Meditating on Jeremiah 46-49

Submit to Sovereign Lord (Sep 12)

Jeremiah closes his book with
mighty sweep of prophetic judgment.
Moving from west to east, Jeremiah
shows that the God of Israel rules
in the affairs of people everywhere:
from Egypt to Elam, Damascus
to Edom. For their wicked idolatry
and staunch refusal to acknowledge
the one true God, Judah’s neighbors
would fall to enemy armies, showing
no nation is big enough to flaunt
God’s justice and get away with it.

The fundamental reason why Egypt,
Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Elam,
Damascus, Babylon, Israel, Judah
and other nations were destroyed
was because they magnified them-
selves against the Lord (48:42).
Because of God’s majestic power
and love, our only duty is to submit
to His authority. And afterall, He is creator and Lord over all the world.
By following His plans, not our own,
we can have loving relationship with
Him and serve Him wholeheartedly.
Help us to Trust and Obey Lord;
Help us to Yield to Your Shaping;
Help us to Humble before U. Amen.

Lord, we will Trust and Obey:
This message concerning Egypt
was given in the fourth year of the
reign of Jehoiakim… king of Judah
on the occasion of the battle of
Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco…
and his army were defeated by
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon…
The Lord Almighty..says: I will punish
Amon the god of Thebes and all the
other gods of Egypt. I will punish…
Pharaoh… and all who trust in him.
I will hand them over… to King Nebu
-chadnezzar of Babylon & his army.
But afterward the land will recover from ravages of war (Jer46:2, 25-26)
Lord, noted that with Babylonians
defeating Egypt, it was both poor
strategy & disobedience to God for
Judah to form alliance with Egypt.
And You God punished His people
not only to correct and purify but
also to bring them back to Himself.
Help us Lord not to rely on our own
understanding but to be watchful
and to trust & obey. In Jesus’ name.

Lord, we Yield to Your Shaping:
Moab has been at rest from
youth like wine left on its dregs,
not poured from one jar to another.
So she tastes as she did,
and her aroma is unchanged.
Therefore behold the days are
coming, says the Lord, that I shall
send him wine workers who will
tip him over and empty his vessels
and break the bottles (Jer 48:11-12)
Lord, You are the winemaker –
fermenting my life until it is a
perfect vintage with beautiful aroma.
I trust You Lord and thank You
for all the stages of my journey,
including the not so comfortable.
With You nothing is wasted or
erratic but is part of a needful
process. I yield myself to U. Amen

Lord, we will Humble before You:
This is what the Lord says:
I will cut you down to size among
the nations, Edom. You will be
despised by all. You are proud
that you inspire fear in others.
And you are proud because you
live in a rock fortress and hide
high in the mountains. But don’t
fool yourselves! Though you live
among the peaks with the eagles,
I will bringh you crashing down,
says the Lord (Jer 49:15-16).
Lord, we noted that Edom was
destroyed because of her pride.
You hate Pride for it can make
us think we can take care of
ourselves without Your help.
So we ask You God to point out
and remove any pride we may
be habouring in our life. Amen.