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Help My Unbelief - Jeremiah 49-50
Help My Unbelief - Jeremiah 49-50
The great city of Babylon. This was one of the most important cities of Mesopotamia. It has been associated with the name Babel (Gen. 11:9), but that seems uncertain. For centuries it had remained as a city. During the time of Hammurabi (1700's B.C.), it became a great city housing many temples to the various gods. As with most such kingdoms, it then went through a period of decline, yet it lived on. In the 13th century B.C., it rose again in power and prominence. The great Assyrian empire then subjugated it until it rebelled and fought for its independence. It defeated the Assyrian army and went on to become the major empire throughout all of Mesopotamia during the late 600's and early 500's B.C.
It was during this time that Jeremiah foretold its destruction and ruin. It seemed like a prophecy of the impossible! The great city had been around 'forever'. They had fortified it into what seemed like an impregnable fortress. How can it fall?
God had used them to punish Judah. Babylon however was arrogant and took all of the credit. They were of course, like all the nations around them, guilty of idolatry. Thus they sinned against the God of all creation.
God is God. The most powerful of nations are nothing in comparison with the glory and power of God. Babylon wasn't the first, nor would it be the last that God destroyed.
IF you lived in Jeremiah's day, would we believe Jeremiah? Would we put your trust in God? Would we have been able to comprehend that this great city/kingdom could be destroyed? Could we trust that God would not only destroy it, but also restore Judah to her land? I wonder.
We don't have to answer those questions, but we do have trust Him now! If we are not trusting Him today, it seems evident that we would not have trusted Him then! Trust when things look difficult or impossible, is itself difficult. Read again Hebrews 11. As the father exclaimed: "I do believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24).
Hugh DeLong
