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The Bible Breakdown
Jeremiah 50: No Enemy Greater Than God
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, jeremiah, chapter 50, as we're getting very close to the end of Jeremiah, and today's title is no Enemy is Bigger than God. No enemy is bigger than God, it really doesn't matter. I mean, if you think about it and this I don't know about you, this kind of blows my mind a little bit. But God created everything, right? He holds it all in the palm of his hand. You know, anthropomorphically, right, he holds it all in the palm of his hand. He sees the end from the beginning. He sits outside of time and space, all the great things. He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, all the things, omnipotent, all of that. Therefore, there is no enemy bigger than God. But why do we sometimes think so? I think about that, we think of all of these great attributes, of how big God is, until we have a problem, and then it's like God is so big, but you know, not just you, okay, not, I mean not you, just me, just me, just me, okay, fine. Well, we go. We're going to talk about my problems today as we jump into God's word, but as we are doing that, if you like what we're doing around here. Make sure you like, share and subscribe to YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you are giving us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. They're doing an amazing work over there and, seriously, the more we dig, the more we find, and it just blows my mind that we are continually growing and more and more people are reading God's Word, literally from all over the world. It's just such a blessing to be able to do this together and it's just an honor to be able to read God's Word. So help us to continue to create those opportunities for other people to join in with us and to do this together.
Speaker 1:All right, if you have your Bibles, I want to open them up with me to the Word of God. In, I want to say Genesis. I don't know I'm feeling Genesis today, but we're not going to do Genesis. We're going to do Jeremiah, chapter 50. So, jeremiah, chapter 50.
Speaker 1:And while you're getting your Bibles there and getting everything ready to go, don't forget that the overall goal of Jeremiah's message is to continue to tell the nation of Judah, as they are continuing to fall further and further into sin. He is telling them there is a future and a hope that God has for you, that God is going to give us light in the darkness. This is big idea that God has for you. That God is going to give us light in the darkness. This is a big idea that God has for us. And he is grappling back and forth daily with some of these false prophets who are saying everything's fine, nebuchadnezzar is going to be our bro, it's going to be great. We're going to drink coffee together and go watch a movie. I mean, they were acting like that, it wasn't going to be bad. And Jeremiah is like you guys are idiots. I mean, this is going to be horrible. We can't sin against God for years and expect him to come bail us out all the time. He's going to let us reap the benefit of our bad decisions. But he's like but God's still faithful and it's going to be awesome, right. But at the same time, there's just this process Over the years of Jeremiah's life and ministry and all the things that's happening. And so now we're going to see, as we're getting ready to finish the ministry of Jeremiah, as he's writing these down. He's going to write out this message about Babylon, because if you've been with us over the course of Jeremiah's ministry, as he's been writing these, nebuchadnezzar and Babylon have been the big bad uglies right, they're the Thanos in the Avengers movies. I mean, they are the bad guy who is slowly getting closer to taking over everything, right? Well, it almost seemed like that Babylon was unstoppable, unbeatable, really. And so what I love about this is, as Jeremiah's ministry is starting to finish, he does want to remind the nation of Judah. Yes, babylon's pretty big. Yes, they're pretty bad, but God's bigger. So don't forget that no enemy is bigger than God. So, if you're ready, let's read God's word.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah, chapter 50, verse 1. Her gods, bel and Marduk, will be utterly disgraced, for a nation will attack her from the north and bring such destruction that no one will ever live there again. Everything will be gone. Both people and animals will flee. By the way, that actually does happen, verse 4.
Speaker 1:In those days, says the Lord, the people of Israel will return home, together with the people of Judah. They will come weeping and seeking the Lord, their God. They will ask the way to Jerusalem and start back home again. They will bind themselves to the Lord with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have been led, have led them astray and they have turned them loose in the mountains. They have lost their way and can't remember how to get back to the sheepfold. All who found them devoured them. Their enemies said we did nothing wrong in attacking them for they sinned against the Lord, their true place of rest and the hope of their ancestors. But now flee from Babylon, leave the land of the Babylonians like a male goat at the head of the flock. Lead my people home again.
Speaker 1:Verse nine, for I am raising up an army, a great nation from the north, and they will join forces to attack Babylon and she will be captured. The enemies with arrows will go straight to the Babylon and she will be captured. The enemies with arrows will go straight to the mark and they will not miss pause. So what actually happens is is Babylon really is a very formidable force? And we're gonna read later in the book of Daniel and different ones, where you know we're gonna talk about what happens during the 70 years of captivity while they're in Babylonian exile. But In 539 BC, a nation called Persia rises up and destroys Babylon. So they are destroyed eventually and they are no more right as far as in Persia, becomes the big deal. Then, of course, greece, and then Rome and then the rest. So verse 10, babylonia will be looted until the attackers are glutted with loot.
Speaker 1:I, the Lord, have spoken. You rejoice and are glad, you who who plundered my chosen people. You frisk like a calf in a meadow and neigh like a stallion, but your homeland will be overwhelmed with shame and disgrace. You will become the least of nations, a wilderness, a dry and desolate land. Because of the Lord's anger, babylon will become a deserted wasteland. All who pass by will be horrified and will gasp at the destruction they see there. Yes, prepare to attack Babylon, all you surrounding nations. Let your archers shoot at her and spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Shout war. Cries against her from every. Verse 17. Away Because the sword of the enemy. Everyone will run away and rush back to their own lands.
Speaker 1:Verse 17,. The Israelites are like sheep and they have been scattered by lions. First the king of Assyria ate them up, then the king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon cracked their bones. Therefore, this is what the Lord of heaven's armies, the God of Israel, says Babylon, the mightiest hammer in all the earth, lies broken and shattered. Babylon is desolate among the nations.
Speaker 1:Listen, babylon, for I have set a trap for you. You were caught, for you have fought against the Lord. The Lord has opened his armory and brought out weapons to vent his fury. The terror that falls upon the Babylonians will be the work of the sovereign Lord of heaven's armies. Yes, come against her from distant lands, break open her granaries, crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble, destroy her completely and leave nothing. Destroy even her young bulls. It will be terrible for them to slaughter them all, for Babylon's days of reckoning has come.
Speaker 1:Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon as they tell in Jerusalem how the Lord, our God, has taken vengeance against those who would destroy his temple. Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon, Surround the city so none can escape. Do to her as she has done to others, for she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Her young men will fall in the streets and die. Her soldiers will all be killed, says the Lord.
Speaker 1:See, I am your enemy, you arrogant people, says the Lord, the Lord of heaven's armies, your day of reckoning has arrived, the day when I will punish you. O land of arrogance, you stumble and fall and no one will raise you up. For I will light a fire in the cities of Babylon that burn up everything around them. This is what the Lord of heaven's armies says. The people of Israel and Judah have been wronged. Their captors hold them and refuse to let them go. But the one who redeems them is strong. His name is the Lord of heaven's armies. He will defend them and give them rest in Israel. But the people of Babylon? There will be no rest.
Speaker 1:The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians, says the Lord. I will strike the people of Babylon, her officials and wise men too. The sword will strike wise counselors and they will become fools. The sword will strike her mightiest warriors and panic will seize them. The sword will strike her horses and chariots and her allies from other lands, and they will all become like women. The sword will strike her treasures and they will be plundered. And why? It will be a home for owls. Never again will people live there. It will lie desolate forever. I will destroy it as I destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, says the Lord. No one will live there, no one will inhabit it.
Speaker 1:Look, a great army is coming from the north. A great nation and mighty kings are rising against you from far off lands. They are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They ride forward on horses and they sound like a roaring sea. They are coming in battle formation, planning to destroy you, babylon.
Speaker 1:The king of Babylon has heard reports about the enemy. He is weak, with fright. Pangs of anguish have gripped him like those of a woman in labor. I will come like a lion from a thicket in the Jordan, leaping on the sheep in the pasture. I will chase Babylon from its land and I will appoint the leader of my choice. For who is like me and who can challenge me? What ruler can oppose my will? Listen to the Lord's plans against Babylon and the land of the Babylonians. Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep and their homes.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a bad day. That's a real, real, real bad day and honestly, yeah, I mean that's what happens. You defy God. Bad things happen, and that doesn't mean we celebrate it, that doesn't mean that's good, but there's a reckoning for that, and so, remember, the overall title of this chapter is no Enemy is Bigger Than God, and so I want to ask you this question what is the biggest enemy in your life?
Speaker 1:Maybe that enemy has a first and last name. Maybe it's a financial thing. Maybe it's a worry thing. Maybe it's a worry thing. Maybe it's an emotional thing. Maybe it's a physical thing. Maybe it's a relational thing.
Speaker 1:What's the biggest enemy that you think is destroying your life? Maybe it's already destroyed your life and you're dealing with the aftermath. Whatever it is, can I tell you it's not bigger than God. It doesn't matter how big it is, it can be the biggest like. There's no way I can come back from this, brandon. There's no way, can I tell you. You may not come back to what you were, but God can give you a new beginning. There's no enemy in your life that is bigger than God. So what do we do? Humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and at the right time, god will lift us up.
Speaker 1:That's from the Apostle Peter. Imagine the Apostle Peter. I mean he's getting toward the end of his life. He has enemies on left and on the right. He's trying to start churches to spread the gospel. He's dealing with whatever's going on in his own life. He had a family of his own. Did you know?
Speaker 1:Peter was married, probably had kids, he's got all these things that are happening, but yet even in that, he says humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. In other words, wait for God's timing. Don't try to push the issue, don't try to force what's going on. Just say God, I would really rather not be here right now, but I trust you, I'm going to move forward to the best of my ability. I'm going to trust you that, no matter how big that mountain is, it's not bigger than you. And if you will live every day like that, I'm telling you God's got a big idea for you and every enemy will fall for you. And every enemy will fall. Every Goliath has to fall, because God is bigger than anything we face.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together right now, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that no matter how big our enemies may be, you are bigger, you are stronger. You're always doing more than we can see. We celebrate in advance, god, all the things that you're doing. We just don't see right now. We celebrate you in all things. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen and don't forget. God's word says in Jeremiah 29, verse 13,. If you look for me wholeheartedly, he says, you will find me. My hope for all of us is that we find God new and fresh every day. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Jeremiah, chapter 51.
