Jeremiah - Lesson 51A

• Chapters 1-23 Review:

  • The LORD called Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations during the last five kings of Judah.

  • The LORD’s warning to His people is to stop worshipping false gods or He will judge them by destruction and exile using a nation from the North, Babylon; the judgment will include the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

  • The people are to repent from their evil ways; the leaders are specifically called out for their rejection of the LORD’s covenant and the shedding of innocent blood; the false prophets are called out for misleading the people to believe the LORD would not bring judgment on them.

    • Jeremiah is reviled by the leaders and the people of Judah, but the LORD will protect him.

  • The LORD promises there will not be a complete destruction of His people, as He will provide a Messiah and will bring His people back into the Promised Land in a future time, never to be removed.

• Chapters 24-29 Review:

  • Good figs are used to represent the Jews who go into exile and will ultimately be those who become the Jews brought back into the land at a future time. The bad figs represent those who rebel against the judgment the LORD has brought on them through Nebuchadnezzar to last for seventy years.

    • Hypocrisy and false teaching and prophecy plague the LORD’s people justifying the LORD’s judgment on them.

    • Jeremiah continues to experience persecution for bringing the LORD’s truth to His people (like planning to stay for a long time in Babylon) and calling out false prophets. Some of the false prophets are dealt with immediately.

• Chapters 30-33 Review:

  • These chapters are often referred to as the Book of Consolation as they are filled with promises for the LORD’s people.

  • Promises of the LORD’s people being regathered and brought back to a specific land as a nation to live in safety with hearts of flesh and not stone, served by priests, ruled by a king and living in prosperity. All of this is possible because Jesus their Messiah has redeemed them and will be their King.

• Chapters 34-38 Review:

  • The Jewish leaders renege on a covenant to release Hebrew servants.

  • The obedience of the Rechabites is contrasted to the disobedience of the LORD’s people. Jeremiah’s scroll is burned by King Jehoiakim.

  • Jeremiah is rescued from death in a cistern by a servant of the king.

    • Zedekiah seeks a new word from the LORD.

• Chapters 39-44 Review:

  • Jerusalem falls, Zedekiah is taken into exile; Gedaliah, the governor of Judah is killed.

  • The remnant of Judah disobeys the word of the LORD to remain in Judah and not fear Nebuchadnezzar, choosing to go to Egypt in rebellion. Egypt and the remnant from Judah will experience the judgement of the LORD brought by Nebuchadnezzar. The remnant vows to continue their worship of the false gods because they did not understand the true reason for their judgement in the land of Judah.   

• Chapters 45-49 Review:

  • The LORD speaks to Baruch through Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Baruch expressed sorrow knowing what the LORD has revealed for Judah but the LORD instructs him to set this aside and speak truth; the LORD will protect his life. The LORD then speaks about how He is going to bring judgement on Egypt, the Philistines and Moab, Edom, Damascus and Elam.

• Chapter 50 The LORD speaks concerning Babylon, how He uses her to judge His people and yet how He will then judge Babylon. The judgment on Babylon will look similar to the judgment brought on Judah in Jeremiah’s time.

Jer. 51:1 Thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai
The spirit of a destroyer.
Jer. 51:2 “I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her
And may devastate her land;
For on every side they will be opposed to her
In the day of her calamity.
Jer. 51:3 “Let not him who bends his bow bend it,
Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor;
So do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
Jer. 51:4 “They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And pierced through in their streets.”
Jer. 51:5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken
By his God, the LORD of hosts,
Although their land is full of guilt
Before the Holy One of Israel.
Jer. 51:6  Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you save his life!
Do not be destroyed in her punishment,
For this is the LORD’S time of vengeance;
He is going to render recompense to her.

• Verse 1 The LORD says He is going to arouse the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-kamai.

  • The use of Leb-kamai is a way of identifying the people of Chaldea.

  • Many describe the use of an ‘atbash' being used here by Jeremiah, where a word is spelled out using only the consonants. Those letters are then identified as to where they are in the alphabet of that language. Then one replaces the letters with the ones that exist counting backwards in the alphabet.

  • In English if a ‘b’ were used then one would replace that letter with a ‘y’; if a ‘c’ is used replace that with an ‘x’. The name Leb-kamai means “heart of my adversaries”. When you use the Hebrew alphabet for the words and then take only the consonants and then apply the reversed alphabet letter (an atbash) you go from Leb-kamai to Chaldea. See how easy that was!!!

    • Or one can just read the scriptures and see the context of what is in view is Babylon and Chaldea.

    • The LORD is going to bring a spirit of a destroyer against both Babylon and Chaldea.

    • The spiritual Babylon, the city Babylon and the kingdom of Chaldea.

• Verse 2 The LORD will bring foreigners to Babylon to winnow her.

  • Harvesting grain includes the process of winnowing which is the tossing in the air of everything and letting the wind take away the chaff which is lighter, and the heavier grain falls back down to the ground.

    • These foreigners are the destroying spirit and what they bring to Babylon will blow everything away.

    • These foreigners will devastate the land completely.

    • They will come from all sides against the land.

    • This day for Babylon is called her day of calamity.

• Verse 3-4 This winnowing of the inhabitants begins by not allowing the defenders or warriors of Babylon to take up their weapons (bending the bow) or to be protected from destruction (scale-armor).

  • These men will not be spared but will all be destroyed and fall down slain, pieced through in the streets in the land of the Chaldeans.

  • These warriors will be hunted down by the foreigners.

  • The sense of timing is this will happen very quickly.

• Verse 5 The LORD of hosts will not forsake Israel or Judah in this time.

  • The Hebrew word translated forsaken can have the meaning widowed.

  • Though the land of Israel and Judah are full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel, the LORD is not going to leave the people (Israel and Judah) to be destroyed in Babylon.

    • The LORD has not left His wife, Israel and Judah, widowed.

    • He is still alive for them and has promised to redeem His people despite their guilt before Him.

    • It is only because of the grace and mercy of the LORD that any will be saved.

• Verse 6 The LORD calls His people (Israel and Judah) to flee from the midst of Babylon.

  • They are to flee to save their lives.

  • They will only be spared the punishment intended for Babylon if they leave.

  • If any of the people of Israel and Judah stay in Babylon they will suffer the destruction.

    • The LORD has determined it is time for His vengeance to be poured out on Babylon.

    • The LORD’s vengeance is a recompense or a repayment for what she has done.

    • The LORD is always perfect in His justice.

Jer. 51:7  Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are going mad.
Jer. 51:8  Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
Wail over her!
Bring balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
Jer. 51:9  We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Forsake her and let us each go to his own country,
For her judgment has reached to heaven
And towers up to the very skies.
Jer. 51:10  The LORD has brought about our vindication;
Come and let us recount in Zion
The work of the LORD our God!

• Verse 7 The LORD has used Babylon as a golden cup in His hand.

  • Babylon has been used as an instrument of judgment.

  • In Jeremiah’s day it was used against Judah.

  • From the outside view the cup is beautiful, but what is inside the cup of Babylon is intoxicating to all the earth. They can’t get enough.

    • The nations have taken in what Babylon offered (drunk her wine) and it is the reason they have gone mad.

Rev. 18:3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.

• Jer. 51:8 Suddenly the cup (Babylon the instrument of judgment) has fallen and is broken.

  • The seduced nations will wail over this broken Babylon.

  • The seduced nations may try to save (heal) Babylon thinking perhaps she can be saved (healed)

  • The foreigners brought against Babylon have taken away through destruction what the other nations of the world wanted from Babylon.

• Verse 9 The nations who were influenced by Babylon and what she offered them try to heal her but she will not be healed. What the LORD has shattered will not be repaired. Seen in Rev. 18:9-19.

Rev. 18:9  “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,
Rev. 18:10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
Rev. 18:11 “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more —
Rev. 18:12 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble,
Rev. 18:13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.
Rev. 18:14 “The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them.
Rev. 18:15 “The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
Rev. 18:16 saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls;
Rev. 18:17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance,
Rev. 18:18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’
Rev. 18:19 “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’

• Verse 9 The kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep.

  • Verse 11 The merchants will weep.

  • Verse 17 The destruction of Babylon and all the wealth she represents unfolds quickly.

    • The men will miss the city because of what she did for them though she was leading them spiritually into idolatry. This will be demonstrated later in this study.

• Jer. 51:9 When it is obvious Babylon the city can’t be healed then all are called to leave Chaldea  and return to their own countries.

  • The foreigners removed the chaff and now the grain that landed must leave the land also.

Rev. 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;
Rev. 18:5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Rev. 18:6 “Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
Rev. 18:7 “To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’
Rev. 18:8 “For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

• Verse 4 There is a call for the LORD’s people to come out of Babylon.

  • To stay is to associate with the sin of Babylon.

• Verse 5 God is going to remember Babylon’s iniquities, in contrast to the reference of the LORD forgiving the iniquity of His people.

  • Verse 6 To the degree Babylon poured deeds on others she will receive twice as much judgment.

    • This is the city.

• Verse 7 To the degree she exalted herself she will be tormented and in mourning.

  • She gloried in her independence from needing God; she could ‘achieve what she wanted’ by the work of her own hands. This is the spiritual Babylon.

• Jer. 51:9 The place all the nations were called together is Babylon.

  • Now Babylon is no more because her judgment has reached to the heaven.

    • First the connection of her sin having piled up as high as heaven was seen in Rev. 18:5.

    • Also a picture of a tower reaching up to the very skies is used to illustrate what has happened at Babylon.

  • In Jeremiah’s day these words would draw the attention of the listener back to Gen. 10:8-10.

Gen. 10:8 Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.
Gen. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.”
Gen. 10:10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

• The beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom began with Babel in the land of Shinar.

  • What happens in Babel is seen in Gen. 11:1-9.

Gen. 11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
Gen. 11:2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
Gen. 11:3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
Gen. 11:4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
Gen. 11:5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
Gen. 11:6 The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
Gen. 11:7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
Gen. 11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
Gen. 11:9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

• Verse 2 In a plain in the land of Shinar a city is established.

  • Verse 3 The people decide to use not what the earth provides like stone but they want to make their own bricks and tar in place of mortar. This is a picture of man wanting to contribute to what he builds.

  • Verse 4 The people want to build a city.

    • They want to build a tower with the goal of its top reaching into the heaven.

    • The desire of man’s heart is to reach heaven his way not seeking God or His ways.

    • There is also a desire for the people to make a name for themselves there, contrasted with being scattered across the face of the earth.

  • This is contrary to what the LORD had instructed after the flood in Gen. 9:1,7.

Gen. 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Gen. 9:7 “As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”

• The LORD established He alone dictates the boundaries of what man is to do, His will is established through His commands.

  • Gen 11:5 The LORD comes down to see the city and the tower, to witness man’s rebellion.

  • Man has no chance of reaching heaven whereas the LORD has no problem coming down to man’s level. These men are referred to as the sons of men, and like Adam they are all fallen in their sin natures.

• Verse 6 The LORD declares this unified people, using a single language united in a single goal will continue in their single-minded rebellion until they are stopped.

  • Verse 7 The decision is made to remove the single language and create multiple languages to bring confusion to the people as they will not feel like one people with a single goal anymore.

  • Verse 8 The LORD’s intervention created the intended result as the people do scatter abroad across the whole earth.

    • This puts an end to the building of the city and man’s focused rebellion to the command of the LORD.

    • The desire for Nimrod who began to lead a rebellion against the LORD’s commands is thwarted.

• Jer. 51:9 This is what the LORD is communicating through Jeremiah when speaking of ‘towers up to the very skies.’

  • There are also the words, ‘For her judgment has reached to heaven’, speaking of Babylon.

  • This should draw the listener to the scriptures in Gen. 18:20-21.

Gen. 18:20 And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
Gen. 18:21 “I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

• Verse 20 The sin is exceedingly grave.

  • Verse 21 The LORD comes down to Sodom and Gomorrah to see this great sin.

    • Just like the LORD came down to see the city and the tower at Babel.

    • What is found in Sodom and the result is in Gen. 19:12-13.

Gen. 19:12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
Gen. 19:13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

• A need for judgement has been called out for this place by the LORD to destroy it.

  • The place is bigger than Sodom and includes many surrounding cities.

  • Jer. 51:9 This is what is being called out in the same way for Babylon.

  • Jer. 51:10 The reason the LORD brings this destruction on Babylon is for Israel and Judah’s vindication.

    • The LORD’s people are to bring the recounting of Babylon’s destruction back to Zion.

    • They are to give full credit to the LORD their God for what has happened in Babylon.

    • What happens in Babylon does not stay in Babylon :)

Jer. 51:11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.
Jer. 51:12  Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon;
Post a strong guard,
Station sentries,
Place men in ambush!
For the LORD has both purposed and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
Jer. 51:13  O you who dwell by many waters,
Abundant in treasures,
Your end has come,
The measure of your end.
Jer. 51:14  The LORD of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts,
And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”

• Verse 11 The foreigners the LORD uses for Babylon’s destruction are told to prepare for this war (sharpen the arrows and fill the quivers)

  • The LORD will be the one causing the spirit of the kings of the Meads to be aroused.

  • The reason this spirit is aroused is His purpose of destroying Babylon.

    • The use of the kings of the Meads is very specifically used and not the kings of the Persians as it was the Persians who defeated Babylon after their destruction of Jerusalem, the temple and the exile of the LORD’s people in Jeremiah’s time.

    • In this future destruction of Babylon, the LORD will cause the spirit of the kings of the Meads to be aroused. The use of the plural for kings would suggest more than one king will be influenced to come against Babylon from the area of the Meads (now modern day northern Iran).

  • This vengeance the LORD has is the vengeance for His temple.

  • The destruction of the temple in Jeremiah’s time by Babylon was because of the sins of Judah.

    • The LORD used Babylon to discipline His people.

    • In regard to this future judgment on Babylon it will be the LORD’s vengeance for what Babylon has done to the LORD’s temple.

  • This is demonstrated in Revelation.

  • The first thing to observe is this is associated with the seventh bowl judgment.

Rev. 16:17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.”

• This verse is the end of Babylon saying, “it is done.”

  • Rev. 17 and 18 give the details leading up to the end of Babylon.

Rev. 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
Rev. 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.”

• Verse 1 The focus is to be on the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.

  • Verse 2 She is the one with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality.

    • Those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.

Rev. 17:4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality,
Rev. 17:5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Rev. 17:6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.

• Verse 4 The woman has a gold cup full of abominations and of unclean things.

  • This ties back to Jer. 51:7

Jer. 51:7  Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are going mad.

• The golden cup of the woman is Babylon.

  • Rev 17:5 This Babylon is the mother of harlots and the abomination of the earth.

    • Harlotry to the LORD is a worship of anything other than Himself.

    • This is the Spiritual harlotry the LORD has spoken about throughout Jeremiah.

    • False religions have slaughtered men from the beginning.

• Verse 6 This Spiritual Babylon has indulged on the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.

  • The saints would be the Old Testament saints and the second group is a reference to the believers of the Church Age.

  • Rev. 17:7-14 Focuses on the beast not the woman.

    • The next reference is to the woman and begins in Rev. 17:15-18.

Rev. 17:15 And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
Rev. 17:16 “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.
Rev. 17:17 “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.
Rev. 17:18 “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

• Verse 15 The waters which the harlot, Babylon, sits on are peoples, multitudes and nations and tongues.

  • Tying this back to verse six this harlot draws people to hate the commands of God and hate the people of God and has been successful at achieving the initial goal of Nimrod.

    • She overcame the separation of the people and their differing languages to seek a contrary way to the heavens (God)

    • This harlotry exists in every religion throughout all cultures and across all history.

    • This separation kept the many peoples from knowing God.

    • This separation also was the root of the killing of the Old Testament saints and the believers for millennia.

• Verse 16 Now at the end of the age the coalition of ten kings (horns) and the anti-christ (beast) will hate the false religions (harlot) and will strip her of everything.

  • She will be seen as exposed (naked) without followers (flesh) and burned her up with fire.

• Verse 17 God is going to use some of the kings of the earth to give their authority over to the anti-christ for a time to accomplish His judgment of Babylon.

  • They have a united focus in this endeavor for a time.

  • They believe all religion must be destroyed to bring peace.

  • The enemy (Satan) ceases to need the false religions to cover for his desire to rule.

• Verse 18 Her capital city being called Babylon will be destroyed.

  • Spiritual Babylon and the city of Babylon will be destroyed.

• Jer. 51:12 There is a signal that will be sent out against the walls of Babylon.

  • The elements of this are confirmed in Rev. 17:17. “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose,”

  • For the kings that have not drunk of the cup of the Babylon or been enticed by the gaining of wealth from the city will come against Babylon.

• Verse 13 This verse speaks of a Babylon who dwells by many waters.

  • The waters were defined in Revelation 17:15 to be, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.

    • Spiritual Babylon sits on the peoples but the physical Babylon will dwell by the many peoples.

    • Physical Babylon will endear herself to the peoples by providing abundant treasure until her end comes. The end of providing the treasure is the measure of the end of Babylon.

• Verse 14 The LORD of hosts swears by Himself that he will fill Babylon with a population like locusts. These people will swarm Babylon and they will cry out with shouts of victory over Babylon.

  • This ties back to verse two through four, where the foreigners will winnow Babylon, destroy her land and come on every side to oppose her.

  • These foreigners will take down any army of Babylon in destruction as they will be slain in the streets in the land of the Chaldeans.

  • The LORD reminds His people what they are to remember in Jer. 51:10

Jer. 51:10  The LORD has brought about our vindication;
Come and let us recount in Zion
The work of the LORD our God!

• After all the horrific details of destruction that will be brought on Babylon the focus of the LORD’s people is to know He is their vindicator.

  • When they return to Zion they are not to forget what the LORD has done for them, that they were witnesses to.

  • They could not save themselves, the accomplished work is always done by the LORD their God.

    • We are to follow this in our lives as well.

    • We are to remember the LORD is our vindicator.

Rom. 12:19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.
Rom. 12:20 “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”
Rom. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

• Verse 19 Never is a big word, but we are told we are never to take our own revenge.

  • In place of revenge we are to leave room for the wrath of God.

  • When we seek to bring about our own justice we try to take over what only God can truly do for us.

    • God’s justice is perfect and His timing is perfect.

• Verse 20 While we patiently wait on the LORD to bring about His justice, on those who align themselves against us our response is to be opposite of the world’s; whatever they may be lacking we are to help provide.

  • In an ironic way what we do for those who profess to be our enemies heaps more judgment on them in the end.

• Verse 21 To take our own revenge is to be overcome with evil.

  • By waiting on God’s response and doing the opposite of what comes naturally to us in our own circumstances but instead doing ‘good' to our enemies we are overcoming that evil with what God says is good.

  • The promises of God to His people recorded in Jeremiah, reminds us there are many promises God has made to protect His people and there will be a time when He will brings judgment on the enemies of His people, which makes them enemies of God Himself.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org