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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 77

"Destruction upon destruction is cried"

Text: Jeremiah 4:20

THE TRAUMA OF UTTER DESTRUCTION

What Jeremiah was describing had not yet occurred. The prophets of God “saw” what they proclaimed. The Lord gave them “prophetic vision” so that they could see in advance the terrors of war. Destruction was in the mind of the invaders!

“Destruction upon destruction is cried,
For the whole land is plundered.
Suddenly my tents are plundered,
And my curtains in a moment.
How long will I see the standard,
And hear the sound of the trumpet?”
Jeremiah 4:20-21

1. “Destruction upon destruction is cried”

a) War is always damaging.
b) But war does not stop at damages.
c) War is “destruction upon destruction”.
d) Total defeat of the enemy is in the plan of the invaders.

2. “For the whole land is plundered”

a) Wars are seldom limited to one city.
b) Jerusalem will be attacked because it was the capital.
i) The political capital
ii) The religious capital
c) But the whole land would be plundered.
i) Every single city.
ii) Every village.
iii) All would be plundered.
iv) These acts of pillaging were meant to sow fear in the hearts of the vanquished.

3. “Suddenly my tents are plundered, and my curtains in a moment”

a) Jeremiah lived in Anathoth.
b) This was meant to be a city for the priests.
c) But their city would be invaded and plundered too.
d) Jeremiah saw his tents and curtains plundered.
e) This brought a deep sense of personal sadness.

4. “How long will I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?”

a) Standards were war flags.
i) Judah used them.
ii) Babylon used them too.
iii) The Babylonian standard would fly high.
b) The trumpets
i) War trumpets were commonly used.
ii) Judah’s trumpets would be silent as plunder continued.
iii) The triumphant Babylonian trumpets would be heard.
c) Both sight and sound bothered Jeremiah deeply.
i) How he wished he could not see the standards of the Babylonians!
ii) How he wished he could not hear the war trumpets of their enemies!
iii) But the presence of the Babylonians was there to stay.