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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 485

"They shall cut down her forest"

Text: Jeremiah 46:23

THE MIGHT OF THE BABYLONIANS

Egypt prided itself in its history. Its reputation as a mighty nation had spread far and wide for the longest time! But the nation was a spent force compared to the Babylonians.

“‘Her noise shall go like a serpent,
For they shall march with an army
And come against her with axes,
Like those who chop wood.
They shall cut down her forest,’ says the LORD,
‘Though it cannot be searched,
Because they are innumerable,
And more numerous than grasshoppers.
The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;
She shall be delivered into the hand
Of the people of the north.'”
Jeremiah 46:22-24

1. “Her noise shall go like a serpent, for they shall march with an army
and come against her with axes, like those who chop wood”

a) The serpent was a significant symbol in Egypt.

i) It was a symbol of wisdom and power.

ii) The crown of the Pharaoh had two serpents emblazoned on it.

iii) But the serpent was now slithering away noiselessly.

b) The symbol of the Babylonians was the axe.

i) The axe was used as a weapon of war.

ii) It was also used to chop down trees.

c) The Babylonians were like woodcutters chopping down a forest.

d) The Egyptians had no answer to the might of the Babylonians.

2. “‘They shall cut down her forest,’ says the LORD, ‘Though it cannot be searched,
because they are innumerable, and more numerous than grasshoppers'”

a) The army of the Babylonians was innumerable.

b) They were compared to:

i) Woodcutters armed with axes.

ii) A swarm of grasshoppers (locusts).

3. “The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;
she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north”

a) Egypt was now compared to “a daughter”.

i) Vulnerable

ii) Weak and unable to resist the might of Babylon.

iii) The nation would feel shame.

b) She will be delivered to the people of the north (Babylonians).