By Eugene Garner

JEREMIAH - CHAPTER 50 / 51

AN ORACLE CONCERNING BABYLON

    The roots of Babylon reach all the way back to "Babel", the city of confusion (Gen. 11:1-9), where men, in opposition to (or an ignoring of) God, set out to make a name for themselves.
    "Babylon" involves more than city, or even an empire - though both are sometimes involved. In biblical symbolism it is the very ESSENCE of a highly-organized, humanistic world-system (religious, political and commercial) that is in total rebellion against God and His order for the universe. Unceasingly antagonistic toward God; proud in her accomplishments, and daring in her evil innovations; there is, nevertheless, abundant evidence in the scriptures that the restraint of a sovereign hand has constantly held her recklessness inside divinely-established boundaries.
    Just as the intended mischief at Babel was blocked by divine intervention (in the confusion of tongues), so, close observation will discover, within the far-reaching ramification of her master-plan, abundant evidence of a self-destructive antagonism and division among her leading proponents. Her ultimate end is destruction - as is the end of all who succumb to the allurements of her deceptive devices.

    The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. 2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. 3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

    1. Though Babylon has been used as an instrument of divine discipline on other nations, including Israel and Judah, she will not escape judgment upon her own sin, (25:9, 12); nor is finite man in any position to charge God (or Jeremiah) with inconsistency concerning Babylon, (comp. Isa. 10:5-27; 37:22-29; Hab. 1:6; 12-13; 2:6-8; Jer. 51:56).
      a. Jeremiah counseled Judah to submit to Babylon because He knew that God had chosen her to discipline His rebellious children to repentance!
      b. He has already revealed that Judah's captivity is to be of 70 years duration (25:12); now, the king of Sheshach (Babylon) will be numbered with those appointed to drink the cup of divine fury, (25:15-16, 26).
    2. Jeremiah is now commanded to publicize the certainty of Babylon's fall, (vs. 2; 51:28-32).
      a. BEL ("lord", a title of Merodach, or Marduk, her chief god) is shamed and dismayed! (21:9; Isa. 46:1 ; Jer. 51:44).
      b. Her "idol-blocks" (images) are broken down - unable to save themselves, much less those who trusted in them!
    3. Out of the north arises a nation that will make her such a perpetual desolation that man and beast will flee away, (vs. 3; Isa. 13:17-19; 14:21-23).

    4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. 6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. 7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. 8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.

    1. After God's judgment falls upon Babylon the children of Israel (who were taken captive to Assyria), and the children of Judah (who will have been captive of Babylon for 70 years), wilt, with weeping (comp. 31:9; Ezra 3:12-13), seek the Lord their God, (vs. 4; comp. 3:17-18; 31:31; 33:7-8; Isa. 11:12-13).

    2. They will set their faces toward Zion - encouraging each other to join themselves to the Lord with an everlasting covenant, (vs. 5; 6:16; Isa. 35:8; 55:3; Jer. 32:40; comp. Heb. 8:6-10).

    3. In verse 6 the Lord likens His people to "lost sheep" - whose shepherds (leaders) have caused them to go astray, (Isa. 53:6; Ezek. 34:1-16; comp. Matt. 9:36; 10:6-7).
      a. They have turned them aside to idols which have not profited them at all, (23:11-14).
      b. Thus have they forgotten their true resting place - which is in Jehovah their God, (Isa. 40:11; Matt. 11:28).
      c. Their enemies felt that they could abuse them without incurring any guilt because of their sin:
        1) Against the Lord, (comp. 22:8-9; 40:2-3).
        2) Against the habitation of righteousness, (31:23; comp. Isa. 1:23; 32:1, 18).
        3) Against the Lord who was the hope of their fathers, (14:8; 17:13).
    4. Thus, Judah is urged (at the time of judgment upon Babylon) to avail herself of the opportunity to escape - leading the way back to the land of promise "as he-goats before the flock", (vs. 8; 51:6; comp. Ezra 1:5-6; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; Rev. 18:4-8).

    9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. 10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. 11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; 12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

    1. The Lord is here pictured as stirring up a confederation of northern nations who will defeat Babylon, (vs. 9, 3, 51:1-2).
      a. How marvelous the sovereignty of Jehovah in moving people who do not even know Him to discipline other nations - even Israel!
      b. Their warriors do not draw the bow carelessly, or in vain; each arrow finds it mark!
    2. She who has plundered many nations will now, herself, be plundered, (vs. 10-12).
      a. Her plunder of the heritage of Jehovah (12:14) was with such light-hearted exultation that it is likened unto the wantonness of an unmuzzled heifer that is used for threshing (thus, becoming fat), and the neighing of stallions.
      b. Now she is utterly disgraced, bankrupted and destroyed, (vs.12).
    3. Because of the Lord's insatiable anger against her, Babylon (who once reigned as queen of the nations) is so utterly desolated as to be uninhabited, (25:12, 34:22; 51:26); those who pass by will be appalled, and will hiss at her plagues, (vs. 13; 18:16; 49:17).

    14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD. 15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. 16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land. 17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. 18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

    1. The attackers of Babylon are encouraged to press the battle upon her who has grievously sinned against Jehovah, (vs. 14).
    2. One can almost hear the Median battle cry (vs. 15a) before which Babylon surrenders.
      a. Now she will reap what she has sown, (comp. vs. 29; Psa 137:8; Gal. 6:7-8).
      b. And it is clear that this retribution is the very vengeance of the Lord upon the oppressor of His people, (comp. 46:10).
    3. Though conquerors usually spared those engaged in agriculture, it was not to be so with Babylon, (vs. 16a).
    4. Fearing the sword of the new oppressor, the captives of Babylon flee to their own lands, (vs. 16b; comp. Isa. 13:14; Jer. 51:9).

    17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. 18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

    1. "Israel", in this verse, stands for the whole nation, which, as hunted (scattered) sheep, has been driven away from his own land by lions, (vs. 17; comp. vs. 6; 2:15; 4:7).
      a. The king of Assyria first devoured him, (comp. vs. 7; 2 Kings 15:29; 17:6; 18:9-13).
      b. Now the king of Babylon has "ground his bones" (Berkeley; comp. 2 Kings 24:1, 10-16; 25:1-7).
    2. Now the Lord will punish the king of Babylon, and his land, as He has already punished the Assyrians, (vs. 18; Isa. 10:12; Ezek. 31:3, 11-12; Nahum 3:7; 18-19).
    3. The Lord will so establish Israel in his own land that he may feed on Carmel and Bashan - his soul finding satisfaction on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead, (vs. 19; 31:10-12; 33:12-16; 31:5).
    4. In that day God will cleanse and abundantly pardon the iniquity of the remnant of His people, (vs. 20; 31:34; 33:8; Isa. 1:9; 43:25; Mic. 7:19; Romans 9:27-29).

    21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! 24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. 25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. 27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

    1. Jeremiah uses the names of two Babylonian settlements, "Merathaim" ("double rebellion") and "Pekod" ("visitation"), in a sarcastic word play; because of her rebellion against Jehovah, Babylon will be visited with divine judgment! (vs. 21).
    2. With the sound of battle comes great destruction, (vs. 22; comp. 48:3; 51:54); the "hammer of the whole earth" (Babylon) is so broken as to be an astonishment to all nations, (vs. 23).
    3. Since she had provoked the Holy One of Israel, he laid a snare for Babylon, and took her unawares, (vs. 24).
    4. Pictured as opening His armoury, He unleashes the weapons of His indignation (the nations who, unconsciously, perform His word) against her, (vs. 25-27).
      a. They are commanded to come against her from every quarter, (vs. 26a; Isa. 13:5).
      b. She is to be utterly destroyed, (vs. 26b; Isa. 14:23).
      c. Her young princes and warriors (bullocks) will be slaughtered in the woeful day of the Lord's vengeance upon Babylon, (vs. 27; Isa. 34:7; Jer. 48:15).
    5. Then there is a call to attention: "LISTEN!" and the voice of escaped Jews are heard declaring in Zion how the Lord has brought retribution upon Babylon for what she did to His temple, (vs. 28; Isa. 48:20-21; Jer. 52:13; Dan. 1:1-2; 5:1-2).

    28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. 31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. 32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. 33 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. 36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. 37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. 38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. 39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

    1. Because she has proudly defied the Holy One of Israel, Babylon will stumble and fall - to rise no more, (vs. 28-32).
      a. Her enemies are commanded to encircle her so that none may escape, (vs. 29a).
      b. They are to recompense her according to her own ways, (vs. 29b).
      c. Because the Lord God of hosts is against Babylon, her young men will fall in her streets - her men of war will be forever silenced, (vs. 30-31a).
      d. The fire of His vengeance will bring perpetual desolation upon her cities, (vs. 32).

    2. By way of contrast, the Redeemer of Israel will show Himself strong in her behalf - restoring her fortunes, and giving her peaceful rest, while the inhabitants of Babylon are disquieted, (vs. 33-34).

    3. An irresistible sword is set against Babylon, her princes and wise men, her boastful prophets and diviners, her warriors, her horses and chariots, her foreign mercenaries and her treasures; before that sword terror grips the hearts of all! (vs. 35-37).

    4. A drought being upon her waters, the sources of her refreshment and replenishment are dried up, (vs. 38a); and it should be remembered that Cyrus re-channelled the waters of the Euphrates - marching into Babylon on the dried-up river bed, (51:32).

    5. Having become self-demented, through its abandonment to idolatry, Babylon is to became a perpetual desolation - its overthrow likened to that of Sodom and Gomorrah; men will not again dwell there, (vs. 39-40).

    41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. 44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.

    1. Verses 41-43 are repeated from 6:22-24, except that the language is appropriately adapted to Babylon instead of Judah.
    2. Verses 44-46 are repeated from 49:19-21 - being appropriately adapted to Babylon instead of Edom.
    3. When it is voiced abroad that "Babylon is TAKEN!" the earth (involving those who have upheld her) will tremble; their cry will be heard among the nations, (vs. 46). Surely, in this, men will recognize the SOVEREIGN INTERVENTION OF JEHOVAH!

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