Discipline and mercy

 Jeremiah 46:28 (ESV)

28Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

God was judging not only Israel but the nations around them for their idolatrous worship. God had revealed himself to the nations in various ways and sent prophets to them calling them to repent. They were not innocent ignorant people but were people who chose to worship false gods. God will not have any other gods before him. He is the Supreme God over all the universe, and he alone deserves to be worshipped and glorified. Israel was held to a higher level of accountability because of the specific revelation they had received. They would be disciplined by God through the nations that would execute his punishment. He could not turn a blind eye to their disobedience. He did not want them to continue to drag his name in the mud through their defiance and rejection toward him. He would punish them, yet he also gave a promise that they would be restored to their land. God’s mercy is without measure and Israel was a recipient of it along with Egypt. God’s discipline was necessary, and he knew exactly what it would take to break the hardness of the heart of the people so they would return to him and be the people he called them to be.