August Fourteen

~Good Morning~

 

• Is it covered by water or dry?
  

 ⁴² The sea has risen over Babylon;
      she is covered by its crashing waves.
 ⁴³ Her cities now lie in ruins;
      she is a dry wasteland
      where no one lives or even passes by.

• I thought the "god" was not real. How is he punished?
  

⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,
      and make him vomit up all he has eaten.
   The nations will no longer come and worship him.
      The wall of Babylon has fallen!

• Does God make him hard and sturborn this way?
  
• ¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God's name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.
  

 

 

Today's Scripture:

Jeremiah 51:15-58 A Hymn of Praise to the Lord 15 The Lord made the earth by his power,       and he preserves it by his wisdom.    With his own understanding       he stretched out the heavens.  16 When he speaks in the thunder,       the heavens are filled with water.    He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.       He sends the lightning with the rain       and releases the wind from his storehouses. 17 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.  18 Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!       On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.  19 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! Babylon's Great Punishment 20 "You are my battle-ax and sword,"       says the Lord.    "With you I will shatter nations       and destroy many kingdoms.  21 With you I will shatter armies—       destroying the horse and rider,       the chariot and charioteer.  22 With you I will shatter men and women,       old people and children,       young men and maidens.  23 With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,       farmers and oxen,       captains and officers. 24 "I will repay Babylon       and the people of Babylonia    for all the wrong they have done       to my people in Jerusalem," says the Lord. 25 "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.  26 You will be desolate forever.       Even your stones will never again be used for building.    You will be completely wiped out,"       says the Lord. 27 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 Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.       Appoint a commander,       and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!  28 Bring against her the armies of the nations—       led by the kings of the Medes       and all their captains and officers. 29 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.     30 Her mightiest warriors no longer fight.    They stay in their barracks, their courage gone.       They have become like women.    The invaders have burned the houses       and broken down the city gates.  31 The news is passed from one runner to the next       as the messengers hurry to tell the king       that his city has been captured.  32 All the escape routes are blocked.       The marshes have been set aflame,       and the army is in a panic. 33 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies,       the God of Israel, says:    "Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor,       about to be trampled.    In just a little while       her harvest will begin." 34 "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us       and drained us of 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.  35 Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,"       say the people of Zion.    "Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,"       says Jerusalem. The Lord's Vengeance on Babylon 36 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,  37 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.  38 Her people will roar together like strong lions.       They will growl like lion cubs.  39 And while they 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.  40 "I will bring them down       like lambs to the slaughter,       like rams and goats to be sacrificed. 41 "How Babylon is fallen—       great Babylon, praised throughout the earth!    Now she has become an object of horror       among the nations.  42 The sea has risen over Babylon;       she is covered by its crashing waves.  43 Her cities now lie in ruins;       she is a dry wasteland       where no one lives or even passes by.  44 And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,       and make him vomit up all he has eaten.    The nations will no longer come and worship him.       The wall of Babylon has fallen! A Message for the Exiles 45 "Come out, my people, flee from Babylon.       Save yourselves! Run from the Lord's fierce anger.  46 But do not panic; don't be afraid       when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces.       For rumors will keep coming year by year.    Violence will erupt in the land       as the leaders fight against each other.  47 For the time is surely coming       when I will punish this great city and all her idols.    Her whole land will be disgraced,       and her dead will lie in the streets.  48 Then the heavens and earth will rejoice,       for out of the north will come destroying armies       against Babylon," says the Lord.  49 "Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel       and others throughout the world,       so must her people be killed.  50 Get out, all you who have escaped the sword!       Do not stand and watch—flee while you can!    Remember the Lord, though you are in a far-off land,       and think about your home in Jerusalem." 51 "We are ashamed," the people say.       "We are insulted and disgraced    because the Lord's Temple       has been defiled by foreigners." 52 "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.  53 Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens       and makes her fortifications incredibly strong,    I will still send enemies to plunder her.       I, the Lord, have spoken! Babylon's Complete Destruction 54 "Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon,       the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.  55 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.  56 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 punishment;       he always repays in full.  57 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 Lord of Heaven's Armies. 58 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says:    "The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,       and her massive gates will be burned.    The builders from many lands have worked in vain,       for their work will be destroyed by fire!"

2 Chronicles 36:1010 In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon. Many treasures from the Temple of the Lord were also taken to Babylon at that time. And Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin's uncle,Zedekiah, as the next king in Judah and Jerusalem.

2 Kings 24:10-17 10 During Jehoiachin's reign, the officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against Jerusalem and besieged it. 11 Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city during the siege. 12 Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had said beforehand, Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the treasures from the Lord's Temple and the royal palace. He stripped away all the gold objects that King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple. 14 King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land. 15 Nebuchadnezzar led King Jehoiachin away as a captive to Babylon, along with the queen mother, his wives and officials, and all Jerusalem's elite. 16 He also exiled 7,000 of the best troops and 1,000 craftsmen and artisans, all of whom were strong and fit for war. 17 Then the king of Babylon installed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, as the next king, and he changed Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah.

1 Chronicles 3:10-16 Descendants of Solomon 10 The descendants of Solomon were Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, 11 Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash, 12 Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, 13Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, 14 Amon, and Josiah.  15 The sons of Josiah were Johanan (the oldest), Jehoiakim (the second), Zedekiah (the third), and Jehoahaz (the fourth).  16 The successors of Jehoiakim were his son Jehoiachin and his brother Zedekiah.

2 Chronicles 36:11-14 Zedekiah Rules in Judah 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he refused to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God's name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the Lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 52:1-3 Jeremiah 52 The Fall of Jerusalem Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 2 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 These things happened because of the Lord's anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

2 Kings 24:18-20 Zedekiah Rules in Judah 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 19 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 These things happened because of the Lord's anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. The Fall of Jerusalem Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Jeremiah 37:1-10 Jeremiah 37 Zedekiah Calls for Jeremiah Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim as the king of Judah. He was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 2But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the Lord said through Jeremiah. 3 Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, "Please pray to the Lord our God for us." 4 Jeremiah had not yet been imprisoned, so he could come and go among the people as he pleased. 5 At this time the army of Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt appeared at the southern border of Judah. When the Babylonian army heard about it, they withdrew from their siege of Jerusalem. 6 Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 7 "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell him, 'Pharaoh's army is about to return to Egypt, though he came here to help you. 8 Then the Babylonians will come back and capture this city and burn it to the ground.' 9 "This is what the Lord says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren't! 10 Even if you were to destroy the entire Babylonian army, leaving only a handful of wounded survivors, they would still stagger from their tents and burn this city to the ground!"

 

 

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