“Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields!
The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.”
Jeremiah 51:11 (NIV)
What a blessing God gave Jeremiah in the last words He gave Jeremiah the prophet to speak.
Jeremiah wept as he spoke God’s Words of judgment over God’s people. He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. But these last Words did not make him weep- they are about the people who carried out the destruction of the temple, they are to be carried into the land of Babylon and read aloud and then cast into the Euphrates. It was God who judged His people, it was God who raised up Babylon for His purpose, and it is God who will take vengeance on the nation of Babylon who destroyed His temple.
God’s people love the temple-they love the place where God dwells with His people.
God loves it more- He loves the place where He dwells with His people, the place of confession, the place of worship, the place of blessing and grace- He loves it so much that He will utterly destroy the people who destroy it. In our age of grace local churches are the temple of God, the place where His glory dwells among men. We feel sad when we see churches fade into nothing – God remembers who caused it and destroys them. I don’t want to be that person.
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