Do wars ever end? I was watching videos last night of soldiers in battle, one saying they’re good-byes, one seeing the truth of a situation and going to the other side. Young men and women dying for the wear games of the old. It’s just sickening sometimes how wars are just a part of human culture.
But here what would happen with Egypt was a judgment of God. Some wars are his judgment and some are men’s foolishness. But this one was of God.
He had enough of their deities and their pharaoh’s. They were leading the people astray. Egypt would hiss like their snakes (v. 22) but he would bring destruction. He was sending Babylon against them and they would win, hands down. The “mighty” warriors would run. The people would say of Pharaoh he was full of boasting and no fulfillment. Of course every king boasts and every nation thinks their army is the greatest.
But their time was coming. Judgment was coming. Babylon as coming. They would be destroyed and their cities demolished, but the LORD said they would inhabit the land again. And they have.
For Israel the LORD told them not to worry. Even in their captivity and exile, he would watch over them. He would protect them and bring them back home. Furthermore he would destroy the nations that ransacked them.
“I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have banished you, but I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you with justice, and I will by no means leave you unpunished” (v. 28).
Their exile was also for punishment and discipline. But God would restore them.
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The LORD sometimes have to bring discipline and judgment to a people. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be good. Evil cannot and should not go unchecked, because the harm that it brings to people is beyond what we understand.
For Israel that meant captivity into Babylon. For Egypt that too meant destruction. And for Babylon, they would be drunk on their power for awhile, but eventually the LORD would bring judgment on them as well. For now they were just his instruments in his hands to deliver the judgment to the world.
When I see the trajectory of the last couple of years on human civilization, I cannot imagine what is yet to come. Then again, I can imagine it and it is not a pretty picture. God will need to come and rescue us out of all this or I believe he will pour out his judgment on the world. Maybe both. But the evil that is covering the earth is unspeakable.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we throw away common sense, decency and morality? I see interviews with the generation coming up and it’s like the social media generation has been robbed of its ability to think. We are well-entertained, this generation is brilliant at story-telling and strategy. But to truly think?
God isn’t stressed out in heaven. He has his plans to draw people to Him. But I can’t imagine the judgment that might face if there is not repentance. I can only say, “God, hear our prayers.”
