Day 1526

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, May 21.

 

Five different nations received oracles of judgment in Jeremiah 49 – Ammon (1-6), Edom (7-22), Syria/Damascus (23-27), Arabia/Keder and Hazor (28-33) and Elam/Media (34-39). Distinctively, in verses 1 and 3, the prophet directly referenced the territorial god of Ammon “Concerning the sons of Ammon. Thus says the Lord: “Does Israel have no sons? Or has he no heirs? Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad and his people settled in its cities? … Malcam will go into exile together with his priests and his princes.”

 

Malcam (a.k.a. Milcom and Molech) is the supernatural being whom the Ammonites worshipedthrough child sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5; 2 Kings 23:10). Interestingly, the Hebrew word for their idol is synonymous with their king, so modern translators look for context cues to determine whether it is referencing the supernatural being or the man under its influence. Regardless of which is being referenced, God revealed in Jeremiah 49:6, “‘But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the sons of Ammon,’ declares the Lord.” God had just made the same promise to Moab in Jeremiah 48:47. Why would the Lord make such a redemptive promise to these evil nations?

 

God desires that all shall come to repentance and live under His rule, including those nations who are currently under the dominion of an evil regime, regardless of whether people see that rule as human or demonic. The real enemy is never the leader of a nation, or even its political ideology, but rather the powers and principalities that seek to steal, kill, and destroy (Ephesians 6:13; John 10:10). This is why Jesus Christ came – to redeem the Ammonites, and all like them, from the “domain of darkness”(Colossians 1:13).

 

Seize the moment and put on the full armor of God; pray in the Spirit always, especially for the rescue of those who are living under Satan’s rule (Ephesians 6:10-18). This is the mission of the church!