Zedekiah Rebels Against Babylon (Day 78)

Read Jeremiah 52:1-34
 
   Riblah was 200 miles north of Jerusalem. This was the Babylonian headquarters for ruling the region. Hamath was the district of Aram containing the nation’s capital. 


A Message for the Exiles (Day 77)

Read Jeremiah 51:45-64
 
   The people were paralyzed with guilt over their past. The Babylonian armies had desecrated the Temple, and the people were ashamed to return to Jerusalem. But God told them to return to the city because He would destroy Babylon for its sins. 
In this last of Jeremiah’s messages, we find the twin themes of God’s sovereignty and His judgment. Babylon had been allowed to oppress the people of Israel, but Babylon itself would be judged. Although God brings good out of evil, He does not allow evil to remain unpunished. The wicked may succeed for a while, but resist the temptation to follow them or you may share in their judgment.


Babylon’s Great Punishment (Day 76)

Read Jeremiah 51:20-44
 
   Grain was threshed on a threshing floor, where sheaves were brought from the field. The stalks of grain were distributed on the floor, a large level section of hard ground. There the grain was crushed to separate the kernels from the stalk; then the kernels were beaten with a wooden tool. Sometimes a wooden sledge was pulled over the grain by animals to break the kernels loose. Babylon would soon be threshed as God judged it for its sins. 


Babylon Will Be Destroyed (Day 75)

Read Jeremiah 51:1-19
 
   Winnowers worked to separate the wheat from the chaff. When they threw the mixture into the air, the wind blew away the worthless chaff while the wheat settled to the floor. Babylon would be blown away like the chaff in the wind. In Matthew 3:12, John the Baptist says Jesus will separate the wheat from the chaff. 


Babylon’s Sure Fall (Day 74)

Read Jeremiah 50:4-46
 
   God would punish wicked Babylon as He punished Assyria for what it had done to Israel. Assyria was crushed by Babylon, which Assyria had once ruled. Babylon in turn would be crushed by Medo-Persia, formerly under its authority. Merathaim was located in southern Babylonia; Pekod was in eastern Babylonia. These verses also look to the time when the Messiah will rule and Israel will be fully restored. No sin will then be found in Israel because God’s people will seek Him and be forgiven.