I want to thank you for your patience and indulgence, and I want to say that I have done this because I just could not escape it. See, the problem with the Prophet, like you or not, is the problem of the forced and the free. And I have not wanted to leave sight of what the Prophet is trying to convey by looking at the particulars too closely. I'm well aware that it takes a great effort to deal with all of this, but you see it is intended to be dealt with together. Because what you have in this final portion of the Prophet Jeremiah is a story of nine nations. And the first is Egypt, and the last is Babylon, the two great superpowers of that tree. We've already dealt with one of them, and we will deal with one more. But in between are the seven Pamanite nations. Now, why seven? We know, as a matter of fact, that there were many more, and some of them that are mentioned here we hardly know anything about at all. Quite clearly, the seven are representative, just like the seven churches of Asia in the book of Revelation. We know that there were other churches. They were not always selected in accordance with their primacy or importance, but they were selected because they were representative, and so it is with these seven nations. God intends us to see here symbolism and a picture of the tremendous judgment of God upon the historical enemies of the people of God. Not only that, but you will notice that two of these nations receive extended treatment. The first is Moab, which was ancestrally related to the house of Abraham because they were descended from Lot, and the other is Eden, which was ancestrally related to Esau, the brother of Jacob. So God is giving us here a kind of exhibit A of his judgment of the nation. as it accompanies the judgment of Judah in this great time of upheaval and uncertainty in the history of that tree. Now, first of all, then we briefly look at Moab, because it is clearly intended to be a leading example. The others I dealt with quite briefly, but Moab, at some length, shows that we will have here, you might say, a typical species. Moab began in the time of the Patriarchs. And in the time of the patriarchs there was a rather friendly relationship between the children and descendants of Lot and those of Abraham. But by the time of the Exodus when God led his people out of bondage in Egypt to claim the promised land there was already life and antagonism between the descendants of Lot who were born of the infest of Lot's two daughters and the children of Israel. And that hostility continued until the time of David when they were subdued and made servants of the people of God. And that servitude and bondage continued until the 8th century B.C., about two centuries prior to this time, when they broke off the yoke of David and became a sovereign people once more. Now one of the things that you see all down through this period is that among the nations of the world at that time, Moab at least had a historical knowledge of the true covenant God. They had it by way of tradition from Lot and they also had it by way of place, association and contact with God's covenant people. Therefore, all the more serious were the warnings of God's judgment against Moab because of their worship of Semite. And if you were listening closely, you'll notice that two or three times in that passage Semite, the great false god, the human deity of the Canaanite people, As he was worshipped in Moab, the god that required the sacrifice of little children in the red hot arms of this idol god is become under judgment. You see the great thing about Moab is that they knew the wish of Jehovah. And yet in the midst of this knowledge, they came to this horrible deity called Shemoi who demanded the sacrifice of infants. The other nations are dealt with more briefly because their relationship to Israel was less extended. Eden is treated more fully because, like Moab, it had this ancestral connection. But the point of it all is to remind us that there is no nation, from the greatest to the least, that God does not remember and deal with in his historical process of judgment. First, for example, Philistia. Now they are mentioned first probably because they are one of the earliest foes of the Israelites among the Canaanite nation. You remember David. in his battle against the Philistine giants. You remember many Bible stories that bring flooding back into your mind a recollection of the many conflicts between the nation of Israel and the people of Philistia. Well, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, well, the king of Egypt moved north in 609 B.C. very proud of their being a super power on earth, and they took possession of the city of Tartemis. And it was on that northward journey that they also subdued the land of the Philistines. It was at that time that the Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah, and you'll notice it says that, before Pharaoh parted with Gaza, Gaza was one of the cities of the Philistines not yet conquered, but about to be conquered at that moment. The prophet of God said, behold, waters are going to rise from the north. Israel came from the south. But the prophet said, the waters are going to rise from the north and they're going to be an overflowing torrent. In other words, the prophet to predict that the real judgment of the Philistines would come from the Babylonians. At a moment in history when no one could have foreseen such a possibility, and yet, within five years, Nebuchadnezzar routed and defeated the armies of Pharaoh at the famous Battle of Tarkinni, and then came the flood the great torrent of military contests by the greatest of the nations of that era, the Babylonians, in which there was a seam of devastating judgment against all of these paganized nations. Now I don't know enough about some of these, and I do not find that the Stalinist re-artists to say very much about it. That's one reason why I decided to deal with them as a unit. We know practically nothing about some of the smaller nations that are mentioned here in this summary. I also realize that this is a very inadequate issue, but at least I hope we have seen the forest in the midst of the trees. Now what is God teaching us in this great section? Well first of all he is teaching us that every nation and every people will at last answer to Jehovah. You know there's a lot of people in the world today that still don't realize that. There are a lot of people in the world today that are offended by that. That the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the one living and true God. That all the other gods of the world are idols, and that God is supreme. Did you know that all of the people on the face of the earth, whether they are Buddhists or Mohammedans or whatever they are, they are really dealing with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they are really dealing with Jesus Christ himself, who is the Biblical Jehovah? For God has highly exalted him, says Paul, and given him the name which is above every name. That is the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that he is Jehovah, the Lord. The meaning of the word is the glorious God the Father. When Jesus Christ said, all authority is given to me in both heaven and earth, The Bible is teaching us that He is the Jehovah of the nations. And that means that every nation on the face of the earth tonight is really dealing with Jesus. Or putting it the other way around, the Lord Jesus is really the one who is dealing with all of these nations. Now they may not know that. I'm sure the mullahs in Iran tonight are not aware of the fact that they are really dealing with the hand of Jesus Christ, the sovereign of history. But they are. This is something we need to remember in the midst of the chaos and strife and religious differences among the nations of the world today. The one thing that really is decisive is their attitude toward Jesus Christ. The second thing that you see in this part of the Bible is this, that in history there is a working out of the process of divine justice. There is a manifestation of divine justice in history. Did you ever wonder why history has worked out the way it has? Looking at it from a human point of view, sometimes it certainly looks as if there is no rhyme or reason in it. Sometimes great moments in history seem to be in the balance, and some seemingly insignificant thing can tame the balance one way rather than another. In the days of Jeremiah, nobody could really say beforehand without divine revelation whether it would be easy. or Babylon that would win the great battle of that tree. Now of course there is a lot going on, but we can never say God's judgment is final. That's why there's going to be a day of judgment when every single individual will receive a final assessment. Not because God has any need of that final assessment, but because men and angels must behold the utterity of the judgment of God in order to manifest the judgment of God. But the point I am making is that in history there is an execution of God's judgment upon the nation. Now you can clearly see that in God's judgment with Judah, can't you? And you can clearly see it even in what God said in the law of Moses. If my people who are called by my name, if they will be faithful, I will bless them, and their enemies will not be able to stand against them. But if my people who are called by my name turn against me, then I will send the locusts and the famines and the droughts. And they will not be able to stand against their enemies. And so you see the hand of judgment in the history of Judah. But the thing that we are learning here is that the same God who judges all his people also judges all of the nations of the world. So it isn't blind chance. And it isn't faith that is determining the outcome of this speech, neither is it a purely mechanical thing. You know, there are some people who talk about law today almost in a deistic sense. The deists were the people who said that the universe is like a watch. God wound it up and started it going and then he left it to run by itself and it all just runs like clockwork. But that's not the view of the universe you have in the Bible. God, in truth, You might say the mechanism of destruction may be very close, and yet if a nation retents like none of the good gods, it will withhold their hand of its judgment. And if there is a people, however blessed they may be, that turn away from God, he may send his judgment when least expected. The third thing that we see in this passage of the Bible is the fact that there is a relationship between the destiny of the world and the state of the church. Well, the Apostle Peter put it like this, it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God, because it's only fair that judgment begins with those to whom that is given. If you have two children and one was adopted and one was naturally born, And the one that was natural born had been given all the privileges and the teaching and instruction and nurture of your height. And the adopted son was brought in and he disobeyed your command, which would you punish first and most severely for the same offense. And if you were a just and righteous father, you would punish your own son. More severely, and so it is, the judgment must begin with the house of God. If the nation of Israel was apostate, offering its infants to Shem as the God of the Moabites, little wonder that his judgment would come upon them too, even though it also came upon Moab. You see, we are supposed to be the salt of the earth, the thing that preserves the nations from destruction. And so when you see that God begins to do all of these terrible things, you can always see that there's been something wrong with the church. God sends another great world war on the West. We've had two now, if he sends a third, the reason will be because of the terrible abomination in the house of God that have weakened the nation. And now, in conclusion, let me say one other thing, and this is the most wonderful part of this passage. For the living God, the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who at last remembers mercy, over and over through these seven prophecies, The element of compassion comes to the forefront. In chapter 46, verse 26, he speaks about Egypt. After this, it will be inhabited as in the days of old. In chapter 48, verse 47, and yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days. Chapter 49, verse 6. After this I will restore the fortunes of the sons of Ammon. Chapter 49, verse 39. But it will come about in the last days that I shall restore the fortunes of Elam. to see God's judgment by all these, to the end of his great and sovereign, regentious purpose, just as we sang a little while ago in that beautiful song. Yes, not O God, nor hold thy peace. O God, thy silence breaks. For, lo, thy haters raise their heads, thy foes the criminals make. Against thee, they with one accord in covenant combine, the parents of Edom, Ishmael, with Moab, Hagar's line. With shame their faces fill, O Lord, that they may speak thy name. Dismay, for ever let them be and perish in their shame. So shall they know that thou alone, Jehovah is thy name, that thou, most high for all the earth, art ever more sustained. Do you see it? God has set up all in disobedience that he might have mercy upon all. Oh, the depth of the riches of faith, the wisdom, and the knowledge of God. For even in wrath, even in judgment, he remembers mercy. and to predict and promise and fulfill his great purpose, to gather out of every tongue and tribe and nation a multitude that no man can number to share in his great salvation. And if it were not so, you and I wouldn't be here tonight to praise the great name of Jesus. For if we stand today under the covenant banner of Christ, It is only because in God's wrath He has remembered mercy. May the Lord enable us to remember this as we think of these seven Canaanite nations. Amen. Let us pray. We thank you tonight, O God, that you have given us the privilege of thinking about your great judgment which came upon the Canaanite nations in the days of the Prophet Jeremiah, in the days of the great willpower of Babylon. We receive the justice of it, but Lord, we thank you for the mercy that was also in it. And as we see the great wars that have afflicted our own centuries, both from the Second World War, we see it also. You have rightly judged the nation of the West who have been so blessed and yet have turned away to false gods. And we recognize in these judgments that the finger points first of all at the abominations in God's own house, the Church. O Lord, if you would revive your Church again, Impress these lessons upon the hearts of your people. Make them again the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That righteousness might exalt the nations, and that you might be glorified by all. Granted we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen.