Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 803. Bible Study: Jeremiah 50 (This could be about the 'End of the Age' too)
Transcript
- 0:00We are covering chapter 50 from the book of Jeremiah and this
- 0:06next couple of chapters are going to get into some spiritual
- 0:09stuff here. So I'm just warning you.
- 0:12Anyway, let's go. Dear Lord, please be with us as
- 0:16we read through these chapters and give us wisdom and insight
- 0:21through the Holy Spirit. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
- 0:26So chapter 50, this is a message about Babylon and I'm going to
- 0:31just cut to the chase and tell you right away what I'm
- 0:35thinking. Babylon possibly is, and this is
- 0:39an opinion, but it's like research it and double check
- 0:44everything I say. But it's very interesting if the
- 0:48more I've researched this, I I really felt like Babylon is
- 0:52really a spiritual thing. And I'll explain that further
- 0:56from Scripture as we read. But I felt like it was so
- 0:59spiritual. And at one point I was thinking,
- 1:02you know, is it Satan, You know, is it the enemy of God?
- 1:05Because I know it's always against God.
- 1:08And so I always think of Satan being against God.
- 1:11But there are other entities as well, or Satan is appearing as
- 1:18other entities. I don't know.
- 1:20So I definitely don't know this for a fact, but with studying
- 1:25this, what I've I've most recently thought is that Babylon
- 1:34is actually Ishtar or Inana, which was a goddess.
- 1:38Now it could have been Satan appearing as something else, so
- 1:45it could all be him. But then there's this part when
- 1:48you get to Revelation and the woman sitting on the beast.
- 1:54The beast doesn't like the woman and the beast comes up from the
- 1:58abyss. So they are two separate
- 2:01entities. So then that doesn't make sense
- 2:05if it's if if it's all Satan. So then it makes more sense that
- 2:11Babylon is actually Ishtar or Inanna and it's a spiritual
- 2:15being, a spiritual entity that is alive and still working on
- 2:25people in the world. I mean, we are influenced by the
- 2:28spiritual realm. And many people don't like to
- 2:33hear that, don't like to talk about that or think about that.
- 2:38But in reality, it's throughout the Bible, even Paul, go to
- 2:41Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12. It tells us what we're wrestling
- 2:45against. It's it's the spiritual realm.
- 2:49It's not people. It's the spiritual realm.
- 2:51And until our eyes are opened and we see that we're going to
- 2:55just not understand anything that's happening around us.
- 2:58But if we understand the spiritual aspect of it, we will
- 3:01see that there is an influence in the spiritual realm upon us
- 3:08that we don't quite get. And Jesus.
- 3:11Yeah, actually this came about. I forgot who.
- 3:14I think he might have been talking to Nicodemus when he
- 3:17said this, but or maybe it was his disciples.
- 3:20I'll have to go back to look. But Jesus said I have spoken to
- 3:25you of earthly things and you do not believe.
- 3:29How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things when
- 3:35different prophets that we've been reading and we'll continue
- 3:39to read through, when they've had visions, they've seen things
- 3:42that we could never, I mean, we have never seen.
- 3:46And it was in the spiritual realm.
- 3:48Some of them, you know, I've seen the throne of God and they
- 3:54do have similar explanations of it, of what they've seen.
- 3:58So God enabled them to see something in the heavenly
- 4:03spiritual realms. And there were things like like
- 4:05for example, I think there are cherubs where they have like 4
- 4:10different faces. Like we can't even imagine that
- 4:13we haven't seen something like that where it was like the face
- 4:16of a bull, the face of a man, the face of a lion and an eagle.
- 4:24So it, it's something that, you know, there, there's wings, but
- 4:27they have human hands under, you know, the wings that come out
- 4:30from the wings. So I mean, these are just like
- 4:32really bizarre things that I would say most people have not
- 4:37seen that before. And so Jesus didn't really spend
- 4:41a lot of time talking about the heavenly things.
- 4:43He was trying to explain the important things that you know,
- 4:47are most important to the people on earth and, you know, bringing
- 4:50them salvation that they, that we all will know that the way we
- 4:55get into God's Kingdom is by what Jesus did on the cross and
- 4:59that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, we need the Holy
- 5:03Spirit. Jesus said, unless you were born
- 5:06again, born of the Spirit, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
- 5:09It's in the same chapter 3 of the book of John.
- 5:12So anyway, all of that being said, there are these bizarre
- 5:18spiritual things that we can't quite grasp.
- 5:21So whenever we talk about anything that's in the
- 5:23spiritual, all we're talking about is things that have been
- 5:28documented in the Bible, maybe things that have been documented
- 5:32historically in terms of people's religion, their ancient
- 5:38cultures, religion. That's where we kind of get a
- 5:41little bit of information about what this entity was all about.
- 5:45And so that's where we draw from.
- 5:47And and it is strange. We probably don't have a full
- 5:51comprehensive understanding of everything.
- 5:54But the more I was reading in the Bible, I just kept coming
- 5:58across all these different names and entities and I, you know, I
- 6:02was like, gosh, is this, you know, is this and it still, I
- 6:04don't know, is this Satan? Are these other fallen angels?
- 6:07Are these certain? There are definitely some sort
- 6:10of entities, but things like the Queen of Heaven, we talked about
- 6:15that on a prior podcast, Inanna, Ishtar Bell, Bail, Marduk,
- 6:23Molech, Kemish, all of those things.
- 6:26You know, we hear those names and it's just like, how many of
- 6:29these things are there? And you know, he talks about God
- 6:34talks about, you know, don't get intertwined with all that stuff
- 6:39that's surrounding you. Those people, the foreign
- 6:41people, the foreigners. It wasn't anything about race.
- 6:44It was all about who they worshipped, who they were
- 6:46connected with. They were connected with the
- 6:49spirits that are opposed. The enemy of God is who they
- 6:53were connected with. And that's why God didn't want
- 6:55his people to associate with them.
- 6:58It had nothing to do with race. It had everything to do with who
- 7:02they worshipped. And, you know, people today who
- 7:06like to destroy the Bible start turning it into things that it's
- 7:10not. And there's no racism in the
- 7:13Bible. The only thing that God says is
- 7:17that he doesn't want people worshipping other things.
- 7:19There's idolatry and idolatry can be in being spiritual
- 7:24entities. It can be in anything that we
- 7:26above God in the Bible. It's often talked about like
- 7:30silver, gold and all sorts of things.
- 7:32So we could put wealth, we could put material things before God.
- 7:35Those things all become idols in our world today.
- 7:37We may not worship carved images or step, you know, statues and
- 7:41things like that, but those things were what people did in
- 7:44ancient times. So anyway, this is a message
- 7:50that Jeremiah receives about Babylon.
- 7:54And so we'll get started with this.
- 7:56The this is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the
- 7:59prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.
- 8:04So sometimes these things go along with the land and the land
- 8:08can change, but you know, occupies the land, but the land
- 8:13itself has a prophecy about it, just like Israeli territory,
- 8:19that the occupants may change on Israeli territory over the years
- 8:24since the beginning when God made the covenant with them.
- 8:27And but ultimately it's this is the same land that's been
- 8:32identified, the certain boundaries, not what they have
- 8:35today. It's much bigger than what they
- 8:37have today, but that's what God promised and that is what he
- 8:40said they will have someday. So this is a, this is concerning
- 8:45Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.
- 8:48Now to have a little bit of understanding of where Babylon
- 8:52is. It is located in what is today
- 8:55modern day Iraq. And if you look back at history
- 8:59and think about the wars and all the stuff that happens there,
- 9:03just think, you know, there's there's probably a spiritual
- 9:07reason behind all of that. And thinking further back into
- 9:12history, biblical history, that the Tower of Babel that was in
- 9:17Babylon, that was in modern day Iraq.
- 9:21So the people were trying to create something tall that
- 9:25would, you know, reach the heavens or be a portal into the
- 9:29heavens way back then. And that's when, you know, the
- 9:31story is told that God confused the languages so that they
- 9:35couldn't work together and create what they were going to
- 9:38create. So that was, you know, 1
- 9:42instance of that was bringing us to Babylon and that was the
- 9:46tower of Babel. And then Nineveh, that was
- 9:50another that's in Iraq. And that place, God wanted Jonah
- 9:56to go to Nineveh because he wanted people to be saved there.
- 9:59So God has reached out to the people of Iraq over and over and
- 10:04over again throughout the thousands of years.
- 10:08And of course, as it's told, Jonah didn't want to go to
- 10:13Nineveh. He didn't like the people there.
- 10:16He didn't really want to give the message to him, and so he
- 10:19tried to not do what God wanted him to do.
- 10:22And so he was out into the he was on a ship going the opposite
- 10:26direction and God made storms and everybody that was on there,
- 10:31you know, they believed in greater beings and they're like,
- 10:34who is causing this? You know, this turmoil that
- 10:37we're having? And, and Jonah knew it was him
- 10:40and he said, throw me overboard. And then he gets swallowed by a
- 10:42whale. And so that sounded really far
- 10:45fetched to me. You know, growing up all my life
- 10:47that OK, how does a human being get swallowed by a whale?
- 10:50Until just recently, within the last couple I don't know with
- 10:54since 2020. If you want to search this, you
- 10:56can find it. There's a kayaker, and now I
- 11:00forgot what area he was from. Denise, I don't remember, like
- 11:05Chile or something like that. I think maybe.
- 11:08And you can search it, though, online.
- 11:10And this kayaker was swallowed by a whale and he lived.
- 11:15So, you know, these are things that, you know, things that we
- 11:18think when we see the Bible, like this didn't really happen.
- 11:21And then all of a sudden God show something.
- 11:23Yes, it did. Like in our modern day, so we
- 11:25can believe. I think God is showing us these
- 11:27things so that we start believing what's in the Bible
- 11:30and not look at the Bible as, oh, it's, you know, like some
- 11:34people say it's a myth. You know, it's a story, it's an
- 11:37allegory. I mean, you have to have wisdom
- 11:40when you're reading the Bible because there are things that
- 11:43are symbolic and not everything is literal, but you do when you
- 11:48study it, you, you learn those kinds of things.
- 11:50You learn is this literal? And sometimes it's literal and
- 11:53it's also symbolic and it's also prophetic.
- 11:57Like God is such the creative book assembler.
- 12:01He inspired these people who wrote what they wrote and then
- 12:05inspired people to put it in a book so that thousands of years
- 12:09later we could read all this and we could learn about it, which
- 12:11is so fascinating. Anyway, I'm talking a lot about
- 12:15this, but it's so important for us to get the background on some
- 12:19of the stuff, and it makes the Bible so much more interesting
- 12:22when we learn these kinds of things.
- 12:24So this is what is said, what Jeremiah hears from the Lord.
- 12:28Announce and proclaim among the nations.
- 12:31Lift up a banner and proclaim it, Keep nothing back but say
- 12:38Babylon will be captured, Belle will be put to shame, Marduk
- 12:45filled with terror, her images will be put to shame and her
- 12:49idols filled with terror. OK, let's stop there.
- 12:54And who were Bell and Marduk? Bell and Marduk were different
- 12:58names for chief Babylonian God. This God would be put to shame
- 13:02when destruction rolled over the Babylonians.
- 13:05It would show their God to be impotent, that when compared to
- 13:09the Lord, the Babylonians God was no God.
- 13:13But I think the Babylonians, God was something, it wasn't just a
- 13:18figment of their imagination, because if it was a figment of
- 13:22their own imagination, would God, you know, even mention it
- 13:28at all? I mean, like, wouldn't he just,
- 13:32he just he says they are not gods, but apparently he he's,
- 13:37you know, wouldn't he have said they don't even exist?
- 13:39You know what? They make up the stuff in their
- 13:41minds because he talks about other people in that way that
- 13:44say they use their imaginations to prophecy.
- 13:48And there's another part in the Bible too, where false prophets
- 13:52are prophesying by Baal. Now, bail has to be an entity.
- 13:58If these false prophets are prophesying through bail, that's
- 14:02how they're getting their information.
- 14:04That's why we have to be very careful about anybody who calls
- 14:07himself a prophet. They may be, they may be getting
- 14:10information, but who are they getting information from?
- 14:12Are they getting it from God or from one of his enemies?
- 14:16So I will add a little bit of this information about Belle
- 14:24Marduk is like I said, there was all these different names that
- 14:26we keep coming across and it's like who are all these entities
- 14:31or things or people or what? And so I'm going to read to you
- 14:34what I found. So my question that I just kind
- 14:37of searched was who are the Queen of Heaven, Inanna, Ishtar,
- 14:41Belle Bail, Marduk, Molech, Kemish, and how are they
- 14:45connected? So these deities are connected
- 14:49through a complex web of syncretism.
- 14:54Syncretism, yeah, where neighboring cultures adopted,
- 14:58adapted and merged gods, and through regional and linguistic
- 15:04variations in their names across the ancient Near East.
- 15:08So these entities kind of were the same entity but were called
- 15:16by different names by different people.
- 15:19So the goddesses. So we have the the goddesses and
- 15:23the male deities. So the goddesses are Inana,
- 15:27Ishtar and the Queen of Heaven. Inana is the Sumerian goddess of
- 15:32love, war and fertility. Her worship was centered in
- 15:36Urich. Ishtar is the Akkadian, Assyrian
- 15:40and Babylonian counterpart to Inanna.
- 15:44The two were widely identified with one another and share
- 15:47numerous myths and attributes such as being associated with
- 15:51the planet Venus. Like the love God, you know,
- 15:55kind of thing that goes on that people talk about.
- 15:57OK, Queen of Heaven is an epitet or title applied to both Inanna
- 16:04and Ishtar, and then Ashtoreth or Astarte is the northwest
- 16:11Semitic, Canaanite, and Phoenician counterpart to
- 16:15Ishtar, also known as the Queen of Heaven in the Bible and
- 16:19associated with fertility and war.
- 16:22So all three of them essentially represent one goddess, they just
- 16:28go by different names from different cultures.
- 16:30And that was something I was suspecting, but I didn't to
- 16:34realize it until they searched all this.
- 16:36I thought maybe they were all the same.
- 16:37But in instance, Inana, Ishtar and Astarte are different
- 16:42cultural names for the same core mother slash warrior goddess
- 16:48archetype that spread across the region.
- 16:51Now this, I think this is spiritual be it's like something
- 16:57like, OK, they call it a goddess.
- 17:00So it's something spiritual that may have manifested to people.
- 17:04There are depictions of it that are similar.
- 17:11There are images that are similar.
- 17:13So these people are seeing the same thing and they've
- 17:17documented it. They tell the same story about
- 17:21it and just think this is this is kind of how Israel got
- 17:26corrupted. All of the nations surrounding
- 17:30Israel. Well, God wanted them to be set
- 17:32apart. He didn't want them to
- 17:34participate in these other ones. God chose them.
- 17:37And so he didn't want them worshipping something else,
- 17:40which everybody else was worshipping something else.
- 17:43And so they had this desire to be like the other people.
- 17:48You know, they wanted a king like the other people, for
- 17:50instance. That's one example.
- 17:53And then when you live nearby people and you start
- 17:55participating and you become friends with them, then you
- 17:57start adapting some of their cultural things that they do.
- 18:02And so this is what happened to the Israelites.
- 18:05Now, a way that the enemy of God can destroy people and lead them
- 18:12into sin and sin is a, you know, it's, I guess technically it
- 18:18means missing the mark. And the mark would be abiding in
- 18:23all of God's commandments where all people do sin.
- 18:26We all break the commandments God gave us.
- 18:29And there's apparently no way for no one has ever been
- 18:33successful in not sinning except for Jesus.
- 18:37And so he was the only one. And that was a problem because
- 18:42no one who sins can be in the presence of God because sin
- 18:46separates us from God. So getting back to the enemy of
- 18:52God wants people to sin because that separates us from sin and
- 18:58it makes it to where we can't be in God's presence.
- 19:02Jesus made it way possible for it, but prior to Jesus death on
- 19:08the cross, there really wasn't a way that people could overcome
- 19:13that. And the enemy of God kept luring
- 19:16the our gods chosen people into like manipulating them,
- 19:23deceiving them, leading them into seducing things like this
- 19:29is the goddess of love and fertility.
- 19:32You know, basically sex and the Canaanites that surrounded the
- 19:38OR that were in the land before the Israelites went into the
- 19:41land, they had temple prostitutes.
- 19:44So in their form of worship, sex was a part of it.
- 19:49Now, what man wouldn't want to be involved with that?
- 19:52So that's the way the enemy was destroying, was leading them
- 19:57seductively, deceptively into these practices like this.
- 20:02And then they became idolaters. They were worshipping another
- 20:05God because, oh, this is way more fun than what we're doing,
- 20:08you know, and that's the enemy doing this.
- 20:12And. People were blind to it.
- 20:15They didn't understand this, and they didn't understand why God
- 20:18said there shall be no other gods and do not worship anyone
- 20:22other than me. And if people listened and paid
- 20:24attention and obeyed God's commandments, they wouldn't fall
- 20:29into sin. But the enemy is very crafty and
- 20:33clever with luring people into it.
- 20:36Now this these entities were also, they were kind of like
- 20:40women, I guess, feminine, but they were also masculine because
- 20:44they were about war as well. And so they were, you know,
- 20:49somewhat of an an androgynous being kind of weird, like kind
- 20:53of a little bit of both. And when I knowing that, it
- 20:58makes me think like, is that spirit affecting us today?
- 21:03Is that spirit just like really going hard after all mankind?
- 21:09Because it's somewhat to me, it represents the trans movement
- 21:15and the the things that God in the Bible calls abominations,
- 21:21like luring people into sexual things that God says are
- 21:24abominations. And it's no different than what
- 21:28was happening in the ancient times, but it's luring people
- 21:33into them, into these things that will separate them from
- 21:37God. And I think we just need to open
- 21:40our eyes to it and realize that, you know, nobody wants to think
- 21:45like, Oh my gosh, I have been deceived by something spiritual.
- 21:50I've been LED into something that God hates by something, you
- 21:56know, like I wasn't in. I guess we're ultimately in
- 21:59control of it, but if we don't know it exists, how are you
- 22:01going to resist it? Why are you going to resist it?
- 22:04What's your reasoning for resisting it if you just think
- 22:08it's just you, that it's just you that feels this way?
- 22:11But what if it's something spiritual that's influencing
- 22:15you, that's maybe putting thoughts in your head and then
- 22:18you're acting upon it? And then, you know, most people
- 22:21who sin or do something wrong, they say the more that they do
- 22:24it, they there's a lot of things that happen.
- 22:26They want it more whenever they're doing something that
- 22:28they know is wrong and they become like almost addicted to
- 22:32it, where they can't stop whatever it is that they're
- 22:35doing because they're so entrenched in it.
- 22:38And that is true that, you know, people are weak, but that's
- 22:43where we need God. That's where we need the Holy
- 22:46Spirit because the Holy Spirit can help us overcome that.
- 22:50So we don't do that. And there's many people who have
- 22:54testified, again, testified about this, that that happened
- 22:57in their life. It's not just made-up.
- 22:59The Holy Spirit actually gives us power.
- 23:01That's one of the gifts of the Spirit is power, power to
- 23:06overcome sin. And we are weak, there's no
- 23:10question about it. But that doesn't mean we stay
- 23:12that way. If we just rely on ourselves and
- 23:14we try to overcome everything by ourself, yeah, we're probably
- 23:18going to have a really tough time with it.
- 23:19But when we turn it over to God and say, God, help me with this,
- 23:23I'm really, truly coming to you. Help me with it.
- 23:26That's what God does. So I kind of got a little bit
- 23:29off track there, but the point was that I think this the
- 23:34spiritual entity is still, I know it's alive still because
- 23:39it's going to be dealt with by God in the very last days.
- 23:43So the spirit of Babylon is still alive today and still
- 23:47affecting us. And I do think the spirit of
- 23:50Babylon is the, the female goddess entity.
- 23:54And then there's a separate male entity that may just be that
- 23:58might be the, the, the Satan part or, or Satan's appearing
- 24:01like both of these things. I have no idea.
- 24:03Well, maybe find out someday in the end.
- 24:06So the male deities are Belle, Bale, Marduk, Molech, Kemish.
- 24:11If you look into these things, you will see that some of our
- 24:14current entertainment, like I think it was, yeah, there's
- 24:19there's a lot of entertainment that does reflect this.
- 24:26There are lots of events that are very similar to Bale worship
- 24:31and modern things and music and techno stuff.
- 24:37I mean, it's like look into this stuff if you don't believe it
- 24:41and you will start seeing how this kind of worship is still
- 24:44going on through culturally accepted things that are
- 24:48happening today. So anyway, the male deities,
- 24:51Bell, Bell, Marduk, Mullah, Keemish, they are linked
- 24:54similarly, primarily through linguistic relation and the
- 24:59phenomenon of syncretism. Bell is an E Semitic word
- 25:04meaning Lord or master. It is a title cognant to the
- 25:08northwest Semitic word Baal, which also means owner or Lord.
- 25:14Now that's always interesting when you see owner there because
- 25:17God talks about us. Well, he talks about people
- 25:20being in slavery to sin. So Baal is an owner.
- 25:24Isn't that interesting? OK, so Marduk was the God of
- 25:29Babylon. As Babylon rose to power, Marduk
- 25:31was elevated to the head of the pantheon and the title Bell was
- 25:36especially used for him in a Syrian and Neo Babylonian
- 25:39context, effectively making Bell Marduk a common reference.
- 25:45Bail was a prominent storm and fertility God in the Canaanite
- 25:51pantheon, worshipped by the Israelites neighbors.
- 25:55So again now we have Bail fertility, which of course
- 26:00involves sex, right? Or agricultural also.
- 26:04So Bail is, you know, coming that way against the people too.
- 26:09Kemish was the chief national God of the Moabites, a people
- 26:15neighboring the Canaanites and Israelites.
- 26:18Some evidence suggests Kemish was a deity similar to Bail or
- 26:24possibly a manifestation of the same God.
- 26:28So that's kind of my theory is that all these people called it
- 26:31was the same entity, but they were calling it by different
- 26:34things because they had the same traits and they did the same
- 26:38things. So Molech is often linked to
- 26:41Bail. Some scholars believe Molech was
- 26:45not a specific deities name, but rather a term associated with
- 26:48the practice of child sacrifice by fire, possibly to Bail or
- 26:54Kemus during times of crisis. The name itself lightly comes
- 26:58likely comes from the combining of the Hebrew word Malik, which
- 27:02is king with vowels from bosheth, which is shame and the
- 27:08king of shame. Isn't that interesting?
- 27:10By putting those two together And you know, when we get into
- 27:14the child sacrifice, the modern version of that is abortion and
- 27:19that's happening today and people do not see anything wrong
- 27:23with not I'm not saying everybody, but you know, our
- 27:26world thinks it's OK. Just like these people back at
- 27:30this time thought child sacrifice was OK when you nobody
- 27:34wants to because this, I mean, child sacrifice sounds so
- 27:37barbaric back then. But if you really thought about
- 27:41what happens in an abortion, it's just as barbaric as
- 27:46throwing your child into a fire. Because what they describe is
- 27:51they're like the the fetus, the infant child, the child that's
- 27:56there, the human being that's there gets pulled apart
- 28:00depending on what stage, you know, of the pregnancy, the
- 28:04person that's in. And it's just completely
- 28:06gruesome what happens. And anyone who's done it
- 28:10probably was not told or shown what was going to happen to the
- 28:16human being that was growing inside of them.
- 28:20So it's just, but again, this is, I think spiritual warfare.
- 28:25We don't fight against people. We're fighting against the
- 28:27spiritual entity this that is at war or, you know, if there's
- 28:31multiple of them who are at war with, with God.
- 28:35And so they are influencing our world, influencing us as people.
- 28:40And let's, you know, the best thing we can do is, you know,
- 28:47turn away from them and realize that, you know, we've been
- 28:52deceived into thinking this was nothing.
- 28:54But it's something. And it's happening to separate
- 28:58us from God, to keep us from the inheritance, to keep us from
- 29:02living in the Kingdom of God. And don't get upset with other
- 29:05people. But it's a spiritual entity.
- 29:09And the way that we battle spiritual entities is with the
- 29:13Holy Spirit, having the Holy Spirit with us.
- 29:16And the very simple way that is told to us through the Bible is
- 29:21resist. Resist the devil and he will
- 29:24flee. We're not punching him.
- 29:26We're not going after him in any kind of way with prayer.
- 29:28Prayer and fasting, that's another way too.
- 29:30But God says resist. That's not a battle.
- 29:36I mean, I'm sure it's hard, but just resisting, it's it, it
- 29:42could be harder. So we just need to look at the
- 29:46power and that comes from God and the information, the
- 29:52powerful information that we get from the Bible on how to battle
- 29:55these things. So we've spent enough time, but
- 29:59you know, God talking about Bell and Marduk.
- 30:02Bell will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror, her
- 30:05images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.
- 30:09Now this is probably a translation thing where it says
- 30:12her images. Oh, Babylon is a her.
- 30:15That's right. So anyway is referred to as a
- 30:20her similar to Israel is referred to as her also OK going
- 30:25back to verse 3A nation from the north will attack her and lay
- 30:29waste her land. No one will live in it.
- 30:32Both people and animals will flee away in those days at that
- 30:37time declares the Lord. So when I hear that, I think is
- 30:42this kind of like a partially filled prophecy, which is what I
- 30:46think that part of it did get fulfilled with Babylon.
- 30:50But then as I'm reading this commentary in the study Bible
- 30:53that I have, it seems like it's, you know, they're trying to say
- 30:59this is what happened, but it's it's not entirely accurate.
- 31:04And what we keep finding is that some prophecies get partially
- 31:10fulfilled or they are a foreshadowing of something
- 31:14greater that is to come. That's often what it is.
- 31:16It's kind of like a small almost like what's eventually going to
- 31:21happen, but it's showing people. So I really truly think that
- 31:27this message about Babylon is something that is even in our
- 31:30future yet, like it hasn't fully happened yet.
- 31:34And and there's reasons for saying that it says a nation
- 31:40from the north will attack her. So the, the lands that are,
- 31:44let's see, there's a several different things that I wanted
- 31:49to talk about here was OK, the different countries, like when
- 31:57you say what countries are north of Iraq today just to get modern
- 32:01countries, because it's always helpful to think about these
- 32:04things in modern day countries to make sense of it.
- 32:07Otherwise it's like, where is this?
- 32:09What are they talking about? South Iraq is surrounded.
- 32:13The northern parts of it would be kind of in the northwestern
- 32:18side would be Syria, but directly north would be Turkey
- 32:23and then in the northeastern side would be Iran.
- 32:27So you have potentially Syria, Turkey and Iran.
- 32:32Could they potentially come against Iraq?
- 32:36I don't know. Let's you know things change all
- 32:40the time in the Middle East and and you know, just things to
- 32:44keep watch of and and use the using the Bible is probably the
- 32:52best source because even science has to correct itself.
- 32:56But the Bible stands true and it doesn't need correction.
- 33:01Sometimes when we see what's in the Bible and we say, oh, that
- 33:03doesn't match up with what we know today, what happens usually
- 33:07is that what happens consistently is that what we
- 33:10know today changes and actually what the Bible says holds true.
- 33:14So the Bible is a great source for truth.
- 33:20It is the way the truth and the life Jesus is.
- 33:22So anyway, I don't know where I had this first one.
- 33:30So OK, I'm getting lost in all the different tabs that I had
- 33:35opened up about Babylon and all this.
- 33:38So Babylon's another interesting place when I talked about I
- 33:42missed this in explaining about Babylon is in Iraq.
- 33:46And it seems like somewhere in this area was where the the
- 33:51original Eden was located. And the only reason that you can
- 33:56come to that conclusion is if you go into the book of Genesis
- 33:59and it talks about the rivers that were inside of Eden are
- 34:04there were like four or five rivers and it names the rivers
- 34:07and one of those was the Euphrates River.
- 34:09So that's how it kind of ties to the Garden of Eden was probably
- 34:13somewhere in this place. And is this a spiritual warfare
- 34:18over that area? I mean, there's just, there's a
- 34:21lot of questions that we don't have the answers to.
- 34:23And I don't think, you know, it wasn't important for Jesus to
- 34:25tell us all of that. Like he said, you know, I'm
- 34:28trying to tell you about earthly things and you don't even
- 34:30understand that. So how can I tell you about
- 34:32heavenly things? But it's really interesting
- 34:36because there's this shot Al Gila River.
- 34:39It's a branch of the Euphrates and it's a critical water supply
- 34:43for the Gila region, which is in Iraq.
- 34:45But it's water is facing significant issues due to
- 34:49reduced flow from upstream dams and pollution.
- 34:53The decreasing water levels are forcing farmers to rely on
- 34:57groundwater, which is also being depleted.
- 35:01Water quality is poor with high concentrations of pollutants
- 35:05like nitrates and sulfates, exacerbated by sewage,
- 35:08industrial waste and agricultural runoff.
- 35:12So the reason I even bring that up is because of what these
- 35:16prophecies say about Babylon and its waters.
- 35:20What will happen? It essentially says that their
- 35:23waters will dry up. And so there's you if you search
- 35:29online, is the Euphrates River drying up?
- 35:32You can kind of these things about that.
- 35:34There's a similar prophecy, I believe about the Nile, which is
- 35:37not in the same area, but that is also written in prophecy.
- 35:42And we see that that is also happening.
- 35:44And of course, there's all these scientific explanations of why
- 35:50it's happening, but the Bible told us it would.
- 35:53So again, this is another way where the Bible is true once
- 35:57again. So, oh, here's something else
- 36:01that in my study Bible was talking about the nation from
- 36:04north. What was this nation from north?
- 36:06And here's the explanation the study Bible gave in Jeremiah.
- 36:10The nation from the north is almost always Babylon.
- 36:13But here. So Babylon is the one we're
- 36:15talking about though. That's the one this could be be
- 36:17destroyed. But here is probably media.
- 36:21So I was like, oh, OK, media. And so I just searched did did
- 36:26the Medes destroy Babylon? Listen to what it says.
- 36:30No, the Medes did not destroy Babylon.
- 36:33Rather the Medo Persians, a combined army led by Cyrus the
- 36:38Great of Persia, which is modern day Iran, conquered the city in
- 36:43539 BC. While the prophecy of the Medes
- 36:46conquering Babylon is mentioned in some religious texts, the
- 36:50actual actual conquest was a joint effort by the Medes and
- 36:54the Persians, with the Persians ultimately leading the charge.
- 36:58The city itself was not violently destroyed, but rather
- 37:02fell with minimal resistance as the Persians diverted the
- 37:06Euphrates River and entered the city during a festival.
- 37:10So it was, it was kind of it seems like a kind of a gradual
- 37:14thing, the way it's written, you know, the way it's documented
- 37:17in, in history, but the way the Bible says this is going to be
- 37:21like a sudden thing that happens.
- 37:24And that's why I think this is both a partially fulfilled
- 37:28prophecy and also a future prophecy to be fulfilled simply
- 37:32because in the Book of Revelation, which is at the end,
- 37:35it talks about mystery Babylon. And so it tells us that about
- 37:40the destruction of Mystery Babylon, which is very similar
- 37:43to what this prophecy Jeremiah gave talks about South.
- 37:48Jeremiah probably didn't know that he was giving a prophecy
- 37:52that was going to ultimately be fulfilled thousands and
- 37:55thousands of years later. But it is seems like that is
- 37:58what is happening. So anyway, it says Persia though
- 38:04was a nation that destroyed Babylon in 539 BC, not media.
- 38:10After the rise of the Persian king Cyrus in 550 BC, the Medes
- 38:13became subordinate to Persians. Therefore the Persians who lived
- 38:18east east of Babylon came to Babylon from the north.
- 38:21Perhaps Jeremiah was using the irony by borrowing the same
- 38:24phrase that had originally been used of Babylon.
- 38:27Now Babylon, the nation from the north, would itself be judged by
- 38:31another nation from the north. Sometimes I think we struggle to
- 38:35understand what's in the Bible and so by you know, and, and
- 38:40rightfully so, you know, they there were there was terrain.
- 38:45This is how it was basically explained.
- 38:47There was terrain that prevented them from just going direct
- 38:50West. So instead they went up north
- 38:54and then came down to attack different countries or nations.
- 38:59And so that was the path. I mean, it's like all the
- 39:02destroyers come from the north, but in in the biblical sense,
- 39:07not all, but I mean, a lot of them do.
- 39:09And so the question is, you know, are we just like trying to
- 39:14make sense of what the Bible says or is, and based on what
- 39:19happened in hindsight, saying, well, it was actually the Medes
- 39:22and the Persians that conquered Babylon.
- 39:24So I guess they had to travel up and then they had to come down.
- 39:27So they came from the north instead of which they did
- 39:32instead of, OK, maybe that was a partial fulfillment.
- 39:34But ultimately, what if it's Turkey or Iran or Syria or an
- 39:41alliance of the three that come after Iraq?
- 39:47I don't know. I mean, it hasn't happened yet
- 39:50and we can't predict what the future is, but this is what the
- 39:53Bible says. So and later on the Bible talks
- 39:57about an alliance out of the North.
- 39:59So but that could also be the media, Persians, maybe because
- 40:03that was an alliance. So it could be like a double
- 40:06fulfillment. It's just that prophecy is so
- 40:10hard to understand. So we just have to keep an open
- 40:12mind and keep watchful. And when we see things that we
- 40:17just need to study it and pray to God about understanding it.
- 40:22So anyway, it says that a nation from the north will attack her
- 40:26and lay her, lay waste her land. No one will live it.
- 40:29Both people and animals will flee away in those days at that
- 40:33time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people
- 40:36of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their
- 40:41God. Does that make sense?
- 40:45The people of Israel and the people of Judah will go in tears
- 40:49to seek the Lord at that time. It sounds like there's something
- 40:52else going on besides just, I guess, I don't know.
- 40:59I mean, it seems, you know, maybe it's because they were
- 41:01exiled into Babylon that they were going to the Lord because
- 41:05they're being conquered once again.
- 41:07That could be so they will ask the way to Zion and turn their
- 41:12faces toward it. So it sounds like repentance
- 41:15here. They will come and bind
- 41:18themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will
- 41:22not be forgotten. So God already made that
- 41:26everlasting covenant with them, but this time are they?
- 41:31I mean, is this referring to this time or is it referring to
- 41:36something in the future when they will never ever again break
- 41:41their covenant with God? It remains to be seen says my
- 41:46people have have been lost sheep, their shepherds have LED
- 41:51them astray. So their religious leaders,
- 41:55their leadership has LED them astray and caused them to roam
- 41:59on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and
- 42:02hill and forgot their own resting place.
- 42:06God gave them a land and, and they told them what they needed
- 42:09to do to keep it, but they didn't listen.
- 42:11So whoever found them devoured them.
- 42:14Their enemies said we are not guilty for they sinned against
- 42:18the Lord, their verdant pasture, the Lord, the hope of their
- 42:23ancestors. So all the enemies think that,
- 42:27you know, we're not guilty for this.
- 42:29We, you know, they, they did wrong.
- 42:31So if we punish them, it's no big deal.
- 42:34And God did use Israel's enemies many times to bring judgement
- 42:38upon them. Then it says, flee out of
- 42:41Babylon, leave the land of the Babylonians and be like the
- 42:46goats that lead the flock. Well, I thought this analogy of
- 42:51a goat leaving lead that lead the flock.
- 42:55Daniel had that dream about the goat and the ram and the goat
- 43:00was, I think, symbolic of Turkey or Yavon and Turkey is part of
- 43:06the northern land. And then the ram was actually
- 43:10Iran or Persia or Medes and pers Persian.
- 43:13So but I just thought it was interesting like the goats.
- 43:17And then there's also the sheep versus the goat and the sheep
- 43:20were the followers of Christ. You know, in the are the
- 43:23followers of the Lord. Just like a few sentences ago,
- 43:28it's talked about the sheep with the shepherds leading them
- 43:30astray. Now it's talking flee about out
- 43:32of Babylon and be like the goats that lead the flock for I will
- 43:37stir up and bring against Babylon.
- 43:39Here it goes, an alliance of great nations from the land of
- 43:44the north. So who is this alliance of great
- 43:48nations from the land of the north?
- 43:50We don't know and hindsight will know.
- 43:52But again, who are the where are the nations right now that are
- 43:57north of Iraq? It would be Syria, Turkey and
- 44:00Iran. They will take up their
- 44:03positions against her, and from the north she will be captured.
- 44:06Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not
- 44:09return empty handed. So Babylonia will be plundered.
- 44:12All who plunder her will have their fill, declares the Lord.
- 44:16Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my
- 44:19inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain,
- 44:23and nay, like stallions. Your mother will be greatly
- 44:26ashamed. She who gave you birth will be
- 44:30disgraced. She will be the least of the
- 44:33nation's a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.
- 44:37Because of the Lord's anger, she will not be inhabited, but will
- 44:44be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be
- 44:48appalled. They will scoff because of all
- 44:51her wounds. Take up your position around
- 44:54Babylon. All you who draw the bow, shoot
- 44:59at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.
- 45:07This is something else that God sometimes uses enemies his his
- 45:12enemies, enemies against enemies for his purpose.
- 45:16So if if 2 that are enemies instead of them being united,
- 45:22they go against each other and battle each other.
- 45:25God does that a lot. So she has sinned against the
- 45:28Lord, shout against her on every side.
- 45:30She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are turned torn down.
- 45:34Since this is the vengeance of the Lord now that I think is
- 45:39probably future, the vengeance, that's like a final thing that
- 45:43happens and God says, you know, leave the vengeance to me.
- 45:47Like that's going to be at the end.
- 45:48People may not get punished on in the short term, but long
- 45:55term, if they don't repent, if they don't change and turn their
- 45:58ways, they're going to get the vengeance of God, the wrath of
- 46:03God. So since this is the vengeance
- 46:06of the Lord, take vengeance on her to do to her as she has done
- 46:10to others. See, there's that justice God's
- 46:14only giving what she's done. You know what the nation has
- 46:17done, cut off from Babylon, the sower and the Reaper with his
- 46:22sickle at harvest. So this is interesting.
- 46:27Cut off from Babylon, the sower, who is the sower.
- 46:30In a parable that Jesus told, the sower was Satan and the
- 46:35Reaper with his sickle at harvest.
- 46:38So there's that great wine press that's going to happen.
- 46:41That's talked about in the Book of Revelation where Jesus, you
- 46:45know, crushes people because of the sword of the oppressor.
- 46:51Let everyone return to their own people.
- 46:54Let everyone flee to their own land.
- 46:56Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away.
- 47:00The first to devour them was the king of Assyria.
- 47:05So the king of Assyria is the one who overthrew the 10 tribes
- 47:10that called themselves Israel, and then the last to crush their
- 47:14bones was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
- 47:17Babylon is the one who defeated the southern Kingdom of Judah.
- 47:22So both of them got destroyed because of their idolatry.
- 47:27Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel
- 47:31says. I will punish the king of
- 47:33Babylon and his land. I as I punished the king of
- 47:38Assyria, but I will bring Israel back to their own pasture and
- 47:44they will graze on Carmel and Bashan.
- 47:47Those are both well, Carmel is in northwestern Israel, and I'm
- 47:53not sure if I'm saying it correctly, but Bashan is in
- 47:56Syria. Their appetite will be satisfied
- 47:59on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
- 48:02So that's the Hill Country northeast of Jerusalem is where
- 48:08Ephraim is. And then Gilead is like in
- 48:14Palestine or northwestern Jordan in those days at that time.
- 48:19So again, this is future and is it really far future or just
- 48:23their immediate future in those days at that time declares the
- 48:25Lord. Search will be made for Israel's
- 48:28guilt, but there will be none and for the sins of Judah, but
- 48:33none will be found for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
- 48:37Now this I definitely they think is the end times because that
- 48:43only happens like in the end when Jesus returns.
- 48:49Prior to that, yeah, that's not happening.
- 48:52And there's this remnant that's talked about in Revelation.
- 48:55There's 144,012 thousand from each tribe of Israel.
- 49:01I mean, when I say each tribe, the tribe of Dan is not
- 49:04mentioned. So, but there's the tribe of
- 49:10Manasseh that's in there and I can't, I guess Ephraim's in
- 49:14there too. But it's, yeah, it's
- 49:17interesting. Look up the 144,000 and you'll
- 49:19see the different tribes that are represented.
- 49:21There's 12,000 from 12 tribes. OK, Attack the land of Maratham
- 49:28and those who live in Pecod. So those are both in Iraq.
- 49:32Pursue, kill and completely destroy them, declares the Lord.
- 49:36Do everything I have commanded you.
- 49:38The noise of the battle is in the land, the noise of great
- 49:43destruction. How broken and shattered is the
- 49:45hammer of the whole earth? How desolate is Babylon among
- 49:50the nations? I set a trap for you, Babylon.
- 49:53And you were caught before you knew it.
- 49:55You were found and captured because you opposed the Lord.
- 49:59So again, he's giving a reason because you opposed the Lord.
- 50:03And it says it refers to Babylon as the hammer of the whole
- 50:08earth, the entire world. The Lord has opened his arsenal
- 50:14and brought out his weapons of wrath.
- 50:17So that sounds like, again, it's the end times because because of
- 50:23the wrath for the sovereign Lord Almighty has worked to do in the
- 50:27land of the Babylonians, come against her from afar, break
- 50:32open her granaries, pile her up like heaps of grain, completely
- 50:37destroy her and leave no remnant.
- 50:42Kill all her young bulls. Let them go down to the
- 50:45slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has
- 50:49come, the time for them to be punished.
- 50:53Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring
- 50:57in Zion how the Lord our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for
- 51:02his temple. So here's a question too.
- 51:06Is this vengeance for the second temple or is there something
- 51:12that's going to happen relative to the third temple?
- 51:15Just a question and a thought and we can't answer that right
- 51:18now. We'll just have to wait and see.
- 51:20But is, is some of the stuff, does it come about?
- 51:23I mean, there's a lot of stuff on the Temple mount.
- 51:26Is there going to be something that that happens?
- 51:29And then it says summon Archers against Babylon, all those who
- 51:33draw the bow. What's really interesting is
- 51:36that if you search in the Bible, The Archers are usually
- 51:41Arabians. Like I, I think it was Ishmael
- 51:45that God said he'd make him a great hunter.
- 51:48And then it talks about these great Archers.
- 51:51So it's very consistent throughout the Bible about who
- 51:55The Archers are. It's like there's these Arabian
- 51:58tribe Ishmael descendants and just kind of interesting too,
- 52:06like who these could potentially be and Ishmael descendants.
- 52:14This is kind of interesting too, just it's somewhat relative just
- 52:21because the area that we're talking about.
- 52:22But Kadar was one of Ishmael's sons, and apparently Muhammad,
- 52:32the Islamic Muhammad is supposedly a descendant of
- 52:37Kadar. And so I was curious and just
- 52:40thought like, who are the descendants from the biblical
- 52:43Kadar? And I looked that up.
- 52:45And so there's Saudi Arabia, which is the northern portion,
- 52:49there's Jordan and Iraq. So just interesting history and
- 52:56descendants that I stumbled upon while doing a study for this.
- 53:01So in camp all around her, let no one escape, repair her, repay
- 53:06her for her deeds due to her, as she has done.
- 53:10For he's giving a reason again. For she has defied the Lord, the
- 53:15Holy One of Israel. Therefore her young men will
- 53:19fall in the streets. All her soldiers will be
- 53:22silenced in that day, declares the Lord.
- 53:26See, I am against you, you arrogant 1 declares the Lord,
- 53:30the Lord the Almighty, for your day has come, the time for you
- 53:33to be punished. The arrogant one will stumble
- 53:36and fall, and no one will help her up.
- 53:38I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who
- 53:42are around her. Now that's interesting too,
- 53:45because that's how Babylon is destroyed in Revelation by fire.
- 53:51This is what the Lord Almighty says.
- 53:53The people are of Israel are oppressed and the people of
- 53:57Judah as well, all their captors hold them fast, refusing to let
- 54:03them go. Now this is kind of a thing that
- 54:06seems to happen over and over. I mean, we just experienced it.
- 54:10I think there is one remaining hostage from October 7th, 2023,
- 54:16one hostage from Israel. He's passed away, but his
- 54:19remains are still in Hamas's control.
- 54:25They still have it. But you know, look at the times
- 54:29that Israel has been, their enemies have captured them, and
- 54:35this is just like over and over again.
- 54:37Do you not think this is spiritual after looking at
- 54:41history and seeing what's happened to Israel?
- 54:44It just seems so spiritual to me the more I look into it.
- 54:48Yes, their Redeemer is strong. The Lord Almighty is His name.
- 54:54So who is ultimately their Redeemer?
- 54:56The their Redeemer is Jesus on the cross because He paid the
- 54:59price for everyone's sins and He's the one who allows us.
- 55:03He's the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the
- 55:06Father except through Him. So back in Jeremiah again, we
- 55:13see a glimpse of a reference to Jesus.
- 55:17He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest
- 55:22to their land. But unrest to those who live in
- 55:25Babylon, to me this sounds again like God is fighting this
- 55:29battle. Like, is this Jesus when he
- 55:31returns? And the wrath of God that's
- 55:34coming on Babylon, is this the very, very end it?
- 55:39It does sound like that to me. A sword against the Babylonians
- 55:43declares the Lord against those who live in Babylon and against
- 55:47her officials and wise men. A sword against her false
- 55:51prophets, they will become fools.
- 55:53A sword against her warriors, they will be filled with terror.
- 55:57A sword against her horses and Chariots and all the foreigners
- 56:01in her ranks, they will become weaklings.
- 56:05A sword against her treasures, they will be plundered.
- 56:08A drought on her waters, they will dry up, for it is a land of
- 56:13idols. Idols that will go mad with
- 56:16terror. It's kind of interesting that
- 56:18terror gets used a lot. And here's that part where a
- 56:23drought on her waters, they will dry up, for it is a land of
- 56:26idols. And we see this is happening
- 56:28right now, and it's also prophesied.
- 56:33So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and the out and
- 56:37there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited
- 56:41or lived in from generation to generation.
- 56:45As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their
- 56:47neighboring towns. No one will live there.
- 56:51No, people will dwell in it. So I don't know the full extent
- 56:57of Babylon, but there's certainly people living in Iraq.
- 57:00And what part is considered Babylon?
- 57:03I mean, how much of it, when I was looking up the, it's a
- 57:07UNESCO site where this, I guess this Marduk temple or whatever
- 57:12is, and it was talking about the neighboring towns just getting
- 57:15very encroaching upon this UNESCO's world site, World
- 57:22Heritage site. And, and so are people living in
- 57:27there technically? And is this something future
- 57:29that, you know, maybe they're not per SE living where the
- 57:33temple was built or some of the artifacts are, but is it
- 57:38considered, should we consider Babylon occupied or not at this
- 57:42point? And is this a really a future
- 57:45prophecy? Look, an army is coming from the
- 57:48north, a great nation and many kings.
- 57:52So here again this is an alliance are being stirred up
- 57:59from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and
- 58:02Spears. They are cruel and without
- 58:05mercy. They sound like the roaring sea
- 58:08as they ride on their horses. They come like men in battle
- 58:11formation to attack you. Daughter Babylon, the king of
- 58:14Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp.
- 58:19The limp hands seem to be a consistent depiction of this end
- 58:25times. It's it's often that's usually
- 58:28what it's described. I mean, that's how it's
- 58:30described. Anguish has gripped them, pain
- 58:33like that of a woman in labor. Again, this is like those birth
- 58:37pains that get talked about like Jesus talks about in Matthew 24.
- 58:41Like a lion coming up from the Jordan's thickets is a rich
- 58:44pasture land. I will chase Babylon from its
- 58:47land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will
- 58:51appoint for this? Who is like me and who can
- 58:54challenge me? And what shepherd can stand
- 58:57against me? Therefore here with the Lord has
- 58:59planned against Babylon what He has purposed against the land of
- 59:02the Babylonians. The young of the flocks will be
- 59:05dragged away. Their pasture will be appalled
- 59:07at their fate. At the sound of Babylon's
- 59:10capture, the earth will tremble. Its cry will resound among the
- 59:16nations. So when Jesus returns this great
- 59:19earthquake and then also in mystery Babylon in the Book of
- 59:23Revelation, it talks about like all the people seeing the
- 59:27destruction of Babylon and just being in great shock at what
- 59:32happens to Babylon. And so anyway that that is the
- 59:38end of chapter 50. So I will read the questions and
- 59:42answers from the Study Bible and then we will wrap this up.
- 59:48So when would the people of Israel and Judah seek God
- 59:51together? Some think this happened after
- 59:54Cyrus defeated Babylon in 539 BC and allowed Jews of both
- 59:58captivities, the Assyrian and the Babylonian, to return to the
- 1:00:01land of Judah and worship together in Jerusalem.
- 1:00:04Others think this is still a future event that will happen
- 1:00:07during the thousand year reign of Christ.
- 1:00:10Revelation 20 verse 4. So again, the Study Bible thinks
- 1:00:14this is probably about. Are some people I guess think
- 1:00:17it's about this future too, called the Millennium?
- 1:00:22So what was this everlasting covenant?
- 1:00:24This refers to the renewed and enlarged promise God originally
- 1:00:28made to Abraham, Moses and David.
- 1:00:31Here God promised his people a new and improved covenant
- 1:00:34relationship, one that was brought about by Christ.
- 1:00:38It is called the New Covenant. Jeremiah may have been putting
- 1:00:45word Oh wait, how did Judah's enemies know so much about
- 1:00:49Judah's God? Jeremiah may have been putting
- 1:00:52words in the mouths of Judah's enemies to highlight Judah's
- 1:00:55guilt. On the other hand, the logic of
- 1:00:58Judah's enemies the logic of Judah's enemies would have led
- 1:01:02them to think Judah's God was either too weak to win or had
- 1:01:06abandoned his own people. Why would God want vengeance
- 1:01:10against Babylon? Why would God judge the nation
- 1:01:13he had used to punish Judah? Because sin is sin.
- 1:01:17True, Babylon's destruction of Judah was to put a holy use by
- 1:01:21God. He used Babylon to punish Judah.
- 1:01:24Nevertheless, rape, murder, and pillage were sins for which
- 1:01:28Babylon would eventually be judged.
- 1:01:31The The Babylonians unwittingly fulfilled God's purposes.
- 1:01:36They still had to answer for their excessive methods and
- 1:01:38ungodly motives. They slaughtered God's people
- 1:01:41and raised Jerusalem for their own interests, not God's.
- 1:01:45So God. Again, here's an example of free
- 1:01:48will. The Babylonians had free will.
- 1:01:51They desired to destroy Jerusalem or Israel, and God
- 1:01:55wanted to punish Israel. Not wanted, but out of he wants
- 1:01:59to draw them into repentance, but there is a consequence of
- 1:02:02sin. And so God used Babylon who had
- 1:02:08the free will to do what they did, but he used it to
- 1:02:11accomplish his purpose. And yet at the same time he's
- 1:02:16not letting them go free from it.
- 1:02:19They also have to pay the price for what they've done.
- 1:02:23So that's another reason why when God says the vengeance is
- 1:02:27mine, it's best to leave it to God because if we say, well, God
- 1:02:31would go against this and we're going to the vengeance is going
- 1:02:34to be ours, then what if we took it too far?
- 1:02:38And what if God didn't want us to do that?
- 1:02:40What if God was going to wait and let that person get to a
- 1:02:44repentant state and we just short circuited that and didn't
- 1:02:49let that happen? Don't you think maybe God will
- 1:02:51punish us for doing something that we shouldn't have done?
- 1:02:54Maybe the timing wasn't right. Maybe it's not the time for that
- 1:02:58person to get punished for it because ultimately God wants
- 1:03:01everyone to repent and turn to him.
- 1:03:04So if we cut that short because we're trying to take vengeance
- 1:03:08that only God should do, we might want to think about that
- 1:03:11because whatever we do to somebody else may come back to
- 1:03:15us, if that. I mean, that's justice, right?
- 1:03:19So I don't know, something to think about, something that'll
- 1:03:23keep us from doing something that might be stupid.
- 1:03:26When would Israel be blameless? Something.
- 1:03:29This happened when the Jews were restored to the Promised Land
- 1:03:32after Babylon was defeated in 539 BC.
- 1:03:36God's justice then would have been set satisfied.
- 1:03:38Others point to the spiritual redemption that comes through
- 1:03:41Christ. Still others point to a future
- 1:03:44restoration of Israel they believe will occur after Christ
- 1:03:47returns. That's what I believe.
- 1:03:50So how did Babylon oppose the Lord?
- 1:03:52Ultimately, this includes their failure to worship God and give
- 1:03:56him the glory due to Him. More particularly, it includes
- 1:03:59attributing the success of their conquest to their own military
- 1:04:02ability or to the nation's gods, rather than to God, the one who
- 1:04:08actually had given them success. In the Cyrus Cylinder, for
- 1:04:13example, the praise. The praise goes to Marduk for
- 1:04:18his guidance. Was Jeremiah really saying that
- 1:04:22young bulls needed to be punished?
- 1:04:24No, this is figurative language referring to the people of
- 1:04:26Babylon, particularly the healthy young men of the
- 1:04:30Babylonian army. I am against you.
- 1:04:35Though this message of judgement is against Babylon, God
- 1:04:39delivered a similar message against Jerusalem.
- 1:04:43What did God mean by a sword against the Babylonians?
- 1:04:46This was a symbol of war and devastation.
- 1:04:49This this phrase was like command uttered by a ruler
- 1:04:53ordering that something take place.
- 1:04:55In this case, the order came from the Lord, with the result
- 1:04:58the Babylonians were overrun by the Medes and Persians in 539
- 1:05:02BC. Five times the command is issued
- 1:05:05a sword against, each time with gathering force.
- 1:05:09Jeremiah added another layer to the sentence against the
- 1:05:12Babylonians against one those who lived in her two against her
- 1:05:17false prophets, 3 her warriors, 4 her horses and Chariots, and
- 1:05:22five her treasures. So what northern army would
- 1:05:26attack Babylon In Jeremiah, the nation came from the north is
- 1:05:29almost always Babylon, but here it is probably Media which was
- 1:05:33located north of Babylon. Persia, though, was the nation
- 1:05:37that destroyed Babylon in 539, not Media.
- 1:05:40After the rise of Persian king Cyrus in 550, the Medes became
- 1:05:43subordinate to the Persians. Therefore, the Persians who
- 1:05:45lived east of Babylon came to the Babylon from north.
- 1:05:48Perhaps Jeremiah was using the irony by borrowing the same
- 1:05:51phrase that had originally been used of Babylon.
- 1:05:53Now, Babylon, the nation of the north, would itself be judged by
- 1:05:56another nation from the north, or it could be future and it
- 1:06:00could be a combination of an alliance of Syria, Turkey and
- 1:06:04Iran or any combination thereof. So that's another thing that we
- 1:06:08should just keep our minds open to that.
- 1:06:10What were Jordan's thickets? These were areas of dense brush
- 1:06:14along the banks of the river. Lions and other predators lived
- 1:06:17in the thickets and raided the flocks in the in the fertile
- 1:06:19plains and hillsides nearby. And that's the end of the
- 1:06:25questions and answers for chapter 51.
- 1:06:28So if this was beneficial, please subscribe and please
- 1:06:31share it with other people. The whole point is to make the
- 1:06:35Bible studying more interesting and to lead people to a good
- 1:06:41relationship with God, a relationship of repentance, and
- 1:06:44a relationship where we receive the Holy Spirit so that we can
- 1:06:47be in God's Kingdom because ultimately we want to be with
- 1:06:51God for eternity.