Jeremiah 51 God is in Control

The song "God is in Control" by Amy Grant is a long-time favorite of mine and I think it illustrates this chapter of the Bible very well.

This chapter continues the judgment pronounced on Babylon. The city Babylon was a great city with walls that seemed invincible. The city was covered six square miles and spanned the Euphrates River. It was surrounded by high double walls. In the time of Jeremiah it was a very beautiful proud city. Nebuchadnezzar had beautified it in many ways. It was also a center of paganism and idolatry. It probably seemed very foolish to prophesy its downfall. Yet, years later, the Medes and the Persians captured the city. They did so by diverting the river and sneaking in through the dry riverbed at night. They then killed the gatekeepers and flung open the gates for their entire army to enter the city. In this was the mighty Babylon was defeated. The city did not immediately become deserted. It was the capital of the Persian empire until it was taken over by Alexander the Great, who planned to make it his capital. However, his successor decided to make a different city his capital and it eventually lost its significance. Today it is 30 miles from Bagdad and is nothing more than an archeological site.

God has spoken many prophecies and promises through his people. Many of them seem unlikely if not impossible. But, God is all-knowing and all-powerful. So, if He says something, it will happen. We must trust God completely, knowing that He wants the best for us. What an amazing God we serve!

Jeremiah 45 - 46

Chapter 45: It seems that here Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe was becoming discouraged. He was looking for a reward for his faithfulness to God, but none came. Things continually got worse. He had served God and Jeremiah through thick and thin and he was getting tired of it. It seemed that he deserved a reward. Yet God, through Jeremiah, told him that he was not to look for a reward. Things would get even worse. The whole land would be destroyed. However, God did promise Baruch that he would not die in the destruction of Judea.
Sometimes we may feel like Baruch. We have served God for most of our life. We feel discouraged and wonder if it's really worth serving God. "What do I get out of it," we wonder, and then God comes to us and tells us not to be discouraged. He may even tell us that things will get worse. But, we must always remember that the reward is not at the beginning of life or the middle but at the end. So, let's remain faithful and not give us until we reach our goal.

Chapter 46: Jeremiah now turns from speaking to the Jews: he warns the Egyptians that they cannot escape Babylon either. The Babylonians will come and destroy the land and take everyone captive. He also warned them not to be confident in themselves because it would not work. He warned that their mighty men would be killed in battle and the women would be taken captive. It seems that God was using this as a punishment to them for worshipping false gods.
God is all-powerful. His ways are far above ours, and when He decided how things will be, we cannot fight against it. It is useless for us to even try. However, if we trust God and obey Him, we can be assured that God will watch over us here in life and reward us with heaven after death.