Fri.’s Devo - Babylon’s Takeover

Read: Jeremiah 51:1-53; Titus 2:1-15; Psalm 99:1-9; Provers 26:17 God gave this message to Jeremiah six years before the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. It was written on a scroll and tomorrow we will read how he gave this written prophecy to a man named Seriah to take to Nebuchadnezzar and read to him when he took captives back to Babylon. *** Written on the scroll was their fate. Babylon would be destroyed. They would hear rumors of Cyrus preparing for war in the first year. The next year they would hear that Cyrus was closer and entering Assyria. They would be taken the third year. *** It would be a total takeover. Babylon would be winnowed like wheat and their army completely destroyed. In the midst of the prophecy, God talks to his people Israel and Judah. He tells them that he is still their God and when they hear of war it is time to flee Babylon and avoid being trapped in her punishment. *** God had determined Babylons destruction. This is his vengeance against those who desecrated his Temple. God would repay Babylon for all the wrongs they did to his people in Jerusalem. Babylon had been the power of the earth, but God was making it clear that He was the power of the earth. He would send the Medes to be like locusts that destroyed everything in sight. All of their escape routes would be stopped. *** The walls of Babylon were 80 feet wide and 60 feet long and 200 cubits high. Babylon was shaped in the shape of a square with 25 gates on each side. There were 250 towers, 100 on each side and yet in a single night Babylon fell. The Persian army drained the water and came under the gates while the leaders of Babylon were feasting and getting drunk. It was a surprise attack and the city was taken in a night. (Remember Belshassar and the writing on the wall? It was that night that Babylon was taken.) *** Babylon would be taken and her god, Baal would be punished. All her idols would be destroyed. *** Paul instructs the older men to have self-control and life respectfully and wisely. They are to be full of love and patience. The older women are to honor God in how they live and communicate with others. They are to be examples of how to love their husbands and raise their children to be wise and pure. The young men are to be examples to others by the good works they do. They were to be men of integrity and truth. The slaves or workers should obey their masters and do their best work for them. *** We are to be examples to the world of God’s kingdom and how it is suppose to operate with truth and righteousness. Our godly living should entice the world to want what we have. *** Lord, may we be examples in this crazy mixed up world of what your Kingdom should look like and how it should run. Help us to love one another and join together as one unit in the body of Christ.