Jeremiah 46:13 says, The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt. God revealed to Jeremiah that Nebuchadrezzar was going to defeat Egypt. Verse fourteen adds, Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee. Egypt had quit going into other countries to be make war according to Matthew Henry, but war was coming to them, and the cities named were those where the people of Judah had fled. Verse fifteen asks, Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them. The people might ask why the valiant men of Egypt were being driven away, and Jeremiah was to tell them that it was because God was behind their defeat. People may be valiant in defiance of God, but they will never be victorious when His judgment comes. Verse sixteen adds, He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword. Matthew Henry says these were the mercenary soldiers who were hired by Egypt now saying that it was time to go back to their own country. Verse seventeen states, They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed. These troops said that the Pharaoh was full of talk, but he couldn't back up that talk. People today may be full of talk against God and declare Him to be powerless, but one day they will realize that it was all empty words. Verse eighteen declares, As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. God said that He gave His word that Nebuchadrezzar was to come and defeat Egypt. We have God's word today that one day Christ is going to return and defeat all the enemies of God. Verse nineteen adds, O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant. The women who had been living in luxury were warned to prepare for life in captivity. Verse twenty says, Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north. Egypt was compared to a fair heifer, but God said that destruction was coming to Egypt from the north. They may have felt safe and content, just as many people who deny God are today, but they were not going to remain that way, and neither will those who reject God today. Verse twenty-one continues, Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation. God once again said those hired by Egypt to help protect them were going to flee. No one can save anyone else who refuses to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and anyone or anything that they put their faith in will fail them. Verse twenty-two states, The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. Verse twenty-three adds, They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable. God said the coming force would be powerful and unstoppable, just as God's judgment will be one day. Verse twenty-four says, The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. The women would not be spared. Verse twenty-five declares, The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him: Jeremiah was to tell them that God was punishing them for their idolatry. Those who serve false gods will ultimately face the one true God. Verse twenty-six adds, And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD. God said that He was giving over the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar. We may not always understand how God works, but we can be certain that He will always fulfill His promises. Verse twenty-seven continues, But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. God also promised to save the people of Israel who were living in Egypt. I believe that these were the ones who still put their faith in God. Verse twenty-eight concludes, Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished. God told the people of Israel to not be afraid. He said that He would not make and end to them, even though He had punished them for their disobedience. As followers of Christ, we have assurance of everlasting salvation, but that does not mean that we can sin without being held accountable.
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