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The Bible Breakdown
Jeremiah 51: Don't Panic, Be Prepared!
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, jeremiah, chapter 51. We're almost done with Jeremiah and today's title is Don't Panic, be Prepared. Don't Panic, be Prepared. We're going to read about how God gives the final verdict for the nation of Babylon, even before they fully do what they are going to do, and God's still got a plan, and so what he is telling them is basically don't panic, but be prepared for what's coming, and I wonder if that would be a great lesson for all of us, in that there are going to be difficult times. Therefore, we shouldn't act like they're not going to happen and all that stuff, but rather be prepared to know how to trust God in every circumstance. We'll get into all that in just a moment. But if you like what we're doing here and if you're new around here, while you're opening up your Bible to Jeremiah, chapter 51, be sure that you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. It really does help us get the word out so that when people search up reading the Bible and all of that, our channel will come up. And also make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people that are just giving us wonderful, fresh insights into God's Word every single day, and one of the things I love about God's Word is the more we dig, the more we find. And so, once again, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Jeremiah, chapter 51. Remember, the overall goal of Jeremiah is he is telling the nation of Israel God still gives us a hope and a future, even in dark times. He is a light in dark times. The nation of Israel, over the course of Judah, over the course of Jeremiah, we have seen how they have just consistently went from bad to worse, worse, worse. And God is telling them if you'll just turn around and turn to me, everything will get better. But unfortunately, they continue to go the wrong way. And so now God is telling them okay, bad things are on the way. So don't panic when you see all these bad things happen, be prepared. And man isn't't panic when you see all these bad things happen, be prepared. And man, isn't that already something great for all of us? Well, as we are going to read through this, we are going to read how. This is what the Lord is going to say. This is going to be his judgment against Babylon. And so he's saying Babylon is about to come, do some bad things, but I've already got a plan for it, so don't panic, just be prepared for what's coming. And so there's a lot here, so we're going to read straight through it and then we get to the end. I'm going to see what God's word has to say to us. Okay, are you ready? Jeremiah, chapter 51. Let's read it together.
Speaker 1:Verse one says this I will stir up a destroyer. Well, first of all, I skip right over the most important part. Verse 1 says this is what the Lord says. All right, there we go. Now I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon. From all the people of Babylonia, foreigners will come and winnow her, blowing her away like chaff. They will come from every side to rise against her.
Speaker 1:In the day of trouble. Don't let the archers put on their armor or draw their bows. Don't spare even her best soldiers. Let her army be completely destroyed. They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians, slashed to death in her streets.
Speaker 1:For the Lord of heaven's armies has not abandoned Israel and Judah. He is still their God, even though the land is filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. But flee from Babylon, save yourselves, don't get trapped in her punishment. It is the Lord's time for vengeance. He will repay her in full.
Speaker 1:Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord's hands, a cup that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank Babylon's wine, and it drove them all mad. But suddenly Babylon too has fallen. Weep for her, give her medicine. Perhaps she can yet be healed. We would have helped her if we could, but nothing can save her now. Let her go, abandon her. Return now to your own land, for her punishment reaches to the heavens. It is so great it cannot be measured. The Lord has vindicated us. Come, let us announce it in Jerusalem, everything that our Lord, our God, has done. Sharpen the arrows, lift the shields, for the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes to march against Babylon and destroy her. This is his vengeance against those who have desecrated his temple.
Speaker 1:Raise the battle flag against Babylon. Reinforce the guard and station the watchman. Prepare an ambush, for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon. You are a city by a great river, a great center of commerce, but your end will come. It has come. The thread of your life is cut. The Lord of heaven's armies has now taken this vow and has sworn to it by his own name. Your cities will be filled with enemies, your fields swarming with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.
Speaker 1:Now, verse 15 says with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouse. The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge. The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power. Idols are worthless. They are ridiculous lies. On the day of reckoning, they will all be destroyed. But the God of Israel is no idol. He is the creator of everything that exists, including his people, his own special possession. The Lord of heaven's armies is his name, verse 20,.
Speaker 1:You are my battle axe and sword, says the Lord. With you, I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms. With you, you I will Shatter armies, destroying the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer. With you, I will shatter men and women, old People and children, young men and young women. With you, I will shatter Shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and officers. I will repay Babylon and the people of Babylonia for all the wrong they have done to my people. In Israel, says the Lord or in Jerusalem, says the Lord. Look, o mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth, I am your enemy, says the Lord. I will raise my fist against you to knock you down from the heights. When I am finished, you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble. You will be a desolation forever. Even your stones will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out. Says the Lord.
Speaker 1:Raise a signal flag to the nations. Sound the battle cry. Mobilize them all against Babylon. Prepare them to fight against her. Bring out the armies of Arat, meni and Azkenaz. Appoint a commander. Bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts. Bring against her all the armies of the nations, led by the kings of the Medes and all their captains and officers. The earth trembles and writhes in pain for everything the Lord has planned against. Babylon stands unchanged. Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant. Her mightiest warriors no longer fight. They stay in the barracks, their courage gone. They have become like women.
Speaker 1:The invaders have burned their houses and broken down the city gates. The news is passed from one runner to the next, as the messengers hurry to tell the king that is the city, that is, that the city has been captured. All the escape routes have been blocked, the marshes have been set aflame. The army is in a panic. This is what the Lord of heaven's army says, the God of Israel. He says Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor about to be trampled. In just a little while her harvest will begin.
Speaker 1:King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us and drained us of our strength. He has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches. He has thrown us out of our own country. Make Babylon suffer, as she has made us suffer, says the people of Zion. Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood, says Jerusalem, verse 36,.
Speaker 1:This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem. I will be your lawyer to plead your case and I will avenge you. I will dry up her river as well as her springs, and Babylon will become a heap of ruins haunted by jackals. She will be an object of horror and contempt, a place where no one lives. Her people will roar together like strong lions. They will growl like lion cubs. They will lie inflamed with all their wine. I will prepare a different kind of feast for them. I will make them drink until they fall asleep and they will never wake up again, says the Lord. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats to be sacrificed. How Babylon has fallen. Great Babylon praised throughout the earth. Now she has become an object of horror among the nations. The sea has risen over Babylon. She is covered by its crashing waves. Her cities now lie in ruins. She is a wasteland where no one lives or even passes by. I will, that's disgusting.
Speaker 1:Flee from Babylon, save yourselves, run from the Lord's fierce anger. But do not panic, do not be afraid when you hear the rumor, the first rumor, of the approaching forces. For the rumor will keep coming, year by year. Violence will erupt in the land as the leaders fight against each other. For the time is surely coming when I will punish this great city and all her idols. Her whole land will be disgraced, her dead will lie in the streets, and then the heavens and earth will rejoice, for out of the north will come destroying armies against Babylon, says the Lord. But just as Babylon killed the people of Israel and others throughout the world, so must her people be killed. Get out all of you who have escaped the sword. Do not stand watch. Flee while you can Remember the Lord, though you are in a far-off land, and think about your home in Jerusalem. We are ashamed, the people say. We are insulted and disgraced because the Lord's temple has been defiled by foreigners. Yes, says the Lord, but the time is coming when I will destroy Babylon's idols. The groans of her wounded people will be heard throughout the land.
Speaker 1:Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens and makes her fortifications incredibly strong, I will send enemies to plunder her. I, the Lord, have spoken. Listen, hear my cry of Babylon. The Lord, are the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians, for the Lord is destroying Babylon. He will silence her loud voice. Waves of enemies pound against her. The noise of battle rings through the city. Destroying armies come against Babylon. Her mighty men are captured and their weapons break in their hands. For the Lord is a God who gives just judgment. He always repays in full. I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her captains, officers and warriors. They will fall asleep and never wake up again, says the king whose name is the. This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says.
Speaker 1:The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Sariah, son of Neriah, and the grandson of Meshach, the staff officer when Sariah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah this was during the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon and all the words written here. He said to Sariah when you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on the scroll. Then say Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever. When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. Then say in the same way Babylon and her people will sink never to rise because of the disasters I will bring upon her. And this is the end of Jeremiah's messages. Wow, it says a lot, but the bottom line is God's got a plan for Israel's enemies. It's not good. What Israel is having to go through is not good, but something even worse is coming upon her enemies.
Speaker 1:I think sometimes one of the things that surprises people is when bad things happen, because there is this misconception that if I serve God, I pray, I read my Bible, I get close to him, I serve, I give, I do all the things, if I'm a good boy, nothing bad's ever going to happen, even though the Bible never says that. As a matter of fact, the Bible says the opposite. It says in this life, you will have trouble. However, we don't notice that a lot, and so then, when bad things happen, we're shocked and we're surprised. And I love the idea that, before any of this has happened because you've got to think already there are people who have been taken to Babylon, and so Jeremiah is telling them hey, listen, you're in Babylon, you need to get out of Babylon, because God is not letting them get off scot-free, you know, without having to pay for this. And so you need to get out of there because bad things are going to happen. And this is a great way for them to realize that when bad things start to happen, that doesn't mean that it's unexpected, but rather be prepared. Mean that it's unexpected, but rather be prepared so that when all these bad things happen, when judgment comes upon the land that you're in, you are going to experience some of that judgment because you're living in that land. So be prepared. And I think that's a wonderful lesson for us.
Speaker 1:Today. There are times when we work in companies that don't do what God would require them to do Don't have integrity. Well, because they don't have integrity, god may bring judgment down on that company, and because we are in that company, we may experience some of that judgment, not because God doesn't love us, but because we are around it. Therefore, don't panic, be prepared. There are times when our country, our nation and we have people who listen now from all over the world and all different nations, but, speaking of whatever nation you happen to live in, if your nation is sinning against God, god has so much justice and so much grace and he is so compassionate for so long. But eventually God is just and he will bring justice upon nations, and if we live in that nation, we will experience some of that judgment by virtue of the fact that we are living in it. Does that make sense? Therefore, we don't panic, we just be prepared.
Speaker 1:And so one of the things that we have to guard against as Christians, as Christ followers, is this mistaught theology that Christians never go through trouble. There are times, because of our proximity to things, because of the fact that we live in a sin-cursed world, because of bad decisions that we make there's a thousand reasons we will experience bad seasons. Never panic, god is not surprised. God is not surprised when the business you work in goes under. God is not surprised when judgment is happening around you and some of it spills over on you. God has a plan, but part of our plan needs to be be prepared.
Speaker 1:So I want to ask you this question Is it possible that you could factor in being prepared in your life right now, so that when judgment comes, you are not taken unaware? I mean, the number one way to do this is to make sure you put your trust in God. The number one way and I would recommend you to do this every day every morning, wake up, because one of the things that is in the Lord's Prayer is that your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So one of the greatest things that we could pray every day is God. Today, you lead and I will follow. Therefore, I'm going to trust you in all things. No matter what happens today, I'm going to trust that you are leading and I'm going to follow. And then, when you walk through your day, you just trust in the Lord that, no matter what you walk into, what you walk out of, what you walk through, god is with you and then, if God is with you, he can sustain you.
Speaker 1:What would it look like today If you're listening to this in the morning? It's going to be easier If you're listening to it in the middle of the day. First of all, I'm sorry it's a longer one than normal, but what would it look like for you to say, okay, god, for the rest of the day, you lead and I follow. Therefore, no matter what happens, I'm not going to panic. I'm just going to be prepared to look and see what you are doing, where you are leading. I'm going to trust you and take the next step and watch what happens if there's not more peace in your life. When you don't panic, you're just prepared to follow God wherever he leads.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you do lead us, and because you lead us, we can follow you in every situation. I pray today, god, you will help us to know you more, to follow you more and to live close to you, and then, when bad things happen, we will never panic. We'll put our focus and our trust in you and we will trust that you will lead us every step of the way. In Jesus' name we pray amen and amen. Well, don't forget. God's word says in Jeremiah, chapter 29, 13,. Say it with me if you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. It's my prayer that for all of us, we will find God fresh and new every single day. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for the final chapter of Jeremiah. Jeremiah, chapter 52.
