In chapter 49, there might be a bit of hint that we could read into. After God announces Himself as the Lord of hosts, He references the "four winds". We can only speculate whether or not these were literal winds or these were referencing the spiritual realm (and one could even use other scripture to back that up)...
(Jeremiah 49:34-39) That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
35 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, the finest of their might.
36 ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven, and will scatter them to all these winds; and there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.
37 ‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their lives; and I will bring calamity upon them, even My fierce anger,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send out the sword after them until I have consumed them.
38 ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam and destroy out of it king and princes,’ declares the Lord.
39 ‘But it will come about in the last days that I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’” declares the Lord.
36 ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven, and will scatter them to all these winds; and there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.
37 ‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their lives; and I will bring calamity upon them, even My fierce anger,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send out the sword after them until I have consumed them.
38 ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam and destroy out of it king and princes,’ declares the Lord.
39 ‘But it will come about in the last days that I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’” declares the Lord.
God does not make one nation attack another nation. And we know that God does not tempt mankind. As we saw in the book of Job, God allows demons to test people. And because God created us and understands psychology better than all doctors combined - AND He is all-knowing - God already knows the outcome and is able to give us prophecies on how the people will respond to being "aroused" by demonic influences...
to evoke or awaken (a feeling, emotion, or response).
"something about the man aroused the guard's suspicions"
| synonyms: | cause, induce, prompt, set off, trigger, stir up, inspire, call forth, call/bring into being, draw forth, bring out, excite, evoke, pique, whet, stir, engender, generate, kindle, fire, touch off, spark off, provoke, foster, whip up, sow the seeds of;
literaryenkindle
"they had aroused his hostility and suspicion"
|
And thereby, God is able to use what mankind does to one another to bring about His will...
(Jeremiah 51:1-14) Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer.
2 “I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her and may devastate her land; for on every side they will be opposed to her in the day of her calamity.
3 “Let not him who bends his bow bend it, nor let him rise up in his scale-armor; so do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction.
4 “They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in their streets.”
2 “I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her and may devastate her land; for on every side they will be opposed to her in the day of her calamity.
3 “Let not him who bends his bow bend it, nor let him rise up in his scale-armor; so do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction.
4 “They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in their streets.”
5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the Lord of hosts, although their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, for this is the Lord’s time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her.
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed.
9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; forsake her and let us each go to his own country, for her judgment has reached to heaven and towers up to the very skies.
10 The Lord has brought about our vindication; come and let us recount in Zion the work of the Lord our God!
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, for this is the Lord’s time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her.
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed.
9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; forsake her and let us each go to his own country, for her judgment has reached to heaven and towers up to the very skies.
10 The Lord has brought about our vindication; come and let us recount in Zion the work of the Lord our God!
11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The Lord has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; for it is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for His temple.
12 Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon; post a strong guard, station sentries, place men in ambush! For the Lord has both purposed and performed what He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your end.
14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts, and they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”
12 Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon; post a strong guard, station sentries, place men in ambush! For the Lord has both purposed and performed what He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your end.
14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts, and they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”
From this we see:
- there could be many instances where the Bible is recounting an event which could have involved either angels or demonics, but, for whatever reason, we are not told. One reason could be that God wants us to stay focused on Him, and not become enamored with the spiritual realm. The Bible DOES give some very clear information on the spiritual realm, which is enough for us to know what we need know.
Personal experience: some people never see, hear or sense angels or demons, There could be many reasons why! Maybe God is protecting those people somehow...
AND - it could also be a test. This could be one of Satan's strategies in many circumstances - to NOT appear to people!!!
People could then say - "HA! Because I've never experienced that, therefore there is no spiritual realm, therefore God does not exist."
Some people could use it as a convenient excuse and say, "I can handle what I see! And if there is no invisible evil, then why would I need God?"
A Christian could easily say or think, "If I have never experienced the spiritual realm, then it doesn't exist; therefore the Bible isn't completely true."
Another temptation that a Christian could fall into, is judging others. Over the years, I have noticed that when discussing certain experiences to believers, some of them will look at me like I am nuts. They DO NOT want to believe what I'm saying is true. "No! It's got to be your imagination!"
Even my own mom thought that when I told her my clown-doll kept pointing at me. She didn't believe me until her and Dad had their own experiences.
So when my terrified daughter called me to her room one night and said that something had picked up the end of her bed and let it drop - I did not question her at all. I simple said, "I believe you. And we have to know that God is everywhere and is all-powerful! God will protect us." And then I prayed with her.
Any time the kids were afraid at night or even in the daytime, EVEN when they were just babies and crying in a weird way - my husband and I would pray that God would protect them and send away anything that was scary!!!
There is no real advantage to seeing, hearing or sensing angels or demons - except that it is proof to us that they do exist. If you can't believe "the stories" that other people tell you - we have to believe the Bible!!! We should know that the Bible is Truth. And THAT should be enough.
Today's takeaway: I only put the above scripture into this post as an example of what I will refrain from doing as I have been doing and as I go forward. I do not want to read into anything. I am only wanting to point out what is unquestionably and very clearly talking about the spiritual realm.
Today's devotional post is important to note though: that so many times "the Lord of hosts" is mentioned. We can still be curious why God has presented Himself with this name-title in that specific circumstance. With God there are no accidents. God does not make mistakes. We do!!!
We make mistakes because we are born with a sinful nature. And even after becoming believers, we will still struggle with that, All people do! Even pastors! A good pastor (and church) will say, "Don't just take our word for it - study the Bible and see for yourself!"...
(Romans 10:17) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
(Romans 15:4-6) For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2 Timothy 3:14-17) You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
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