Book of Jeremiah – Jer 46:1-14 The Sword Shall Devour [Egypt]

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Jer 46:1-14 The Sword Shall Devour [Egypt]

[Study Aired July 17, 2022

Jer 46:1  The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;
Jer 46:2  Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
Jer 46:3  Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
Jer 46:4  Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
Jer 46:5  Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD.
Jer 46:6  Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
Jer 46:7  Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
Jer 46:8  Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
Jer 46:9  Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
Jer 46:10  For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Jer 46:11  Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
Jer 46:12  The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.
Jer 46:13  The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.
Jer 46:14  Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

Egypt is merely the first of many nations, because ‘Egypt’ in scripture typifies and signifies the world of sin. So, we are first told:

Jer 46:1  The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;

Here is an outline of the remainder of this prophecy of Jeremiah:

Part Three: The Prophecies to the Gentiles (46:1-51:64) I.
Prophecies against Egypt……………………………………………46:1-28 II.
Prophecies against Philistia…………………………………47:1-7 III.
Prophecies against Moab…………………………………………….48:1-47 IV.
Prophecies against Ammon………………………………………….49:1-6 V.
Prophecies against Edom…………………………………………….49:7-22 VI.
Prophecies against Damascus……………………………………49:23-27 VII.
Prophecies against Kedar and Hazor…………………49:28-33 VIII.
Prophecies against Elam…………………………………………….49:34-39 IX.
Prophecies against Babylon………………………………………50:1-51:64 A.
Babylon’s Defeat…………………… 50:1-20 B.
Babylon’s Desolation…………………50:21-46 C.
Babylon’s Destiny……………………51:1-64
Part Four:
The Fall of Jerusalem………………..52:1-34 I.
The Capture of Jerusalem……………..52:1-11 II.
The Destruction of Jerusalem………….52:12-23 III.
The Exile to Babylon…………………52:24-30 IV.
The Liberation of Jehoiachin………….52:31-34
[SOURCE: Talk Through the Bible (TTTB) – 5-3-2017]

This is a good outline of the Gentile nations against which Jeremiah prophesied. It is copied from this link:

http://epubc.ca/files/ROOT/bible-study/documents/2017-08-09_OUTLINE–Book-of-JEREMIAH_rev.pdf

These are one and all the historical enemies of the Lord’s chosen people. In type they signify the various false doctrines and physical passions which seek to destroy the Lord’s elect. The fact that they are each named and judged is for our admonition to show us who our enemies are and to let us know they will not be given any quarter by the Lord. These nations signify the spiritual enemies of Christ within us. They were all “marred in the Potter’s hand” and will each and every one be destroyed by the brightness of the Lord’s coming into our lives.

This is the negative application of the word ‘Gentiles’. The judgments which are pronounced upon Egypt and upon all the other Gentile nations in the coming chapters of Jeremiah are pronounced upon each of these Gentile nations as a type and shadow of the different offenses of our old man within ourselves, but we know that before we can learn any spiritual lesson within our own heart and mind, we must first be shown an outward fulfillment of these prophecies upon these nations of the world outwardly.

The Lord begins His words against the Gentiles, who hate His chosen people, with His words against Egypt:

Jer 46:2  Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

Nebuchadnezzar smote Pharaohnecho but not before Pharaohnecho had smitten Josiah, king of Judah. It was all done for our sakes and for our admonition:

2Ki 23:28  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 23:29  In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he [Pharaoh] slew him [King Josiah] at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
2Ki 23:30  And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

Why are we told of this tragedy? It was during the reign of Josiah that Jeremiah’s prophecy begins. Josiah was one of the best kings Judah ever had. This is what the holy spirit tells us of King Josiah’s thirty-one-year reign:

2Ki 22:1  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2Ki 22:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

However, even righteous King Josiah made the mistake of failing to seek the Lord’s counsel before going to war, and that careless act cost him his life even after the Lord used Pharaohnecho to warn King Josiah against getting involved in the Lord’s work with Egypt and Assyria. As the Lord’s soldiers, we are commanded to stay out of the affairs of this world:

2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Josiah forgot how the Lord communicates with His servants and presumptuously went to war without first inquiring of the Lord via His proven prophet, Jeremiah:

2Ch 35:20  After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
2Ch 35:21  But he [Necho] sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
2Ch 35:22  Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
2Ch 35:23  And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
2Ch 35:24  His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
2Ch 35:25  And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

Jeremiah’s prophecy began in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

Josiah’s reign lasted 31 years, so Jeremiah had been prophesying for 18 years by the time Josiah went out to war against Pharaohnecho without enquiring of the Lord at the mouth of His prophet Jeremiah, “and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.”

The Lord had not yet rejected His physical people even though He used King Josiah to demonstrate to us the need to always seek a multitude of counselors before we make our war as an earlier king, King Solomon, had counseled Josiah and us:

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Josiah failed to seek counsel before making his war, and he paid dearly for it as we all will if we refuse the Lord’s counsel and if we fail to seek His counsel. It happened to Josiah for our admonition (1Co 10:11). It will cost us our lives if we refuse the Lord’s ‘counsel’ which counsels us to seek and then defer to our counselors:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you. (CLV)

That is the Lord’s counsel to each of us.

Nevertheless, the Lord has a controversy with the nations that are within us spiritually as well as the outward dispensational nations. As the Lord judged these Gentile nations outwardly, He is setting up all the nations within His elect to be chastened for their rejection of Him and of His people and His prophets. These prophecies still have both inward and outward applications. In the prophets the Lord shows us what He is doing within us by His outward punishments of the Gentile nations of this world beginning with Egypt. The Lord shows no mercy to His enemies whom He has told us to “destroy”:

Jer 46:3  Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
Jer 46:4  Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your  helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.

All these words referring to the gear worn by soldiers in war are all mentioned just to make the point that it is all to no avail when they are used in war against the Lord and His purpose. Here is what the holy spirit tells us the Lord can perform for His own glory:

Act 5:17  Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,
Act 5:18  And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
Act 5:19  But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
Act 5:20  Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
Act 5:21  And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
Act 5:22  But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told,
Act 5:23  Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.
Act 5:24  Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
Act 5:25  Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.
Act 5:26  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.
Act 5:27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Act 5:28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Act 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
Act 5:34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
Act 5:35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
Act 5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
Act 5:37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
Act 5:38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
Act 5:39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

Nothing we can do has any affect against the Lord, and nothing we can do can protect us if “we be found even to fight against God”. Just as the Lord worked things with Joseph’s brothers, He is doing the same thing with the whole world. Everything we do in defiance of Him will be made to correct and reprove us for our own wickedness.

This word ‘brigandines’ (Jer 46:4) is used one other time in scripture, and that entry is also here in Jeremiah where the Lord is telling us what He will do to judge Babylon after Babylon has served as His rod to reprove His own people:

Jer 51:1  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
Jer 51:2  And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
Jer 51:3  Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

“Him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine” refers to soldiers in “a coat of mail”.

A coat of mail covers the entire body to defend against an enemy, but there is no defense against the Lord’s power to punish us for our rebellious defiance of Him and His ways. This is true within and outwardly. Our old man is completely defenseless against the Lord’s hand, and when we fight against the Lord everything we do turns out to be really working against us. It is our own wickedness which will correct and reprove us. The outward nations of this world are just as defenseless as they continue to declare themselves as being free of the Lord’s ruling hand. The world’s rebellions against the Lord are really nothing less than curses against themselves. These words apply within the heavens of the Lord’s elect and as long as there is an outward physical realm, they will always have an application to that outward world in the appointed time:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

It is the Lord who decides the outcome of every war mankind has ever fought or ever will fight.

This is the Truth, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar:

Dan 4:17  This matter [Any and every “matter”] is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

It is Christ Himself who has three times in the book of Matthew, commissioned us to “watch” for the Lord’s appearing:

Mat 24:42   Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Mat 25:13   Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Christ reproved His very tired apostles for not watching with Him on the night of His apprehension:

Mat 26:40   And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Mat 26:41   Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

The parable of the ten virgins demonstrates that if we are given to be “watchers” it will be only because the Lord has given us His spirit, so we need not “go to them that sell” when the cry is made that, ‘the bride cometh’:

Mat 25:1  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Mat 25:3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9  But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Mat 25:13  Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

The foolish virgins had “tasted of the holy ghost” to be able to say, “Our lamps are gone out.” A lamp cannot ‘go out’ if it never had any oil at all.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.
Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost [the lamp oil],
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God [The Lord’s elect wise virgins]:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Our “work of love” is our obedience to our Lord under any circumstance. Our ‘work of love’ is measured by how much we “tremble at His words” (Isa 66:5).

We need to remember what it means to “go and buy”. Here is what that means. Here is what the five foolish virgins were not willing to do:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

The dream is one and all who buy gold tried in the fire and are rich are the same as the five wise virgins who are rich in the ‘oil’ of the spirit and words and works of Christ because they tremble at His words.

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Isa 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

All who “have tasted of the holy ghost” have had a degree of the holy spirit given to them. If they are then made to “fall away” it will then be “impossible to renew them again to repentance because they will “find no place for repentance”, typified by Esau who actually had the inheritance before treading it underfoot and counting it “an unholy thing.”

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Christ is “the spirit of grace”, and it is He who Esau in type “despised” when he sold Jacob his birthright for a bowl of pottage:

Gen 25:34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

The whole world has turned their backs on God and on His Christ, and all we and they do to deny His sovereignty over the nations of this earth serves only to correct and reprove us and them “every man in his own order” (1Co 3:13 and 1Co 15:23):

Jer 46:5  Wherefore have I seen them [the armies of Egypt] dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD.
Jer 46:6  Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.

“The mighty man… shall stumble and fall toward the north…” is one of many verses which demonstrate that ‘the north’ typifies the Lord’s humiliating judgment with which He is working His purpose in all the affairs of mankind.

Judgment is revealed to come upon the Lord’s people “from the north”:

Eze 9:1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Eze 9:2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

The Lord’s judgments are always depicted as coming out of “the way… which lieth toward the north”, and they are administered first upon “they that are Christ’s”] because the Lord is seeking an occasion to destroy our old man and his entire kingdom “first”, but then “every man in his own order”:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

The Lord’s own anointed are being judged first in this present time as Ezekiel informs us:

Eze 9:3  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;
Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Eze 9:5  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Eze 9:6  Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Eze 9:7  And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

The Lord’s chastening, scourging, correcting, and reproving, all “begin at His sanctuary… His house… which temple [we] are” if indeed we have His oil in our vessels:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of Godand if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

The Lord’s judgments burn up all our wood, hay, and stubble. They cause the death and destruction of the entire kingdom of our rebellious old man. They are the painful and humiliating destruction of our old man:

Eze 9:8  And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
Eze 9:9  Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
Eze 9:10  And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
Eze 9:11  And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

These words are telling us that we all reap what we sow, and saying “the Lord hath forsaken the earth” will not keep us from doing so or restrain His chastening hand:

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

The Lord’s elect are judged by the same words which judge those in the lake of fire. The fire of the lake of fire is the same fiery words (Jer 5:14) which judge the elect in this present time. “Every man’s work… shall be revealed by fire, and the fire will try every man’s work of what sort it is”:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Both endure the same “fire and brimstone [of] the wrath of God [expressed in] the words of the prophecy of this book”. It is “the prophecy of this book [which] is the fire and brimstone which produces “the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus”:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

[1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?]

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

The Lord’s “very elect”, the “sheep… on His right hand” share much in common with “the goats on His left hand” (Mat 25:31-46). If we “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” that means we believe and live by every word of God. Therefore, the sheep will never hear the words “depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”, and the goats will never hear the words “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”:

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The elect of the Lord will not be hurt of nor have any part in the second death/lake of fire/great white throne judgment, other than being the judges who administer that great white throne judgment, and being the ‘fire’ which is ‘the lake of fire’.

Egypt signifies the whole world in rebellion against “the Lord and His Christ”. All men have their beginning in this rebellious world and must be judged for that rebellion against their own Maker:

Jer 46:7  Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
Jer 46:8  Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
Jer 46:9  Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
Jer 46:10  For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

If you have the nerve to let it be known that you actually believe that God rules in the kingdoms of men and will judge every man according to his works, this world will consider you to be insane. Nevertheless, the word of God stands true and will be proven to be so.

Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Since “[the Lord’s] words shall not pass away” these words of His coming judgment must be fulfilled:

Jer 46:11  Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
Jer 46:12  The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.

“The mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty” tells us that when the Lord’s judgments come upon us, nothing we can do will keep us from falling under His judgment. All our ‘mighty men’ and all our false doctrines will be revealed to be the lying contradictions they are.

Jer 46:13  The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.

When the Lord uses Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the king of one nation to punish another nation’s king, the king of Egypt in this instance, He is demonstrating how our own wickedness will correct us, and our own backslidings shall reprove us:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Jer 46:14  Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

Physically and outwardly “the sword shall devour round about thee” tells us that just as the king of Babylon had already devoured the Philistines, Judah, Syria, Edom, Moab, and Ammon, the Egyptians are now next to defend themselves in vain because the Lord has already decided that Egypt is now in the queue to be punished for her sins, along with all those other nations.

Spiritually and inwardly all these nations are “the law of sin” within our members warring against us even as we war against the Lord. These nations signify all the false doctrines and sins within us which are our own wickedness which will correct and reprove us.

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