Jeremiah 27:12 KJV
I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
Chapter twenty seven brings Jeremiah's clear instruction to Israel; surrender to Babylon. But I had not considered before that God's pronouncement upon Israel was also upon the nations surrounding Israel.
The reasons for Israel's defeat were clearly preached,
• Rebellion against God and
• Not giving the land its Sabbath rest
The surrounding nations were not subject to the Sabbath but they should have considered themselves subject to God. God's sovereign rule extended beyond Israel so God's use of Babylon as a means of chastisement extended beyond Israel too. It wasn't merely that Babylon was conquering nations and allowed Israel to be conquered too but that God had set up Babylon to conquer all of those lands He had determined. As Daniel will later attest, God sets up kings and puts down kings at His own discretion.
And this is a foreshadow of what will happen during the Tribulation Period that will one day try this planet; God's purpose is worldwide. The Tribulation is Daniel's seventieth week. It is the fulfillment of God's plan for Israel before giving them their promised kingdom. But God also has His sights set on the nations of the world during that same Tribulation. Souls from all nations will be saved and God judgment of unbelievers will be taking place simultaneous to God's work in Israel.
And so it is today. God is at work in the world as a whole,
• Not just Jerusalem
• Not just the Middle East
• Not just the United States
Even in those nations of the world we might think God has completely forgotten, or that have completely forgotten about God, He is at work.
I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
Chapter twenty seven brings Jeremiah's clear instruction to Israel; surrender to Babylon. But I had not considered before that God's pronouncement upon Israel was also upon the nations surrounding Israel.
The reasons for Israel's defeat were clearly preached,
• Rebellion against God and
• Not giving the land its Sabbath rest
The surrounding nations were not subject to the Sabbath but they should have considered themselves subject to God. God's sovereign rule extended beyond Israel so God's use of Babylon as a means of chastisement extended beyond Israel too. It wasn't merely that Babylon was conquering nations and allowed Israel to be conquered too but that God had set up Babylon to conquer all of those lands He had determined. As Daniel will later attest, God sets up kings and puts down kings at His own discretion.
And this is a foreshadow of what will happen during the Tribulation Period that will one day try this planet; God's purpose is worldwide. The Tribulation is Daniel's seventieth week. It is the fulfillment of God's plan for Israel before giving them their promised kingdom. But God also has His sights set on the nations of the world during that same Tribulation. Souls from all nations will be saved and God judgment of unbelievers will be taking place simultaneous to God's work in Israel.
And so it is today. God is at work in the world as a whole,
• Not just Jerusalem
• Not just the Middle East
• Not just the United States
Even in those nations of the world we might think God has completely forgotten, or that have completely forgotten about God, He is at work.
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