Scripture Daily

Context No. 1929 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 50:33-46: in context

33The LORD of Armies says: “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All who took them captive hold them fast. They refuse to let them go. 34Their Redeemer is strong. The LORD of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 35“A sword is on the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “and on the inhabitants of Babylon, on her princes, and on her wise men. 36A sword is on the boasters, and they will become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. 37A sword is on their horses, on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her; and they will become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they will be robbed. 38A drought is on her waters, and they will be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols. 39Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein. It will be inhabited no more forever, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. 40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says the LORD, “so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. 41“Behold, a people comes from the north. A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 42They take up bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea. They ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon. 43The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands become feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor. 44Behold, the enemy will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make them run away from it. Whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it, for who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?” 45Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they will drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them. 46The earth trembles at the noise of the taking of Babylon. The cry is heard among the nations.

Israel and Judah are oppressed together, held fast by captors who refuse to let them go. But God speaks a word of hope over the oppressed: their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, to give rest to the earth and trouble to Babylon. The rest of the passage pronounces judgment on Babylon, the oppressor; but its heart is that promise: the oppressed have a strong Redeemer who takes up their cause and will not fail to plead it.

The word that shines here is spoken over a captive, oppressed people: their Redeemer is strong; he will thoroughly plead their cause. God presents himself as the Redeemer of the oppressed, the one who takes up their case against their oppressors, who pleads their cause not weakly or halfheartedly but thoroughly, with all the strength of the LORD of Armies. The oppressed, held fast by captors who will not release them, are not without a defender; their Redeemer is strong, and he will plead their cause and give them rest. There is deep comfort here for the oppressed, the wronged, the held-down, the ones whose captors or oppressors seem too strong to resist. It can feel, when we are oppressed or wronged, that no one takes up our case, that we are helpless before those who hold us down, that there is no one strong enough to plead our cause. This word says otherwise: the oppressed have a Redeemer, and he is strong. God is not indifferent to the oppression of his people; he takes up their cause as his own, pleads it thoroughly, and moves against those who hold them down. Their Defender is strong, another passage says; he will plead their cause. This does not promise that every oppression is lifted at once, or that we see the pleading of our cause as we wish; but it assures us that the oppressed are not without a defender, that God takes up the cause of the wronged and the held-down, and that he is strong enough to plead it against any oppressor. When we are wronged and helpless, held fast by what we cannot overcome ourselves, we may take heart that our Redeemer is strong, that he sees our oppression, takes up our cause, and will plead it thoroughly in his time. The captors of God's people refused to let them go; but their Redeemer was strong, and he took up their cause. And the God who is the strong Redeemer of the oppressed still takes up the cause of the wronged and the held-down, and pleads it with all his strength.

When I am oppressed or wronged, held fast by what I cannot overcome myself and feeling that no one takes up my case, can I take comfort in the promise that the oppressed have a strong Redeemer, that God takes up the cause of the wronged as his own and pleads it thoroughly, and is strong enough to plead it against any oppressor?

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