Qedarites

Okay, so we've got Mivsam and Duma and Ednevayot, who at least some scholars consider to be the name that was given or to have something to do with the Nabateans.

although there is a linguistic problem there, and Kedar, which is well known both from the Bible and from inscriptions, as being a nomadic tribe that lived in the southern deserts at the end of the biblical period, and several others.

And then once again, we're told, well, okay, so they settled in their own places, their own fortresses, their own capitals, and they ruled for many, many years, and were given the geographical expanse which they ruled in, So we also have geography there as well.

And then that leads into, still in chapter 25, which starts with the toldot, the descendants of, not starts, but okay, the descendants of Ishmael, then leads us into the toldot, the descendants of Isaac, which actually doesn't give a genealogy, it says, okay, so Isaac...

a sword against all her treasures that they may be plundered a drought against her waters that they may be dried up for it is a land of images and they are mad over idols therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in babylon and ostriches shall dwell in her she shall never again have people nor be inhabited for all generations as when god overthrew sodom and gomorrah and their neighbouring cities declares the lord so no man shall dwell there and no son of man shall sojourn in her behold a people comes from the north a mighty nation and many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth they lay hold of bow and spear they are cruel and have no mercy the sound of them is like the roaring of the sea they ride on horses arrayed as a man for battle against you o daughter of babylon the king of babylon heard the report of them and his hands fell helpless anguish seized him pain as of a woman in labor behold like a lion coming up from the thicket of the jordan against a perennial pasture i will suddenly make them run away from her and i will appoint over her whomsoever i choose for who is like me who will summon me what shepherd can stand before me therefore hear the plan that the lord has made against babylon and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the chaldeans surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate at the sound of the capture of babylon the earth shall tremble and her cry shall be heard among the nations and this concludes our reading from today's portion from the old testament from the prophecies of jeremiah before jeremiah was born he was commissioned by god to prophesy to the nations in jeremiah chapter one verse five in chapter forty six the first of the prophecies to the surrounding heathen nations was recorded regarding egypt this was followed by prophecies about the fall of philistia Moab, Ammon, Edom, and now Syria, which Nebuchadnezzar would conquer in 605 BC.

Prophecies are given to Damascus in chapter 49 verses 23 to 27, Kedar, Hazor chapter 49 verses 28 through 33, and Elam in chapter 49 verses 34 through 39. this is a message of hope given to elam but it will come about in the last days that i will restore the fortunes of elam declares the lord jeremiah forty nine verse thirty nine chapter fifty begins the final prophecy the prophecy concerning babylon we read in this prophecy the sense of pity that the lord has for his people he also recognizes the failure of their leaders my people have become a lost sheep their shepherds have led them astray they have made them turn aside on the mountains they have gone along from mountain to hill and have forgotten their resting-place jeremiah chapter fifty verse six do we remember the resting-place that god has provided jesus said come unto me and i will give you rest matthew eleven verse twenty eight he told his disciples to abide in him and assured them that apart from him they could do nothing in john chapter fifteen verse five do not forget your resting-place the babylonians also known as the chaldeans were god's instrument in providing the needed chastisement for judah yet the babylonians would be conquered in five hundred and thirty nine b c by the meadow persians in daniel chapter five verse thirty and thirty one that same night belshazzar the chaldean king was slain so darius the mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two daniel chapter five verses thirty and thirty one because of the heritage of babylon the city becomes a symbol of the spiritual forces at work in an antichrist world system of evil the words in jeremiah chapter fifty verse eight remind us of exhortations in the new testament to flee the influence of the antichrist world system we are told to love not the world in first john chapter two verse fifteen in jeremiah chapter fifty verse eight we read flee from the midst of babylon and go out of the land of the chaldeans be as male goats before the flock in revelation chapter eighteen verse four then i heard another voice from heaven saying come out of her my people lest you take part in her sins lest you share in her plagues this prophecy contains some sad summaries in the history of god's covenant people in jeremiah chapter fifty verse seventeen we read israel is a scattered flock the lions have driven them away the first one who devoured him was the king of assyria and this last one who has broken his bones is nebuchadnezzar king of babylon there is also this mind-boggling prophecy of grace in jeremiah chapter fifty verse twenty we read in those days and at that time declares the lord search will be made for the iniquity of israel but there will be none and for the sins of judah but they will not be found for i will pardon those whom i leave as a remnant jeremiah predicts a destruction of babylon that will be complete as complete as the destruction of sodom and gomorrah babylon has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times the assyrian king sennacherib thought he destroyed it forever in six hundred and eighty nine b c reconstruction began by his son esarhaddon and soon it became an important city of the assyrian empire until babylon rebelled against the assyrian rule in six hundred and twenty six b c babylon became a separate empire and grew in strength in six hundred and five b c nebuchadnezzar came to power and babylon became the leading power in the world cyrus of persia overthrew his grandfather the king of media and formed the meadow persian empire in five hundred thirty nine b c his army captured babylon without a battle and darius the mede was put in charge yet babylon continued to exist after cyrus conquered it in four hundred and eighty two b c persian king xerxes put down a babylonian rebellion and took away the idol of the babylonian god marduk he also destroyed some of the city walls when alexander the great of greece defeated the persians one hundred and fifty years later much of the city of babylon was still in ruin yet inhabited after alexander's death seleucus i gained control of babylonia he built a new city near by on the tigris river called seleucia he ordered that most of the inhabitants move from babylon to the new city in two hundred and seventy five b c the roman writer strabo wrote seleucia at the present time has become larger than babylon whereas the greater part of babylon is so deserted that one would not hesitate to say that the great city is a desert in nineteen seventy eight the iraqi government under saddam hussein started to rebuild the ancient city a postcard from the nineteen seventies shows that it was to be a national jewel and home to hussein's palace during and after the iraq war it was taken over by occupying troops god's word is true therefore aspects of the prophecy must be pointing to a future destruction of babylon such as what is described in the book of revelation chapter eighteen therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals the ostriches also will live in it and it will never again be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation.

As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors, declares the Lord, no man will live there, nor will any son of man reside in it.

Jeremiah chapter 50 verses 39 and 40.

Verse 15 goes on to say, "For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war," such as will all in the soon coming judgment of the nations and people of this planet called Earth that is to be poured out by way of the hand of the one and only true and living God upon all who have lived a sinful, prideful, perverse life of greed and lack of wisdom, knowledge, love, and understanding of and for the truth of whom in this case will be translated as Jesus Christ.

For thus, verse 16 says, "For thus has the Lord said unto me, 'Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fall.

And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be diminished.

For the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.'" My friends, as we come to the close of the surveying of Isaiah chapter 21, which is a description of the soon coming outpouring of the wrath of God upon the nations and individuals of whom have been disobedient to the Lord God by way of the mocking of His chosen people, of whom are called the Jews.

And for the sin of lusting after the land given unto them, which belongs only to the Lord God.

And last but in no way least, for the sin of not responding to the free gift of salvation, which grants life everlasting and has only been made possible by way of the precious and holy shed blood of the only savior of all mankind, who is Jesus Christ.

Who is at the same time the one and only begotten Son of the one and only true and living God.

The Lord reminds us that soon and very soon, the descendants of the second son of Ishmael, who was Kedar, and represents the people of the tribe of Kedar, of which is to once again say the people of northwestern Saudi Arabia.