Do Not Trust in Material Treasures

In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels, a silver metal called mithril is highly prized for its strength and beauty. The dwarfs mined and worked it, always desiring more. But as one character explained: "Even as mithril was the foundation of their wealth, so also it was their destruction."

When we covet material wealth, this sinful behavior leads to spiritual failure. That's why the prophet Jeremiah in today's reading condemned the Ammonites (descendants of Lot) for trusting in material treasures. As we've already seen in this study, Israel had made a practice of treasuring the wrong things, and they were suffering the consequences of their sin. After God's judgment, the Ammonites took advantage of the situation, occupied some of the land, and were more than willing to get rich quick off whatever the Assyrians had left behind (v. 1).

But another day was coming (vv. 2-3). The prideful and idolatrous Ammonites, including the ones living in their capital city of Rabbah, would also be conquered and sent into exile. They were wrong to trust in riches for safety and security (v. 4), a mistake also made by the Moabites (Jer. 48:7). Why? In those days, it was culturally normal as part of war to offer money for alliances or to pay tribute in order to buy off an invading army. In other words, they thought they were safe from harm behind a wall of money.

But they were wrong! God's judgment is unstoppable (Jer. 49:5). To disrespect God's people was to disrespect God. The Ammonite god Molek would not have the victory! Ezekiel prophesied the same fate for them (25:1-7). These prophecies were fulfilled in 582 b.c, when Ammon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Note that God planned to have mercy afterward even on these longtime foes of Israel (Jer. 49:6).

Pray with Us

As we focus our prayers on Moody Radio's Programming, would you add the rest of the team: Danielle Kerschhackl, Dan Craig, Deborah Solomon, and Stephen Johnson? Due to their selfless, dedicated service, many lives have been changed!

BY Brad Baurain

Dr. Bradley Baurain is Associate Professor and Program Head of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Moody Bible Institute. Bradley has the unique privilege of holding a degree from four different universities (including Moody). He has just published his first book, On Waiting Well. Bradley taught in China, Vietnam, the United States, and Canada. Bradley and his wife, Julia, have four children and reside in Northwest Indiana.