the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Jeremiah 50:17-32
Israel’s punishment at the hands of the Chaldeans was certainly in line with God’s will. But the eagerness and cruelty of the Chaldeans in carrying out this punishment was to justify the "vengeance" of which Babylon was then to be made the object. Not only that, by attacking Israel, Babylon was also fighting against the LORD (v. 24; Zechariah 2:8). In particular the destruction and ransacking of the temple was a personal insult to the One who had placed His glory there. For that reason Babylon’s punishment is called "the vengeance of his temple" (v. 28; Jeremiah 51:11).
Let us notice how many times these gloomy chapters are at the same time filled with encouragement for those amongst the people who were faithful to God. The LORD, "their Redeemer, is strong;" He takes up Israel’s cause, His "scattered sheep", to save them from the mouths of the lions which are devouring them (vv. 17, 34). "In that time", His forgiveness will have wiped away all their sins: "the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found" (v. 20; cf. Numbers 23:21).
