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"What will you say when He punishes you?"

Text: Jeremiah 13:21

THE GRIM REALITY OF AN INVASION FROM THE NORTH

Much as the children of Judah may try and deny the reality of an invasion from the Babylonians, the facts must be faced! Jeremiah had to describe the painful reality of being conquered!

“Lift up your eyes and see
Those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?
What will you say when He punishes you?
For you have taught them
To be chieftains, to be head over you.
Will not pangs seize you,
Like a woman in labour?”
Jeremiah 13:20-21

1. “Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north”

a) This was part of the message given to the king and the queen mother.

b) They cannot but see the grim reality of an invasion from the North (2 Kings 24:9-12).

2. “Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful sheep?”

a) Unrealistic understanding of the royal family.

b) The people in the land.

i) “The flock that was given to you.”

ii) The “beautiful sheep”.

iii) The flock was scattered completely.

3. “What will you say when He punishes you? For you have taught them to be chieftains, to be head over you”

a) This punishment meted out to Judah had come from God Himself.

b) The new chieftains over the children of Judah.

i) They would not be the royal family.

ii) The enemies from the North would be the new rulers (chieftains).

4. “Will not pangs seize you, like a woman in labour?”

a) The royal family will suffer severely.

b) They would suffer like a pregnant woman in labour.

c) The pride they had stubbornly held on to would be their undoing.