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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Jer. 51
This thought I have been stringing together regarding Babylon comes together even more in this chapter. It is all just one more picture of God’s plan for redemption of the world. God first shows us our guilt; that He alone is God and we need Him. He sends us all to Babylon, the representation of our guilt. However we, His people, who know our God, are not forgotten. “For Israel and Judah are not left widowed by their God, the LORD of Armies, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.” (Jer. 51:5). Though we are guilty, yet are we loved. So God promises to destroy our guilt. All we need to do is leave it behind. “Leave Babylon; save your lives, each of you! Don’t perish because of her guilt. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance” (Jer. 51:6a-b).
This was God’s plan from the start, to overcome our sinful nature and save us from our guilt. “…Because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her…” (from Jer. 51:11). God offers us all a chance to leave Babylon before her destruction. Those who choose to stay will suffer her fate, from which there is no escape. “Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches as far as the clouds.” (Jer. 51:9b). This is God’s plan for the world.
Jer. 52
Jeremiah’s words ended with chapter 51. This chapter, then, seems to be a recap, perhaps by Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, of the fulfilment of Jeremiah’s words. So maybe this chapter is simply a, “God said it would happen and it did” kind of statement. It is interesting, though, that it is an almost identical ending to that of 2 Kings. It feels important. I am curious about the reason for the recorded detail of the bronze pillars. Also, the number of people Nebuchadnezzar deported is jumping out at me. Only 4600 people?? Of all the people in Judah? That’s what I call a remnant!