Thus says the Lord of hosts, “The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive, have held them fast. They refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of Hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.”
– Jeremiah 50:33–34
This whole chapter, Jeremiah 50, is filled with God’s judgment that is coming to the land of Babylon. To the people who have destroyed Jerusalem and taken God’s people into exile. Which as we know from the whole book of Jeremiah and the story of the Old Testament was a result of God’s judgment upon their sin and their idolatry. At the same time, that did not mean that Babylon was innocent of sin, idolatry, or injustice. This is why in this chapter we read about how God is going to bring judgment eventually and ultimately upon the people of Babylon for their sin and their injustice.
Jeremiah 50:33–34 reminds us that those who trust God will find redemption.
The whole picture that we see all over the Bible is that God’s justice does not show favoritism. God’s justice will be poured out upon sin and sinners. Yet, and this is the beauty that we see here in Jeremiah 50, those who trust in God, those who turn to God, have a Redeemer in God, who will redeem them from their sins and from the effect of others’ sins from the injustice and oppression that God’s people were experiencing In Babylon.
Jeremiah 50:34, “Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of Hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause. He will bring rest to them even as he brings unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.” The whole point is to turn from your sin and yourself, all peoples, people of Israel, people of Judah, people of Babylon, turn from your sin and trust in God who is the Redeemer.
And that’s the word of God for you and me today, let’s turn from our sin and trust in ourselves today. And let’s look today and every day to the only one who can redeem us. The only one who can save us from sin, the one who will bring about all injustice or oppression you or I might experience in this world, the only one who can bring about redemption and ultimate justice and freedom is our God, and it’s all possible through the gospel.
Jeremiah 50:33–34 encourages us to plead with God for redemption.
So we pray today, God, you alone are the Redeemer and we praise you that you, our Redeemer are strong. The Lord of Hosts is your name. And so we pray in each of our lives today, help us to turn from sin at every point. God, help us to do justice and to live in righteousness. Lord, we pray that you would keep us from doing injustice or oppression to anyone.
God, help us to do justice, to work for justice around us. In the name of Jesus, the ultimate Judge and the ultimate Redeemer, the ultimate deliverer from sin and idolatry and injustice. Oh God, we need the redemption that Jesus alone makes possible, in our lives and in the world around us.
Prayer for the Orang Negeri Minangkabau People
And God, we pray for people who’ve never heard of the redemption that Jesus alone can bring. We pray specifically today for the Orang Negeri Minangkabau people of Malaysia, over a million of them. Oh God, we pray for the Orang Negeri Minangkabau people. You know them, you love them.
You are their only hope for redemption. Please bring it about among them we pray, we intercede for them. We pray that you would send laborers into the harvest field. God, we pray for those who live in Malaysia who know you to spread the gospel of this people group. We pray for missionaries from other places to cross cultures and boundaries and take the gospel to them, that they might be reached with the good news of the Redeemer Jesus Christ, who is strong enough to save them from their sins. All glory be to your name, Jesus our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is your name and it’s in your name that we pray according to Jeremiah 50:33–34. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
