I don’t think very many people actually know how powerful You are, I didn’t until You showed me.
Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt, or the two lands. The first was founded in Lower Egypt, with Botu as its capital, the Papyrus as its sign, and the snake as its symbol. The Southern Kingdom had Nekhen as its capital, and the Lotus as its sign. King Narmer was the first to unite Upper and Lower Egypt
giving birth to Egypt in 3100 B. c & laying the foundation for the first pharaonic dynasty ,which is the beginning of the first Egyptian Dynasty 0. King Narmar was the first king of the two lands wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt and the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. . His rule marked the beginning of written history and the era of dynasties.
You surely can’t hold that against them because how awesome You are is beyond anyone’s understanding. I mean, even knowing what I know, I’m baffled by it all, and I don’t know that much, but enough to know that NOBODY can hold a candle stick to You.
After this chapter there’s only one more in Jeremiah so, to go with chapter 52, let’s look at…
Jeremiah 51
The Prophecy Against Babylon Continued
(Pictures below are famous Egyptians)
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;
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.
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.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her recompense.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
He is considered to be the first architect engineer and physician in early history though two other physicians, Hesy-Ra and Merit-Ptah lived around the same time. The full list of his titles is:
Chancellor of the King of Egypt, Doctor, First in line after the King of Upper Egypt, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary nobleman, High Priest of Heliopolis, Builder, Chief Carpenter, Chief Sculptor, and Maker of Vases in Chief.
Imhotep was one of very few mortals to be depicted as part of a pharaoh’s statue. He was one of only a few commoners ever to be accorded divine status after death. The center of his cult was Memphis. From the First Intermediate Period onward Imhotep was also revered as a poet and philosopher. His sayings were famously referred to in poems: I have heard the words of Imhotep and Hordedef with whose discourses men speak so much.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
The speakers are the nations conquered by Babylon.
10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14 The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
Thus he was the ‘overseer of the royal scribes’, at the head of the royal administration of Djoser.
His most spectacular title, however, was that of the ‘greatest (or chief ?) of physicians and dentists’. It is not entirely clear whether this title infers that Hesire himself was honored as the greatest of physicians and dentists, or rather that he was merely responsible for the administration of physicians and dentists.
But whatever the case, the distinction between ‘physicians’ and ‘dentists’ in his titulary does show a high degree of medical specialisation at this early stage of the history of Ancient Egypt.
20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
“Thou art my battle axe” – either (1) Cyrus of Persia, soon to conquer Babylon or more likely, (2) Babylon, destroyer of nations.
“Break in pieces” – the Hebrew root for this verb is the same as that for “battle axe.”
21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate forever, saith the LORD.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.
He should not be confused with the 6th dynasty vizier of the same name, who served under Teti I and whose mastaba at Saqqara is famous for its reliefs.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling places; her bars are broken.
31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
“Threshing floor” – the destruction of a city or nastion is often depicted as a harvest.
34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicate, he hath cast me out.
“Dragon” – the Hebrew for this word is also translated “dragon” in Is 51:9, where it symbolizes Egypt.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
Hemiunu (2570 B.C.) was a vizier, architect and priest of Old Kingdom Egypt. He is believed to be the architect of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
In his tomb he is described as a hereditary prince, count, sealer of the king of Lower Egypt and on a statue found in his serdab (and now located in Hildesheim), Hemiunu is given the titles: king’s son of his body, chief justice and vizier, greatest of the five of the House of Thoth
As Vizier he succeeded Kanefer, his uncle, and his father Nefermaat.
43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
“Which he hath swallowed up” – captive peoples (including Judah) and plundered goods (including vessels from the temple in Jerusalem, see Dan 5:2-3).
45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumor that shall be heard in the land; a rumor shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumor, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
“Ye fear for the rumor…heard in the land” – While giving His Olivet discourse, Jesus may have had this passage in mind (see Matt 24:6; Mk 13:7; Lk 21;9).
47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
Ptah-hotep was a priest of Ma’at and the author of a famous book of moral instructions, in which he tells us he was the vizier of King Isesi.
This picture of Ptah-hotep comes from the well-preserved mastaba tomb he shares with his father, Akhti-hotep. It shows him wearing and holding many status symbols, including the fillet worn in the hair by Old-Kingdom officials of all levels, the golden collar of a nobleman, the long vizier’s smock, a sekhem-sceptre, and the staff of a high official.
49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’S house.
“Strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house” – refers to Nebuchadnezzar’s defiling the Jerusalem temple in 586 B.C. The same sacrilege would occur under Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C. and under the Romans in 70 A.D.
52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompenses shall surely requite.
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
King of the Twelfth Dynasty. He reigned about 45 years and is famous as builder of the the mortuary complex of the king at Hawara, at the entrance to the Fayum, probably the ‘Labyrinth’ that so impressed ancient Greek authors.
There are several other buildings of the king in the Fayum (temple at Medinet Maadi, colossi at Biahmu) demonstrating the general interest of the king in that region of Egypt. His first pyramid was in Dahshur, but because of problems with the ground, another site (Hawara) was chosen for a second pyramid, towards the end of his reign.
Especially in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods the king was worshipped in the Fayum as a god. The sculpture of the king is remarkable for several unique statue types.
58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
“Seraiah the son of Neriah” – an ancient seal has been found that bears the inscription “Belonging to Seraiah son of Neriah,” and it no doubt refers to the man mentioned here. he was a brother of Jeremiah’s secretary, Baruch.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever.
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
The Weather
Many wonder if God controls the weather? You bet He does, He created everything (Jn 1:3) and He controls everything (Col 1:17), nothing happens that He doesn’t do or allow to happen, even the wicked acts of the devil has to be approved of God first, I will explain this later.
We call tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes, electrical storms, etc. “natural disasters” because they aren’t manmade, but they aren’t created by the atmosphere, the planets, or anything else, remember, God creates and controls everything.
The question is: “Are they all disasters or are some blessings from God?”
Some have concluded that suffering occurs because it is beyond God’s control. This is incorrect. As I had stated above, God controls everything, including evil acts performed by people because He created that too.
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else (Is 45:18).
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things (Is 45:7).
Our God is a great God, so powerful we can’t imagine it.
Basically, tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor suddenly moves and displaces water.Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides and other submarine explosions all have the potential to trigger a tidal wave.
Some believe that God has established certain laws and principles that govern nature, but He remains sovereign over these laws. I had once believed that, but He recently corrected me.
For years, sometimes when I was working in the yard and I saw it was going to rain I would ask God to give me another minute or two or five to finish what I was doing so I didn’t get wet. And usually the rain wouldn’t come until shortly after I was inside.
A few weeks ago I was sawing a good size tree branch in two and I saw that it was going to rain so I asked God to help me cut through this branch or hold the rain back until I was done. As soon I was done I put my tools away and headed for the house.
When I was almost to the house (and this was the first time this ever happened) I could hear the rain coming. It wasn’t coming from the sky, it was already falling and coming from the west, but it wasn’t in my yard yet. Just as I stepped under the patio the rain reached my yard.
I thanked God for holding the rain back for me and He told me that He didn’t, He has everyone’s lives in sync. He has the entire world population in sync.
The good times, the bad times, the happy moments, the sad moments, etc., that we all experience, Jesus Christ has in absolute order in regard to His will.
During an earthquake, the earth releases this accumulation of energy, moving the tectonic plates under the earth’s surface.
The plates suddenly move, sliding over and under each other, shifting the earths surface and often breaking it apart. This movement can be gradual or can be sudden.
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist (Col 1:17).
Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3).
That is one powerful God!
So you may wonder if Jesus decided who wins the lottery? I doubt it because the lottery is a freewill thing and He doesn’t mess with our freewill, if He did it wouldn’t be freewill. Yet, then again, He may choose the winner, but if He does I’m sure the Holy Ghost prompts the winner to purchase the ticket.
Of course, if our freewill is going to mess us up badly He may throw a wrench our way, as He did for Jonah.
Jonah and the Whale
Concerning Jonah:
But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty temptest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken (Jon 1:4).
If that occurred two miles from you, the light will get to you in 2/186000 seconds, since the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second.
That means that the light gets to you in far less than one thousandth of a second, effectively instantly.
The shock wave in the air, which has the effect of a sound wave, takes around 10 seconds to travel the 10,560 feet of the two miles.
God created the storm, He also created the whale that swallowed Jonah (Jon 1:17), and God also told the whale to spit Jonah out when he did (Jon 2:10).
We can say that God controlled Jonah’s freewill, but He didn’t. God did choose Jonah to go and warn Nineveh of their soon to come destruction if they didn’t change their ways. But it was Jonah’s choice to try and run from God.
We can say that God interfered in Jonah’s freewill because He created the storm and everything, but no, He didn’t touch Jonah’s freewill. God can do whatever He chooses:
Remember the former things of old: for I am God and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Is 46:9-10).
Jesus had said:
He that is not with Me is against Me; and He that gathererth not with Me scattereth abroad (Matt 12:30).
Our freewill gives us the choice to do whatever we want, and that includes the repercussions.
Also known as tropical cyclones and typhoons, these fierce storms can churn the seas into a violent topography of 50-foot (15-meter) peaks and valleys, redefine coastlines and reduce whole cities to watery ruin.
When Jonah chose to walk away from God he had also got himself a reservation to spend eternity in hell. God doesn’t want anyone to do that (Eze 33:11) so He threw the wrench.
God told the whale to spit Jonah out because Jonah had prayed and asked for forgiveness (Jon 2).
What God did to Jonah was not to punish him running from Him, but to save him from spending eternity in hell. The same reason Jesus came.
Can Satan Control the Weather?
Satan and his demons have no control over the weather or natural disasters. They are not divine, but have powers beyond ours, super-human powers. They can do nothing without God’s permission. The Book of Job is a very good example:
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, doth Job fear God for nought?
Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land.
But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee to thy face.
And the LORD said unto Satan, behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD (Job 1:9-12).
The devil used the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, and natural disasters to kill all of Job’s children and everything he owned. But notice that Satan wasn’t allowed to harm Job himself.
After all that, Satan talked to God again:
And Satan answered the LORD and said, Skin for skin, yeah, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face.
And the LORD God said unto Satan, behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life (Job 2:4-6).
So you can see that Satan has no control over the weather or anything, God decides what the devil can and cannot do.
Why God allowed Satan to do all he did to Job is a different story, but it has a great end.
Remember, God has His reasons for doing whatever He chooses to do, and even though the event may not be good, the ending always is for those that believe in Jesus.
Weather Scriptures
(to name a few)
Gen 6:5-9:19 (Earth destroyed by flood, people and animals killed)
Ex 9:23-29 (hail and fire from heaven on Egypt)
Lev 26:19-20 (rainless sky, parched earth)
Deut 11:13-15 (rain as reward for obedience)
Deut 28:24 (drought punishment)
Josh 10:11 (hail on the Amorites, etc.)
I Sam 7:10 (thunder disperses the Philistines)
I Sam 12:18 (thunder and rain to get people’s attention)
II Sam 21:1 (drought and famine)
I Kgs 8:35-36 (good weather reward)
I Kgs 16:30-18:45 (rain withheld and given)
Hos 13:15 (dry weather)
Amos 4:7 (rain given and withheld from certain cities)
Jon 1:4,10-15 (man punished and redirected by sea storm)
Nah 1:3 (judgment with whirlwind and drought)
Zech 14:17 (rain withheld as judgment)
Rev 16:21 (hailstone punishment)
…Evil-Merodach.