Go up against the land of double rebellion, against it, and against the inhabitants of visitation; waste and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
Babylon had been God's tool for punishing His own people. Here God sends armies against Babylon herself, and calls her by two strange names: Merathaim and Pekod.
The verse opens by renaming Babylon. Both names carry a meaning instead of marking a place. Together they state the crime and the sentence.
This name appears in connection with Babylon. It is thought to be a symbolic name, meaning 'visitation' or 'punishment.' It is joined with the name Merathaim, which means 'of the rebels,' or 'double rebellion.' That is, God is to visit Babylon 'because of its rebellion.'
Why "double"? One suggestion ties the word back to what Babylon had done to God's people more than once.
A symbolic name given to the country of the Chaldeans. It means 'double rebellion.' This may point to the two times Chaldea carried the Israelites away captive.
The chapter has already called armies against Babylon. At verse 21 that call starts again, and with it comes the reason God will not spare her.
Again, from verse 21 the call goes out once more against the imperial city, which is called doubly rebellious and the object of visitation. Here the LORD shows why His vengeance on Babylon spares nothing: she desecrated His temple, and she was proud against Him, the Holy One of Israel.
Babylon was not a random enemy. God had used her to punish His own people. Now the empire that carried out the sentence receives one.
God might use Jeroboam to punish Solomon and his house. He might use the kings of Assyria to punish Jeroboam's subjects. He might use Nebuchadnezzar to punish Judah and its kings. But God has had to judge every one of them in turn. These rods of His anger (Isaiah 10:5) were no more faithful to God than the people He used them against.
The reason is simple. Serving God's purpose is not the same as obeying Him.
Suppose God put power into the hand of the Gentile. Suppose He granted success to his armies, even against the nation He had chosen, and to the overthrow of Zion that He loved. He still does not overlook the rod that He uses to correct His erring people. He sees its pride of heart, its lust of power, its self-will and violence. Again and again the nations invaded His land and destroyed life and property without restraint. They were His instruments to correct His stubborn and stiff-necked people. But doing the will of God was far from the thought of any one of them.
The verse ends by tying the attackers to orders: they are to do everything God has commanded. God never gives such a nation a free hand.
God may use an evil nation to punish His faithless people. But He does so only under His strict supervision and control. The book of Habakkuk shows the same thing.
The destruction is not an end in itself.
Its doom came under the Medes, led on by Cyrus the Persian. What matters most to God is this: the fall of Babylon opens the door for His people to return from captivity. It is a picture of a final deliverance, when one greater than Cyrus will come to destroy the last holder of the last empire completely.
Commentators differ on how far chapters 50 and 51 reach. Some tie them to the fall of the actual city:
I cannot doubt that Jeremiah 50 and 51 apply to ancient Babylon. What is more, in the message given to the man Seraiah, God says that Babylon will sink and will not rise again from the evil He will bring on her.
Another writer allows a wider reach, and also records how the city fell.
The destruction of Babylon was foretold in full in Scripture, though some of these prophecies may refer also to still future events. … Its downfall was unexpected. In 538 BC the city fell in a remarkable way. The attackers chose a night when the people were about to hold a festival, and the whole city would be given up to drunkenness. They turned the river out of its bed, so that it was shallow enough for the troops to walk along. They found the gates open, and the city was taken.
- Rebellion. Merathaim means "double rebellion." The name is a charge, not a map reference. It may look back to the two times Babylon carried God's people away.
- Visitation. Pekod means "visitation" or "punishment." Put the two names together and you have God's whole case: God visits Babylon because she rebelled.
- Reversal. The same hand that lifted the rod now breaks it. Serving as God's rod never made Babylon safe, because she never meant to do His will.
- Orders. The attackers must do all that God commanded. Even an evil nation doing His work stays under His strict supervision and control.
- Release. Babylon falls so that God's captive people go free. That rescue is a picture of a greater deliverance still to come.
A sound of battle is in the land, and great destruction.
For chapters Jeremiah has announced war against other nations. Now the noise fills Babylon's own land, and the question is whose hand makes it.
The battle cry does not begin in verse 22. It begins with a command given a moment earlier, and with the reason God gives for it.
Again, from verse 21 the call goes out once more to go up against the imperial city. It is described as doubly rebellious, and as the city God is about to visit in judgment… Here the Lord shows the special ground for His unsparing vengeance on Babylon: she had defiled His temple, and she had lifted herself up in pride against Him, the Holy One of Israel.
Armies do the fighting. But the weapons belong to Someone else, and the timing is His. The Chaldeans named here are Babylon's own people.
Battle is in the land — it is the vengeance of the Lord's temple — the weapons of His indignation, as in Isaiah 13:5. And her day is now come, the time that the Lord visits her. A sword is against the Chaldeans.
Being used by God gives a nation no protection. The danger is pride in the role.
In His government of the nations God may use one nation as His rod to punish another. We see this again and again in the Old Testament. But it goes badly for the nation so used if she becomes proud of it. God rules with justice, and she will just as surely be humbled in her turn.
"A great destruction" is not a new phrase in this book. Jeremiah had said it earlier, over Jerusalem, at a moment when nobody could imagine it — and it happened.
In Josiah's day things looked very prosperous at Jerusalem. Still, the prophet announced over the city "disaster from the north, and great destruction" (Jer. 4:6). That came true exactly, but we easily miss how miraculous it was. Suppose someone announced today that a great capital city would be captured and destroyed. Most people would smile and dismiss the idea. If it then happened, their doubt would make the fulfilment even more striking.
Now the same words fall on Babylon.
Writers read these two chapters as reaching past the fall of the ancient city.
These two chapters (Jeremiah 50 and 51) certainly show us what happened to Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans. But the prophecy goes deeper than history. It shows us principles that grow into the harlot Babylon of the book of Revelation, and that bring down the righteous judgment of God.
To Babylon the sound is ruin. To the captives inside her it is the door swinging open.
Her doom comes through the Medes, led by Cyrus the Persian. The result that matters most to God is this: the fall of Babylon opens the door for His people to return from captivity. It is a picture of a final deliverance, when someone greater than Cyrus will be there to destroy the last holder of the last empire completely.
The ancient city is gone. Its principles are not, and that is where this prophecy touches readers today.
The principles of Babylon are widespread today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we will understand it and keep clear of it… We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it and to overthrow it completely. We also see that He will save His people from its power. That is where we read, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
- The order — the noise starts with a command — go up against the city that is doubly rebellious and ready for judgment.
- The hand — the battle in the land is the Lord's own work, the weapons of His indignation, and the vengeance of His temple.
- The reason — God may use a nation as His rod, but if she grows proud of it, He humbles her in turn.
- The reach — the prophecy goes past the ancient ruin to principles that reappear in the Babylon of Revelation.
- The result — the same crash that ends the empire opens the door for God's people, whose Redeemer is strong.
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
Babylon had flattened every nation around it, and now the hammer itself lies broken. Two questions follow: why did God let such a hammer swing at all, and what brought it down?
The picture of a hammer is not an insult invented by the prophet. It describes a job. God set Nebuchadnezzar over the nations to punish them, at the same time as He punished His own people.
Israel was by no means the only wicked nation; all the others had turned from God, perhaps even further. So while God was disciplining His own people, He took the opportunity to discipline other guilty nations too… The whole political framework of the world then broke apart. Nebuchadnezzar became God's hammer for this purpose.
God can use a nation without approving of it. Scripture shows the pattern more than once. The instrument grows proud, and God ends it.
God uses the pride and wickedness of the wicked to discipline His people. Afterwards He destroys the instrument. The Assyrian was God's rod to strike Israel. He boasted against God, and God broke the rod.
The same rule holds for any nation God uses as His rod:
In His governing ways with nations, God may use one as the rod to punish another. We see this again and again in the Old Testament. But it goes badly for that nation if she grows proud of it. As surely as God rules with justice, so surely will He humble her justly in her turn.
The verse announces the sentence. The charge is that Babylon went past its orders:
Even in Zechariah's day, God's anger burned against Babylon, the instrument of His judgment on Israel. But like the Assyrian, it had lifted itself up against the hand that was using it. It had satisfied its thirst for revenge in the way it treated the people of God.
From verse 21 the call to the armies goes up again. The chapter itself names the reason for such heavy judgment:
Again, from verse 21 there is a renewal of the call to go up against the imperial city, described as doubly rebellious and as the city God has marked out for judgment… Here the Lord shows the special ground for unsparing vengeance on Babylon: it defiled His temple, and it was proud against Him, the Holy One of Israel.
The astonishment in the verse was earned:
Nothing seemed less likely than the fall of this proud city. It was the first to achieve a world-wide supremacy, everywhere the civilisation of that age reached.
Here is how the end came:
Its downfall was unexpected. For twenty-four years after Nebuchadnezzar died, Babylon stayed the seat of the imperial court. In 538 B.C. the city fell in a remarkable way. The attack came on a night when the people were about to hold a festival, and the whole city would be given over to drunkenness and wild living. The river was diverted from its bed, leaving it shallow enough for the troops to pass along. They found the gates open, and took the city.
Commentators differ on how far these chapters reach. Some see only the overthrow of the ancient city. Others see more in them than that — principles still at work, with a practical use for readers today:
Babylonish principles are widespread today. As we see God's judgment on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding… What is Babylonish is always ready to trap us. But as we learn the mind of God, we are strengthened against the advances of this lawless and superstitious system. We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it, to overthrow it altogether, and also that He will save His people from its power. In this connection it says, "Their Redeemer is strong."
- Hammer. Babylon's power was a job, not a reward. God made Nebuchadnezzar His hammer to break up the political order of that world.
- Pride. The hammer turned on the hand that held it. It took revenge on God's people, far beyond what it was sent to do.
- Broken. God uses the rod, then breaks the rod. A nation He uses still faces His justice when it grows proud.
- Unaware. Nothing looked less likely than Babylon's fall. It came in one festival night, through an emptied riverbed.
- Redeemer. The judgment that ends Babylon proves that Israel's Redeemer is strong. It is also the reason to stay clear of every Babylonish system still standing.
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou, Babylon, art also taken, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, for thou hast contended with Jehovah.
Here God speaks straight to Babylon, the city that carried His people away. Two questions press on the verse: how was a guarded capital caught without knowing it, and what does it mean to oppose the LORD?
The armies that took Babylon were real and datable, and the prophecy hands us their names — yet commentators read the fall as a pattern for something larger still.
Its doom comes under the Medes, led on by Cyrus the Persian. The consequence of deepest interest to God is that the fall of Babylon opens the door for the return of His people from captivity. It is the type of a final deliverance, when a greater than Cyrus will be there for the utter destruction of the last holder of the last empire.
"You did not know it" was literally true on the night the city fell. Watchmen were posted and saw nothing.
History tells us that Babylon's walls had towers at intervals — two hundred and fifty of them. From these towers the Chaldeans could watch their enemy, and they saw no sign of danger. But the enemy outside had done a very simple thing. The Euphrates ran right through the middle of the city, guarded by great bronze gates, so no one could get in by water. The Euphrates bends near Babylon, so Cyrus, the Persian leader, cut a new bed for the water a few miles upstream. When darkness came they opened the sluices and turned the river into the new channel. That left the riverbed at Babylon almost dry. The Persian troops marched quietly along it, under the bronze gates, and took the city.
The same suddenness marks God's judgments elsewhere.
The judgment is clearly sudden, violent, and final. It is so sudden that we are told "her plagues will come in a single day"; "in a single hour your judgment has come"; "in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste"; "in a single hour she has been laid waste." It is like the other judgments. When men are saying "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction comes. Or take Belshazzar's godless feast. The thousand lords and princes were merry with wine, praising the gods of gold and silver, filled with the excitement of the royal revelry. In that same hour the fingers of a human hand came out and wrote on the wall.
Babylon had been used by God to discipline Israel. Her guilt lay in how far past that commission she went.
God shows that He may use foreigners to chastise His people. But before long He will turn round and deal with their cruel oppression. Their mind was to destroy, while God employed them only to chasten. And there was pride of power without conscience toward God, which was also the main source of idolatry. So Babylon cannot escape. She is the first among the nations summoned to judgment.
The struggle was not an abstract quarrel with heaven. It took the shape of a heavy hand laid on God's inheritance, and the judgment answers it in kind.
Then God's wrath against the evils of His people condemned them to be carried away, and the destruction of the temple defiled His inheritance. God permitted it. The Babylonian king did it with a heavy hand. And on Babylon will come the heavy hand of God's judgment, in the day when God executes "the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for His temple" (Jer. 50:28).
Commentators see more in these chapters than Cyrus's victory. They see a system that is still at work.
Babylonish principles hold wide sway today. As we see God's judgment on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding. We cannot over-estimate how important this is for those who seek to exalt the Lord and to call on Him out of a pure heart. What is Babylonish is always ready to trap such people. But as we learn the mind of God we are guarded against the advance of this lawless and superstitious system… Of this it is said, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
- Snare. The trap was God's. Cyrus and the Medes were only the hand that closed it.
- Unaware. Two hundred and fifty towers watched for danger and saw none. Cyrus turned the river, and his troops walked in under the gates.
- Sudden. The same pattern runs to the end — "in a single hour" — falling on men while they say "There is peace and security."
- Strife. God sent Babylon to chasten, and Babylon chose to destroy. Pride of power without conscience toward God is what it means to oppose Him.
- Redeemer. The judgment on the snarer is the release of the snared. Babylon's fall opens the door home, and His people's Redeemer is strong.
Jehovah hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for this is a work for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans.
The word translated "armory" here is not the usual word for a weapon store. One reference work compares the Old Testament uses:
In Nehemiah 3:19 the word is nesheq, also translated "armour." In Song of Solomon 4:4 it is talpiyyoth, "armoury" or heap of swords. In Jeremiah 50:25 it is otsar, meaning "treasury."
So the picture is of a treasure store. God keeps it until the hour comes to open it.
Babylon's fall is not random. One writer names what earned it:
Here Jehovah shows the special ground for unsparing vengeance on Babylon. It is her desecration of His temple, and her pride against Himself, the Holy One of Israel.
Babylon had been the tool in God's hand for punishing Israel. That did not protect her. Writers on other prophets describe the same turn:
Even in Zechariah's days, God's wrath had burned against Babylon, the instrument of His judgment over Israel. But, like Assyria, it had lifted itself up against the hand that was using it. It had also satisfied its thirst for revenge in the way it treated the people of God.
One writer traces the same pattern through later history:
The Babylonians never guessed why God had raised them to the height of power. It was only to make them a tool in His hand, to discipline His people and hold back the evils of the nations. Yet so it was in the prophet's day. And so it has been again and again in world history, whenever ruthless tyrants have been allowed for a time to press their aggression over the nations around them.
The Medes marched on Babylon. Yet verse 25 credits the work to the Lord of hosts. One writer holds both together:
I may add that in Jeremiah, the Medes destroy the Babylon of that day. Jeremiah calls it the work of the Lord of hosts, His vengeance, His day come, the day that He visits her, and so on. I think anyone who reads these two chapters closely must see one judgment on the Babylon on earth, with the lasting consequences of that judgment, as when He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. But whoever the instruments, the judgment was God's.
Another writer draws the general rule out of Babylon's case:
I think the case of Babylon shows something striking. A judgment called God's may at the same time be carried out by men.
The judgment has an aim beyond Babylon's ruin:
Again the prophet takes up the note of relief for Israel from the trouble of Babylon. If Assyria and her proud rival competed in their scornful oppression of Israel, Jehovah would plead the cause of His people fully.
Commentators differ over how far this reaches. One holds firmly to the historical fall:
I cannot doubt that Jeremiah 50 and 51 apply to ancient Babylon.
Another reads the language as stretching beyond it:
But Babylon herself cannot escape. Chapters 50 and 51 tell us of her judgment. The language reminds us of what the book of Revelation says about Babylon and God's people. She will sink and rise no more, while Israel will go out from the middle of Babylon.
- Treasury — the "armory" is otsar, a store. God keeps His weapons in reserve and opens the door at His own hour.
- Provocation — Babylon desecrated His temple and set herself against the Holy One of Israel.
- Instrument — the empire God used as His tool grew proud against Him, and so became the target.
- Ownership — the Medes do the striking. But whoever the instruments, the judgment is God's.
- Purpose — the arsenal opens so that a strong Redeemer can plead His people's cause and bring them out.
Come ye against her from every quarter, open her storehouses; pile her up like sheaves, and destroy her utterly let nothing of her be left.
This verse sits inside a call to war. The command goes out to raiders on the far edges of Babylon's land: break into her stores and leave nothing standing. Who issues such an order, why is the sentence so total, and does it stop with the ancient city on the Euphrates?
This is not the first call to arms in the chapter. One writer marks it as a fresh summons, and notes how the chapter describes the city:
From verse 21 the call to go up against the imperial city is renewed. She is described as doubly rebellious, and as the city God will visit in judgment.
The order to come "from every quarter" also tells us something about the attackers. They are not one army:
It is not just one nation, but an assembly of great nations that destroy Babylon: so in Revelation 17:16.
The soldiers do the looting, but the campaign is God's. One writer ties the raid to God's vengeance on the Chaldeans — the people of Babylon — and shows how long the ruin lasts:
Battle is in the land (it is the vengeance of the LORD's temple), the weapons of His indignation, as in Isaiah 13:5. Her day has now come, the time when the LORD visits her. A sword is on the Chaldeans. So no one will ever live there again, from generation to generation, just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
So the emptying of her stores is God's vengeance, not just a raid.
God had once used Babylon against Judah. That did not make her innocent. One writer shows where the guilt lay:
So Babylon was God's instrument of wrath on Judah. But she served herself and was proud against the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. So she comes under righteous judgment. "I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the LORD" (see Jeremiah 50 and 51).
She filled those storehouses while she was plundering Zion. Another writer names the ground for such unsparing judgment:
Here the LORD shows the special ground for unsparing vengeance on Babylon: she defiled His temple, and she was proud against Him, the Holy One of Israel.
The order to devote her to destruction is final. Set beside God's other judgments on the nations, this one stands apart:
It is striking that of all these burdens the one upon Babylon is the most complete without any hope of recovery. So also in Revelation 17 and 18: God will destroy the "Mystery" Babylon completely, leaving not a trace.
One writer sees the chapter reaching past the fall of Babylon to Cyrus, the Persian king who captured the city. The reason is the detail itself: too much of it never happened in his day. The lesson he draws is practical:
Many details in Jeremiah 50 and 51 show us there is more in the mind of the Spirit than the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus and the partial restoration of Israel afterwards… Babylonish principles are widespread today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding… In this connection it is said, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34). This encourages us today, when Babylonish religion is developing fast with world power on its side.
So the emptied stores carry both a warning and a comfort. Her hoard is scattered, and the One who gives the order is the Redeemer of the people she robbed.
- Cause. God used Babylon against Judah. But she served herself and was proud against the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. That is what brings her under righteous judgment.
- Command. Breaking open her stores renews the call against the imperial city. She is doubly rebellious, and God will visit her in judgment.
- Company. Not one nation but an assembly of great nations destroys her. Revelation 17:16 shows the same scene.
- Completeness. Of all God's judgments on the nations, Babylon's is the most complete. No hope of recovery, not a trace left.
- Comfort. The same chapter that empties her stores says their Redeemer is strong. That encourages anyone facing a Babylonish system with world power behind it.
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
This verse sits inside a long message of judgment on Babylon, and the picture is of cattle driven off to be killed. Who gives such an order, why does it fall now, and what does the fall of an empire say to readers today?
The verse does not stand alone. One commentator traces these orders back a few verses, to where the call against the city starts again.
Again, from verse 21 the call to go up against the imperial city is renewed. Jeremiah describes that city as doubly rebellious, and as the one God will visit in judgment.
The verse ends with the time of their punishment, or visitation. A dictionary of Bible names finds that same idea inside the place names used a few verses earlier.
The name Pekod appears in connection with Babylon. People take it to be a symbolic name meaning "visitation" or "punishment." It is linked with the name Merathaim, which means "of the rebels" or "double rebellion." That is, God would visit Babylon 'because of its rebellion.'
Babylon had been the rod in God's hand against Judah. That did not shield her. One writer sets out the turn that made her own downfall righteous.
So Babylon was God's instrument of wrath against Judah. But she served herself and was proud against Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore she comes under righteous judgment.
Kelly names the two charges that made the vengeance unsparing.
Here Jehovah shows the special ground for unsparing vengeance on Babylon: she treated His temple with contempt, and she was proud against Him, the Holy One of Israel.
The verse says their day has come. One writer links that to the day of the Lord, then names the human power God used.
If we look at Babylon in the Old Testament, the prophets were right to speak of its destruction as the day of the Lord upon it. At the same time it is quite certain that God brought about the ruin of Babylon through the famous Cyrus, the leader of the Medo-Persian army.
Babylon's fall is not destruction for its own sake. One writer ties it to what Nebuchadnezzar had done to Israel, and to what Israel gained when Babylon fell.
This is the judgment of this empire. It avenges Nebuchadnezzar's oppression of Israel, whose bones he had broken (chapter 50:17). Still, God gives Israel's deliverance at the time of Babylon's destruction as a pledge and foretaste of their complete and final deliverance.
Commentators differ on how far these chapters reach. That writer keeps the focus on the empire of Jeremiah's own day. Another reads chapters 50 and 51 as pointing past the ancient ruins to a system God has still to deal with, and draws a lesson for now.
Babylonish principles are widespread today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we ourselves are kept clear of it with understanding. We cannot overstate how important this is for those who seek to exalt the Lord and to call on Him out of a pure heart. What is Babylonish is always ready to trap them. But as we learn the mind of God, we stand firm against the advances of this lawless and superstitious system. We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it and to overthrow it completely. We also see that He will save His people from its power. On this point Scripture says, "their Redeemer is strong."
- Rebellion. Jeremiah calls this city doubly rebellious. The charge comes before the sentence.
- Visitation. The very word behind the verse means punishment that comes because of rebellion. Nothing arbitrary decides Babylon's day; her own record does.
- Recompense. She had been God's instrument against Judah. Then she served herself, treated His temple with contempt, and grew proud against Him. Being useful to God is no shield from His judgment.
- Release. Babylon's fall lifts the weight off an oppressed people. That rescue is a pledge of a fuller one still to come.
- Warning. Commentators differ over how far these chapters reach beyond the ancient city. The practical use is the same either way. Learn God's mind about what is Babylonish, stay clear of it, and remember that the Redeemer of His people is strong.
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple.
A sound comes out of a falling empire — escaped prisoners running home with news. What they report is not their own rescue but God's settling of accounts for His house, which raises two questions: why does God tie His vengeance to a building, and why must they tell it in Zion?
Babylon destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. One writer names two hands at work in that ruin: God permitted it, and Babylon struck with cruelty. The second is what brings judgment back on her.
God's wrath against the evils of His people condemned them to be carried away, and His inheritance was polluted when the temple was destroyed. God permitted it. The king of Babylon did it with a heavy hand, and the heavy hand of God's judgment will come on Babylon, on the day when God carries out "the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for His temple" (Jer. 50:28).
Why should a ruined temple matter so much? The nations knew whose name rested there, and one writer says they hated it for that very reason.
The house of God was exactly what the invader wanted most. The nations felt an instinctive hatred for this temple where the LORD had placed His name. They knew very well what the LORD had done in the past when He overthrew nations. The question was whether the LORD would allow His temple to be plundered now, and His name, as it were, to be wiped off the earth.
Babylon was the rod in God's hand against His own guilty people. That role did not protect her, because she served herself in it.
So Babylon was God's instrument of wrath against Judah. But she served herself and acted proudly against the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and so she comes under righteous judgment. "I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the LORD" (see Jer. 50 and 51).
The report goes back to Zion, the place Babylon robbed. It carries more than the news that a city fell.
Zion is to know the holy character of this judgment, for it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of His temple (Jer. 50:28; 51:11). The Redeemer of Israel and Judah pleads their cause. He is strong to overthrow their oppressors in judgment as He did Sodom and Gomorrah, and to deliver His people and give them rest.
The next chapter repeats the call to speak in Zion. There Babylon's ruin becomes a verdict for the people she had crushed.
Babylon's fall is the vindication of Judah, who then turns in heart to Zion, to announce there the work of the LORD their God.
The fall of such a city splits the world in two: some mourn, others rejoice. And the vengeance stays God's, not ours.
If on earth kings and merchants mourn over her fall, in heaven the saints, apostles, and prophets are called to rejoice, for in her fall God will avenge the sufferings of His people at her hands. It is not for believers to seek to avenge themselves. God cannot trust His people to take vengeance. The word is "Never avenge yourselves … for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord'" (Ps. 94:1; Rom. 12:19).
Babylon's principles did not die with the city. One writer draws the lesson for readers now.
Babylon's principles are widely at work today. As we see God's judgment on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding… Anything like Babylon is always ready to trap those who seek to exalt the Lord and call on Him out of a pure heart. But as we learn the mind of God, we are made strong against the advances of this lawless and superstitious system. We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it, to overthrow it completely, and also that He will save His people from its power. About this it says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
- His temple, His quarrel. God let His house fall as discipline on His people. Babylon struck it with a heavy hand, so God's heavy hand returns on her.
- His name at stake. The nations aimed at the temple because God's name rested there. The open question was whether He would let that name be wiped off the earth.
- His instrument still judged. Babylon carried out God's wrath on Judah. But she served herself and grew proud against Him, so she came under righteous judgment too.
- His vengeance, not ours. God avenges what His people suffered. Believers never avenge themselves, because vengeance is His to repay.
- His work told in Zion. Babylon's fall clears the name of the people she crushed. They turn homeward to announce what God has done. The same system is still at work today, and a strong Redeemer saves His people from its power.
Call together the archers against Babylon, all those that bend the bow encamp against her round about; let there be no escaping recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her for she hath acted proudly against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
Jeremiah 50:29 is a battle order: God calls up archers to surround Babylon and pay her back for what she has done. But the charge behind it is not military at all — she has proudly defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
From verse 21 on, the chapter is a repeated call to attack. At its close God gives His reason for it:
Here Jehovah states the special ground for unsparing vengeance on Babylon. It is the desecration of His temple, and pride against Himself, the Holy One of Israel.
Why punish the tool for the work it was handed? The answer lies in a difference of aim:
Babylon was the great Gentile power first allowed to take possession of Jerusalem. But God shows that He may use foreigners to chastise His people. Before long He will turn round and deal with their oppressive cruelty. Their aim was to destroy, while God employed them only to chasten. There was pride of power without conscience toward God, and this was also the main source of idolatry. So Babylon cannot escape.
Israel's own history shows the same rule, in the career of a king named Jehu:
Jehu was a bad man, and satisfied his own ambition under a pretended zeal for Jehovah… So Babylon was God's instrument of wrath upon Judah. But she served herself and was proud against Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore she comes under righteous judgment. "And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the LORD" (see Jer. 50 and 51). In the same way Jehu carried out righteous judgment against the house of Ahab. But he was proud against Jehovah, and judgment overtakes him.
Babylon's pride struck at a name. That name carries a particular weight:
The name "Holy One of Israel" means that the God of Israel stands completely apart from all evil. He is of purer eyes than to look on evil. This is what the seraphim express as they cry out before His throne: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts" (compare Rev. 4:8).
This measure of repayment is not unique to Jeremiah. One writer traces it back to here when a later Babylon falls:
The principle of the judgment is a known one in Scripture. God dealt the same way even with Jerusalem (Isaiah 40:2). Babylon is "rewarded" as she had "rewarded" God's people. That is a direct echo of the judgment on Babylon of old. (See Psalm 137:8-9; Jer. 50:15-29.)
One writer finds more in these chapters than the fall of an ancient city:
Many details in Jeremiah 50 and 51 show that there is more in the mind of the Spirit than the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus and the partial restoration of Israel afterwards… Babylonish principles are widespread today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding. What is Babylonish is always ready to trap those who seek to exalt the Lord and to call on Him out of a pure heart. But as we learn the mind of God, we are made strong against the advances of this lawless and superstitious system. The Lord has purposed to judge it and to overthrow it altogether, and He will also save His people from its power. In this connection it says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
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- Pride, first. God names His reason for unsparing vengeance. Babylon defiled His temple and was proud against Him, the Holy One of Israel.
- Pride against whom. The Holy One of Israel stands completely apart from all evil. Babylon's boast struck at that holiness.
- Pride overreaching. God used foreign powers to chastise His people. Their aim was to destroy, not to correct, so He turns and deals with their cruelty.
- Pride repaid. She gets back exactly what she gave. Scripture knows this principle well — God dealt the same way even with Jerusalem.
- Pride outlived. Babylonish principles are still at work. Knowing God's judgment on that system keeps His people clear of it, and their Redeemer is strong.
Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets; and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah 50:30 is one line inside a long sentence of doom on Babylon, the empire that had oppressed God's people. Two questions sit in it: why "therefore," and which day is "that day"?
The verses just before give the ground of this sentence.
Again, from verse 21 there is a renewal of the call to go up against the imperial city, described as doubly rebellious and marked out for judgment… "I have laid a snare for you, and you are caught, O Babylon, and you did not know it. You are found and taken, because you have fought against the LORD… repay her for her work; do to her according to all that she has done, for she has been proud against the LORD, the Holy One of Israel."… Here the LORD shows the special ground for His unsparing vengeance on Babylon: she desecrated His temple and was proud against Him.
Which day is "that day"? Darby ties it to the time the Lord had set to deal with her.
Battle is in the land (it is the vengeance of the Lord's temple), the weapons of His indignation, as in Isaiah 13:5. And her day is now come, the time that the LORD visits her. A sword is upon the Chaldeans.
Babylon's young men fall because Babylon had made others fall.
In her fall Babylon only reaped what she had sown. "For it is the vengeance of the LORD; take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do to her" (verse 15). The same verdict falls on the Babylon of the end time… "Pay her back as she herself has paid back, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed" (Rev. 18:6).
The charge against her runs wider than one nation.
This is the judgment of this empire, to avenge the oppression of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar, who had broken Israel's bones (chap. 50:17)… Man, placed there by God, had failed completely. He has tyrannised over God's people, forced idol worship on them, and corrupted the world through it.
The previous chapter aims these same words at Damascus, a far smaller kingdom.
Damascus and Hazor follow. "Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are dismayed, for they have heard bad news; they have lost heart… How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy! Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, declares the LORD of hosts."
Kelly's older translation reads "fall in her streets" and "cut off in that day." Great power and small power hear the same sentence.
The chapter does not stop at Babylon's ruin.
The heart of the prophet, like the LORD Himself, always turns from the judgment of the great enemy to poor guilty Israel. It is not only pity that is pledged, but a restoration so truly divine that the end will far surpass all beginnings. The change is moral too, not national only. Their heart is to be set right with God, just as surely as they will find refreshment and rest in their land.
Commentators differ on the scope of these two chapters. Some tie them to the historical city and its ruin.
I cannot doubt that Jeremiah 50 and 51 apply to ancient Babylon. Moreover, the testimony given to Seraiah says, "So Babylon will sink and will not rise again out of the disaster that I will bring on her."
Others read in them a pattern that repeats, and draw a present-day warning from it.
Babylon-like principles are widespread today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding… What is Babylon-like is always ready to trap those who seek to exalt the Lord. But as we learn the mind of God, we stand firm when this lawless and superstitious system tries to break in. We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it, to overthrow it completely, and that He will save His people from its power. On this point Scripture says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
- Cause — The fall of her young men begins with a "therefore": she had fought against the LORD and been proud against Him.
- Measure — What she had done to others came back on her: "as she has done, do to her."
- Motive — God was avenging His temple and the oppression of His people, whose bones Nebuchadnezzar had broken.
- Day — "In that day" means a time the Lord had fixed for visiting her; when it came, her soldiers were no defence.
- Reach — Commentators differ: some stop at ancient Babylon, others see the pattern repeat in a later system. Both readings leave one lesson. Keep clear of what God has purposed to judge, because the Redeemer of His people is strong.
Behold, I am against thee, proud one, saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I visit thee
God turns from the armies to the city itself, and names Babylon by the sin that draws His hand: pride. Why single out pride in a world empire, and what does a fixed "day" mean for a nation that looked untouchable?
The whole section from verse 21 builds to this direct address. One commentator points to what stands behind the judgment:
Here the LORD makes known the special ground for His unsparing vengeance on Babylon. She desecrated His temple, and she showed pride against Him, the Holy One of Israel.
Babylon did not rise by accident. God used her to discipline His own people. One commentator, writing on Isaiah's prophecy against Babylon, marks the gap between what God gave her to do and what she chose to do:
God may use foreigners to chastise His people. But before long He turns round and deals with their cruel oppression. Their intention was to destroy, while God employed them only to chasten. And since there was pride of power without conscience towards God — and this was also the main source of idolatry — Babylon cannot escape. She is the first among the nations summoned to judgment.
Another writer puts it in one line: Babylon "exalted itself against the hand that was using it" (H. L. Rossier).
The verse does not put judgment off to a later date. Her day has arrived — the time when God punishes her. Older translations read, "the time that I visit you." What looked like delay had a purpose:
God was not, and is not, in any hurry to judge, and He never sits in judgment without giving plenty of warning; but doom comes at last, and deservedly.
The long silence of God is not consent. It is warning time.
The timing of the fall matters as much as the fall itself. A commentator, writing on the later picture of Babylon in Revelation, shows when the blow lands and how far it goes:
The world's glory and might is only a passing dream. Everything not founded on God withers, fades, and perishes. Babylon, when on the highest point of pride and greatness, at the peak of her glory, is cut down. Her ruin is complete and final. In righteous payback, her partners in crime become the active instruments in her political overthrow, and in her loss of power over the nations.
Pride does not fall from the bottom. It falls from the top.
Commentators read these chapters as reaching past the fall of the ancient city:
These two chapters do show us what happened to Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans. But the prophecy goes deeper than history. It shows us principles which develop in the Babylon of the book of Revelation, and which bring down the righteous judgment of God.
The same writer notes that Babylon's principles are still at work today. Seeing God's judgment on the system is what keeps us clear of it. And the chapter has another side: "Their Redeemer is strong" (H J Vine).
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The verse names the charge but not the reason behind the fall. A commentator explains why proud people go down:
God gives grace to the humble while He resists the proud. The wise king of old had noticed that "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). But he does not tell us why it is so. Here we get the explanation. The proud get no grace from God but rather resistance. No wonder they go down. And the fall is never so plain as with proud believers, since God deals with His own children promptly. The worldly person He often leaves untouched until the final crash comes at eternity.
Babylon's fall is not bad luck. God Himself is resisting her.
- Proud against God. God names two grounds for judgment: Babylon's pride against the Holy One of Israel, and what she did to His temple.
- Proud with borrowed power. God used her to chasten His people; she chose to destroy, and used strength given to her against the One who gave it.
- Proud until the day. God fixes the day of her punishment. His delay is warning, not approval — and the warning runs out.
- Proud, then finished. She is cut down at her peak, and the ruin is complete and final. God gives grace to the humble and resistance to the proud.
- Proud systems still stand. The same principles run on into the Babylon of Revelation. God's people keep clear of the system and lean on the Redeemer who is strong.
and the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; yea, I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.
Jeremiah's long message against Babylon reaches its sharpest point here. God names the empire not by its title but by its character — the proud one — and tells it that this fall is permanent.
Babylon is not judged for being strong. One writer names the two offences that make this judgment unsparing:
Here Jehovah shows the special ground for His unsparing vengeance on Babylon. She desecrated His temple, and she was proud against Himself, the Holy One of Israel.
So this pride is aimed at a Person. Another writer shows what it looked like in practice:
The boundless pride of Babel's king had exalted itself against the Lord Himself — no longer against the nations, or even against the people of God. Over against the only true God he had put his deceiving images of wood, iron, silver, and gold. And this became the main cause of his final destruction.
Why does the proud one always stumble? One writer gives the reason:
God gives grace to the humble while He resists the proud. The wise king of old noted that "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:18), but he does not tell us why it is so. Here we get the explanation. The proud get no grace from God, but rather resistance. No wonder they go down. And in no one is the fall so clear as in proud believers, since God deals promptly with His children in the way of government. The worldly person He often leaves untouched until the final crash comes, when eternity is reached.
There is also a timing to it:
Pride, on the other hand, is most offensive to Jehovah. It is dangerous — indeed destructive — to man. And a man tends to be most lifted up just when the blow falls. We may see this throughout Scripture: a haughty spirit before a fall. So Nebuchadnezzar, where mercy stepped in; so Haman, where there was only judgment.
This is the hinge of the verse. Babylon's fall is not like the falls God's own people suffer:
The judgment on Babylon was going to be final. It would "sink, to rise no more." How different are God's dealings with Babylon from His dealings with His own people. His own people He chastened with a view to restoring them… Babylon, on the other hand, would receive a final judgment.
History bore the sentence out:
Babylon was to sink, and not rise again. Nor did she ever, though many attempts were made. Military power first, and God's providential interference afterwards, always prevented her rising, for the judgment of God's word was upon her.
The verse says "I will kindle a fire." Armies did the work, but the verse credits it to God:
I may add here that in Jeremiah, the destruction of the Babylon of that day by the Medes is called the work of the Lord of hosts. It is His vengeance, His day come, the day that He visits her… whoever the instruments, the judgment was God's.
The fall itself came in a way no one expected:
Its downfall was unexpected… A night was chosen when the people were about to hold a festival. The whole city would be given up to drunkenness and revelry. The water of the river was diverted from its bed so as to make it shallow enough to let the troops pass along. The gates were found open, and the city was taken.
Commentators differ on how far these chapters look. Some hold that they speak only of the ancient city:
I cannot doubt that Jeremiah 50 and 51 apply to ancient Babylon.
Others see the words reaching further:
The destruction of Babylon was fully foretold in scripture, though some of these prophecies may refer also to still future events: the overthrow by the Lord (pictured by Cyrus) of the last holder of Nebuchadnezzar-like authority — the beast, the last head of the revived Roman empire.
- Pride — the charge is not Babylon's strength but her pride. She desecrated God's temple and lifted herself against the Holy One of Israel.
- Resistance — God does not just withhold help from the proud. He opposes them. Proud believers fall soonest of all, because God deals with His children promptly.
- Timing — the blow tends to land at the peak. Babylon fell on a festival night, with her gates open and her people unaware.
- Finality — God chastens His own to restore them; Babylon He judges to end her. She would sink and not rise, and never has.
- Fire — the Medes struck, but the fire is God's. Whoever the instruments, the judgment belonged to Him.