Jeremiah 51:29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon
Maybe you like to be in control of your day, your world, your elements. You like to know what you are going to do, when you are going to do it, what your schedule is, who will be with you, and so on. In short, you like to have a purpose that comes from you that governs your day and your life. Sometimes things are beyond our control, schedule, or purposes, and we find ourselves lost at such times.
In Jeremiah 51, the last chapter of Jeremiah, God is giving a prophecy against Babylon, that mighty empire. In verse 29 He says, “And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon.” So, what was going to happen was going to be according to God’s purposes, not according to Babylon’s purposes, Judah’s purposes, Israel’s purposes, or Nebuchadnezzar’s purposes. It was according to God’s purposes. Every purpose of the Lord shall be performed.
Now, if I were to ask you if prophecy was past, present or future, you would say that prophecies are regarding the future. That, of course, is true. However, at this point when we read Jeremiah 51, we are reading something that happened in the distant past. So, at the time it was given it was regarding the future and now it is distant past. Has it ever occurred to you that it is always so with God? It is always present with God. Nothing is in the future with God and nothing is so anciently past that it is murky with God. God is a present God.
Psalm 46 says, “God is a very present help.” God is present in time; He is now. He is present in place; He is here. He is a very present help. God is a present God and every purpose of the LORD shall be performed. That means a couple of things for you today.
First, you don’t need to know everything. Do we like to know things? Yes! Do we always know everything? No! We can never know everything. In Jeremiah 51:61 Jeremiah is sending God’s prophecy by a friend to Babylon when they were taken in captivity. He says, “When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; then shalt thou say…” Basically this long chapter of prophecy against Babylon was to be read in Babylon when Babylon conquered Jerusalem. This is to say that Babylon’s destruction was prophesied before she had brought about the destruction of Jerusalem. God already knew that.
Everything is past with God. We read chapter 51 of Jeremiah today and maybe we read it with a book on archaeology or ancient history so we can understand some of what is being said because it is history and not prophecy to us. But everything is known to God. That means I don’t need to know everything. God knows and that is sufficient. God knows everything and I know God. I know God and God knows everything, so I don’t need to know everything if I know God.
Second, God is present, every purpose shall be performed. That means I don’t need to do everything. That does not mean I am to be passive, but in verse 20 God says, “Thou art my battle axe.” I think He is talking to Nebuchadnezzar and some think He is talking to another conqueror, but the point is that such a conqueror is merely a tool in God’s hands.
Does God ever ask you to do something you can’t do? Well, we might think that He does not, yet God does. God has done that many times. Moses, Jeremiah, and others of His servants whom He commissioned replied, “God, I can’t do that. I am not able.” So, God does ask us to do things that we cannot do, but God will never ask us to do something that He cannot do. What that means is that if God asks you to do something that you cannot do, He can, and that demands that you trust in Him. Now, you need to do your part. You don’t need to sit around doing nothing all day, but just do what you know to be right, right now, and trust God to animate your actions.
Sometimes you say, “God, if you enable me, then I will obey.” God says, “No, you obey and as you obey, I will enable.” Every purpose of the LORD will be performed. I don’t need to know everything and I don’t need to do everything. I do need to trust and obey.
Unlike the gods of Babylon who were vanity, verse 19 says to the portion of Jacob that the God Who is on their side is not like Babylon’s gods. He is not like these false gods, for He is the Former of all things. He formed the universe. No one made God. God made all and Israel is the rod of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His name.
So, God is present; He is present in time and place, and His every purpose shall be performed. I don’t need to know everything. I don’t need to do everything in my own strength. I do need to trust and obey God knowing that He is sufficient to do what He purposes.