tribes

in Joshua

to the toppling

of the Philistine

god Dagon

and his giant

henchman Goliath

in 1 Samuel

over and over

and over again

God asserts

I am the Lord

over all the earth

and there is no other

look with me

at chapter 46

and verse 7

Egypt may huff

and puff

but listen to what

God says

46 verse 7

who is this rising

like the Nile

like rivers

whose waters surge

Egypt rises

like the Nile

like rivers

whose waters surge

he said

I will rise

I will cover the earth

I will destroy cities

and their inhabitants

and God says

bring it on

advance of horses

rage of chariots

let the warriors

go out

men of Cushham

put who

handle the shield

men of lured

skilled in handling

the bow

but that day

is the day

of the Lord God

of hosts

a day of vengeance

to avenge himself

on all his foes

the sword shall devour

and be sated

and drink its fill

of their blood

for the Lord God

of hosts

holds a sacrifice

in the north country

by the ravine

Ephraites

the Philistines

they may strut

their very aggressive stuff

but God will overpower them

and overcome them

in a flash

through the Egyptians

of all people

chapter 47 verse 3

at the noise

of the stamping of hooves

of his stallions

at the rushing

of his chariots

at the rumbling

of their wheels

the fathers

look not back

to their children

so feeble

are their hands

they're too scared

to look out

even for their own kids

because of the day

that's coming

to destroy

all the Philistines

to cut off

from tyre and side

and every helper

there remains

for the Lord

is destroying

the Philistines

the remnant

of the coastland

of Kaphtor

and then one of the most

disturbing statements

in the whole book

of Jeremiah

in verse 5

boldness has come

upon Gaza

boldness is seen

as a judgment

in the Bible

Moab is a madman

brought to silence

48 verse 4

Ammon will be

terrorized by God

driven out forever

49.5

Edom will be made

small among the nations

49.15

Damascus is reduced

to feebleness

49.24

the tiny states

Cador Hazel

will follow suit

before Elam

scattered to the four winds

49.36

and Yahweh

the God of Judah

is the Lord

of all the earth

and if we were

in any doubt

about that at all

then the sweeping

condemnation of Babylon

in chapters 50 to 51

make that clear

and of course

Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon

is condemned

isn't it

for wreaking havoc

in Judah

and enjoying it

far too much

but these chapters

go far beyond that

just look at how

Babylon is described

in 1523 for example

how the hammer

of the whole earth

is cut down and broken

how Babylon

has become a horror

among the nations

now strictly speaking

Babylon wasn't the hammer

of the whole earth

Babylon did not become

a horror

among all the nations

but this is not just

exaggeration

it is the start

of a depiction

of Babylon

that is the archetype

of human rule

and rebellion

against God

and the judgment

of Babylon

is a message

to everyone

who will ever

oppose God

in time and space

and so chapter 50

and verse 46 says

at the sound

of the capture

of Babylon

the earth

shall tremble

and her cries

shall be heard

among the nations

and the poetic

language is there

which tells us

how God

will use Babylon

and call it

to account

in chapter 51

it's a further

suggestion

that Babylon

is already

a symbol

as it was

back in Genesis 11

in the tower

of Babel

of all that is

wrong in the world

it is the city

of man

which will one day

be destroyed

chapter 51

verse 25

behold I'm against you

or destroying mountain

declares the Lord

which destroys

the whole earth

I'll stretch out

my hand against you

and roll you down

from the crags

and make you

a burnt mountain

verse 29

the land trembles

and writhes in pain

for the Lord's

purposes against Babylon

stand to make

the land of Babylon

a desolation

without inhabitant

finally verse 47

therefore behold

the days are coming

when I will punish

the images of Babylon

her whole land

shall be put to shame

and all her slain

shall fall in the midst

of it

then the heavens

and the earth

and all that is in them

shall sing for joy

over the fall of Babylon

for the destroyer

shall come against them

out of the north

Babylon must fall

for the slain of Israel

just as for Babylon

have fallen

the slain of all the earth

the fall of Babylon

at the end of Jeremiah

at the hands of the Medes

represents the eventual fall

of every evil empire

because the sovereign lord

of the universe

Jeremiah tells us

will ensure that justice

is done

Babylon will fall

now what on earth

does this have to do

with us

these chapters

in the Old Testament

are the equivalent

of Revelation chapter 18

Revelation 18 · chapter mention

these chapters

are Jeremiah's exposition

of the universal

unchanging sovereignty

of our God

and so here is how

John picks up

on these chapters

to describe his vision

in Revelation 18

remember Babylon

encapsulates

every anti-God force

in the world

and it's dealt

with like this

after this

I saw another angel

coming down from heaven

having great authority

and the earth

was made bright

with his glory

and he called out

with a mighty voice

fallen fallen

is Babylon the great

she's become

a dwelling place

for demons

a haunt

for every unclean spirit

a haunt

for every unclean bird

a haunt

for every unclean

undetestable beast

it picks up

the language

of Jeremiah

for all nations

have drunk the wine

of the passion

of her sexual immorality

and the kings

of the earth

have committed

immorality with her

and the merchants

of the earth

have grown rich

from the power

of her luxurious living

this is a nation

being described

that is materially wise

and materially great

but having nothing else

and God's people

are called

to come out from her

before she's judged

along with the kings

of the earth

for this reason

her plagues

will come in a single day

death and mourning

and famine

and she will be

burned up with fire

for mighty

is the Lord God

who's judged her

and the kings

of the earth

who committed

sexual immorality

and lived in luxury

willow with weep

and wail over her

and when they see

the smoke of her burning

they will stand

far off

in fear of her torment

and say

alas

alas

you great city

you mighty city

Babylon

for in a single hour

your judgment

has come

what does this matter

it matters

because ultimately

this is the foundation

for our mandates

to go out

into all the world

as Christ's church

this matters

because this is the reason

we must go out

into all the world

because our God

is the Lord

of all the world

when Jesus says

all authority

in heaven

and on earth

has been given to me

go therefore

to all nations

make disciples

baptizing them

in the name of the Father

the Son

and the Holy Spirit

and teaching them

to do all I've commanded

what is the authority

with which Jesus speaks

it is the authority

of God

displayed

in Jeremiah 46

to 51

and elsewhere

it is the authority

of the Lord

of the nations

which the Father

has devolved

to the Son

and so Philippians 2

tells us

doesn't it

therefore God

has exalted him

Jesus

and bestowed on him

the name that is

above every name

so that at the name

of Jesus

every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth

and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of God the Father

and so as we come

to the end

of this academic year

as we come to the end

of this series

we can reflect

I think

in Jeremiah

on how God

has enlarged

our view of him

as the sovereign Lord

and his glory

and that we are his

and that he is

the Lord

of the universe

of the cosmos

and because of that

we must go where

he sends us

as a church

one writer says this

the highest

of all missionary

motives

is neither obedience

to the great commission

importance that is

nor love

for sinners

who are alienated

and perishing

strong as that incentive is

especially when we

contemplate the wrath

of God

but the highest

of all missionary

motives

is zeal

burning

and passionate

zeal

for the glory

of Jesus Christ

only one

imperialism

is Christian

and that is

concern for his

imperial majesty

Jesus Christ

and for the glory

of his empire

or kingdom

before this

supreme

goal

of the Christian

mission

all unworthy

motives

wither and die

salvation

that's the first

part of the message

of these chapters

that we are to go

into all the world

because God is

the Lord of all the world

and the second

is not complimented

as you go

as his church

preach

salvation

and judgment

which comes through Christ

if any book of the Bible

is about this

great biblical theme

of salvation

through judgment

it's got to be Jeremiah

in fact

the first two thirds

of the book

the unique thing

about this book

is the way

in which it

details the prophet's

own struggle

to embrace this

how Jeremiah

had to

internalize

his own message

he had to understand

that salvation

would come through judgment

there's no other book

in the Bible

I think

that exposes us

to the gut-wrenching way

the heart-rending

quality

of the judgment

of God

and then we are

flooded with relief

by Jeremiah

with the realization

that God the judge

is also God

who's working

through salvation

it's a book

isn't it

that details

infidelity

as we've listened

to Jeremiah

and heard the sins

of Judah recounted

the sins of Egypt

and Babylon

they're displayed

for all to see

the anguish

of the prophet

is played out

before us

and of course

the dominant note

in all of the oracles

against the nations

is judgment

it's crazy

to suggest otherwise

it's why it makes

Jeremiah overwhelming

we've seen enough

of the text

to get that

we want to cry

enough

Lord

enough

telling us

about the judgment

we know that

but there are

minor notes

that often we miss

in Jeremiah

there are grace notes

which keep sounding

through these

thunderous messages

so look with me

at 46 verse 25

and the Lord of hosts

the God of Israel

said behold

I am bringing

punishment

upon Ammon

of Thebes

and Pharaoh

and Egypt

on her gods

and her kings

upon Pharaoh

and upon all those

who trust in him

I'm going to deliver

them into the hand

of those who seek

their life

into the hand

of Nebuchadnezz

the king of Babylon

and his officers

and afterwards

Egypt will be inhabited

as in the days

of old

declares the Lord

and this

48 verse 47

yet

I will restore

the fortunes

of Moab

in the latter days

declares the Lord

49 verse 6

afterwards

I will restore

the fortunes

of the Ammonites

declares the Lord

49 verse 39

in the latter days

I will restore

the fortunes

of Elam

declares the Lord

and these chapters

are

all the more remarkable

because when you look

at the language

of 48 and 49

of talking about restoring

it's the same

language that's used

in chapter 3

verse 7

and 17

and 1215

and 16

it's precisely

the same language

that God used

about restoring

the fortunes

of Judah

after the exile

so alongside

the judgment

of the nations

who oppose God

Jeremiah holds

out hope

to people

from Egypt

and Moab

and Ammon

and Elam

he holds out

hope presumably

to those

who will bow

before him

it's noticeable

but it's not

explained

that there's

no such hope

held out

to the Philistines

Damascus

Kedor

Hazor

or Babylon

this is

not a universal

salvation

if I can put it

like this

in the end

of Jeremiah

it is

the God

of mercy

saving those

who are drawn

to him

in faith

in fact

it's impossible

to read

Jeremiah

I think

it's impossible

to read

the Bible

and come away

without getting

the idea

that when

God speaks

some respond

and are

rescued

and some

reject

the very

same words

and they

are lost

and it is

our job

as a church

to go

and proclaim

this message

which produces

salvation

and judgment

in the Lord

Jesus Christ

and as Sunday

by Sunday

you come

and hear

God's word

you need to know

and I need to know

that it will

save some

and it will

harden others

which tells you

that it's not

work for the

faint hearted

when you tell

the gospel

in Little Stars

or the language

class

or Club 16

or Ignite

or in Sunday

school

or in house

group

God's word

will do two

things

it will

save some

and it will

harden others

for Jeremiah

his message

to the nations

in the short term

at least was bad

news

in these chapters

he says

the violence

of the nations

particularly

against God's

people

will be avenged

the arrogance

of the nations

will be brought low

the gods

of the nations

will be powerless

to save

the nations

in turn

will be

devastated

by other nations

but there will

also be a

stunning reversal

for Judah

Jeremiah 51

ends like this

from verse 59

after all the

poetic

extravagance

there's something

pretty prosaic

the end of

verse 59

51

the word that

Jeremiah the prophet

commanded

Saraiah the son

of Neriah

the son

of Massiah

when he went

with Zedekiah

king of Judah

to Babylon

in the fourth

year of his reign

Saraiah was

the quartermaster

he was in charge

of the stores

and Jeremiah

wrote in a book

all the disaster

that should come

upon Babylon

all these words

that are written

concerning Babylon

and Jeremiah

said to Saraiah

when you come

to Babylon

see that you

read all these

words and pray

oh Lord

you have said

concerning this

place that

you'll cut it

off

so that nothing

shall dwell

in it

neither man

nor beast

and it shall

be desolate

forever

when you finish

reading this book

tie a stone

to it

cast it

into the middle

of the river

Euphrates

and say

thus shall

Babylon sink

to rise no more

because of the

disaster

that I'm bringing

upon her

and they shall

become exhausted

thus far

are the words

of Jeremiah

that's how his

word finish

he's told

read it out

pray

perform a dramatic

sign

throw it in the

river

and probably

run off

and that's it

for Jeremiah

all we get

at this point

whether it's

Jeremiah or

Baruch

they stick in

a large section

of 2 Kings

24 and 25

detailing the

events of the

exile

he doesn't

change anything

at all

he just

wants to

underline

everything

that God

has said

through Jeremiah

played out

exactly as he

announced

and the fact

that Jeremiah's

message

the salvation

and the judgment

that he proclaimed

would one day

be brought to

life in real

time

by one man

who is a

descendant of

Jehoiachin

it's funny

that the book

ends with him

is that he

really was a

hopeless king

he ruled for

three months

and he spent

the next 37

years in

captivity in

Babylon

politically

speaking

Jehoiachin

was an

idiot

but he

was a

Davidic

idiot

and just

like two

kings

Jeremiah

ends like

this

in the

37 year

of exile

Jehoiachin

king of

Judah

in the

12th

month

on the

25th

day of

the

month

evil

Moradach

king of

Babylon

in the

year that

he began

to reign

graciously

freed

Jehoiachin

king of

Judah

and brought

him out

of prison

there's this

harmless king

and the new

guy in charge

wants to look

gracious

so he

wheels out

Jehoiachin

he speaks

kindly to him

he gives him

a seat above

the seats of the

kings who were

with him in

Babylon

Jehoiachin

changes his

prison clothes

he eats at

the king's

table

he gets an

alliance

it's not much

but it's

enough

it's the

hope of a

king from

David's

line

a

Deuteronomy

17 kind

of king

a king

who will

bring in

the new

covenant

of Jeremiah

30 to

33

the hope

of the new

covenant

is flickering

because of

Jehoiachin

or Jeconiah

as he's also

called

he's alive

and God's

plan is

still on

track

and so

several

hundred years

later

another

Jewish man

Matthew

was able to

write these

words at the

start of his

gospel

and after the

deportation of

Babylon

Jeconiah

was the

father of

Shealtiel

and Shealtiel

the father of

Zerubbabel

and Zerubbabel

the father of

Abiud and Abiud

the father of

Eliakim and

Eliakim the father

of Atol

and Azal the

father of

Zadok and

Zadok the

father of

Achim and

Achim the

father of

Eliud and

Eliud the

father of

Eliezer and

Eliezer the

father of

Mathen and

Mathen the

father of

Jacob and

Jacob the

father of

Joseph the

husband of

Mary of

whom Jesus

was born who

is called

Christ.

Jeremiah

preaches

salvation through

judgment.

Not salvation

through judgment

is embodied and

achieved and

acted and

proclaimed in

the Lord Jesus

Christ.

And we

have to do

the same.

To preach

Jesus Christ

and call people

to repentance

come what may

in the face of

coming judgment.

We push

Jesus to the

center of

church life

and we

call on people

to respond to

him by faith

and we know

that that will

either lead to

hardening and

judgment or

salvation.

salvation.

And that

brings us to

the end of

this most

personal of

books where

Jeremiah lays

out for us how

the prophet of

God had to get

this message of

God's glorious

sovereignty revealed

in the coming of

Christ in judgment

and salvation under

his skin and he

had to feel it

and he had to

live it and he

had to submit to

it.

He had to swallow

it and then he

had to preach it

and he had to

get it under

his skin.

And we have to

get the gospel

of salvation

through judgment

under our skin

so that we can

never be the

same again.

So that it is

burnt into our

hearts and our

minds so that it

motivates every

corner of church

life.

So that we

live in it by

the power of the

Holy Spirit.

And if tonight

we don't have

that God

given resolve,

let's throw

ourselves on

God.

The God who

loves us and

gave himself for

us and ask

him to give us

the grace that

we need to

proclaim Christ

to our

children, to

the ministries

that we have in

this church and

to the nations

that are in

this city.

Because 2

2 Corinthians 4:1

Corinthians 4

verse 1 says

therefore having

this ministry by

the mercy of

God we do

not lose

heart, we

don't give

up.

But we've

renounced

disgraceful and

underhanded ways,

we refuse to

practice cunning

or to tamper

with God's

word and we

won't pretend to

be something that

we're not.

But by the

open statement of

the truth we

would commend

ourselves to

everyone's

conscience in

the sight of

God and even

if our gospel

is veiled,

it's veiled to

those who are

perishing,

in their

case the

God of

this world

has blinded

the minds

of unbelievers

to keep

them from

seeing the

light of

the gospel

of the

glory of

Christ who

is the

image of

God.

For what we

proclaim is

not ourselves

but Jesus

Christ as

Lord,

with ourselves

as your

servants for

Jesus'

sake.

For God

who said

that light

shine out of

darkness

has shone in

our hearts

to give the

light of the

knowledge of the

glory of God

in the face

of Jesus

Christ.

And so let

us go into

all the world

because God

is the Lord

of all the

world.

And let us

preach Christ

salvation

through judgment.

Let's pray.