I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 49-50.

Jeremiah gave a prophecy of condemnation against the Ammonites which condemned them for two wrongs.  The first one he mentions is that they inhabited the land of Gad (one of the Israelite tribes which settled east of the Jordan River).  The second one is their worship of the idol Molech.  That first one makes me wonder about the people living in that land today.  Is God planning to turn that land over to the modern state of Israel?  Will they face destruction because of their idolatry?  I am hesitant to apply Old Testament prophecy concerning the Land of Israel to the modern nation of Israel, but from time to time as I read the Bible I wonder about whether and how the prophecies apply.

Later, in the prophecy against Babylon there are two things of which I want to take special note.  Jeremiah says that the people of Israel will come seeking the Lord and bind themselves to Him.  This new covenant will never be forgotten and will be eternal.  God’s people were like lost sheep who could not find their way back to the sheepfold; they were scattered, but God is going to gather them once more.  Those who attacked and scattered God’s people said that they did nothing wrong.  They justified their attacks by saying that these people had sinned against God.  They had plundered God’s people and rejoiced in the misery they had caused them.  Jeremiah tells us that God’s anger will pour forth against those who did these things.  We should keep this latter in mind when we interact with those who have sinned.  It is our job to warn sinners of God’s coming judgement, not to mete it out (and always remember that we too are sinners deserving of God’s judgement).