Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Fear was all around"
Text: Jeremiah 46:5
THE BATTLE OF CARCHEMISH
The Egyptians went into battle with great confidence. But to their horror, the tides of the battle had turned against them. The Babylonians were more formidable than they had realised!
“‘Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back?
Their mighty ones are beaten down;
They have speedily fled,
And did not look back,
For fear was all around,’ says the LORD.
‘Do not let the swift flee away,
Nor the mighty man escape;
They will stumble and fall
Toward the north, by the River Euphrates.'”
Jeremiah 46:5-6
1. “‘Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back? Their mighty ones are beaten down;
they have speedily fled, and did not look back, for fear was all around,’ says the LORD”
a) These words came from the LORD.
b) He was there to observe this battle at Carchemish.
i) The Egyptians were dismayed.
ii) They had turned back.
iii) Their mighty ones were beaten.
iv) They fled from the battle ground without looking back.
v) Fear pervaded the hearts of the Egyptian warriors.
2. “Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape;
they will stumble and fall toward the north, by the River Euphrates”
a) These words came from the Babylonians.
b) They were winning this battle.
c) Carchemish was north of the River Euphrates.
i) The Babylonians were determined not to let the Egyptians flee successfully.
ii) They did not want the mighty Egyptian warriors to escape.
iii) Then they could regroup and fight the Babylonians again.
iv) The Babylonians were set on destroying the Egyptians.
3. This was a lesson God wanted the refugees from Judah to understand
a) Egypt cannot protect them.
b) The Egyptians would be conquered by the Babylonians.
c) Their safety lay in trusting and obeying the LORD.