Preserved through Divine Correction

Jeremiah 46:13-28

13 The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and strike the land of Egypt.

14 "Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;
Proclaim in Noph and in Tahpanhes;
Say, 'Stand fast and prepare yourselves,
For the sword devours all around you.'
15 Why are your valiant men swept away?
They did not stand
Because the LORD drove them away.

16 He made many fall;
Yes, one fell upon another.
And they said, 'Arise!
Let us go back to our own people
And to the land of our nativity
From the oppressing sword.'
17 They cried there,
'Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise.
He has passed by the appointed time!'

18 "As I live," says the King,
Whose name is the LORD of hosts,
"Surely as Tabor is among the mountains
And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.

19 O you daughter dwelling in Egypt,
Prepare yourself to go into captivity!
For Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.

20 "Egypt is a very pretty heifer,
But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
21 Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls,
For they also are turned back,
They have fled away together.
They did not stand,
For the day of their calamity had come upon them,
The time of their punishment.

22 Her noise shall go like a serpent,
For they shall march with an army
And come against her with axes,
Like those who chop wood.
23 "They shall cut down her forest," says the LORD,
"Though it cannot be searched,
Because they are innumerable,
And more numerous than grasshoppers.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;
She shall be delivered into the hand
Of the people of the north."

25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Behold, I will bring punishment on Amon of No, and Pharaoh and Egypt, with their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of his servants. Afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old," says the LORD.

27 "But do not fear, O My servant Jacob,
And do not be dismayed, O Israel!
For behold, I will save you from afar,
And your offspring from the land of their captivity;
Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease;
No one shall make him afraid.

28 Do not fear, O Jacob My servant," says the LORD,
"For I am with you;
For I will make a complete end of all the nations
To which I have driven you,
But I will not make a complete end of you.
I will rightly correct you,
For I will not leave you wholly unpunished."

Babylonia Would attack Egypt and defeat her for harboring God’s people and holding them captive.  The word from the LORD was clearly given for the def of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar‘s army.  They would be swept away by the broom of God’s hand driving them away no matter how much the valiant men of war prepared themselves for a defense.  Many would fall and then fall away from the battle in defeat and see how the pharaoh’s time had run out at last and there was nothing left in Egypt for them.  As certainly as Carmel was by the Sea, so the king of Babylon would overrun Egypt and many would go into captivity.  Destruction was coming and the hired mercenaries would abandon Egypt and run for their lives when the invasion began.  This unstoppable force was merely the tool in God’s hand which accomplished His will for divine correction to preserve the remnant of His chosen people.  Power belongs to the LORD alone (Psalm 62:11).  Egypt would be ashamed as the Babylonian army came out of the north to so defeat their military nation for their false gods and veneration of a man who was their pharaoh.  They were all to be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar and the nation humbled in defeat.  But God’s people were told not to fear or give up hope because they’re would be saved and delivered from that place of bondage and return to their land in fearless peace with God.  He would end the nations where they were scattered among and not end them, but discipline and correct them to serve and worship Him.  He would hold them accountable but not destroy them, just as He does for we who are in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:12-14).  Do not lose hope in circumstances or correction therefore.