Recap

So far in Jeremiah we’ve looked at Jeremiah’s calling and accusations against Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem, and then started the final section of warning to the foreign nations. The book of Jeremiah is a collection of messages and poems by the prophet Jeremiah, who was a prophet to Judah immediately before their exile. We read as God called Jeremiah to be his mouth pieces to Judah to weed out corruption and idolatry in Judah. The people would not listen to him, but his teachings would serve as a foundation for the people after they’d been exiled.

We read as Jeremiah tried to lead the people to repentance, but they would not listen. He grieved the destruction he knew was coming to Judah, likening it to decreation. Returning the land to its state before God created it. Again, Jeremiah called the people to repent, but God tells Jeremiah not to pray for them. Their opportunity to change has gone. The era of wise men is gone. It's time for the women who mourn to lead.

We saw the first few cracks for Jeremiah. He was being persecuted and sometimes it looked like wicked people are flourishing. God encouraged Jeremiah that punishment was coming. We read as Jeremiah wrestled with his job. He tried to intercede for the people again, but God told him not to. Instead, Jeremiah has to settle with being hated and mocked by the people.

As Babylon came and started taking some people into exile, God warned them that they would be in exile for seventy years. Then he would punish Babylon for its wickedness along with the other nations.

Then came messages of hope. God will reunite and restore the nation of Israel. They will rejoice and flourish in their land again. God will make a new covenant with them that he will write on their hearts. Yes, things are hard now, but God will bring life where there was death. But for now, the people were digging their own graves. They set their slaves free, only to re-enslave them again.

We read how Jeremiah was arrested and then saved from being killed by an Ethiopian man. Jeremiah remained under arrest until Babylon came and sacked Jerusalem. They led the people, including king Zedekiah, into exile. The king of Babylon freed Jeremiah and placed him under the responsibility of one of his officials. The new governor of Judah was killed, and the people asked Jeremiah what to do. After seeking God, Jeremiah told the people to stay in Judah and trust that God would protect them. Instead, the people fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them. Jeremiah warned that God was going to send Babylon to defeat Egypt as well.

We then started the final section of the book; the collection of warnings against the foreign nations. We read God's judgement against the Egyptians, the Philistines, and the Moabites. The Moabites were unique in that they were given a spark of hope that would come after their judgement.

Jeremiah 49-50

Next up are the Ammonites. Like the Moabites, these too were descendants of Abraham's nephew, Lot. The land of Ammon was to the northeast, north of Moab. This nation had taken land from Gad, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This happened after the northern kingdom of Israel had been taken into captivity by Assyria. The Ammonites assumed that the Israelites wouldn't need the land anymore and claimed it for themselves.

So God is coming against the Ammonites for their greed. He will lay their cities to waste and send their people into exile. He will surround them with terror and chase them out of their land. But just like the Moabites, after God has disciplined the Ammonites, he will restore them and bless them.

After this comes Edom. The people of this nation are the descendants of Jacob's brother, Esau. God will punish Edom. He will strip them bare, leaving nothing left. He will cause the widows and the orphans who are left to trust in him. God points out that just as these other nations will have to drink from God's wrath, so will God pour out his wrath on Edom. This imagery of a cup of God's wrath is often linked to people engaging in idolatry and worshipping false gods. God will make Edom into a much smaller nation and will punish them for their pride. He will make them a place of horror, where other people will look at and be disgusted.

Next is Damascus, the capital city of Syria, along with two of the key regions within Syria, Hamath and Arpad. Syria was once one of Israel's great enemies, but now "Damascus has become feeble" (Jeremiah 49:24). This is an example of how God makes the enemies of his people weak. Kedar and Hazor refer to two tribes to the far east.

The point of their destruction is to be evidence of God's power. God has authority across the world, even in far off lands. This may seem obvious to us, but at the time it was commonly believed that as God of Israel, God's power was strongest in Israel and got weaker the further away you went. God is challenging this understanding by showing how his authority extends all the way out to these distant tribes.

The last of these smaller nations is Elam. This nation was very far to the east, in modern day Iran, and would have been considered the eastern end of the earth at the time. The point here is similar to that of Kedar and Hazor, that there is no limit to God's power.

But there are a couple of unique points. First, God mentions that he will set his throne in Elam. In other words, not only does God have the authority over these nations, but he is reclaiming them as part of his kingdom. Second, like many of the other nations, God will restore and bless Elam. No longer will he just be the God of Israel, but he will be God over all the earth.

This brings us to the final nation, Babylon. Just as Babylon has put many nations to shame, so will God do the same to them. God will bring his people out of Babylon and restore them. He will punish Babylon for how they treated his people. Yes, God initially led Babylon to lay siege on Jerusalem and Judah, but the Babylonians got proud and took too much joy in oppressing God's people after they had been taken into captivity.

Babylon has been like a strong and proud stallion, and God is about to change that. Where they were once strong and powerful, God will make them weak and will cause the other nations to look at them in horror at what he has done. God continues to talk about how he will destroy Babylon and punish them.

He then challenges them on their pride, and for oppressing his people. So God will send a sword to destroy them, and droughts to dry them up. Their land will be like a wasteland, filled with animals like hyenas and ostriches. God will make a nation mightier than Babylon to come down and destroy them. Yes, Babylon might be great and powerful, but God is greater still. He can raise up and destroy as he chooses to.

Psalm 24

This psalm is attributed to king David and falls into the category of a royal psalm. Royal psalms are psalms that are focused on either God as king or on a human king. If Psalm 23 celebrates God as a shepherd, Psalm 24 celebrates him as king.

It is likely that this psalm was used as liturgy in a worship service. As the people got ready to enter God’s presence, they reminded themselves who it was they were coming before. 

Psalm 24:1-2 - The Lord is creator of all the earth

Psalm 24:3-6 - Those who are pure may enter his presence

Psalm 24:7-10 - The Lord is the King of Glory

If there is a king, then there is a kingdom. This psalm opens by establishing the boundaries of God’s kingdom. In short, there are none. When it comes to God, all the earth is his kingdom. Everything in it belongs to him. 

When faced with such a mighty king, who can enter his presence? In the same way that someone cannot just walk up to the king, or the President of the United States, there are expectations upon entering God’s presence. Those that enter God’s presence must be of pure heart and committed to truth. Those that meet this requirement will be blessed and made righteous before God. 

Now ready to enter God’s presence, the psalm builds to bring praise to God. Not only is he king over all the earth, he is a strong and mighty king. So make way for him and allow him to enter.

Much like Psalm 15, Psalm 24 seeks to remind us of the awesomeness of God, so that we never take the fact that we can enter into his presence lightly.