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 51-52.

Babylon was chosen by God to punish His people by conquering Jerusalem and destroying the Temple there.  Yet, here Jeremiah prophesied that God would punish Babylon and the Babylonians for what they had done to the people of Jerusalem.    So, let’s recap.  Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed because of the sins of the Jewish people.  Babylon was God’s chosen tool for this task.  Nevertheless, God chose to punish Babylon for what they did to the people of Israel.  

As I read this I thought about the modern state of Israel.  There are many who condemn the modern state of Israel for what they perceive as the sins of its politicians and people.  I am not going to address the merits of those accusations today because it is not relevant to the point.  If the people of the modern state of Israel are guilty of the sins which their opponents accuse them of, God will punish them and the state of Israel will fall.  However, those who work to bring that about will pay a price, even if they are doing so because of the sins of the people of Israel.

However, as I started typing the last paragraph I realized there is a more general lesson.  One which all of us should heed.  Those who repeatedly sin will suffer God’s punishment for their sins (especially the sins of oppressing the weak and powerless).  However, when that punishment is delivered by their fellow human, the one delivering the punishment may be sinning by doing so.  We are all sinners and avoid God’s terrible punishment only by His grace.  It is not our place to decide who should receive God’s punishment and who should receive His grace.  Let us leave that to God.  Our place is to demonstrate God’s love.  That we should not leave to God.