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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Jeremiah 46

The portions of the prophetic writings that may at first seem least relevant to us today would have been among the most obviously relevant to those who first heard them in the day that they were written. Over the next several chapters, the oracles of God for foreign nations of the sixth century before Christ are presented for your profit. You can be sure that many people back in their day were very interested in what the Lord God had to say about places like Egypt, Philistia, and Moab. Are we right in dismissing these writings as unimportant?

It may be helpful to remember that God had no covenant relationship with these nations. Just as there is no covenant relationship between the Lord and any political entity today, the Lord was not in a special relationship with Egypt, that land that Jeremiah addresses in this chapter. This could not be said about Israel and Judah. They had the written Law of God in the Torah. They had the special place of God’s presence in the temple, and the rules of worship that included many festivals, sacrifices, offices, and regulations. They were the special people of God. The Egyptians were not. Yet God had something to say even to the Egyptians in their day, and He has a message for the world in our day.

The Lord is the One who rules over all the nations. By His providential plan, kingdoms rise and fall. Rulers come and go according to His will. Here God announces that the Babylonians will defeat the Egyptians. The Egyptians were a mighty military power, but they would be like a beautiful cow that is bitten by a nasty fly from the north. That bite would be her downfall.

Today the Lord has a covenant relationship with His church that is analogous to His special care for Israel under the Old Testament. Who then are the Egyptians of today? Passages such as this help us to see God’s judgment upon the men and nations of the world in every age, including today. We can see what God hates, and expect that He is teaching us something important about the judgment that will come upon the world. That judgment comes fully at the time of the return of Jesus Christ, when He will judge the living and the dead. Before that final day comes, the fall of nations is an expression of that Day of Judgment that is coming against the world.

What is it that God notes about Egypt that can help us understand His wrath? Egypt was proud. He thought that he ruled the world. He rises like the Nile and can overtake everyone all around him. He will cover the earth, and no nation will be able to escape. He will destroy cities and kill their inhabitants. He has great warriors under his command from many nations. But he will not win in a contest against the God of creation. It is the Lord God Almighty, the God of Jacob, who will bring the Babylonians into a position of supremacy above the Egyptians.

What will happen when the forces of Nebuchadnezzar are arrayed against the best of Pharaoh? The sword will devour the Egyptians according to God’s mighty plan. The Lord of hosts informs any who may survive to pack their bags for exile. The Lord knows the sins of Egypt. He knows the pride of their hearts, and the wickedness of their lives. He calls out their false gods by name, and taunts them with the words of his prophet. Their mighty ones will be face down on the ground in defeat. Their young women will be put to shame. Their gods will be of no use to them.

In contrast to this prophesy of devastation, God’s people who will go into exile in Babylon will be brought back by the Lord. They will return from the land of captivity. These words do not refer to the rebellious people of Judah that took refuge in Egypt. Those people will die. In contrast to them, the ones who have followed the Lord’s instruction to go to Babylon as exiles will be brought back and will begin a new life after the passage of time that the Lord has revealed.

God is not impressed with the pride of worldly men. He is not surprised with our achievements in the production of overwhelming weapons that can be used for our own warfare or sold to others who are seeking a technical advantage over their neighbors. He never stood in need of our great achievements in the creation of all kinds of products of communications and information technology. He still hates the pride of men and nations. He still sees the idolatries of the world, and finds it a very easy matter to take down false gods.

It is appalling when the covenant people of the Lord take refuge in the might of the world and in the methods of the world that are everywhere presented as the prudent man’s best solution for the progress of the kingdom of God. How dangerous it is to count God out when we make plans for His Kingdom. We somehow have come to the false conclusion that our pride and strength are the way to accomplish His success. How strange it is that when the Son of God came to save, that this strategy of worldly power was not His preferred way to bring His kingdom into being.

The cross exposes the folly of Egypt. Through the power of the cross enemies seen and unseen are put to flight. Through the preaching of the cross people are saved and kept in faith. The plan for the church cannot be some strange trusting in the latest silver bullet that the world has to offer. The name of the most powerful nations will soon be forgotten. The strongest powers of this world can be utterly overwhelmed in the twinkling of an eye. We do not want to be condemned with the world. We are the humble people of the Lord. We can only win by the power of God. It appears that this is just the way that He has planned this. Finding our security in worldliness is incompatible with the preaching of the message of the cross, and the living out of the power of the cross.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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