For those of us who love ancient history these moments in the Bible stand out as a wonderful intersection between sacred history and the rest of world history. The battle of Carchemish is one of the most famous battles of the ancient world. We go back now to 605BC during the reign of Jehoiakim of Judah. The Assyrian capital Nineveh (in Northern Iraq) has been conquered by the Babylonian empire (based in Central Iraq) and has moved her capital west to Carchemish (South Turkey). Here the Assyrians ally with Egypt in one last attempt to stop this rising force. Egypt has been something of a bully in her part of the world. But at the Battle of Carchemish she was resoundingly defeated. The humiliation of the proud is a constant theme in the oracles of the Biblical prophets. There is a universal tendency in human beings to want to rise up and dominate others. God’s desire for people, however, is to stoop down and raise up others. Whatever powers and capacities God gives us, it is to empower and bless others, not to compete with others. How often do we engage in this competitive way of life? If we choose to compete, God tells us we will ultimately lose. Those who attempt to rise-up over others are really only degrading their own humanity. We are not animals that we should play ‘survival of the fittest’. We are human beings made in the image of God to love and bless. This is our dignity.
Are you trying to rise up over others at the moment?
Read Jeremiah 46
