Jeremiah 49 | Prophecies of Judgement | 9.3.1997

and we're going to be looking at a variety of judgments as we're concluding the book of Jeremiah. In this particular chapter here, Jeremiah is continuing his prophesying coming judgments. And here he's going to prophesy judgment against Ammon, against Damascus, which represents the nation of Syria, against Khadar, Hazer, and Elam. And so, as we begin our study, let's begin by reading verses 1-6. And we'll be looking at his initial pronouncement of judgment against the Ammonites. Now, as we get into our study, I'm going to take some time to give you a little background on some of these. Others, there's very little for me to say because there's really not much that's recorded in the Bible or in history. And so, some things I'm going to take a little longer with. Other things I'll just blow right through. But we're going to see as as we've been studying through the book of Jeremiah that as he's concluding here with judgments against a variety of nations that in this particular chapter he brings judgment against these nations I just described or just named. Let's begin reading at verse one. I'll read verses 1-6. We'll get into our study as we see prophecies of judgment. Jeremiah writes in verse one of chapter 49 against the Ammonites. Thus says the Lord. Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Milham inherit Gad and his people dwell in its cities? Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will cause to be heard an alarm of war, and Rabba of the Ammonites. It shall be a desolate mound, and her villages shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance, says the Lord. Whail, O Heshbon, for I is plundered. Cry you daughters of Rabba, gird yourselves with sackcloth. Lament and run to and fro by the walls. For Milcom shall go into captivity with his priests and his princes together. Why do you glory in the valleys? Your flowing valley, oh backsliding daughter, who trusted in her treasure, saying, Who will come against me? Behold, I will bring fear upon you, says the Lord God of hosts, from all those who are around you. You shall be driven out everyone headlong and no one will gather those who wander off but afterward I will bring back the captives of the people of Ammon says the Lord. Jeremiah prophesies in these verses verses 1-6 first against the Ammonites just so that you would know Ammon is located north of Moab. That helps you doesn't it? When you're looking at a map of Israel, the border on the east is the Jordan River. East of the Jordan River by the Dead Sea, just east there, is modern Jordan. Modern Jordan is ancient Moab. And so, Ammon was just north of Moab. And so it's really still located in an in in its original location would be in now present day Jordan just east of the Jordan River probably in between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. And so it's just off to the right there and that's where Ammon is. And uh the Ammonites when we study scripture we discover that they actually were the physical descendants of a man by the name of Ben Ami who was a descendant of Abraham's nephew Lot. Now he was born through Lot's incestuous encounter with his younger daughter. This is recorded in the book of Genesis in chapter 19:es 35-38. We read about this when we were looking at Moab and Ammon is also one of the uh offspring of his incestuous relationship. In Genesis 19, let me read to you in verse 35 through38 speaking of the two daughters of Lot. It says they got their father to drink wine that night. Also the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again, he was not aware of it when she laid down or when she got up. So, both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son. She named him Moab. He's the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son and she named him Ben Ami. He is the father of the Ammonites of today. And so, we know that the Ammonites were physical descendants of Ben Amami, the descendant of Lot. Now, Ammon originally lost its land to the tribes of Reuben, of Gad, and what is called in scripture the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was actually given to them as their inheritance. When they entered in or were about to enter into the land of promise, they had made a request. The Ganites had made a request. They had wanted to remain on the eastern side of the Jordan. They did not want to enter in through the west and to occupy there because they were shepherds and they had a lot of of livestock and all and so they said this is really beautiful land here and we really don't want to travel in there and inherit on that side on the western side and so at first Moses thought that they were speaking rebellion and actually Moses comes against them and says to them this is the same kind of thing that happened before where people refuse to go and obey God and don't you remember how God brings judgment every time you disobey they said no we're not saying that we won't help you to conquer. What we're simply saying is we want this portion of land here. And so it was granted to them according to Numbers 32:33. It says, "Moses gave to the Gadites, Reubenites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph, the kingdom of Seion, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Ag, king of Bashan, the whole land with its cities and the territories around them." And so that's where the uh Gadites, the Reubenites, and the half tribe of Manasseh used to be. And what was happening is they began to encroach on the land of Gad, especially occurring right around 733 when Assyria began to move against them. Now, these Ammonites were enemies perpetually of the nation of Israel, constantly harassing them. And they actually went so far, and we've already seen this in chapter 40:es 13 and 14 of Jeremiah. We've already seen that they actually helped in the downfall of the city of Jerusalem when Jerusalem finally does fall. Remember what was written in Jeremiah 40:es 13 and 14. Remember how the scripture said, "Jahan, son of Korea and all the army officers still in the open country came to get Galileiah at Mitzvah and said to him, "Don't you know that Balas king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nathan to take your life?" But Galilayas son of Aikam did not believe them. And so they actually had plotted against and wanted to bring an assassination of this particular governor that we've already looked at this governor Gdalia. Now as we look at verses 1 through3, the Ammonites have a word spoken against them. And that's why it begins by saying against the Ammonites, thus sayeth the Lord, has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? These questions that are being asked are really a reproach. They're really a word of rebuke and criticism against God. And the point is is the demon God that they are now following or that they follow is ending up with the inheritance of God's people and are living in God's people's cities. When he speaks about Milcom, notice that in verse one, why then does Milcom inherit Gad? Milcom is another word for the god Molech. And the god Molech is called the abomination. And as I've shared with you before, part of the reason he's called the abomination is because he required sacrifice, human sacrifice. You know, these people who say all religions are the same really haven't spent much time looking at what religions teach and believe. Anybody who says all religions are the same really have not investigated religion per se. How can you say our religions are the same when God says, "I never commanded you to kill your children whereas Molech demanded death." One of the things that you'll always see, you might want to note this in your heart, and let me go into some detail for just a moment, then I'll pull back and we'll roll on. In the doctrines that you find of satisfying the angry God, the doctrines that relate to sata uh satisfying the anger of God in the Bible, that doctrine is called propitiation. You read that especially in first John. Propitiation. It's a big word we don't use very often. theological term, but at its root, it's speaking concerning the satisfaction of the anger of God. In every pagan religion, the core, the center of satisfying an angry god will always be human effort. It will always be human effort. When you read, even if you just can remember some of the Greek myths, if you ever grew up reading them, you'll discover that within Greek history and Greek mythology, you will find that there was a an elevation of human effort, especially as it pertained to making sacrifice to the God that you were trying to please, the one who was mad at you. And in one particular instance, for example, in the quest to set free Helen of Troy, because the king who was setting out in order to set her free found the winds to be contrary to his fleet, took it upon himself to sacrifice one of his children in order that he might be able to get favorable winds so that they could go off and they could rescue Helen of Troy. You see within the confines of every pagan religion that kind of heart. If your God is angry at you, and every pagan religion and every pagan religion believes that their god is angry at them, if your god is angry at you, then the only thing that will make him look at you favorably will be a great sacrifice. And that's why you see guys killing their children in the Bible even where these people are worshiping Molech and they take their children and they slaughter him. I shared with you that the Molech the sacrifice to Molech was a horrible sacrifice. big ironed god with his arms outstretched and his arms were outstretched at an incline. And at the base of this hollowedout statue made out of brass would be a fire that was kindled and an opening where the arms and the chest would meet. And then the mother who was sacrificing the child to this particular god to the sound of wailing and music would bring her child and the red hot arms of the god would be there heated up and the mother they would allow the music by the way and the wailing because it would drown out the screams of the mother and the baby and they would take this infant and they would place the infant on this scalding hot um iron arms and then the child would literally roll into the opening down into the furnace and that's how they would sacrifice their children to Molech. No wonder God said, "I never commanded you to do such a thing." No wonder he would call him the abomination of Molech. And so when people say all religions are the same, that's not true. Because in false religion, man tries to satisfy an angry God. But in Christianity, God who is righteous, the Bible teaches that God is righteous and cannot look at sin with any favor. And that your sin makes a separation between you and your God. And he will not even hear your prayers until the sin question is answered. Because it cuts us off from fellowship as believers. It's not that you lose your salvation when you sin. Your fellowship is cut off. But before you're a Christian, you don't know how to pray according to the will of God. And the first real prayer that you ever have for certain answered will be prayer for forgiveness and salvation. But God's God's word says that his anger was satisfied not by an effort of a human being only but by his son and that he provided propitiation to satisfy his own wrath in the giving of Jesus Christ which makes Christianity absolutely unique in that the angry God satisfies his own anger through the giving of Jesus. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And so Milcom, Molech was an evil God. And so the Lord is asking the question, why then does Milcom inherit Gad? If Gad, in other words, had owned that property by right of conquest through the Lord, why is Milcom the God over that land? Now in verse two, therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will cause to be heard. He says, "An alarm of war and rabba of the Ammonites. It shall be a desolate mound and her villages shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance, sayaith the Lord." And so when he speaks there and says, "The days are coming, says the Lord, that I'll cause to be heard an alarm of war in Rabba." Rabba is modern Amman in Jordan. And this was the chief city of the Ammonites. And notice with me when he speaks, he says in verse three, "Wail, oh heshb, for I is plundered. Cry you daughters of Rabba. Gird yourselves with sackcloth. Lament and run to and fro by the walls. For Milcom shall go into captivity with his priests and his princes together." And so the villages and the chief cities will be destroyed. And two of the cities that are spoken of here are what we would call prominent cities, Heshban and Ai. Now in verses 4-6, he says, "Why do you glory in the valleys? you your your flowing valley, oh backsliding daughter, who who trusted in her treasures, saying, who will come against me? Behold, I will bring fear upon you, sayeth the Lord God of hosts, from all those who are around you. You shall be driven out, everyone headlong, and no one will gather those who wander off. Why do you glory? He said, in the valleys, your flowing valley, oh backsliding daughter. Now they were situated in what we would today call an inaccessible country because they had mountains on three sides. And so with that kind of security they really believed themselves to be impregnable. There's no way that anybody was going to be able to take them. And so they were gloring in that. They believed that they were very secure. And not only that uh not only because they lived in that particular region there, but they also thought that they had economic and military strength. They thought that they would be based on their natural defenses and the economy and their military. They thought that there was no way that any country could take them. Sometimes I have to make sure that I realize that God is in control. And no matter how we even as a nation in the 20th century may look upon ourselves and and by the way the United States is the greatest country. I have to say this in my estimation. It's a great country to live in. And I love the United States so much. But we have real needs, don't we? And sometimes we trust in the arm of flesh. Sometimes we trust in our economy. Sometimes we trust in our military. Sometimes we trust in our educational systems, our social systems. We trust in those kinds of things, don't we? But those things won't keep us. I I know that in in World War I, as we studied our our history, World War II also, the United States felt very far away from conflict. We even to this day feel very far away from conflict. I mean, you see things taking place in the Middle East or you see things taking place in the African continent and as Americans, that's so far away from us. We really don't relate well to that at all. We're still very isolated in in a lot of ways. We can even get to the point of feeling that we're invulnerable even as Ammon thought that she was. But the Lord makes the point here. The Lord's point is these things don't protect you. Your economy will not protect you. Your natural um situation will not protect you. Your military cannot protect you. As a matter of fact, it says they shall be driven out and they're going to run in fear. And that's exactly what happened 5 years after the fall of Jerusalem. The Bible tells us in Psalm 5:11, Psalm 5:11, "But let all those that put their trust in you rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy, because now notice, you defend them. Let them also that love your name be joyful in you. Why should we rejoice? Why should we learn to shout for joy? Because the Bible says, "Because you defend them." In Psalm 36:7, the psalmist said, "How excellent is your loving kindness, oh God. Therefore, the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings." Lord, you're the one who defends us. You're the one who protects us. We can't trust in our economy because it may go up today and go down tomorrow. We can't trust in our military no matter how fine-tuned and well-trained it is. We can't trust in our isolation. We seem to be so far away from the action because it doesn't take much time now for an ICBM to hit us. We aren't safe without God. We aren't safe without him. And so Ammon was trusting in all of these things. Even went so far as saying, "Who will come against me?" Well, the Bible says she'll be driven out. And yet, notice verse six. He says, "Afterward, I will bring back the captives of the people of Ammon, says the Lord." In other words, though she's driven out, yet God will bring them back because he is prophesying mercy in the future to the land of Ammon. In verse seven, prophecy against Edom. He says, "Against Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts, is wisdom no more in Timan? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, oh inhabitants of Don, for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him the time that I will punish him. If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, would they not destroy until they have enough? But I have made Esau bare. I have uncovered his secret places. He shall not be able to hide himself. His descendants are plundered, his brethren and his neighbors, and he is no more. Leave your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive and let your widows trust in me. So the Lord now brings another prophecy. This time it's against Edom. Now, here's a little more background for you because it requires some. The were actually descendants of a man by the name of Esau. And Esau was the twin twin brother of a man by the name of Jacob. And Esau and Jacob were the sons of Isaac. Isaac being the son of Abraham. The Bible tells us concerning Esau and Jacob that they were twins. One of them was hairy and ruddy in complexion. And that's what Esau means. The other one grabbed hold because they were twins in the womb. Grabbed hold of the brother Jacob. grabbed hold of Esau when Esau was being born and actually was born hanging on to his ankle. And so his name literally meant heel catcher. And so when their mother was had had uh had conceived and and the children were growing within her womb, it's found in the book of Genesis chapter 25. A very interesting story is given to us. I think you ought to turn there. Let's spend a couple moments looking at that together. Now, I'm going to give you some background because you need it for this particular prophecy here. Isaac married a very beautiful woman by the name of Rebecca. And according to Genesis 25:es 20- 28, the Bible tells us that Isaac was some 40 years old when he married this young lady Rebecca. The Bible goes on to say that Isaac had prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because the scripture says she was barren. And the Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebecca became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb, and the first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment, and they called him Spot. No. So they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebecca gave birth to them. The boys grew up and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man staying among the tents. Isaac, who had taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Rebecca loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau. And what we have right there, the makings for a problem. I think we can understand some of this, can't we? You got a boy. You're the father. You got a boy and he loves to go out and wrestle around in the dirt. He loves to go hunting and fishing. He's a man's man. And you look at him as you're sitting there looking out the window and you see this guy out there just wrestling with the kids and screaming and yelling and climbing on trees and you're thinking, "Yeah, that's my boy. That's Harry. That's Esau. Oh, he loves to hunt. He loves to fish. He loves to do these things. And oh, he's the apple of my m my eye. But then you hear, "Mama, can I help you bake?" And you're thinking, "Oh man, there's Jacob over there. Jacob, come on, man. Go out and wrestle with Esau for a while. Do something. Get smelly. Why do you have to go in there and bake all the time? Now, Rebecca loves her little homemaker. And so, you've got tension built right there cuz the daddy loves that the little guy who's out there doing all those manly things. And mama likes having Jake next to her all day long in the kitchen as he kind of sits around. And he's a real fair skinned uh mama's boy. And you know what? In in homes that still happens, doesn't it? Where parents look and they they have a special love for one over the other. It's makings of a bomb in the house. It really is. Why can't you get better grades like your brother? Why Why do I have to speak to you three times and I tell your sister clean up her room and bang, it's up, but you don't do it. What's wrong with you? How come you always give me trouble and and your older sister never has? It's makings of a bomb in the house. And there are people who still do that. I have seen that. I have seen that where where mama puts her arm around someone ruffling the hair and then the other kid comes over. Mama can't go over there for a minute. You know, and I have seen that. And you know what? It's a disaster. It's a makings for a brokenhearted little kid who's going to grow up looking for love someplace, never really finding it, and causing a lot of trouble for themselves and for those who rejected them. It's the makings of a destructive family. And you see that in scripture because you have Jacob loving the man's man and you have Rachel loving the mama's boy. And if you studied this the story of Jacob and Esau, you would see that Jacob lived up to his name because on one occasion, Jacob was making some rather um yeah, Jacob was making some food when Esau came walking in. Esau being the older comes walking in and he smells this lentil soup that his his brother's making and he says, "All right." Because he loves lentil soup. And he says, "Give me some of that." And Jacob being a conniver, the word Jacob also can be translated sneaky. Being a conniver says, "Give me your birthight." Well, what good is my birthright to me if I'm if I'm going to die of starvation? The idiot Esau says. So he gives him over his birthright as the firstborn. And in doing so through this deception, Jacob stole his birthright. And the Bible says that Esau despised it. He didn't see a value to a birthright, receiving the rights of the firstborn in that way. Now later on when it's time for the father's blessing to be given to the boys, Jacob tells Esau, "It's time to bless you. I'm getting to be an old man and it's time to bless you. So go out and hunt and and get the game that I like so very much. make it with some savory sauce and bring it to me and I will bless you. Well, Rebecca, who loved Jacob overhears what daddy has to say. And the minute Esau rushes out to go and do his father's bidding, goes in there and she says, "Hurry up. We're going to get the blessing for you." My father's going to know it's me. I'm nothing like Harry. So they she says, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." She gets a couple of young goats and she kills them. She skins them. She gets some of the skin and puts it on the back of the neck of Jacob. Gets some of Esau's clothes and puts them on Jacob, fixes up the stew that daddy wanted and he brings it in and he says, "Dad, here's your here's your meal." And the father hearing the voice of Jacob said, "Who is this?" He says, "So this is Esau, your son. I went and took care of business the way you asked me to, and I'm bringing it to you so you can bless me. Come here, my son." Because the old man can't see that well anymore. And he thinks, "Well, I can't really see him, but his voice sure sounds like the other one. Get over here, my son." So he comes walking over to him, and he reaches out to him and grabs him in the back, and he feels this goat skin is hairy. And he says, "Well, the voice is Jacob's, but you're hairy like Esau. You must be Esau." So he eats it up and pronounces his blessing. When he's going to pronounce his blessing, he says, "Come close to me, my son." He gets close and he grabs him and he holds him and he smells the clothing and he says, "Oh, my son, Esau, is like a field." That's what a lot of wives say about their husbands. Man, you're like a field. But he smells, this guy's an outdoorsman. He smells this on him and he says, "Oh, you're such a man." And he blesses him. Once he's blessed him, here comes Esau rushing in with his prepared meal. And now he's lost the birthight as well as the blessing. And the he says, "Dad, here I am." He says, "Who who who's speaking to me?" "It's me, Esau." He says, "No, wait a minute. I just blessed you." He says, "You didn't bless me. I just got back. Don't you have a blessing for me?" And the father says, "Oh, my son, no, I don't. I gave it to your brother." And your brother gets everything. You will serve him. You will have to. And he gives him a small blessing, but nothing like he would have given him originally. Now, remember, keep in mind that God had already stated to Ra uh to Rebecca rather, that the younger shall be served by the older. God had already stated that, but she went through deceptive means to try and get this accomplished. The Bible tells us that Esau comforted himself with the thought that he would kill his brother. There was conflict. There was conflict between Esau, who is the father of the and Jacob, who is the father of the Israelites. And that's what we're looking at here. When God brings prophecy against the and would he asked the question again in verse 7, "Is wisdom no more in Timan? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of deadon. For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him the time that I will punish him." The Lord is speaking concerning well first Timan. Now Timman is in northern Edom which would be south of Jordan. It's actually south of Jordan, not north like Ammon was. It was south of Moab or south of Jordan. And when he speaks of no wisdom in Teon, Timon was renowned in its day for the wisdom. And the point he's making is disaster will come quickly. It will surprise even those who are wisest in the city. When he speaks of Don, Don was a tribe that was living south of Teman, known as a commercial center. And so he's speaking concerning the judgment that's going to come. And he calls it in verse eight, calamity. He says, "The calamity of Esau will be brought upon him." But notice verse 9. He says, "If ga if grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, would they not destroy until they have enough?" Which is really an interesting thing. Let me look at it for just a moment. First, he says, "If grape gatherers came into you," what is he referring to? Well, a grape gatherer would be the one who comes into the vineyards, right? and begins to glean, but according to the law uh in the Old Testament law of Leviticus, the Bible says in Leviticus 23:22, "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest." The scripture says, "Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God." They would leave the gleanings as compassion, an act of compassion for those who had needs. And he refers to him as the poor and the foreigner, the alien. And so that was an act of mercy. That was an act of compassion. But on the other hand, when he speaks about thieves, he says, "If thieves by night, would they not destroy until they have enough?" On the other hand, thieves have no compassion. That won't leave a thing. A thief only comes to Jesus said steal to kill and to destroy. And so he's actually given us a comparison. One of compassion and the other is the lack thereof. And so he's saying the destroyers were going to come to Edom and will leave nothing. In verse 10, I have made Esau bare. I have uncovered his secret places. He shall not be able to hide himself. His descendants are plundered. His brethren and his neighbors. He is no more. He goes on to say, "Leave your fatherless children. I'll preserve them alive and let your widows trust in me." He's saying, "Though God is going to destroy them, yet he will temper the destruction with his mercy." Notice with me, and you'll find this. This may be an interesting study for you as you read your Bibles. Notice something in verse 11 when he says, "Leave your fatherless children. I'll preserve them alive. Let your widows trust in me." throughout the Bible, from the Old to the New Testament, throughout the Bible, from the Old to the New Testament, shows exceeding concern for widows and orphans, exceeding concern for widows and orphans, for the poor. And so he says, "Listen, destruction's going to come, but I'll take care of the widows who will be widowed because of the destruction and the orphans who will become orphans because their fathers will be killed when destruction comes." But God is once again tempering his judgment with mercy. He said, "But I will surely take care of them. I will preserve them alive, and your widows will trust in me." In verse 12, for thus says the Lord, behold, those whose judgment was not uh was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And are you the one who will altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that Bazra shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and all its cities shall be perpetual waste. So the Lord is continuing speaking concerning the judgment. Now notice he uses the phrase drink from the cup. When he uses that phrase drink from the cup, it's a picture of God's wrath. And the question he's asking is, if Israel is judged, what makes you think you won't be? It's a good question. You know, one of Let me give you something very briefly. One of the things that the Lord has has been ministering to me in a personal sense lately is how merciful he's been to me. How gracious God is to me. And the Bible in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 17 asks a question. In 1 Peter chapter 4:1 17, Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:17, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God." If it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? If the Lord chastens those whom he loves, and he does, and yet we know when the hand of the Lord chasens us, it's intended to bring us into a place of blessing. But if we can go through hard times ourselves, and some of those times that we go through can be very severe, very hard, then what's going to happen to the world when God brings judgment against it? And if God as a father chasens us, what makes us think he won't chasen the rest of the world? What makes us think that he won't deal with the rest of the world? And indeed, God does. I was mentioning to you that when we went to Europe recently to do ministry, went to Spain, went to Germany, went to Austria, that from the day we left to the day we came back, it was one of the a 13-day trial. a 13-day trial. I didn't share this with you. Let me share this. We were driving back from um Miltat, Austria. If you were looking at a map of Europe and you were looking at the nation of Austria, Milstad, Austria is located on the southern portion of of uh Miltad is in the southern portion of Austria. And we have to drive from Miltat back up north into Munich, Germany, which is about a 4-hour drive. So, as you're driving up north, you'll eventually go through cities like Salsburg and then from Salsburg you can go. And Salsburg is about a 2-hour drive from Milt. And so, I was driving back on Friday and didn't want to drive straight into Germany. I wanted to stay overnight in Salsburg, basically just cutting the drive in half. And so some friends of mine who are other Calvary pastors, one of them his name is Gary Leferley and he's a Calvary pastor in Akran, Ohio. And the other one is is Lance Cook who's a pastor of committed fellowship here in La Habra. And their wives were there and they were in a small car and they were driving in front of us and and in uh in Austria the speed limit can vary but you are regularly going about 70 miles an hour or so. And so as we were driving, you come up to a toll and you have to pay. And then from the toll, you begin to take off again. And you're picking up speed pretty rapidly when you enter into a tunnel. And when you enter into the tunnel, it's a it's a four-lane tunnel. Two lanes coming towards you, two lanes going in the opposite direction. And they have a sign there where you have to turn your lights on because you're coming out of the bright sunlight entering right into the darkness. And I don't know about you, but my eyes take some time to adjust to the difference from the brightness to the darkness and then to the illumination of headlights. And so as we're moving into that tunnel, you could see red lights starting to flash. and I was driving a Volkswagen van and I immediately hit the brakes. And when I hit the brakes and began to immediately slow down, I'm looking behind me and there's a guy in a 2 and 1/2 ton truck directly behind me, but he's talking to his passenger. Now, I'm at that point saying, "Oh boy." And I'm looking into the two lanes that are facing me because I'm thinking, "I'm going to jam into this lane." But at the same time, the man behind me looks at me, and you know, you've seen this yourself if you're a driver before, how you see the 10:00, 2:00 death grip, eyes this big, and you know that his foot's just about to come through the engine at you. He's hitting the brake so hard. And I could see this truck beginning to move. Now, it's it's been raining. As a matter of fact, it snowed. It was snowing. I mean, it was cold. It was, you know, so it wasn't like warm. It was It had been snowing and had a light snow and but it had been raining. I see this big truck as he's hitting his brakes beginning to do a slight fish tail as I'm looking ahead to see what's coming. And I also can see the traffic ahead of me and like three cars in front of me is Gary and Lance and their wives. When you hear the screeching of the brakes and you hear the breaking glass and a fourcar pileup and guess who was in that? Gary and Lance. So their car got smashed in the front and in the back. Four cars. They stopped in time, but the car behind them didn't. So he hit them. The car behind him hit him. And they hit a MercedesBenz sitting right in front of them. And so I'm slamming on the brakes. I see all these lights and everything stops for just a moment. None of us speak any German. And so they climb out of the car and you can see them gesturing and talking. The guy in the Mercedes just drives away. He says, "No harm done to me." And he leaves. But these guys have a rental car. We we we laughed a little bit about, "Boy, when they come to inspect to see if there's any scratches on that when you leave it." So we had to drive through the tunnel, drove on down the street, and finally pulled over at a gas station. And then the Austrian police show up and it costs 500 shillings about40 dollars just for them to pull up. And they charge every person that. And so Gary Gary was let off the hook this time. They said, "No, we won't charge you. You're a foreigner." So they charge the others 40 bucks each. They did all of their paperwork and we finally drive to the place that we're going to be spending the night. And Gary's, you know, pretty much shook up at that point. and you say, "No, you know what else could happen?" "Well, we went out to eat dinner and he rolled through a red light." So, an Austrian policeman pulls us over and he walks up and and he says, he speaks in German, and of course, we don't speak any. So, Gary speaks English and the German, the Austrian speaking in English says, "Red. Red. Do you know red in America? Yes, we know red in America. 500 shillings. So, it cost Gary 40, a little over 40 bucks. And they take it right from you. They just take right there. Give me your 40 bucks. And I said, you get yourself a receipt because you might be buying this guy a tank of ale. So they give him a little piece of paper and all and then Gary, we finally get back to the hotel and the next morning Gary calls me up and they're going to leave and he's saying goodbye. He says, "I want you to know I left a note on your van, but when I touched it, it blew up." I said, "No, don't worry about it. It's okay." One thing after another, one thing after another. Is your life like that sometimes? one thing after another. You know what? The Lord is working in all of this. Today, I come driving home and we've got a kitten about four months old that I just love to pieces. And so, she's in the garage and she's never really been outside. We don't let her outside. She's a house cat, but she hasn't been declawed yet. And so I see her sticking her little head out the door and I pulled in and I picked her up and I thought, well, I got to check out the um mail. So I walked to the mailbox and she's never outside and all of a sudden the noises and her ears just go up and she starts getting scared. I'm reaching into the mailbox trying to pull out the mail and I drop some in the gutter. One of my neighbors is watering his lawn. So this water's pouring, you know, and there goes my mail. And then this kid decides he's going to ride a skateboard. You know, the cat just goes crazy. She digs her claws into my back and with her front claws digs into my stomach. I'm trying to pick up the and I'm just going to Oh, this hurts, you know. And I'm starting to walk her back to the to the house and now she's trying to climb off my shoulder. So, I'm holding her tighter. She reaches up and pulled a Mike Tyson on me. Bit my ear. I am telling you, I could put an earring right here for where she been. And man, I mean, she looked at me. She said, "I'll show you like that." I said, "Oh, Lord, I love this cat. Why is she doing this to me?" So, I put a rope on her and drove her around the block. And you say, "Lord, you know what? What is the purpose of cats biting me?" And and something that the Lord is teaches teaching me, and this is true. This is true, you know, is hey, you know what? I'm going to show you a way to have a new life. What would you ordinarily do if a cat bit you in the neck or your ear and scratched you? My back was bleeding and my t-shirt was ripped. I mean, this cat was just going for it to get off of me. What would you ordinarily do? Well, ordinarily you'd be on the roof, you know, or see if you can jump down with broken legs, no tail. I'll tell you. But you know what? The Lord allows things. And I'm seeing this. I'm really seeing this. I really am for the first time as clearly as I could possibly. The Lord allows things into my life so he can change me. And you know what? He does that with his children. But he also brings judgment on those who don't belong to him. And the point God is making is if I judge my children, what makes you think you're going to get away with it? What makes the world think that they're going to get off easier than the body of Christ? And so the Lord does work in us, doesn't he? He does allow things into our life to refine our faith and to reveal our character, but he brings judgment against the world. And that's what he's saying. Now in verse 14, I've heard a message from the Lord, and an ambassador has been sent to the nations. Gathered together, come against her, rise up for battle. For indeed, I will make you small among nations, despised among men. Your fierceness has deceived you. The pride of your heart. Oh you who dwell in the cliffs of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I'll bring you down from there, says the Lord. Edom also shall be in astonishment. Everyone who goes by it will be astonished and will hiss at all its plagues as in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, sayeth the Lord. No one shall abide there, nor shall a son of man dwell in it. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the flooding of the Jordan against the habitation of the strong. But I will suddenly make him run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like me? Who will arraign me? And who is that shepherd who will withstand me? So the Lord is basically saying, I'm in charge and there's nobody who can keep my hand once I've decided to bring judgment. The ruin that he has declared is irreversible. And he's saying the foe will pounce like a lion scattering the flock. And the point he's making is you're going to be helpless when I bring my judgment. And there's nobody who can deliver you from me when I've made a decision that I'm going to bring this judgment. Therefore, in verse 20, hear the counsel of the Lord that he has taken against Edom and his purposes that he has proposed against the inhabitants of Teman. Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out. Surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. The earth shakes at the noise of their fall. At the cry its noise is heard at the Red Sea. Behold, he shall come up and fly like the eagle, spread his wings over Bazra, which was the capital city. The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs. So the council of the Lord is simple. He says, "Your destruction is sure. There's nothing you can do about it. He gives a prophecy against Damascus in verse 23. Against Damascus, he says, "Hamoth and Arpod are shamed for they have heard bad news. They are faint-hearted. There's trouble on the sea." When he speaks of the sea, by the way, Damascus wasn't on and isn't on a sea. So, it would be in reference to a sea of people. It cannot be quiet. Damascus has grown feeble and turns to flee. And fear has seized her. Anguish and sorrow have taken her like a woman in labor. Why is the city of praise not deserted? Why is the city of praise not deserted? The city of my joy. Therefore, her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, says the Lord of hosts. I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus. It shall consume the palaces of Benhad. And so, this prophecy really is against Syria. And as he's making this prophecy, he refers to the chief cities, the cities of Hamat and Narpad and also of ancient Damascus. And according to history, Damascus was defeated by Babylon in some 605 before Christ. And so once again, he's just saying, I'm bringing judgment, bringing judgment against you. Verse 28, against Khadar and against the kingdom of Hazer, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of of Babylon, shall strike. Thus says the Lord, "Arise, go up to Kar and devastate the men of the east. Their tents and their flocks they shall take away. They shall take for themselves their curtains. All their vessels and their camels, they shall cry out to them. Fear is on every side. Flee, get away, get far away. Dwell in the depths, oh inhabitants of Hazer, for Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has taken counsel against you and has conceived a plan against you. Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely, says the Lord, which has neither gates nor bars, dwelling alone. Their camels shall be for booty, and the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds, those in the farthest corners. I will bring their calamity from all its sides, says the Lord. Hazer shall be a dwelling for jackals, a desolation forever. No one shall reside there, nor son of man dwell in it. Once again, he's speaking of these tribes. Khadar and Heser are actually eastern tribes in what would be called today the Arabian desert. Kedar was a tribe that was descended from Ishmael and they lived as nomads. They were known to be rich in livestock and also were reputed to be great archers. Hazer was a city in the desert. It's unknown except that it may have been um a place where nomads would stay and then would raid into Israel. And once again, he's simply speaking of all the destruction that he's bringing against these variety of cities and places. We'll close with verses 34 through39. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam. And here we get a date in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. That would be 598 before Christ. Thus says the Lord of hosts. Behold, I will break the bow of Elilum, the foremost of their might. Against Elilum, I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and scatter them toward all those winds. There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elim will not go. For I will cause Elm to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them. My fierce anger, says the Lord, I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them. I will set my throne in Ilam and will destroy from there the king and the princes, says the Lord. It shall come to pass in the latter days I will bring back the captives of Ilum, saith the Lord. Elilum was a kingdom some 200 miles east of Babylon. And according to history, it was conquered in 640 before Christ. Once again, as we're about to close, God tempers his judgment with mercy by giving them promises. Let's close with one thought found in the book of Hebrews 12:es 26- 29. Haha. You close your Bibles. Open them up. Hebrews 12:es 26- 29. God is a holy God who keeps his word. And in Hebrews 12:26-29, the writer of Hebrews said this. At that time his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The words once more indicate the removing of what can be shaken that is created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain. And therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For he says our God is a consuming fire. One last thought and then we'll close with prayer. What will keep you walking right with God? And what will give to you life? And what will be the fountain of joy? And from from where will your blessings originate? The Bible's very clear about this one thing, guys. It's with the fear of the Lord. The sign of the last days, there's no fear of God in their sight. God's word is sure. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus said, "My word will never pass away. If the Lord declares it, it shall come to pass. And when God says, "If you come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," that's a promise from God, and he will give you rest if you come unto him. But if we refuse him when the Lord calls, and now he says is the acceptable time. But if we hear the the word of the Lord, as the writer of Hebrews says, but don't mix the word of the Lord with faith, then because of our unbelief, we won't inherit the promises of God. The messengergers's responsibility in all of this is to declare the message of God, thus sayeth the Lord. But the recipient of the message is the hearer. And so if the person hears God calling then they mix his word with faith and enter into the promises. But if they reject the things of God then there was a sure judgment coming to them. There's been an awful lot being said concerning the tragic death of Diana. Princess Diana. Princess die. everybody came to know her as. I've had a sorrowful heart for her children as most of you have. And I sorrow for her. I heard a young girl, a little girl, couldn't have been eight years old say, "Well, I believe that she was doing so many good deeds that God simply took her to heaven so she could do good deeds in heaven." and your heart goes out to this precious little one who has such a sensitivity to goodness and such a desire to see her there. But even as I was on my way here tonight, I was listening to Duffy on KKLA and he was pointing out that it came out in a Muslim publication that Princess Dye between four and five years ago. apparently had approached a Muslim cleric and had apparently declared to him that she had intentions of becoming a Muslim which once again it was said and I say this allegedly to be honest with you. I just heard this tonight though that she was concerned at the shock that that would cause to those in England as she would become a Muslim. We have a sentimentality about us, don't we? We like to believe that those who are larger than life would automatically go into heaven. I read a comment that I considered to be a bit shallow today in the newspaper where a young man wrote and said, "I wasn't alive when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, but I feel somewhat like America must have felt then." No, no, no. No comparison whatsoever. If you're saying you have a tragic or a sense of tragedy, that I understand. But to equate the death of Princess D with the assassination of an American president, you you don't understand history. You can't do that. Devastated a nation. A nation went into mourning when JFK was assassinated. It it it changed history. changed direction of the nation that we live in now. So no, we can't really do that. But if we're talking about feeling pain and sorrow, all of us understand that. But you know, the greatest pain and sorrow I have is I have a pain and sorrow in my heart because I don't know that princess die knew Jesus Christ. And that hurts because God's word is sure, guys. And just as sure as his promises for eternal life, there are promises for judgment. And when God made these statements in Jeremiah 49, he brought his word to pass. You can trust it when the Lord says, "I will bring judgment." But why wait for that when you can also receive from God mercy and forgiveness of sins? And there are some here tonight who need to receive just that, mercy and forgiveness of sins. We offer that to you tonight through Jesus Christ.