17 “Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones. 18 Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria.
The night is darkest just before the dawn. I am not sure of the science for that saying but the point is taken. At our worst times, the Lord will be there to heal us. For Israel, that was right about the time Jeremiah wrote these verses. In real time, Babylon is ravaging the once great Kingdom of Jerusalem. Like a hunted sheep, they were looking around waiting for the next predator to arrive. Would it be a lion or a wolf? Instead, God promised that his justice would rain down on Babylon and all Israel’s captors. Jeremiah promised more from God; a new covenant.
We are in that new covenant so that, even though the devil prowls like a lion to devour us, his roar is useless noise and his jaws have no teeth because Jesus cried, “It is finished.” Just like Assyria and Babylon, the enemy Satan has been defeated by God. Just like Jeremiah promised more for Israel, the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church that the victory is won and Jesus is King, and then promised more. Sickness and poverty, wars and strife, would be no more and the victory parade will last to eternity. The promise of the gospel to the Corinthians would culminate in this beautiful truth…
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church