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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 545

"A people shall come from the north"

Text: Jeremiah 50:41

THE ENEMIES OF THE BABYLONIANS

Once again, the LORD sent out a word of warning to the Babylonians. He would raise up a powerful enemy that would defeat and destroy them.

“Behold, a people shall come from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.
They shall hold the bow and the lance;
They are cruel and shall not show mercy.
Their voice shall roar like the sea;
They shall ride on horses,
Set in array, like a man for the battle,
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands grow feeble;
Anguish has taken hold of him,
Pangs as of a woman in childbirth.”
Jeremiah 50:41-43

1. “Behold, a people shall come from the north,
and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the ends of the earth”

a) This was a description of the Medo-Persian Empire.

b) King Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC.

c) The Medo-Persian Empire had many kings to rule the vast empire.

d) It would overwhelm Babylon completely.

2. “They shall hold the bow and the lance; they are cruel and shall not show mercy.
Their voice shall roar like the sea; they shall ride on horses, set in array,
like a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon”

a) The Medo-Persians were famous for their “bow and lance”.

b) They were also infamous for their cruelty and mercilessness.

c) Their archers and cavalry lancers were second to none.

d) They would come in battle array and defeat Babylon.

3. “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands grow feeble;
anguish has taken hold of him, pangs as of a woman in childbirth”

a) Reports of the advancing armies of the Medo-Persians had reached Babylon.

b) The Babylonian king had been indulging himself with many feasts.

c) He was totally unprepared for the Medo-Persians.

i) His hands grew feeble.

ii) He felt great anguish.

iii) He was compared to a woman in labour.