By Eugene Garner

JEREMIAH - CHAPTER 51

AN ORACLE CONCERNING BABYLON

Continued

    Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; 2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. 3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. 4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. 5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. 6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

    1. God is raising up an instrument of judgment against Babylon and those who dwell in the midst of her, (vs. 1; comp. 4:11-12; 23:19; Hosea 13:15).

    2. The "destroying wind" is NOT a tornado; it symbolizes the coming of "strangers" upon Babylon, who will winnow and empty her land, (vs. 2; comp. 15:7; Psa. 1:4, Isa. 41:15-16; Matt. 3:12).

    3. It will be useless for the warriors of Babylon to take up weapons for defense; a path of human carnage will be left behind the invading army, (vs. 3-4; 50:14, 21, 29; Isa. 13:15; 14:19).

    4. The judgment of Babylon is a vindication of Israel and Judah - whom God has not forsaken, even though their land has been full of sin! (vs. 5; 33:24-26; Isa. 54:7-8; Hos. 4:1-2).

    5. Thus, He who counseled Judah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, NOW alerts her to be ready to FLEE FROM BABYLON, as the instrument of her judgment approaches, (vs. 6, 45; 50:8, 28; comp. Num. 16:26; Jer. 50:15; 25:14).

    7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. 9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. 10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

    1. Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand - from which the nations have been compelled to drink of His indignation and wrath - leaving them bewildered and helpless, (vs. 7; 13:12-14; 25:15-16; 49:12; comp. Isa. 51:17, 22).
    2. But, Jeremiah sees the cup falling and breaking into pieces - shattered beyond repair! (vs. 8); though there is the "balm of Gilead" for Israel's healing (8:22), the wounds of Babylon are beyond repair, (comp. 46:11).
    3. In verse 9 the Jews in Babylon address other foreign residents - urging them to flee to their own homelands, because the doom of Babylon is sealed! (comp. 46:16; 50:16; Isa. 13:14; Ezra 9:6).
    4. Since in the judgment of her oppressor, God has openly manifested His righteousness in behalf of the remnant of His captive people, they purpose to return, and to declare, in Zion, the word of Jehovah their God, (vs. 10; comp. Psa. 37:6; Mic. 7:9; Jer. 50:28; Isa 40:2).

    11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. 12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. 14 The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

    1. The men of Babylon may sharpen their arrows, and put on their suits of armor, but it will be in vain, (vs. 11a: comp. 46:3-4; Joel 3:9-10).
    2. Here, for the first time, Jeremiah identifies Babylon's enemy as the kings (Darius and Cyrus) of the Medes - through whom the Lord purposes to destroy Babylon, in retribution for what she did to His temple, (vs. 11b; comp. 50:28).
    3. Verse 12 depicts the setting up of a tight blockade around the city of Babylon to make certain that its inhabitants do not escape without surrender; the Lord has both planned and executed what He has threatened concerning this city, (vs. 29; comp. 4:28; 23:20).
    4. With shouts of triumph, the army of the Medes will swarm like locusts over Babylon - the conqueror of many peoples, (50:37-38; Isa. 45:3); nor will her numerous idols provide any help in the day of her extremity, (vs. 13-14; Hab. 2:9-11).

    15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. 16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.

This hymn of praise is repeated from 10:12-16. See comment there.

    21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; 23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. 24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. 25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.

    1. Scholars disagree concerning who is addressed as God's "battle-axe" - with whom He breaks nations in pieces and destroys kingdom, (vs. 20; comp. 50:23; Mic. 4:12-13).
      a. No one can doubt that Babylon HAS BEEN that instrument.
      b. Nor should there be any doubt that the Medes are about to supplant her in that role.
    2. No element of society escaped the crushing power of Babylon, (vs. 21-23: Isa. 43:17; 13:15-18).
    3. Now, God will recompense upon Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, the same havoc that they have wrought upon Zion, (vs. 24, 6, 35, 56; 50:10, 15, 29).
    4. Jehovah declares Himself to be against this destroying mountain (kingdom); thus will He so humiliate her that she will be as a barren, burned-out volcano, (vs. 25,53,58,50:31; comp. Rev. 8:8).

    27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. 28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. 29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken. 31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, 32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

    1. Jehovah of hosts is, Himself, Commander of the forces being assembled against Babylon; at His signal a standard is set up, and the trumpet blown, to rally the nations around it, (vs. 27-28) - Ararat, Minni, Ashkenaz, Media and every land that is under her dominion.
    2. The land of Babylon is pictured as trembling and writhing in anguish because of the Lord's irrevocable purpose to make her desolate, (vs. 29; comp. 8:16; 10:10; 50:46).
    3. Disheartened, discouraged, and terrified by what is coming upon them, the mighty men of Babylon ceased to fight - remaining in their fortresses, (vs. 30; 50:15, 36-37; Psa. 76:1-6).
    4. Posts and messengers inform the King of Babylon concerning the total collapse and panic of his men of war; Babylon's is a LOST CAUSE! (vs. 31-32; comp. 2 Sam. 18:19-33).
    5. The daughter of Babylon is likened to a threshing floor at the time it is trodden down in readiness for the threshing; harvest time is fast approaching, (vs. 33; Isa. 21:9-10; comp. Joel 3:13).

34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps. 39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

    1. Like some great monster, Nebuchadnezzar had swallowed the land of Judah in a single gulp - filling his belly with her delicacies and casting her out, (vs. 34; comp. Isa. 24:1-3).
    2. Thus, she calls for vengeance upon Babylon for her violence and bloodshed, (vs. 35; comp. Psa. 137:8).
    3. And the Lord promises to plead her cause - executing vengeance upon Babylon unto utter devastation! (vs. 36-37; Psa. 140:12; Rom. 12:19).
    4. Their triumphant shouts of exultation, likened to the roaring of a lion over its prey, will be silenced, (vs. 38; comp. 2:15; 4:7; 50:17).
    5. The Lord is preparing a feast - making them so drunk, with the wine of His indignation, that they will sleep a perpetual sleep of death! (vs. 39,57; comp. 48:26).
    6. He will bring them down like slaughter-animals, (vs. 40; 50:27; comp. Isa. 34:6-8).

    41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! 42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

    1. Babylon, the praise of the whole earth, is taken, seized and become a desolation among the nations! (vs. 41; 25:26).
    2. The enemy has came upon her like a rising tide; wave after wave has crashed against her walls, until she is crushed, (vs. 42, 55; comp. Isa. 8:7-8).
    3. Her cities are become like a desert wherein no one will dwell, or pass through, (vs. 43, 29, 62; 50:12; Isa. 13:19-20).
    4. The land and its patron deity (Bel) are so closely identified that the defeat of one necessarily involves the destruction of the other, (vs. 44; 50:2).
      a. Then, from the mouth of Bel, will be taken the plunder of subjugated nations, (vs. 34; Ezra 1:7-8).
      b. No more will pilgrims stream to his shrine, for the wall of Babylon has fallen! (vs. 58; contrast Isa. 2:2).

    45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. 49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. 50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD'S house. 52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. 54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: 55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: 56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. 57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

    1. Again the Lord calls upon His people to flee from Babylon, thus, escaping his fierce indignation and saving their own lives, (vs. 45; Isa. 48:20; comp. Gen. 19:12-16; Acts 2:40).
    2. They must not be discouraged, or faint-hearted, because of the political intrigue and violence in the land - when ruler is against ruler! (vs. 46; 46:21-28 Isa. 43:5; 13:3-5; comp. Isa. 19:2).
    3. When judgment falls upon Babylon, heaven and earth will herald the news with joy! (vs. 47-48a; comp. Isa. 44:23; 48:20; 49:13).
    4. Because of the slain of Israel, and the desecration of Jehovah's temple in Jerusalem, Babylon will fall to an enemy from the north, (vs. 48b-51; comp. vs. 11, 27, 50:29; Psa. 137:8-9).
    5. Again the Jews are urged to remember and return to Jerusalem (Psa. 137:6) - fleeing the calamity that is about to fall upon the city of pride, (vs. 50, 45; Deut. 4:29-31).
    6. Though Babylon builds fortifications that reach into the heavens, she, and her idols, cannot escape the destroyer that God is sending against her! (vs. 52-53; comp. 49:16; Psa. 139:8-10; Isa. 14:12-13).
    7. Midst the crash of the battle, a mighty cry rises up from Babylon; the Lord is bringing the hum of the great city to a devastating silence! (vs. 54-55a; comp. 50:46).
    8. The surging masses of Babylon's foe are likened to the roar of mighty waves that flow over the walls and bring the queen of nations to an ignominious end (vs. 55b-57; comp. Psa. 124:2-5; Hab. 2:8; Psa. 76; Psa. 94:1-2; Jer. 25:27).
    9. Her broad walls (11-25 feet thick) and lofty gates (40-60 feet high) are leveled and burned with fire, (vs. 58; Isa. 45:1-2).
    10. How utterly FOOLISH for men to exert themselves for what goes up in smoke, or to exhaust themselves for nothingness! (comp. Hab. 2:13).

    59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; 62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

    1. According to verse 59, this charge may be dated 594-593 B.C.
    2. Seraiah was a brother of Baruch (32:12), and a quartermaster officer on the king's staff - in charge of selecting the resting place where the king would stop for the night.
    3. No word is given concerning the purpose of this trip of Zedekiah to Babylon, but it appears that he has been summoned there to reaffirm his loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar.
    4. On a scroll, Jeremiah has written messages of judgment against Babylon which he commissioned Seraiah to read publicly when he arrived in the proud city, (vs. 60-61).
    5. Then he was to proclaim this to be the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning Babylon - to destroy it, (vs. 62; comp. 25:12; 50:3, 13, 39-40; Isa. 13:19-22; 14:22-23).
    6. Then, in a symbolic act, he was to bind a stone to the scroll and cast it into the Euphrates - declaring that, in this manner, Babylon will sink (her power exhausted) and never rise again - because of the judgment Jehovah is bringing upon her sin, (vs. 63-64; comp. Rev. 18:21).
    7. "Thus far are the words of Jeremiah" suggests that the historical appendix (chapter 52) was added by another hand, to show (primarily from 2 Kings) that Jeremiah's basic prophecies had already been fulfilled.