Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Let Jerusalem come to your mind"
Text: Jeremiah 51:50
A STRONG WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
The LORD sent a strong word of encouragement to the remnant of Judah in Babylon. They must seek get out of Babylon as swiftly as they can!
“As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall,
So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.
You who have escaped the sword,
Get away! Do not stand still!
Remember the LORD afar off,
And let Jerusalem come to your mind.
We are ashamed because we have heard reproach.
Shame has covered our faces,
For strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.”
Jeremiah 51:49-51
1. “As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall,
so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall”
a) Babylon had caused many in Israel (Judah) to fall.
b) So in Babylon, many would also fall.
c) The phrase “the slain of Israel”.
Though they were alive, they were “spiritually dead”.
d) The phrase, “the slain of all the earth”.
Babylon was considered “slain” (dead) even before they fell!
2. “You who have escaped the sword, get away! Do not stand still!
Remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come to your mind”
a) This word was to the remnant of Judah.
b) They had escaped the sword in Judah and had been exiled to Babylon.
c) They must seek to get away from Babylon.
d) They must not “stand still” and remain in Babylon for whatever reason.
e) They must do their best to remember the LORD.
Even if they only have memories that are “far off”.
f) They must also try and remember Jerusalem.
Not everyone would be able to remember though!
3. “We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces,
for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house”
a) There were still some who remembered Jerusalem.
b) But their memory was tinged with shame.
c) They had heard reproach and they were well-deserved!
d) Strangers had come into the house of the LORD.
i) Firstly, they had allowed the house of the LORD to become polluted.
ii) Secondly, they were defenseless against their enemies
who desecrated the LORD’s house.
iii) Shame filled their hearts as they remembered Jerusalem.