Jeremiah 45:1-46:12

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions, although I don't have coffee. I'm all coffeed up. Just water. Do you have something to drink this morning? Have you drank from it? Yes, I drank from it. Okay. What, did I get some cooties or something? No. You do have M&M's though. Oh no, I haven't had any peanut butter for a couple days. Do you still have M&M's? That's fine, that's fine. Nathan is allergic to peanuts, and M&M's always have the possibility of cross-contamination, so he just stays away from that, and stays away from his dad, who likes to eat M&M's.
So, let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for giving us your word. We thank you for blessing us with time together in it. And we pray, God, that as we read your word, that your Holy Spirit would please work in our hearts, that we would hear your word, be attentive to it, love you, follow in your ways. We need your help. We need your spirit to teach us. So help us, God, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Here, Jeremiah chapter 45 through chapter 46, verse 12. So, Jeremiah 45, super short, kind of funny. So, the word of the Lord that came, that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the instruction of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch, You said, woe is me now, for the Lord has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. Alright, so what's that again? Jeremiah spoke to Baruch and...
He's about to give a prophecy, yeah? Yep. Alright. Yes, you shall see to him thus says the Lord behold what I have built I will break down when I have planted I will plug up that is this whole land and you seek great thing for yourself to not seek them but behold I will bring Adversary and velocity to them on all flesh says the Lord But I will give you life to you as a prize in all places wherever you go. I Alright, so what's the Lord's prophecy for him? Not very nice.
Oh sure it is. God has built some things up and yet some things get torn down. So why should he expect anything else in his life? And yet, what's the prize that God's giving him? Your life? His life! That's nice, you don't have to die. That's a pretty good prize! Right? That's his word to broke.
Even though I'm the one who brings things up and tears them down, I'm still going to give you life. I'm still going to care for you. But you're still going to have adversity. Yeah, there's still going to be adversity. There's still going to be challenges and calamity. It's God who's doing it.
Chapter 46. The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations, against Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates and Carchemish, and which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah." Alright, so what's going to, what is Jeremiah going to be prophesying about? Um, I will be reading 46.
He's concerning about Egypt and Pharaoh. Yeah, good. So he gives a time stamp, right? This is after the battle of Carchemish. And so that's what he's going to be prophesying against them. All right, you want to read 3 through 6? Didn't he say, because a few chapters ago he was talking about, they were saying like, oh, we're going to go back to Egypt. Yeah. Yeah, if you go there, it ain't going to go well. And now he's saying, yep, there's going to be a battle, yeah. Well, there was a battle there. Well, yeah, there was battle. Now he's saying it's gonna be more. Yeah, so all right three three six Order the buckler and the shield and join you to battle Harness the horses mount up your horsemen Stand forth with your helmets polish the spears put on the armor Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back?
The mighty ones are beaten down. They have speedily fled, and do not look back. For fear was all around, says the Lord. Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They will stumble and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Wait, so what's he saying right there? Sounds like Egypt's gonna lose a battle. It's gonna be a pretty mighty battle. They're gonna lose. Good, yeah. Who is this coming up like a flood, whose waters move like the rivers? Egypt rises up like a flood, and its waters move like the rivers. And he says, I will go up and cover the earth. I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.
Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots, and let the mighty men come forth, the Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow. For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself on his adversaries. The sword shall devour. It shall be satisfied and made drunk with their blood. For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
So what's he saying there? He's going to defeat Egypt. What's that? He's going to defeat Egypt. Yeah, good, good. Last part. Go up to Gilead and take Balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt. In vain you will use many medicines, and shall not be cured. The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty.
They have both fallen down. They have both fallen together, yeah. Together. All right, so what's that section about? Egypt's going to fall. Yeah, even though they have all this medicine and things like that, yeah. Alright, so what's... We've read kind of two different parts. What do you think this is about as you summarize all of it together?
They have forced Jeremiah and Baruch to go to Egypt. He's told them that at Taffany's they went that far. And he said, no, no, over all this area, the Babylonians are going to rule. And now what's this section about? He's buff, saying that it's going to happen. Yeah, it's going to happen. But what about Baruch? Not to say much about Baruch. At least he's going to have a life, right? Yeah, at least he's going to live.
So, what would you underline as the best verse to summarize this? Probably verse 5 or 45. Yeah, so I think I would underline verse 5 and verse 45, or in chapter 45, yeah. What about chapter 46? maybe 11 through 12. Okay, 11 through 12. Yeah. I kind of like verse 10.
A day of vengeance that he may avenge himself on his adversaries. The sword shall devour it shall be satisfied and made drunk with their blood. For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. What is that war it's like because you hear the word like drunk with their blood like what does that actually mean? it means like bloodless like Like I'm there he's he's gonna be satisfied with their Destruction, okay.
Yeah Got a feeling it wasn't really, you know, you know, that's really that's that's just an interesting thing to bring up there because I Even recently, I remember reading somebody talking against a doctrine of atonement that I hold to, right? Substitutionary atonement.
And they're like, oh, you just have the mean God, and the mean God needs blood, and so he must drink the blood. And so they're saying, it's like the imagery is here in scripture. God hates sin. Hates sin so much that he won't be satisfied until that blood guilt is dealt with. And so some people with modern sensibilities, like, oh, did you follow this mean vengeance God? And it's like, no, it's a God of justice.
He's talking about the Egyptians who enslaved his people, were constantly sneering to them, constantly tempting them, fighting against them often. And so, yeah. And the thing is, sometimes when somebody can say like, oh, Like God is mean, you sometimes like look, if you look at other, just pick random religion, and sometimes like it's, it's really, really, really, really dark. Like if you just look at the Greek gods, like gods of justice. they were not God's justice. If you read about it, they're both just selfish tyrants. As it goes through. Yeah, they weren't just.
No. All right, well, we'll talk about C-calling. So we've done A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize these sections? Let's talk about C-calling. I think sometimes we forget that, like, There may be adversity and hardship in life. It's one of the things that I'm somewhat routinely reminded about talking with international pastors is I want to act like if there's judgment upon people or if there's persecution and things like this, like, oh man, there's something wrong and I feel so bad. And they look at me like I'm crazy. Like, well, of course these things are going to happen. Hold on. Don't you believe Jesus? That's one of the things that I take from this. And also, just the grace that God has shown just when I see chapter 46, 1 through 12, I think, like, I'm no better than the Egyptians. Like, I'm a Gentile by birth. There's nothing that would stop me from wanting to enslave other people. And yet, God does show mercy to those who don't deserve mercy. and even brings destruction on people who may be born into the family of faith but then don't believe him and walk away.
What about you? What do you think you're struck by or called to do or how does this point you to Jesus Christ? I think that For that time, when Jeremiah says to Baruch, like, you're gonna leave with your life. For somebody, that's like a huge deal, like. If you've got a prophet who's time and time and time and time and like right, right, right, right, right. And sometimes I wonder like when, if it was Jeremiah who asked God if Baruch was gonna live or God decided to tell Jeremiah.
Yeah, and it's interesting because Jeremiah is being persecuted just as much and yet God doesn't give him that assurance. Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah, we're not guaranteed our life, but it's God who gives it graciously. Yeah. Are you ready to pray? Yep. Okay. Father, we thank you so much for giving us time together in your Word. We thank you that you are a wonderful God. You are full of mercy, compassion, and truth.
And Father, we pray that as we go about our work today, that we would not fear, man. That we would not be anxious or worry. And Lord, that we would trust you. For we know that even if we are slain for Christ, Lord, we count it all as gain. because we know that nothing can separate us from your love, which is in Christ Jesus, not even death itself. And so, Father, we pray that you give us strength, give us courage to be men of your kingdom. Thank you for the mercy you have sent us. We pray these things in Jesus's name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.