24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,
“And I will stretch out My hand against you,
And roll you down from the crags,
And I will make you a burnt out mountain.
26 “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord.27 Lift up a [aa]signal in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate the nations against her,
Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz;
Appoint a marshal against her,
Bring up the horses like bristly locusts.
28 Consecrate the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
[ab]Their governors and all [ac]their [ad]prefects,
And every land of [ae]their dominion.
29 So the land quakes and writhes,
For the purposes of the Lord against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
[af]A desolation without inhabitants.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
Their strength is [ag]exhausted,
They are becoming like women;
Their dwelling places are set on fire,
The bars of her gates are broken.
31 One [ah]courier runs to meet [ai]another,
And one [aj]messenger to meet [ak]another,
To tell the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
32 The fords also have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
Yup, God is still declaring judgment on Babylon, as we see in v. 24, “for all their evil that they have done in Zion…” There’s a bit more of the same, the Medes are going to come with their horses (v. 27-28), and Babylon will be desolate (v. 29). And perhaps this is also similar to previous statements, but it really stood out to me in v. 30-32, that the mighty men have ceased fighting. Why?
Because, sorry gals, those mighty men are becoming like women. The reality is that men shouldn’t be like women, any more than women should be like men. Certainly we have things in common, and we all have our strengths, but we shouldn’t be like someone else. We need to be who God created us to be, and though that comes with it’s own weaknesses (in our frail humanity), there is strength also.
That is a strength that only comes from God and trusting in Him. Our own strength is temporary and fleeting, as Babylon would find out. But God’s strength is eternal, and He calls us to lean on His everlasting arms, not our own.
Neither the Medes nor the Chaldeans of Babylon put their trust in God, and their kingdoms would rise and fall. On the other hand, God’s kingdom is eternal, and the best is yet to come. In the meantime, we need to find our strength in Him. As our Pastor aptly said yesterday, we need bold faith, and that doesn’t come from our own prowess or might.
Rather, it comes from the object of our faith, our Source and Provider; not a mere “thing”, but our God who is calling us to walk with Him, to step out on the path that He has (already) built. His word is a “lamp to our feet, a light to our path.” (Psalm 119:105) There is nothing surer, more strong, than our God and the plans He has for each of us. So walk boldly in His light.