Jeremiah 47
The Sword of the Lord!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, May 17.
Do you know how seriously God takes sin, and not just sin as a general concept, but your personal sin as rebellion against His rightful rule of your life? At the end of the oracle of judgment against the Philistines, in Jeremiah 47:6-7a, the prophet asked a series of rhetorical questions, “Ah, sword of the Lord, how long will you not be quiet? Withdraw into your sheath; be at rest and stay still. How can it be quiet, when the Lord has given it an order?” The prophet was essentially crying out, “How long, O Lord? How long will you pour out your wrath upon the nations?”
In addressing the “sword of the Lord,” Jeremiah was speaking to the means of judgment God was utilizing, which was associated with the concept of the destroyer in Jeremiah 12:12, “On all the bare heights in the wilderness destroyers have come, for a sword of the Lord is devouring from one end of the land even to the other; there is no peace for anyone.” Regardless of whether the destroyer being addressed was Babylon or Egypt, the prophet’s words indicate that it cannot rest until it has fulfilled what God has ordained for it to do as His means of judgment; it must act until God is satisfied!
The good news (gospel) is that God poured out His wrath upon Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary! That is what John described when he used the word propitiation in 1 John 2:2, “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Jesus took on Himself God’s wrath for sin, satisfying judgment and forever extending to us God’s rest, which Jeremiah had requested of God’s sword in Jeremiah 47:6, which is why only Jesus can offer us “rest for our souls” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Seize the moment and find rest in Jesus, “who rescues us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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