So let's say let's go to Jeremiah 46 and let's look at verse number 25.
Jeremiah 46 verse number 25 which reads the Lord of hosts the God of Israel saith behold I will
punish the multitude of Noah and Pharaoh and Egypt with their gods. So what we're looking at here in
Jeremiah chapter 46 and this is going to continue 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 is basically Jeremiah preaching
against nations, gentile nations. So these are sermons that he's preached throughout his ministry.
Then we'll get to the final chapter, chapter 52. We have a retelling of Jerusalem being taken over
by Babylon but I want you to notice there that God is saying behold I will punish the multitude.
God is punishing and if you look at it says of Noah and Pharaoh and Egypt with their gods.
Why is God punishing Egypt? Well the title for the sermon this morning is the punishment of gods.
The punishment of gods. You see God is not just punishing the nation
but he's punishing the gods of the nation as well.
So let's start there in verse number one. Jeremiah 46 verse number one.
The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the gentiles. As I've been saying
to you many times throughout the series of Jeremiah every time the Bible starts with the
word of the Lord that came out to Jeremiah it's a new prophecy that Jeremiah has received. Now in
this chapter this happens twice okay twice to Jeremiah and they're both about Egypt and these
occur at different times. The first time that this word of the Lord comes upon Jeremiah about the
Egyptians let's keep going verse number two it says against Egypt against the army of Pharaoh
Neko king of Egypt which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish which Nebuchadreza king of Babylon
smote. Now when did this take place? In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
Now later in this chapter when we have a new revelation new word of God coming upon
Jeremiah this is later on in Egyptians sorry in Egypt's history okay later on but this is the
first battle that Nebuchadnezzar has against Egypt so let's keep going verse number three
God says order ye the buckler and shield and draw need to battle. God is telling the Egyptians
get ready to fight the Babylonians are coming the buckler is like a shield but it's a smaller shield
and the shield of course is your normal shield that you tend to think about. Verse number four
harness the horses and get up ye horsemen and stand forth with your helmets. Furbish the spears
and put on the brigadines. The brigadines is like your clothing your uniform for warfare. So
God is telling Egypt get ready to fight. Say why is God telling them to fight? If God is the one
sending Babylon okay not just to Judah but to these other surrounding nations to Egypt as well
as God's punishment as his judgment why is he telling Egypt to hey get up to fight well he said
the same thing to Jerusalem to Judah earlier in Jeremiah where they would not hearken to Jeremiah's
word they would not listen okay they would not turn back to God and God basically says well if
you're not going to listen to my word if you're not going to follow the Lord then get ready to
fight because the judgment's coming and so God is saying this like mockingly okay laughing at the
Egyptians all right you know you know you want to continue down your path ungodly wicked nation
against the Lord against the people of God well get ready to fight then you're going to fight
against the Lord so God is basically saying this in a mocking in a mocking way you know in Psalm
chapter 2 verse number 4 you know we have this Psalm where God is basically speaking about the
nations that have turned against him and in verse number 4 he says he that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh the Lord shall have them in the region then shall he speak unto them in his wrath
and vex them in his sore displeasure you see when God sees the nations of the earth
turning against him turning against his word turning against his people you know what the
Lord does in heaven he laughs he has a laugh he thinks boy you know these people think they're
so bold they're so brazen to come against the Lord well if you want to do that get ready to
fight the Lord and of course that's going to be a losing battle let's keep going verse number five
wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back and their mighty ones either the mighty
ones of Egypt the mighty warriors are beaten down and fled apace and look not back for fear was
round about safe the Lord so God is telling the Egyptians you're going to lose okay you're going
to lose against the Babylonians verse number six let not the swift flee away nor the mighty man
escape they shall stumble and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates so God is saying
you're going to start retreating but even when you start retreating to save your life you're
still going to fall at the hand of the Babylonians verse number seven it says now pay attention to
these words who is this that cometh up as a flood whose waters are moved as the rivers so who's
rising up as a flood verse number eight says Egypt riseth up like a flood and his waters are
moved like the rivers and he's safe I will go up and will cover the earth I will destroy the city
and the inhabitants thereof so God is using illustrative language here describing Egypt's
and Egypt's army or Egypt's strength as a flood okay so they rise up so the Babylonians are coming
and guess what it's going to be like seeing the Euphrates river or something the Nile river you
know being flooded okay the banks being broken and the water's flooding you know we've had a lot
of flooding recently in Australia and seeing that just water rise and go everywhere that's going to
be like the army of Egypt God uses this illustration this is going to lose okay but I think
it's interesting how God uses this language keep your finger there and please go to Isaiah so just
go back to Isaiah chapter 59 verse number 19 Isaiah chapter 59 verse number 19 says
so shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun
notice next words when the enemy shall come in like a flood so who's coming like a flood the
enemy the enemy of the Lord who's rising as a flood in Jeremiah Egypt okay the rising of the
flood against the Lord remember the Lord is using the Babylonians right and so you constantly see
this flood being referenced as an enemy or as this this army that goes against the Lord it
says when the enemy shall come in like a flood the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard
against him so they're fighting against the Lord here verse number 20 and the redeemer shall come
to Zion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob sayeth the Lord so look at verse number
20 and the redeemer who's the redeemer it's the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes to Zion and so
this is speaking perhaps about you know you may say well you know Christ came the first time he
did come into Zion you know that being a picture of Jerusalem but more likely speaking about these
armies that are turning against the Lord fighting against the Lord we're talking about the end
times aren't we okay we know that Christ is going to come back one day on his white horse with the
armies of heaven and you know there's going to be a great army on the earth you know trying to fight
against the Lord and notice they use the same language that they they rise like a flood now
the reason I'm going to these passages is because this does have to do with the end times when Christ
does come back he's going to rule from Jerusalem now keep your uh well say they're in Jeremiah
still you don't you can move away from Isaiah but go to revelation chapter 12 go to revelation
chapter 12 so let's go to the end times one thing that we'll notice in this chapter there's a lot of
end time parallels okay now this is not about the end times this is about Egypt's judgment by the
hands of the Babylonians in the past but we can learn by looking at the past we can see certain
parallels okay uh that appeal to the you know apply to the future okay so revelation chapter 12
verse number 15 this is all very symbolic I don't have time to go through this entire chapter but
we have a woman we have a dragon we have the sun clothed in the woman and we have the moon under
her feet and 12 stars as a crown above her head but look at verse number 15 it says and the
serpent of course we know the serpent is the devil and the serpent casts out of his mouth water as a
flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood so the devil wants to
try to destroy this woman I believe this woman represents mankind on the world okay so and if
we look at the the end times we know that the first uh four seals that are opened up the devil
is trying to destroy the earth with wars and famines and pestilences etc and so this is what
I believe is taking place now you know some might believe well that maybe the devil literally tries
to flood the earth the other position that's out there is because it's very symbolic the woman
and the dragon uh that the flood once again represents armies you know that perhaps the
devil rise up armies and and you know we know there'll be kingdom against kingdom and that being
a picture of a flood as it were trying to destroy this woman but let's keep going verse number 16
and the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon cast out of his mouth again speaking at end time events look at verse number
17 and the dragon was rough with the woman and went to make war with the remnants of her seed
which keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ and so one thing we
learn about the end times is that the devil is going to try to destroy this earth as best as he
can but he fails at the attempt the earth swells up his mouth again is this literal is this symbolic
probably symbolic probably to do with armies you know being defeated uh but then you know
because the the serpent can't destroy the woman he decides to go after the remnant the seed of
the woman which are believers okay so there is coming a time in the end times where the devil
will uh you know persecute the people of god and so the reason i'm showing you that just to show
you the parallels of how the language of the bible is constantly being used you know these armies
been risen as a flood to go up against either the lord or as we see later on here going against
god's people so let's go back to jeremiah 46 with that in mind we can sort of start thinking about
the parallels of the end times verse number nine jeremiah 46 verse number nine it says come up
you horses and rage your chariots and let the mighty men come forth and notice it's not just
the egyptians fighting the babylonians it says the ethiopians and the libyans that handle the
shield and the lydians that handle and bend the bow so you can see that the egyptians did not
feel they were capable of defeating babylon on their own okay they enlist the help of their
allied forces the libyans the lydians and the ethiopians just like in many warfares in in this
you know on this on this earth right world wars things like that where one nation might strike
another nation then they call for help from the allies to come and obviously the allies want to
come and help egypt they want to try to overthrow uh babylon otherwise if egypt goes down so will
all these other nations notice verse number 10 for this is the day of the lord now when we talk
about the end times we often talk about the day of the lord which is coming well we also have
historically this day of the lord now this is obviously a very uh what's the word i'm looking
for a um uh well a narrow i guess day of the lord something specific for egypt rather than
the whole world when we talk about the day of the lord in the end times that's going to affect the
entire world okay but this day of the lord is affecting egypt once again what is the day of
lord if you've been listening to the jeremiah series it's when god pours out his wrath and his
judgment so god is telling egypt i'm pouring out my wrath and judgment upon you okay for this is
the day of lord god of hosts a day of vengeance that he may avenge him of his adversaries and the
sword shall devour and it shall satiate and made drunk with their blood for the lord god of hosts
have a sacrifice in the north country by the river euphrates bible saying here you know god is going
to have a sacrifice he's going to go around slaughtering you know we think about a sacrifice
in the bible times where they would slaughter some animals shed the blood as a sacrifice unto
the lord you know even false religions often would sacrifice you know animals for their
false gods well god is saying i'm gonna i'm gonna hold a sacrifice and it's going to be egypt okay
now if you can turn to revelation chapter 19 please turn to revelation chapter 19
i'm going to quickly read to you from first thessalonians chapter 5 verse number one
just as a reminder it says um but the times
actually i think i've got my wrong reference there let me just turn there you turn to revelation 19
i'll go to first thessalonians chapter 5
it is the right reference but for some reason i messed up my notes there but first
first thessalonians chapter 5 now you go to revelation 19
uh first thessalonians 5 verse 1 says but of the times and the seasons brethren you have no need
that i write unto you for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord so cometh
as a thief in the night okay so once again i'm just reinforcing the fact that we in the new
testament have been told about a day of a day of the lord which comes as a thief in the night
it says for when they shall say when they not believers when they shall say peace and safety
then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travel upon a woman with child but they shall not escape
but ye brethren so this is about believers but ye brethren are not in darkness that the day should
overtake you as a thief now you're in revelation chapter 19 verse 19 it says and i saw the beast
and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that
sat on the horse and against his army okay so just very quickly the the prophetic view here is we see
that egypt okay they've got the day of the lord coming upon them and they're rising an army to
face the the army that god has instilled right the army that god has enlisted the babylonian army
they're trying to fight against the lord and they it's going to be their destruction notice that
again it said that you know there's going to be slaughter this sacrifice of blood and that reminds
me immediately of revelation 1919 now what's amazing about this is jeremiah is prophesying
about this event okay he's speaking about the future and what surprised me about modern day
christianity because so many believers think that the rapture is going to take place before
the tribulation they think it's going to be a thief in the night to them they feel like well
we don't know i mean it could be five minutes from now it could be tonight it could be tomorrow we
just don't know and they act like god's coming or god's vengeance is going to be like a thief to them
but what we learn about jeremiah jeremiah knows that the day of the lord is coming for egypt
it's not a thief uh you know it's not a like a thief in the night to jeremiah
okay he knows he's speaking about the events and like we saw in first tesla chapter five the day
of lord should not come uh will not be uh we're not in darkness okay the thief is not going to
come to us we've got the light of god's word we know about the events that are coming up to the
future but we know that when god pulls out his wrath on the day of the lord that the devil's
obviously not going to be happy he's going to as we said saw there in revelation 19 he's going to
rise his armies to go and fight against the lord and jesus christ is going to wipe them out there's
going to be significant bloodshed back to jeremiah 46 it says go up into gilead and take balm
oh virgin the daughter of egypt in vain shalt thou use many medicines for thou shalt not be
cured so gilead was known as a place where you could get soothing balms okay where there was
you know many i guess uh healing aids um now this is very similar to instructions that god
told uh spoke of toward jerusalem and to judah i'll quickly read to you from jeremiah 8 22
it says is there no balm in gilead is there no physician there why then is not the health of
the daughter of my people recovered god is saying look not even the balm of gilead there's no help
for judah when they've turned against the lord god is saying the same thing as it were kind
to egypt hey go to gilead you know when you go to fight against the babylonians you're going to
be destroyed you're going to be hurt you know you're going to run to gilead as it were for
medicine for healing but you're not going to recover you know you're not going to be cured
okay there's no healing from god's wrath you know god's going to take down egypt whether they like
it or not verse number 12 the nations have heard of thy shame so when they lose to the babylonians
okay when they lose the news is going to go across the entire world you know egypt got
defeated by the babylonians right it's going to be a shame to them the nations have heard of thy
shame and thy cry have filled the land for the mighty man have stumbled against the mighty
and they have fallen both together so that's the end of the first prophecy from jeremiah to egypt
now we start the next prophecy in verse number 13 and this prophecy takes place much later
okay now i just quickly want to remind you please go back to jeremiah 44 verse number one
jeremiah 44 verse number one you may recall the events of how uh the remnant of the people of of
judah they fled into egypt thinking they were going to be safe from the babylonians you may
recall that and jeremiah comes he was preaching hey telling them hey you know stay in the land
god's going to take care of you they disobeyed they went into egypt and then what we saw in
jeremiah 44 was jeremiah preaching against the jews there that went hiding and they were going
to be you know slain by the lord once again okay they're going to be defeated by the babylonians
they went to hide in egypt but they sealed their fates now let me just remind you there in jeremiah
44 verse number one it says the word that came to jeremiah concerning all the jews that dwell in
the land of egypt and those next are cities that are mentioned and dwell at migdol and at tefanis
and at nof and in the country paphros saying now go back to jeremiah 46 and verse number 14
it says declare ye in egypt sorry did i read verse number 13
anyway let me read verse number 13 again the word of the lord spake to jeremiah the prophet
how never cadreza king of babylon should come and smites the land of egypt so the first prophecy
that first war they would lose a great battle but the nation itself would not be destroyed
but then we get to this next prophecy and god is speaking about how this nation is going to be
destroyed okay it says there in verse number 14 declare ye in egypt and publish in migdol
and publish in nof and in tefanis so you notice the same cities i mentioned why because this is
taken at the same time okay when jeremiah was preaching against the jews high in egypt saying
the babylonians are going to come and take over well now this prophecy is not specifically to the
jews but to the egyptians about the same events okay it says say ye stand fast and prepare thee
for the sword shall devour round about thee okay verse number 15 and the prophecy sounds very
similar it says why are thy valiant men swept away they stood not because the lord did drive
them the lord's reminded them you know the reason you can't defeat the babylonians is because the
lord is the one doing it okay the lord is the one passing judgment verse number 16 he made many to
fall yea one fell upon another and they said arise and let us go again to our own people and
to the land of our nativity from the oppressing sword they did cry there pharaoh king of egypt
is but a noise he have passed the time appointed okay so god is saying now not just are you going
to lose a battle but your nation's going to be uh devoured you're going to you know these these
are soldiers they're going to run to their places of origin where they were born okay but babylon's
going to destroy the entire nation of egypt even pharaoh it says at the end of verse number 17
he have passed the time appointed now the encouragement that i get out of this passage
brethren is we are feeling the pains of once again the lockdowns i feel like a broken record
you know talking about it but you know it's easy to get angry and you know i'm frustrated the
politicians that we have i'm frustrated the governments and the powers that uh that we have
it just seems like they have no idea what they're doing okay or maybe they do know what they're
doing okay but it's not helpful it's not helpful at all to our our society to our community and we
get angry at these wicked governments and uh you know recently not just you know we look at
afghanistan for example we have the the u.s trips pull out and then you have the taliban taken over
the entire country okay and people are panicking and worried but one thing that you need to
understand about powers that are on this earth they've got an appointed time okay it says again
about the uh the pharaoh king of egypt he have passed the time appointed you know what this is
telling me this tells me that god knows like whatever powers that are on the earth whatever
wicked governments there are whatever wicked you know politicians there are there's an appointed
time for them god knows of their time okay i get frustrated and i feel like taking down such you
know such wicked people but i need to remind myself again it gives me comfort to know that
god has allowed them to be there for a period of time from the point of time but that point of time
is going to come to an end at some point they're going to step down okay at some point you know
whether it's just your average election right whether it's it's just people being voted at
and new people being voted in that could be one way another way could just be death okay
the death of a politician and then someone else having to step in or it could be like a babylon
it could be you know a foreign power that comes over and takes over an entire nation hey that
could be the appointed time the appointed way that god has allowed that nation or that people
or that government to be taken over and so i look at you know our our i look at australia i just
it doesn't it doesn't look like the australia that i was born into okay and one thing that i've been
saying just like here in babylon babylon not just taking over judah but taking over all the nations
of the earth there is a mystery babylon in the end times okay a mystery about it the thing that that
connects all of these babylons is their power is that they have the power to influence many many
nations and what we see on the earth again today is this fear you know across the entire earth you
know the fear of the virus and and you know the steps taken the vaccination all the steps that
are being taken to fight this is the same across every country okay some countries are worse than
others it's pretty bad in australia at the moment but they're all doing the exact same thing they're
all following the same instructions why because there's been a mystery babylon since babylon here
there's been a mystery babylon there's been a spiritual babylon and in the end times that
babylon will be revealed okay and uh so one thing you just need to understand is you know
it seems like australia is losing you know its identity as a sovereign nation you know
and in my opinion it's very clear that our governments our politicians are just taking
the instructions of a different power a different a higher power okay a spiritual babylon if you
will okay but and it could cause us to panic to be worried and but here's the thing there's an
appointed time they're all going to be wiped out god's going to pass judgment upon all these wicked
people in due time and yes don't forget god even passes judgment on babylon we're going to read
about that later in jeremiah in the last few chapters of jeremiah we're going to see how god
judges babylon as well for their own wickedness so you know i'm thankful that i serve a god that i
love a god that i have a savior who knows the appointed time okay he knows when all of this
fiasco with covid is going to end he knows it all and i don't know but my trust is in the lord
and if the lord knows he knows how to take care of his people okay so just be patient i know we
like to plan ahead you know my plans were to go back to queensland october i doubt that's going
to happen and instead of being unsettled i'm just going to go well i know the one who is settled
i know the one that has the appointed times in his hand that's my lord god and if we so long as
we put our faith and trust upon him we stay close to the lord you know there's nothing that should
cause us to be unsettled and afraid and in fact at the end of this chapter you know god instructs
his people to not be afraid okay let's keep going verse number 18 as i live saith the king
these are the words of god whose name is the lord of hosts surely as tabor is among the mountains
and as carmel by the sea so shall he come god is saying it's definitely going to happen the
babylons are definitely going to come okay oh thou daughter dwell in egypt furnish thyself to go
into captivity for noth shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant god is telling
egypt get ready to be taken into captivity right it says uh furnish thyself get ready to be taken
into captivity these are kind of the same words that god was telling judah for jeremiah right
he was telling the jews just surrender to babylon just give up just go into captivity but the people
did not like that we don't like that we don't like our freedoms being taken away from us you know we
don't like our liberties being taken away we were from us you know but god is telling them
look just be prepared to go into captivity you know throughout history there's been different
you know uh powers different governments there's been times when people have had great freedoms
there's been times when people have had you know uh great captivity and burdens and and being put
under bonds and even in our world today you know through different nations there are different
levels of freedoms and different levels of of captivity if you want okay and god is telling
these people and don't forget he's told his own people judah to prepare for captivity and i find
that interesting and i i know i know the heart of of of men i know that if we have a choice whether
to be bound or to be free our our choice would be to be free and you know in in a man we we desire
to fight for freedom we desire to fight for liberty you know from a political perspective
you might say that i i politically hold more libertarian views because i believe in liberty
i believe men should have the freedom to decide what they want to do and then face the consequences
if they make the wrong decisions you know i believe in small governments you know if i had
a choice if i could start a country from scratch i'd make sure our government is small and only
carries through the powers that god has given them okay but we live in a nation a society where we
have big government and they've got a lot of control they've got a lot of power and once a
government takes a lot of power you know the freedoms the liberties of man gets shrunk okay
it should be no surprise that we're losing our freedoms and one thing that i just want to remind
christians you know is while we might have these political ideas and opinions you know we're not
fighting you know for this world we're not fighting you know for a political system in this
world okay don't forget our world our our country our nation our city is heavenly okay and we will
once again experience you know uh the way we want things to be you know a godly world with godly
laws when christ comes back and you know sometimes i see things posted on social media and even
amongst christians where they might quote um that uh william what's the name william wallace right
braveheart i've never seen the movie okay i've never seen the movie but the famous words you know
that he says you know they may take our lives but they will never take away our freedom but here's
the thing you know if god says it's time to take away your freedom it's time to take away your
freedom like you know you can't fight against god is what i'm saying okay now if this man was facing
babylon yeah he'd be saying the same things you know they might take our lives but they will never
take our freedom god's saying look just furnish yourself for captivity get prepared for for times
where you're not going to have the freedoms that you desire but we should not lose hope as
christians okay and uh you know the bible tells us in john 832 and you shall know the truth and the
truth shall make you free if you've got the truth you got god's word the truth you know jesus christ
is the truth you're free you've been made free it doesn't matter how bound you are it doesn't
matter how free you are okay the bible tells us in galatians 4 31 so then brethren we are not
children of the bond women woman but of the free god has set us free we are spiritually free you
know if you get thrown in prison and you rot in prison for the rest of your life as long as you're
saved your soul and your spirit is free okay you're a servant of christ yes even in prison
god may have worked for you in prison how many times did we see paul or other men of god thrown
into prison losing their liberties losing their freedoms and they were still able to accomplish
great work for god in whatever position they were okay so what i'm saying to you i'm not saying hey
you know what just give up your freedoms you know and just be be happy about it no you know
there like i said there is something in man that we want our liberties and freedom but the great
thing about being a christian is we know this earth is just temporary you know even if we were
to be bound for the rest of our lives we know that we have eternity to look forward to we have
the millennial reign of christ look forward to and spiritually we're never going to be cast into
hellfire you know if we were to die we're in the presence of god immediately we have great freedom
as christians you know another line that gets quoted sometimes on social media even amongst
christians it says it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees have you heard
that one before it is better to die on your feet okay than to live on your knees but god is saying
no he says to judah he says to egypt you are going to be on your knees by babylon and i want
you to live through this and as we saw with judah you know that period was going to be 70 years so
the subsequent generations could come back on the land and worship god you know again i don't know
how long we're going to be dealing with this new normal but all i'm doing is i'm just teaching my
kids continually the word of god right where we're reading the by my wife reads the bible to them
every morning we want the word of god we want the love of god to be in the hearts of our children
because if i don't have the freedoms to to do the work that god has for me in my life
well you know what i'm going to make sure that my children are able to carry forth you know the
torch for the word of god and hopefully my grandchildren we don't know you know how long
we have on this earth but we need to make sure that the next generations are prepared
to serve the lord so if god says you know what it's time for australia to lose its freedom
you know what well get on your knees prepare for captivity but don't forget you've been made free
you know by the truth of god's word there's nothing that can really take away your freedom
all right verse number 20 verse number 20 jeremiah 46 verse number 20 egypt is like a very fair
heifer that's a that's a cow there but destruction cometh it cometh out of the north
also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks so notice that the fight of the
army they're all described as like these animals because again god's basically going to do this
great slaughter you know god's it's going to be like this great feast and he's they're going
and taking the fatted animals to be eaten and egypt interestingly has hired men i guess that
their first fight against the babylonians was that bad they lost that many men that they need to go
and hire like mercenaries to come and fight for them with the second battle against babylon it
says also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks for they also turned back
and fled away together they did not stand because the day of their calamity was come upon them
and the time of their visitation verse number 20 the voice thereof shall go like a serpent
for they shall march with an army and come against her with axes and hewers of wood wood
they shall cut down her forest saith the lord though it cannot be searched because they are
more than the grasshoppers they are innumerable the babylonian army has been described here as
grasshoppers and they're coming as they were with axes you know chopping down trees now i don't this
could be obviously well describing them as grasshoppers is of course figurative i'm not
sure though if this is all figurative i don't know if it's kind of like just image like an image of
of locusts like a swarm of grasshoppers and locusts you know destroying crops and that's
a picture of babylon coming into egypt and just destroying the place so it could just be figurative
in that sense but it could also be that these armies are literally this army of babylon coming
to egypt literally maybe they are cutting down trees i mean this is this is a practice in warfare
in in the past where you know to to make broader you know the the uh the entrance to go and fight
a war where they would literally take things like axes to cut down trees to open up the
battlefield to go and take attack a nation verse number 24 the daughter of egypt shall be confounded
and she shall be delivered in the hand of the north sorry the hand of the people of the north
of course babylon verse number 25 the god of hosts the god of israel saith behold i will punish the
multitude of no and pharaoh and egypt with their gods and their kings even pharaoh and all them
that trust in him now we get to the point why is god taking out egypt their faith their trust
was not on the lord god right their trust was on what uh on their gods their kings even
pharaoh remember pharaoh was considered like a god okay though the egyptians they thought
literally pharaoh was a god okay and all them that trust in him those that trust in pharaoh
their faith is in pharaoh their faith is in the power of egypt god's going to come destroy not
just the nation but their gods as well as i said the title for the sermon this morning is the
punishment of gods and one thing that i want you to understand when it comes to false gods and false
religion that while the idol the picture whatever it is that they bow down to is nothing there
really are devils that receive that worship there are gods as it were you know with a liturgy uh
these devils they desire nothing more than to be worshipped and served like a god now i'm going to
get to turn away from jeremiah for now uh keep your finger there of course but please go to
matthew chapter 8 please go to matthew chapter 8 verse number 28 matthew chapter 8 and verse 28
i want to talk to you about gods little g little g gods which are actually devils okay they're
demons okay they work together of course with satan to mislead this world to darken the eyes
of this world from the gospel of jesus christ but matthew 8 28 uh christ comes and it says here
uh verse number 28 and when he was come to the other side in the country
of the they met with him sorry they met him too possessed with devils coming out of the tombs
exceeding fierce so that no man might pass by the way and behold they cried out that's the devils
the demons the devils cried out saying what have we to do with thee jesus thou son of god
art thou come hither to torment us before the time you see the devils know that there's coming a time
when god is going to torment them and of course where is the ultimate torment that's the lake of
fire tormented day and night forever and ever in hell okay what i want to show you there is that
there is definitely coming a time when god is going to judge devils okay these devils are
little g gods okay when when we have false religion in this world okay when the catholic
bows down to the statue of a mary or even a statue of another jesus and people pray to saints and
they look at the images that they have you know again those images those idols are nothing in of
themselves but there are devils there are there are gods as it were behind the scenes receiving
that worship you know whatever religion that is whether it's hinduism with their billions of gods
or you know whether it's buddhism whatever religion has some false god okay these are
actually devils in disguise and the day is coming where they're going to be judged and for egypt
their judgment was coming okay not just the nation but the gods of that nation go to matthew 25
41 matthew 25 verse number 41 i just want to remind you about what hell is matthew 25 verse
41 the words of christ says then shall we say unto them on the left hand the apart from me
ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels god created hell to torment
the devil satan and his angels those are the other devils those are all the gods okay that's
the reason for hell god's intention for hell was not for man to suffer and to be tormented
that was a place for the false gods that was a place for the devils but they've misled people
okay people give their worship their trust to these false gods so they're going to end up in
the same place where their gods end up okay now can you please go to isiah go to isiah 14 isiah
14 i'm just building up to some thoughts here go to isiah 14 and i'm going to read to you from jude
verse number six you go to isiah 14 i'm going to read to you from jude 6 god's speaking about
another group of angels or gods as it were okay devils it says in jude verse 6 and the angels
which kept not their first estates but left their own habitation he have reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day so once again i just want to show you
that there are some devils that are actually in chains right now in everlasting chains okay
i assume these are probably extremely wicked devils okay that have been held but they've been
held for the day of judgment on the great day okay all these devils all these false gods okay
they're going to be judged by god okay they're going to be judged by god now why is it that we
have these devils on the earth why is it that we have these false gods on the earth well if we look
at isiah 14 verse 12 isiah 14 verse number 12 i want you to look at the heart of a devil what is
it that they want and of course we're looking at the primary devil lucifer or satan here in verse
number 12 which reads how art thou fallen from heaven o lucifer son of the morning how art thou
cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nation see lucifer once had a place in heaven
okay he was the anointed cherub he was there to worship and serve god but now he has fallen and
notice which didst weaken the nations our nations become weaker by the influence of these devils by
the influence of these false gods and this is why there comes a time when god has to judge nations
okay and i do believe we're seeing a judgment of god even today okay i don't believe we're in the
end times don't get me wrong there is going to be a final destruction final judgment of god upon all
the nations of the earth in the end times but there comes times throughout history when god
says your appointed time is over it's time for me to destroy this place not just you not just
the nation the wickedness of the nation but also the gods of that nation let's keep going
verse number 13 isiah 14 13 for thou has said in thine hearts i will ascend into heaven i will
exert my throne above the stars of god i will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the
sides of the north i will ascend above the heights of the clouds look at this i will be like the most
high so these devils that have rebelled in heaven against god what is it that they want they want
to be like the most high instead of being the ones who worship instead of being the ones that serve
they want to be the receivers of worship they want to be the receivers of servitude okay so they've
come upon this earth look at verse number 15 what's their end yet thou the end of satan at least
yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the sides of the pits so we know there's a time coming
there's an appointed time for these devils to be judged okay but in the meantime they're upon this
earth and they show themselves to be these gods little g gods these false gods and what do they
want they want worship they want service so as god judges nations he's also judging the gods of these
nations these devils are real the spiritual realm is real as christians we need to be aware of it
we ought not to be obsessed with it okay you know our time our meditation ought to be upon the lord
god and it's through the strength of the lord that he helps us overcome the wicked one okay but we
just need to understand there are devils okay there are wicked forces that have blinded the
hearts and the minds and the eyes of our fellow australians okay and they also seek to destroy
god's people they seek to hurt churches and they seek to destroy the ministry and the work of god
we just need to be aware of this okay but again it's not something to be fearful about or be
overly concerned about so long as we're walking close with god he'll keep us safe okay god will
keep us safe now please go to another passage first corinthians chapter 10 verse number 20
i just want to prove to you that these idols that these false religions have you know um are you
know when people worship them they're actually worshiping devils for real okay it's not like
they're just worshiping a piece of wood that worship is being received by a devil okay look
at first corinthians 10 20 it says but i say that the things which the gentiles sacrifice
they sacrifice to devils and not to god and i would not that ye should have fellowship with
devils so this is if you look at the whole chapter it's about idolatry sitting up you know idols and
things like that and god says when they sacrifice to these idols they're actually sacrificing to
devils you know one thing that i noticed around in this community because we have such a
asian community you know a lot of buddhists sometimes you go to a shop and they've got a
little buddha statue set up and they come and they offer like fruits mandarins or something right
they put it there before the statue of buddha okay they're offering something to that idol but what
they're actually doing is they're sacrificing to devils that there are real demonic forces behind
the scenes okay now again if you walk past the devil or something okay you don't need to be
afraid okay it's not like it's going to the devil's going to reach out and attack you or
something like that okay but as i said to you you know when we look at the judgment of egypt here
in jeremiah 46 you know god is judging their gods and this is not the first time that god is judging
the gods of egypt because you may recall the time of course when uh israel the children of israel
were under bondage for 400 years by the egyptians and then god when he delivered his people out of
egypt you may recall the 10 plagues you know through the hand of moses and aaron you know god
brought 10 significant plagues upon egypt which ultimately caused pharaoh to let god's people go
and the great exodus took place but you know those 10 plagues i've heard it preached many times and
i did my own little research for this sermon those 10 plagues correspond with 10 gods of egypt okay
now let me just quickly go through them you may recall the first plague was the nile river and
the water's been turned to blood and the the egyptian god there was a nile god okay which was
named um happy h-a-p-i i don't know if it's happy or hapi okay but you know when the world
was turned to blood it's like god you know was judging the god of that nile river okay now let
me just say there is no actual god of the nile river these are just titles that these devils
give themselves okay to be a god to be a you know some deity of worship or something like that okay
but the second plague you may recall was the plague of frogs and there was egyptian god named
hecate which is the god of fertility and that god was often pictured with a frog's face okay
the third plague was lice from the dust of the earth and geb was known as the god of the earth
okay so for the earth to be turned into this lice and been this major plague in egypt it's like god
you know decided to judge geb you know the god of the earth and the next one was a swarm of flies
and um there's two possible egyptian gods you know that fit this criteria there was uh yuachit
which um like some some articles say it's the god of the flies or something like this but there's
also kepri which was a god with a kind of like a beetle face or something like this okay but both
of those gods are associated with insects the fifth one was the death of cattle and livestock
and hathor is a egyptian god often depicted as a cow if it's if uh goddess i should say to goddess
often depicted as a cow or a woman with cow horns okay um the next one was boils boils upon the
bodies of the egyptians you may recall that one the sixth plague um and that was um you know
against the isis as it were isis because that was a goddess known to be a healer they would often
pray to isis for healing for physical health and god brought boils upon the bodies of the egyptians
the next one was hail god brought great hail upon egypt and the egyptian god um the goddess of the
sky is known as nut okay so god brought judgment upon this nut all right plague number eight is
the plague of locusts and if you read your bible it says that god brought a great east wind to
bring in those locusts and seth or seth is the god of storms and pestilence okay so god brings
you know uh using a storm using this great east wind to bring on these locusts so it's like war
judgment against seth the next one was the three days of darkness and of course probably the most
famous god of egypt is ra which is the sun god and you know for god to darken the entire place
for three days it's like this this judgment upon this false god and then we had the tenth
tenth plague which is the death of the firstborn now this one doesn't necessarily apply to any kind
of you know falsified egyptian god as it were but this might be judgment upon egypt as a whole
because all families of course have a firstborn it could also be perhaps judgment upon pharaoh
because often we think about the term firstborn we think about you know the primary one or the
principal one and of course the one that had the most power in egypt was pharaoh we know that
pharaoh was worshipped as a god as well so it may very well be gods you know specifically judge in
pharaoh as well okay so i think this is quite interesting i've heard similar things like this
taught in the past you know the bible doesn't mention all these gods okay but one thing that
you definitely can see you know these plagues they often are associated with some type of deity
some type of god that egypt worshiped so you know i do believe that when god brought these plagues
upon egypt it wasn't just upon the wicked nation but upon the gods of that nation as well now if
you you should still be in jeremiah so if you go to jeremiah chapter 10 jeremiah chapter 10
verse number five look at jeremiah chapter 10 verse number five i just want to bring
to your remembrance something very important
you know i i often don't preach about devils and false gods and
number one because it's just not very pleasant okay but again when you read your bible we know
that there is under underlying uh spiritual spiritual realm out there but you know god
doesn't spend that much time speaking about devils okay we know of some we know of how people
sacrifice to devils and to false gods but we don't have like large segments of the bible just
dedicated to you know you know devils and and the forces of darkness and uh you know one thing that
we read here in jeremiah chapter 10 verse number five speaking about idols it says they are upright
as the palm tree but speak not they must needs be born they must need to be carried because they
cannot go they don't have legs they can walk be not afraid of them for they cannot do evil neither
also is it in them to do good okay so as christians we should not be afraid of these idols we should
not be afraid of these images right you walk past some catholic church and you see some idols you
shouldn't be like oh man i know there's a devil in there somewhere right what's that idol going
to do like don't worry about the idol in of itself is harmless it's not going to hurt you okay it's
not going to hurt you we should not be afraid of these things now if you just go up to verse number
two in the same chapter jeremiah chapter 10 verse number two one thing that i see sometimes
christians make a mistake of is they think well you know they've read their bibles and in fact
many times they've not even read the bibles but they want to know more about the spiritual battle
they want to know more about the spiritual realm so they start reading things like the satanic
bible they start reading literature of holy books like the book of mormon okay so i just want to
know more about false religions you know they'll read the the quran right and i just want to know
what the muslims believe at the end times what does the devil have to say and brethren let me
just say to you you know it's not healthy it's not spiritually healthy for you to getting invested
in the forces of darkness okay number one the bible already tells us everything we need to know
anyway about them okay but number two if you think by you know dabbing into you know a cultish
material or learn about false gods is somehow going to reveal greater trips to you it's not
going to happen the only one that can reveal spiritual truth to you is the spirit of god is
the holy spirit you're not going to learn anything more about the world by looking at what the devil
has to say about the world the devil's darkness as well the devil's going to be judged by god as
well and so even though i named you know sort of 10 egyptian gods to you just to show you how
god can judge the nation and its gods you know i don't want you spending your time looking up
these egyptian gods oh let me learn more about them right because it's it's it's not good for
you it's not helpful for you look at jeremiah chapter 10 verse number two it says thus saith
the lord learn not the way of the heathen and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven for the
heathen are dismayed at them you know god does not want us to learn the way of the heathen then
he goes on explaining about the idols and false gods that they worship you know we should not
spend our time you know learning about false religion and you know only what you need to know
to an extent you know if you live in india for example and hinduism is a significant religion you
know that would be a good time for you to be more aware of the religion to some extent so you can be
a hope and answer maybe some questions as you're preaching the gospel you know understand where
people are coming from there's nothing wrong with that in of itself but you don't want to spend your
hours and hours and hours you know learning about you know things that are wicked it's it's going
to grieve the holy ghost you know i've used this illustration before but i once really wanted the
book of mormon i i asked you know there's some mormon missionaries that came and visited my
mother-in-law and i asked them oh can you leave me one of your books and they left me the book
of mormon and i was like i'm going to read this and i'm going to take down the mormons i'm going
to know everything there is about them right i started reading i'm telling you not even the first
page and i was just grieved in my spirit i just could not handle it it's like this is disgusting
you know i'd rather if i'm going to use any of my time i'd rather just read my bible again rather
than read this junk and i picked that book up and just threw it in the bin i couldn't handle it okay
you know there's no point in spending you know unnecessary time learning about false gods and
false religion you know again the bible has what we need to know about it you know we're better off
learning more about the lord god and his judgment against the wicked rather than spending our time
learning about the wicked themselves learn not the way of the heathen i'm going to quickly read
to you from second corinthians 4 4 which says in whom speaking about the lost world in whom
the god of this world you notice that there is a god of this world and we're not talking about the
lord god here okay this is a little g god the god of this world have blinded the minds of them which
believe not so when we go and we're preaching the gospel and people are struggling to understand
they don't want to hear it they're blinded you need to remember that they've been blinded by the
god of this world okay the devil has blinded the eyes of our community this is why it's important
to understand they're really a spiritual realm okay we are doing spiritual work when we go and
we you know do work for the kingdom of god it says lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ
who is the image of god should shine unto them there is a god of this world but again brethren
as christians and i've had this conversation with some of the men of this church not even that long
ago sometimes we overemphasize the devil you know we kind of give him a little bit too much credit
and maybe even fear him to some extent but one thing i want you to remember in first john 4 4
it says ye are of god little children okay ye are of god little children and have overcome them
because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world hey who's in the world
who's the god of this world satan the devils okay the false religions they're out there
but we're children of god greater is he that is in you we have the holy spirit which is the lord god
in us okay there's no need for us to be afraid of the wicked we should be aware of the wicked one
we should be aware aware that satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking him he may he may devour
we should be aware of those things so we don't fall okay so we don't you know take it for granted
and think there's nothing that can harm us but at the same time we ought not to be afraid of
these things okay we ought not to be afraid because we have the lord god on his side not
only that we're his little children right if if i have little children and you know what i would
do anything i can to protect my little children if we're little children of god god will can will
and can protect us from these devils these devils these gods that he's going to judge one day back
to jeremiah 46 verse number 26 jeremiah 46 verse number 26 it says and i will deliver them into the
hand of those that seek their lives and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of babylon
and into the hand of his servants and afterward and that's the next part so they're going to be
delivered they're going to be taken into captivity like judah was and then it says and afterward
it shall be inhabited as in the days of old safe lord he says egypt will one day be inhabited again
okay this is why egypt still exists okay it's not like that place is just a you know a desert
you know wilderness with no one living there no god says okay you're going to be taken to
captivity just like the jews just like judah they'll be taken to captivity but they're going
to return back to the land of egypt one day again so can you please go to ezekiel 29 if you can
ezekiel 29 verse number 10 ezekiel 29 in verse number 10 you know we looked at how you know god
may very well allow times where you're taken into captivity where you lose your freedoms you use you
lose your liberties but don't forget there also comes a time in the future where god once again
restores freedom to a nation and god is promised in egypt one day you're going to have your
freedoms back we know with judah they were taken to captivity for 70 years and then they're going
to have the freedom once again after 70 years look at ezekiel 29 verse number 10 we actually
get given the period of time of captivity for egypt as well ezekiel 29 verse number 10 which
says behold therefore i am against thee and against thy rivers and i will make the land of egypt
utterly waste and desolate from the tower of syene even unto the border of ethiopia no foot of man
shall pass through it no foot of beast shall pass through it neither shall it be inhabited 40 years
see the captivity of egypt took 40 years before they came back onto the land verse number 12 and
i will make the land of egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate and
her cities among the cities that are laid away shall be desolate 40 years and i will scatter the
egyptian among the nations and will disperse them through the countries i sound like the jews
like god's going to scare them throughout the nations same thing verse number 13
yet thus saith the lord god at the end of 40 years i will gather the egyptians
from the people whether they were scattered and i will bring again the captivity of egypt
and will cause them to return into the land of paphros into the land of their habitation
and they shall be there a base kingdom when the bible says there will be a base kingdom that's
kind of like a lower a basic lower kingdom because egypt yeah in the days of the bible
they were a great power a great powerhouse a great kingdom right but god says yes they will
come back to the land but they're not going to reach the same level the same heights of power
that they used to have after this period of captivity after the babylonians okay so yeah
there is still egypt today but you know no one ever thinks that egypt today would ever be like
this massive world power uh because prophesied they will they will be there but they're going
to just be a base kingdom okay so i just want to show you once again that we often talk about the
jews to captivity 70 years then their freedoms are restored but i want you to notice that god
is even dealing with gentile nations 40 years in this case then restored and i don't know how long
our covid restrictions are going to last i don't know how long our lockdown is going to last okay
buddy i'm saying to you brethren is what if it takes 40 years what if it's 70 years you know
get yourself prepared for it is what i'm saying i'm not saying it's not saying i expect it to be
that case i'm not saying that i expect that i mean probably going to go back to some level
of normality next year i don't know but all i'm saying is we ought to be prepared whatever
scenario we find ourselves in you know whatever part of history whatever nation as christians we
find ourselves in we need to just be prepared be close to the lord whether we have you know
freedoms whether we're bound and restricted you know we ought to do whatever we can with with
what situation we're in to serve the lord and just be close to him and understand these things
are appointed times in the hands of god okay verse number 27 these are the words for us
well in this case it was full of jews god's people as they would hear the judgments of egypt
and of course scary times to come with the babyloni babylonians coming taking over all
these lands verse number 27 says but fear not thou oh my servant jacob and be not dismayed so
let's apply this for ourselves okay because we're god's people okay be not dismayed hey don't be
afraid oh israel for behold i will save thee from afar off and thy seed from the land of their
captivity and jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease and none shall make him afraid you
say pastor kevin what if we're in lockdown what if we lose more of our freedoms what if we even
get thrown in jail for not taking vaccinations if that's your choice or whatever it is that you do
brethren and i pass away and i die well when am i going to get my freedoms restored don't forget
don't forget please don't forget it's i know it's hard because we love our current life as
you were right we wanted to go well with us and i wanted to go well with us i want us to live in
peace and and you know serve god with all our hearts but uh i don't know i don't know how long
how much we have left you know of our freedoms on this earth hey they don't they all might get
restored next year who knows i mean i'm not saying i know i'm not trying to prophesy here okay
all i'm saying is we need to be prepared for the worst and if we lose our lives brethren
on this earth during this time okay don't forget we are going to be brought back to the earth anyway
we are going to be restored back to the earth okay god's promise is true don't forget we've
got the thousand year reign with christ okay our 70 years on this earth is insignificant compared
to the thousand years we're going to rule and reign with christ what an amazing promise that
we can return back and truly be at peace okay truly see the world under the control complete
control of the word of god the verse number 28 it says fear than fear thou not oh jacob my servant
safe lord for i am with thee god is with us even in captivity even when our freedoms are taken
away from us god is with us i'm with thee for i will make a full end look at this i will make
a full end of the nations wither i have driven thee so god says even the nations that put you
on the captivity i'm going to make full end of them god's going to judge them one day brethren
okay but i will not make a full end of thee but correct thee in measure yet will i not leave thee
wholly unpunished see sometimes god would judge a nation and part of that is to punish his people
why because we sin as well you know sometimes we need the correction of the lord sometimes we need
the chastisement of the lord and if we're affected by the judgment upon a nation god allows that
we need to just stop and say look maybe the lord needs to punish his people maybe we've been a
little bit too lazy for the lord god maybe we've taken for granted you know the freedoms that god
did allow us to have you know and now god's bringing some correction in our life the bible
says in proverbs 3 11 my son despise not the chastening of the lord neither be weary of his
correction for whom the lord loveth he correcteth even as a father the son in whom he delighteth
if you're corrected or chastised by the lord brethren praise god it it proves that he loves
you he does it for your correction he does it for your profits please go to revelation chapter 11
we'll end on this one revelation chapter 11 just says our conclusion revelation 11 please verse
number 15 remember what god says he says for i will make a full end of all the nations so we
know that's still prophetic because the nations are still on this earth okay there's coming a time
he's going to make a full end of the nations that then it says but i will not make a full end of
thee okay so revelation 11 verse 15 please revelation 11 15 about the end times it says
and the seventh angel sounded and there was and there were great voices in heaven saying the
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ and he shall reign
forever and ever you see god will make a full end of all the nations christ is going to come and all
the kingdoms of the earth are going to become the kingdoms of christ and look he's going to reign
forever and ever drop down to verse number 18 please verse number 18 and the nations were angry
of course they don't want to be taken over by god of course they don't want the laws of god on the
earth and the eight nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they
should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward look at this reward unto thy servants
the prophets and to the saints and them that fear thy name so when god comes to make a full
end of the nations guess what he's going to do he's going to reward his saints he's going to
reward his prophets okay it's going to be awesome for us in other words okay and then that fear thy
name small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth so brethren let me just
conclude with that there is judgment coming and we're going to see throughout history it's
happened in our past it's probably going to continue right the lord's going to continue
judging nations okay for the wickedness that occurs on the land not just the nations but the
gods of every nation okay god is judging them and we are waiting for that time you know for god to
you know completely destroy the nations of this earth the kingdoms of the earth where god will
ruin reign christ and we're going to be rewarded we're going to be bringing with him okay and so
this is why we ought not to be afraid god is with us doesn't matter how much freedom you have you
know it doesn't matter how captive you are all right we're in christ and christ and the lord god
will never leave our side okay and if we need to face some correction some chastisement you know
take it patiently you know thank god that he loves us enough to teach us and to guide us and to direct
us okay don't panic don't be afraid know that these appointed times are in the hands of our
living god okay let's pray