READING: Jeremiah 43-45, Hebrews 5
“I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt.”
Jeremiah 43:12
As much as I read the Bible, I’m continually amazed by the power of God. He’s so powerful, and He displays His power in such unique ways, that it’s almost hard to imagine at times. In today’s reading, God had warned His people to remain in Judah and not go to Egypt, but they rejected His Word. In turn, God sent through Jeremiah this next word of judgment on them: “I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he [Nebuchadnezzar] shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire” (Jer. 43:12-13).
The people of God had made their way to Egypt, but they had not landed in a place where God could not find them. In fact, God would bring judgment this way: He would raise up one pagan nation—the very nation He had used to judge His people—to bring judgment on another pagan nation. The Babylonians would conquer the Egyptians, and the temples of the Egyptian false gods would burn with fire. Even their most sacred pillars of sun worship would come down. Though the scholars differ on their understanding of these verses, it appears the Babylonians would conquer Egypt so readily that it would be with the ease of a shepherd who casually puts on his garment or a shepherd who easily flicks lice from his clothing.
The God of the Hebrews would use the Babylonians to reduce the Egyptians and to judge His fleeing people in the process—and neither the gods of the Babylonians nor the gods of the Egyptians could stop the process. Indeed, it is not the Babylonians that the Hebrews or the Egyptians should fear; it is God. No god of the world gets in the way of the God of the Bible.
ACTION STEPS:
- Praise God for His power today.
- Praise Him for the way He sovereignly moves history along.
PRAYER: “God, You are mighty. I bow my heart before You today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Jeremiah 46-47, Hebrews 6