Thus saith Jehovah of hosts The children of Israel and the children of Judah were together oppressed; and all that took them captives held them fast they refused to let them go.
Israel and Judah were crushed at the same time. Their captors had no intention of letting them go. So everything depends on one question: is anyone stronger?
The verse names Israel and Judah together. One writer ties that pair to the two powers that had swallowed them, and to God's answer. (These writers quote older Bibles, which word some verses differently — for example "Jehovah" where the ESV has "the LORD.")
Suppose Assyria and her proud rival competed to oppress Israel with contempt. Then Jehovah would plead the cause of His people in full.
The captors "refuse to let them go," so the captives have no way out by their own strength. The next verse answers with a title: the Redeemer. The Hebrew word is goel, the kinsman-redeemer — the relative whose duty was to buy back what his family had lost.
The Kinsman-Redeemer (Goel) of Israel and Judah is "strong; Jehovah of hosts is His name" (Jer. 50:34). He is the "Mighty One of Jacob" (Isa. 49:26; Isa. 60:16). And when "the year of His redeemed has come," He will appear, "travelling in the greatness of His strength," "mighty to save." He will then defeat the enemies of His people and "bring down their strength to the earth" (Isa. 63:1, 4, 6). So their Goel must first destroy every foe and bring all things under Himself. Only then is Israel's earthly inheritance redeemed.
Another writer points to the reading given in the margin, and to a second verse about the same strength.
In Jeremiah 50:34 we read, "Their Redeemer is strong," or as the margin gives it, "Their Kinsman-Redeemer is strong." Psalm 89:19 says, "I have laid help on One who is mighty; I have exalted One chosen from the people."
This oppression is why the rest of the chapter falls on Babylon. God Himself set that empire up. It then turned its power against His people. So its fall and their release belong to one act.
This is the judgment of that empire. It avenges the oppression of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar, who had broken his bones (chap. 50:17). Still, the deliverance of Israel when Babylon fell is a pledge and foretaste of their complete and final deliverance (Jer. 50:4-19, 20, 34; see also Jer. 51:19-21). For the fall of Babylon was God's judgment on the empire He had Himself set up over the nations.
The oppressed are not told to argue their own case. Someone else takes it up, and the aim is not only their release but their settled peace.
The Redeemer of Israel and Judah pleads their cause. He is strong to overthrow their oppressors in judgment, as He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. He is strong to deliver His people and give them rest. Babylon's fall shakes the earth, and the nations hear the cry (vv. 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
The system that once held God's people is not just a dead empire. One writer applies the promise of a strong Redeemer straight to today.
Babylon's principles are widely at work today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, that understanding will keep us clear of it… We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it and to overthrow it altogether. We also see that He will save His people from its power. Of this it is said, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34). This encourages us today, when Babylon-like religion is growing fast with world power on its side. Thank God, divine power is in the hands of Him on whom we call.
- Oppressed together — Israel and Judah both suffered. Assyria and Babylon competed in their contempt for God's people.
- Held fast — their captors would not release them; the captives had no strength of their own to answer with.
- Redeemer strong — God answers their weakness with a title: the Kinsman-Redeemer. He defeats every foe first, then restores the lost inheritance.
- Cause pleaded — He does more than free them. He takes up their case, overthrows the oppressor, and gives His people rest.
- Still strong — Babylon's fall was a pledge of a fuller deliverance. That same strength encourages those who call on Him now.
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of hosts is his name he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
Babylon held Israel and Judah together, and her jailers would not let them go. Against that deadlock this verse sets one fact about the One who owns these prisoners.
This verse sits inside a long announcement of Babylon's fall. Here the focus moves from the empire to the people crushed under it. Where the ESV says God will "surely" plead their cause, older translations read "thoroughly":
Again the prophet takes up the note of relief for Israel from the trouble caused by Babylon. If Assyria and her proud rival competed in scornful oppression of Israel, the LORD would plead the cause of His people thoroughly.
The word for "Redeemer" here is goel, the kinsman-redeemer. Boaz in the book of Ruth pictures Him, and even Boaz's name points to this verse:
Boaz means "In him is strength," or "In him the strong one," which is true of the One he pictures to a far greater extent. In Jeremiah 50:34 we read, "Their Redeemer is strong," or as the margin gives it, "Their Kinsman-Redeemer is strong." Truly our divine Boaz is strong and mighty, and because of His almighty power "He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him" (Heb. 7:25).
That strength is not idle. One writer puts a condition on when Israel gets its inheritance back:
The Kinsman-Redeemer (Goel) of Israel and Judah is "strong; the LORD of hosts is His name" (Jer. 50:34)... Their Goel must first destroy every foe and subdue all things to Himself. Only then comes the redemption of Israel's earthly inheritance.
The promise carries a name: "the LORD of hosts." That name first appears at a low point in Israel's story, and it covers every power there is:
This name does not appear until 1 Samuel 1:3. It came in with prophetic testimony. Faith laid hold of the LORD's glory when Israel had corrupted themselves and were weak and low. Scripture reveals that there is a mighty heavenly host, and principalities and powers in the unseen world. God is the God of them all, as well as God of all the elements of nature, which He has often used to punish His enemies.
The rescue that came when Babylon fell was not the whole story. One writer links it to a deliverance still to come:
Israel's deliverance at the destruction of Babylon is a pledge and foretaste of their complete and final deliverance (Jer. 50:4-19, 20, 34).
Another writer turns the same promise on a system at work today:
We see that the Lord has purposed to judge this Babylonish system, to overthrow it altogether, and also that He will save His people from its power. Of that system Scripture says, "Their Redeemer is strong" (Jer. 50:34). This encourages us today, when Babylonish religion is spreading fast with world power on its side. Thank God, divine power is given into the hands of Him on whom we call.
These words are not reserved for Israel. One writer uses them of orphans whose land is being taken:
It makes no difference how the wrong is done. It may be sly, like moving an old boundary marker, or bold and open, like walking into the fields of the fatherless. If they have no father, they need no lawyer any more than they need to take the law into their own hands. Their Kinsman, their Redeemer, is strong; He will plead their cause against the wrongdoer, high or low.
- Held — Israel and Judah were oppressed together, and their captors would not let them go. There was no human way out.
- Kinsman — the Redeemer is a relative, the goel. Boaz pictures Him, and Boaz's name means "In him is strength."
- Strong — the Redeemer first destroys every foe and subdues all things to Himself. Only then does the inheritance come back.
- Named — faith reaches for "the LORD of hosts" when God's people are weak and low. Every host of heaven and every force in nature belongs to Him.
- Pleaded — the same strong Redeemer pleads the cause of the fatherless against any wrongdoer, high or low. Babylon's fall is a pledge and foretaste of a full and final deliverance still ahead.
The sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men;
This sword is the first of five, falling in turn on Babylon's rulers, her diviners, her soldiers, her horses and her treasure. It comes right after God's promise that Israel's Redeemer is strong — so why strike the empire He Himself had used?
The threat against Babylon's leaders is the other side of a promise to God's people. Vine treats Babylon as a religious system as well as a city. He reads that promise as still standing today.
The Lord has purposed to judge this system, to overthrow it completely, and He will also save His people from its power. On this point it says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG." This encourages us today, when religion of the Babylon kind is spreading fast with world power on its side. Thank God, divine power is given to the One we call on.
Babylon was the tool in God's hand against Judah. That did not make her innocent.
Babylon was God's instrument of wrath against Judah. But she served herself, and she 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 Jer. 50 and 51).
The verse names the Chaldeans — the people of Babylon — and then her wise men. Here is what all their skill was worth when the blow came.
He who had long before predicted the captivity now went on to predict Babylon's ruin. It would come suddenly. She would not know it, nor suspect it, nor be able to fend it off. Her enchantments and sorceries could not stop it. Neither could her astrologers, her stargazers, or those who made predictions month by month. There is none to save Babylon.
The sword did fall. But commentators point to a result far bigger than one empire replacing another.
Its doom came under the Medes, led on 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. Then One greater than Cyrus will be there to destroy the last holder of the last empire completely.
So who were these wise men, and what did their wisdom produce?
Long ago the Chaldean scholar, religious man, spiritualist, astrologer, and idol worshipper was able by his wisdom to build a remarkable system. It will soon reappear in a more astonishing way than ever, as Revelation 17 and 18 show us.
The chapters in view are Jeremiah 50 and 51, where this verse sits.
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 that grow into the prostitute Babylon of the book of Revelation, and that bring down the righteous judgment of God.
Vine adds the practical edge: as we see God's judgment on this system, "we ourselves will be intelligently kept clear of it."
- Cause — Babylon was God's instrument against Judah. But she served herself and was proud against Him. The sword answers that pride.
- Target — the sword names her rulers and her wise men first. What she trusted to guide her and to read her future is struck first. "There is none to save Babylon."
- Timing — the blow fell under Cyrus and the Medes, and its deepest result was an open door for God's people to go home.
- Reach — the Chaldean system of learning, religion and idols is not dead history. Commentators see it coming back in the Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18.
- Result — the same word that sentences Babylon says her captives' Redeemer is strong. The sword shows how far He will go to set them free.
the sword is upon the liars, and they shall become fools; the sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed;
Jeremiah 50 announces the fall of Babylon, the empire God had used against Judah. Verse 36 turns the sword on two of the city's supports at once: the men who claimed to know the future, and the men who did her fighting.
Being God's instrument did not make Babylon innocent. Commentators trace her ruin to what she did with the role she was given.
God used Babylon as the instrument of His wrath against Judah. But she served herself, and she was proud against the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. So she comes under righteous judgment.
Judgment on Babylon is not the whole story. The prophet keeps turning back to the people she had crushed.
Again the prophet takes up the note of relief to Israel from the trouble of Babylon. If Assyria and her proud rival had competed in crushing Israel with contempt, the Lord would take up His people's cause in full.
Older translations call these men "liars" who "shall dote" — that is, turn foolish. The ESV calls them "diviners," and says the sword falls on them "that they may become fools." They were Babylon's paid experts in the unseen: astrologers, magicians, readers of signs. One writer describes a real test of that whole profession, in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar.
In his royal palace Nebuchadnezzar is brought into the presence of the One who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish. This is the One who frustrates the signs of liars and makes diviners mad (see Isaiah 45:25). Whatever he may have thought about his wars and conquests, he now faces something that defeats every resource of his kingdom.
Another writer turns the dare around: let the experts save the city if they can.
The overthrow of Babylon exposes the absolute worthlessness of sorceries and enchantments. If there is any profit in sorcery let Babylon turn to the multitude of her sorceries and enchantments, in the hope that she may defeat her enemies. Let the astrologers and stargazers stand up and save Babylon. Let those who make predictions by the new moons save her too.
The second half of the verse turns from the men who advised to the men who fought. Older translations say they "shall be dismayed"; the ESV says they are "destroyed." Behind both stands a principle about how empires rise and fall.
It is not man that governs in any case, but God. God is sovereign, and therefore does according to His own will. It is not a question of which side has the most strength or the most wisdom. It was not because of their superior power that Babylon, or Persia, or Greece, or Rome achieved the empire of the world.
If strength never produced the empire, strength cannot save it now.
Babylon did fall to the conqueror Cyrus. But commentators see more in these two chapters than that one event.
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. There is more here than the partial restoration of Israel that followed… The principles of Babylon are widely at work today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding… 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.
- Pride invites the sword. God handed Babylon a task, and she used it for herself. That pride, not her usefulness, brings the judgment down.
- The sword exposes. Aimed at the diviners, it does more than kill them. It proves their knowledge foolish: it had solved nothing and saved nobody.
- The sword disarms. Empire never came from superior strength or wisdom. So when God moves, her warriors have nothing left to stand on.
- The sword is targeted. It falls item by item on everything the city leaned on. No adviser, soldier or sorcerer is left to call on.
- The sword rescues. The same blow that overthrows the system frees the people it held. Writers see that system's pattern still at work, and its judgment still ahead.
the 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; the sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed
Jeremiah lists everything Babylon leaned on — horses, chariots, the foreign crowd inside her, her stored-up wealth — and over each one lays the same word: a sword. So who swings that sword, and what is left of the strongest empire on earth when it falls?
The prophecy names the army that brought Babylon down, and the door that opened when she fell.
Its doom is come 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 shall be there to the utter destruction of the last holder of the last empire.
Babylon and Assyria before her had oppressed Israel with contempt. The Lord answers by taking up His people's cause as His own.
Again the prophet takes up the note of relief for Israel from the trouble Babylon caused. If Assyria and her proud rival had competed in crushing Israel with contempt, Jehovah would plead His people's cause thoroughly.
The sword also reaches "all the foreign troops in her midst" — older translations call them "the mingled people," the mixed foreign population living inside the city. The same phrase appears in an earlier list of nations God sent Babylon to punish.
God had raised up the King of Babylon to carry out His righteous and necessary judgments on the peoples — Israel, Egypt, "and all the mingled peoples… and all the kings of the land of the Philistines"; yes, upon "all the kingdoms of the world" (Jer. 25:20-26). The state of things called for this from God's hand.
The empire God used to punish others is not spared. What Babylon did to other nations now comes round on her.
But Babylon herself cannot escape. We are told of her judgment in chapters 50 and 51, in language that reminds us of what is said about Babylon and God's people in the book of Revelation. She shall sink and rise no more, while Israel shall go out from the middle of Babylon.
The sword reaches her treasures last, and plunderers carry them off. The next verse names her idols. Babylon was famous for both.
It had this double character, commerce and idolatry, in ancient times. First, it was "a land of traffic, a city of merchants" — "the trading centre of the world," as an able writer on these subjects calls it… Next, it was full of idolatry (Isaiah 21:9; so Jeremiah 50:38): "It is the land of carved images, and they are mad over their idols."
Her riches were no defence. Writing on a similar passage in Isaiah, one commentator weighs what her wealth was worth:
Her merchants, with all their wealth, cannot save Babylon. When God's judgment falls, "none shall save."
Commentators differ on the scope. Some read these chapters as fulfilled in the historical city:
I cannot doubt that Jeremiah 50 and 51 apply to ancient Babylon. Moreover, in the message given to Seraiah, God says, "Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her."
Another writer holds that some of these prophecies still wait for a future fulfilment, and records how the city fell:
Scripture fully foretold the destruction of Babylon, though some of these prophecies may refer also to still future events… Its downfall was unexpected… 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. The attackers drew the river water away from its bed, to make it shallow enough for the troops to pass along. They found the gates open, and took the city.
- Sword. The repeated stroke is the Lord's. He used the Medes under Cyrus, and the blow lands on everything Babylon trusted.
- Strength. Horses, chariots and foreign troops are no shield. The empire God used to judge others could not spare itself.
- Silver. Trade and idols were Babylon's twin marks. Her treasures fall under the same sentence as her images: wealth saves no one when God judges.
- Separation. Babylon sinks and never rises, while Israel walks out from the middle of her — her fall is His people's release.
- Saviour. Behind the whole ruin stands the Lord, pleading His people's cause. One empire's fall pictures the final deliverance still to come.
a drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad after frightful idols.
Babylon was the power that held God's people captive. This verse dries up her waters, and the reason it gives is not her armies but her gods.
One writer sets Babylon's idolatry beside the other thing she was famous for. He asks which is the deeper break with God.
Babylon had this double character in ancient times: commerce and idolatry. First, it was "a land of trade, a city of merchants" — the trading centre of the world, as one able writer calls it. … Next, it was full of idolatry. … So in Isaiah the Lord settles His dispute with these idols by judging Babylon. That word opens, "Bel bows down; Nebo stoops." … So Babylon had been a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, and so the nations went mad. … Let any thinking Christian say which is the real and full departure from God — commerce or idolatry.
Bel and Nebo were two of Babylon's chief gods.
Judah had chased the gods of other nations while still in her own land. One commentator shows how fitting her place of exile was.
Nowhere on earth was there an older, stronger or more famous home of idolatry than Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms." … Judah turned away from the Lord to the idols of the nations, and at last David's royal house did the same, and kept at it. That is why the Lord gave them up to a land of carved images, where men were mad over idols. Judah's sin became their punishment. In Jerusalem and in Babylon they would learn how senseless it is to trust gods that men make, and what ruin and shame it brings.
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The verse calls Babylon's devotion madness. One writer shows what happens to a person who bows to something that cannot answer.
What were they, these idol-images? Simply matter — silver and gold — shaped by men's hands! … But the idol gives no response to his worshipper by word or look. It realises nothing: the voice that cries to it, it does not hear; the smell of incense or of sacrifice, it does not notice. … What can these senseless gods do but drag the men who bow before them down into beings as senseless? And this is the just penalty on those who can forsake God to follow, in the plainest way, their own inventions.
Babylon trusted her river. The Euphrates ran through the city, and its gates seemed to shut every enemy out. One account of the city's fall shows this sentence carried out.
The river Euphrates ran right through the centre of the city, guarded by great bronze gates, so that no one could get in by water. Cyrus, the Persian leader, used a very simple trick. The Euphrates bends near Babylon, so Cyrus cut a new bed for the water a few miles upstream and turned its course aside. … When darkness came, they opened the sluices and the river ran into its new channel. As a result the river bed was almost dry where it passed Babylon. The Persian troops marched quietly along that bed, and under the bronze gates, and took possession of the city.
This verse sits in a chapter about more than a river. One writer traces the case God takes up for His people against Babylon.
Not one nation but a company of great nations destroys Babylon — so too in Revelation 17:16. … 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 earth is shaken at the fall of Babylon and the cry is heard among the nations (vv. 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
Commentators differ on how far the chapter reaches. Some hold that it all fell on the ancient city. One writer says: "I cannot doubt that Jeremiah 50 and 51 apply to ancient Babylon." He points to the word that Babylon would sink and never rise again (J. N. Darby). Others hold that part of it still waits, since the chapter reaches past the city's fall to the judgment named in Revelation 17.
- Cause. One root explains the drying of Babylon's waters: she was full of carved gods, and her people were out of their minds over them.
- Consequence for the worshipper. Idols hear nothing and answer nothing. Serving them drags a person down to their own senselessness. That is the penalty built into the sin.
- Consequence for the nation. Judah's own idolatry chose her exile. God handed her over to the land of idols, and her punishment showed her what her sin was.
- Consequence for the city. Cyrus turned aside the river she trusted, marched under her gates, and took the city in a night.
- Reach. Commentators differ. Some say the chapter was spent on ancient Babylon; others say it still points ahead. Either way, the power that holds God's people cannot keep them, for their Redeemer is strong.
Therefore wild beasts of the desert with jackals shall dwell there, and ostriches shall dwell therein; and it shall be no more inhabited for ever, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighbour cities, saith Jehovah, no one shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein.
Jeremiah 50 announces the fall of Babylon, the empire that had carried Judah away. Verse 40 is the harshest line in the chapter: Babylon will end as Sodom and Gomorrah ended, with no one left living in her.
Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities God destroyed completely. Naming them sets the standard for what Babylon would become. Some writers expect the actual city of Babylon to be rebuilt one day, and one commentator measures that hope against those two cities.
Some writers believe that the actual city of Babylon will be rebuilt, and that the mention of its destruction in Revelation 18 refers to this literal city. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah compare Babylon's doom to Sodom and Gomorrah. Those cities were overthrown beyond hope. Their sites probably sank into the depths of the Dead Sea — a strange stretch of water, inland but saltier than the sea, and far below its level. Sodom and Gomorrah will never be rebuilt. So it will be with Babylon.
One writer compares this sentence with the other judgments announced on the nations.
It is striking that of all these burdens the one on Babylon is the most complete, without any hope of recovery.
Jeremiah 50 and 51 keep returning to the same judgment. One writer asks whose judgment it finally was.
I think anyone who reads these two chapters with care must see one judgment described there on the earthly Babylon. That judgment has lasting consequences, as when He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. But whoever the instruments were, the judgment was God's.
The city was not flattened in a night, yet the outcome matched the word.
Verse 13 announces the complete overthrow of the city. It would become the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land and a desert. This ruin was not carried out all at once, but gradually ancient Babylon became all that. The ruins of this once powerful city lie north of Hilla, a town of about 25,000 people. Koldewey, of the German Orient Society, dug out many of the ruins. They show that the city covered twelve square miles.
Babylon had been the rod God used on His own people. That commission did not excuse how she used it.
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. 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."
Verse 40 sits inside a passage that swings back and forth between Babylon's fall and Israel's release.
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 earth is shaken at the fall of Babylon and the cry is heard among the nations (vv. 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
Edom was given the same sentence in these prophecies, and the verses just after verse 40 trace both back to God's settled counsel. Commentators separate which parts of that counsel are history and which are still ahead.
Babylon, like Edom, was marked out for the destruction seen in Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring cities: "so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her" (Jer. 50:40). This was according to the counsel the LORD had taken against Babylon (verse 45). The final judgment of Esau awaits the coming of the Lord. The judgment on the kingdom of Babylon has already taken place. But the judgment on "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes" (Rev. 17:5) still awaits a day soon to come.
That leaves a use for the chapter now, not only a record of a fallen city.
Babylon's principles are widespread today. As we see God's judgment on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding… Whatever is 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 advance of this lawless and superstitious system.
- Cause — God used Babylon against Judah. But she served herself and grew proud against the Lord, so He repaid her for the evil done in Zion.
- Sentence — Sodom sets the measure. Babylon was overthrown beyond hope and never rebuilt, the most complete of all these judgments.
- Hand — Armies came, and the ruin came slowly. Yet whoever the instruments were, the judgment was God's, taken in His own counsel.
- Rescue — The strength that overthrew the oppressor also pleads Israel's cause. It delivers His people and gives them rest.
- Reach — The kingdom of Babylon has already fallen. The judgment on Babylon the great is still to come, and the chapter teaches us to keep clear of Babylon's principles today.
Behold, a people cometh from the north, and a great nation. And many kings shall arise from the uttermost parts of the earth.
Babylon was the power God allowed to take Jerusalem, but now an army masses against Babylon herself. Who are these invaders from the north, and does the prophecy end with Cyrus and the Medes?
Commentators point to the empire that took the city. They also see more in its fall than a change of rulers.
Her doom comes under the Medes, led by Cyrus the Persian. The consequence 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. Then a greater than Cyrus will be there for the complete destruction of the last holder of the last empire.
The verse does not describe a single invading people. It names a great nation and many kings, stirred from the far edges of the earth.
It is not simply a nation, but an assembly of great nations which destroy Babylon: so in Revelation 17:16. Zion is to know the holy character of this judgment, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of His temple. The Redeemer of Israel and Judah pleads their cause. He is strong to overthrow their oppressors in judgment, as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. He is strong to deliver His people and give them rest. The earth shakes at the fall of Babylon, and the nations hear the cry. All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
Babylon had been God's instrument against Jerusalem. So why is the instrument now the target?
Babylon was the great foreign power first allowed to take possession of Jerusalem. But God shows that He may use foreigners to chastise His people, and before long He will turn round and deal with their oppressive cruelty. Their aim was to destroy, while God employed them only to chasten. Babylon was proud of her power and had no conscience toward God. She was also the main source of idolatry. So she cannot escape. She is the first among the nations summoned to judgment.
Commentators agree the words stretch past Cyrus, but they differ on the details. One links the massed kings to Revelation 17:16. Another marks a clear difference between this invasion and Babylon's final fall.
Verses 9-10 describe the invasion under Cyrus. In Revelation, Babylon does not fall by an invasion like the one described here. She falls by the ten horns of the beast, the revived Roman empire (Rev. 17:16; Dan. 7).
Both agree on one thing. These chapters hold more than the fall of an ancient city.
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. The day is still to come when Israel will be joined to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. The day is still future, as Revelation 18 shows, when Babylon will at last sink and rise no more.
Babylon's fall is not only ancient history. It shapes how we live now.
When we see the judgment of God on this system, we keep clear of it with understanding. We cannot over-estimate the importance of this for those who seek to exalt the Lord and to call on Him out of a pure heart. Whatever belongs to Babylon is always ready to trap such people. But learning the mind of God strengthens us against the advances of this lawless and superstitious system. We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it and to overthrow it altogether. We also see that He will save His people from its power. About this, Scripture says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
- Raised up. The people from the north are the Medes under Cyrus — the empire God stirs to bring Babylon down.
- Raised in numbers. Not one nation but an assembly of great nations and many kings, gathered from the far edges of the earth.
- Raised in justice. Babylon was God's rod to chastise. She chose to destroy instead. Her proud power, with no conscience toward God, seals her judgment.
- Raised beyond history. The prophecy reaches past Cyrus to Revelation's Babylon. Commentators differ on how the two falls line up.
- Raised for a purpose. Babylon's collapse opens the door for God's people to go home — because their Redeemer is strong.
They lay hold of bow and spear; they are cruel, and will not shew mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses -- set in array like a man for the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
Jeremiah 50 is God's word against Babylon, the empire that had carried Judah away captive. This verse shows the army He raises against her, and it leaves two questions: who are these attackers, and does the picture end with the old city?
Commentators name the power that carried out this attack.
Her doom comes under the Medes, led on 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 the picture of a final deliverance. Then a greater than Cyrus will be there to destroy the last holder of the last empire completely.
The verse gives these attackers no pity. Babylon herself had shown none.
God's anger at His guilty people was no excuse for Babylon's merciless behaviour. And her confidence that her resources would hold firm came just before her ruin.
God had used Babylon against Judah. That did not leave her innocent.
So Babylon was God's instrument of wrath upon Judah. But she served herself and was proud against the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore she comes under righteous judgment: "I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord."
The verse names horses, weapons and battle lines — human means. Behind them stands another hand.
In Jeremiah, the destruction of the Babylon of that day by the Medes is called the work of the Lord of hosts, His vengeance, His day come, the day that He visits her. I think anyone who reads these two chapters closely must see one judgment described there, as regards the Babylon on earth, with the lasting consequences of that judgment. It is as when He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. But whoever the instruments were, the judgment was God's.
The verse addresses Babylon as a "daughter", speaking of the city as a woman. Scripture uses that picture elsewhere too.
A woman is a well-known symbol in Scripture for a system. Sometimes she stands for a nation — as, for example, the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Babylon. Sometimes, as in Revelation, she sets out a religious organisation.
Does everything in these two chapters fit the fall of the old city?
It is not one nation only, but an assembly of great nations that destroy Babylon: so in Revelation 17:16. 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… The earth shakes at the fall of Babylon, and the nations hear the cry (vv. 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
So these chapters speak to us now, not only about an empire's fall.
Babylon's principles hold wide sway today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we ourselves will be kept clear of it with understanding… We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it and to overthrow it altogether. We also see that He will save His people from its power. In this connection it says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
- Summoned. The force drawn up against Babylon was the Medes under Cyrus — not one nation only, but an assembly of great nations.
- Deserved. Babylon had shown God's people no mercy; God's anger with His own people was never an excuse for her cruelty.
- Accountable. God used her against Judah, yet she served herself and was proud against the Lord. So judgment fell on her.
- Divine. Horses, bows and battle lines were the visible means. Whoever the instruments, the judgment was God's own.
- Unfinished. The details reach past Cyrus to the assembly of nations in Revelation 17:16. God will overthrow that system, and His people have a Redeemer who is strong.
The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands wax feeble; trouble hath taken hold of him, pangs as of a woman in travail.
News reaches the king of Babylon that an army is coming against him from the north. The verse holds up one small detail: the hands of a world ruler go limp. Who are these people from the north? When did this fall happen?
God used Babylon to punish His own people. That did not make Babylon innocent. One writer states the principle that turns the weapon into the target.
Babylon was God's instrument of wrath on Judah. But she served herself, and she was proud against Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. So she comes under righteous judgment.
William Kelly points to two other passages about this moment. One is prophecy; the other is history.
Compare the picture of the king's anguish in verse 43 with the description in Isaiah 21, and with the history in Daniel 5.
Kelly says the Isaiah passage speaks of Babylon too. It shows how fast the end came, and what the king was doing when it arrived.
There can be no doubt to any fair mind that the great Chaldean capital is meant. The command to the Medes and Persians to go up and besiege it is one sign. An even clearer sign is the graphic description of the sudden destruction in verses 3-5. It turned the night of revelry into the pangs of terror and death for the immoral king and his court (Dan. 5).
Jeremiah gives the attackers no name, only a direction. Hamilton Smith names the king who led them, and the terror he brought on other kings.
The LORD foretells the victorious career of Cyrus, the Persian king. Cyrus was the instrument God was going to use to subdue the nations that had persecuted His people. This judgment would fall above all on Babylon. Babylon was the first great world empire, and it had held the people of God captive… Terror would make the limbs of kings give way, and their hidden riches would be uncovered (Dan. 5:6; Nahum 2:6).
Commentators differ over how far these chapters reach. One writer applied this passage to a last-day leader gathered with the kings of the earth at Armageddon. J. N. Darby answered that the king in these verses is no proud conqueror at all.
Is this the poor king of Babylon, trembling in his city (see Daniel 5), whose mighty men have held back from fighting? Read from chapter 51:27 … and then chapter 50:41-43. The reader will soon see that this author's statements, and the way he applies these passages to the last days, are a pure fiction of his imagination.
Kelly sets this verse inside a larger theme. The chapter is about relief for Israel from Babylon.
Here the prophet returns to the note of relief for Israel from the trouble Babylon caused. Assyria and her proud rival had competed in their contempt for Israel and in oppressing her. Jehovah would plead the cause of His people thoroughly.
H. J. Vine draws out what the chapter teaches now. He sees a warning about a system still at work, and a reason for confidence.
Babylonish principles are widespread today. As we see the judgment of God on this system, we ourselves will understand it and keep clear of it… We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it and to overthrow it completely. He will also save His people from its power. In this connection Scripture says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34). This encourages us today, when Babylonish religion is spreading fast with world power on its side.
- Proud — God used Babylon against Judah. But she used the position for herself and grew proud against Him. That pride brought her under judgment.
- Feeble — the king who held God's people captive hears one report and cannot hold his hands steady. Kelly sends the reader to Isaiah 21 and Daniel 5 to see that night.
- Sudden — the pains of a woman in labour match a destruction that came in one night and turned a feast into terror.
- Named — the people from the north are Cyrus and the Medes and Persians. God chose them to break the nerve of kings.
- Redeemed — commentators differ on how far the chapter looks into the future. They agree on its use now: Babylon's system is doomed, and the Redeemer of God's people is strong.
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will make him suddenly run away from it; and who is a chosen [man] whom I may appoint over her? For who is like me? and who will assign me a time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
Near the end of Jeremiah 50, God pictures an attacker springing on Babylon like a lion. He then asks three questions no one can answer, and they explain why the greatest city of that world fell.
The picture in the first half of the verse comes from the Jordan valley itself. Flood water there drove danger out of hiding:
Scripture speaks of the "swelling" of Jordan as causing dangers or difficulties. It not only stopped people crossing at the usual fords. It also disturbed the wild beasts in their dens on its banks. This comes up three times: Jeremiah 12:5; Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44.
So the attacker is a lion driven from cover by rising water. He arrives with no warning on ground that looked safe.
Babylon had once been the instrument in God's hand for punishing Judah. That did not protect her, because she used the position for her own ends:
Babylon was God's instrument of wrath upon Judah, but she served herself and was proud against Jehovah, 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 Jeremiah 50 and 51).
Earlier in the book, God called this king His servant. That language is gone here:
These two chapters look at Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon from the side of their own actions. The king is no longer spoken of as the Lord's servant. The prophecy names him with contempt, "This Nebuchadnezzar" (Jeremiah 50:17), and calls Babylon "O destroying mountain" (Jeremiah 51:25). She had destroyed instead of ruling the earth. She had corrupted the nations as well. So God rejects her in these two chapters, and the redemption of Israel and Judah is settled.
The verse's questions now point away from Babylon and towards God. Older translations read the second one as "who will assign me a time?" No one sets God a timetable, and no plan of the strongest enemy gets past Him:
At all times there is a God to reckon with. He is well able to get round all the plans of the mightiest enemy. He can give deliverance without any military effort at all. Kings and their advisers should remember that the secrets of the council chamber (however carefully kept from the people) are all known to God. "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. None can stay His hand or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:35).
Babylon's judgment is only half of the message. The Lord also frees His people from her power:
We see that the Lord has purposed to judge this Babylonish system, to overthrow it altogether, and also that He will save His people from its power. About this it says, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jeremiah 50:34). This is encouraging for us today in the face of the rapid development of Babylonish religion with world power on its side.
This verse sits in the closing part of the chapter, verses 33-46. There the Redeemer acts for the people Babylon held:
The Redeemer of Israel and Judah pleads their cause. He is strong to overthrow their oppressors in judgment, as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. He is strong to deliver His people and give them rest. The earth shakes at the fall of Babylon, and the nations hear the cry (verses 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
Commentators read this prophecy as more than the record of one city's fall:
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 mere history. It shows us principles that develop in the harlot Babylon of the book of Revelation, and that bring down the righteous judgment of God.
- Instrument. God used Babylon as His instrument of wrath on Judah. Being useful to Him was never the same as being safe with Him.
- Arrogance. She served herself and grew proud against the Holy One of Israel. She destroyed instead of ruling. So her title changed from "the Lord's servant" to "O destroying mountain."
- Suddenness. The flooding Jordan drove the lion out. Danger came with no warning, on ground that felt safe.
- Unanswerable. No one is like Him, no one sets His timetable, no ruler stands before Him; none can stay His hand or ask Him what He has done.
- Redeemer. The power that ends Babylon is the power that frees her captives. Their Redeemer is strong. That comfort holds today, while Babylonish religion rises with world power behind it.
Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah, which he hath taken against Babylon, and his purposes which he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans The little ones of the flock shall certainly draw them away; he shall certainly make their habitation desolate for them.
Jeremiah ends his long word against Babylon by telling his hearers to listen: the LORD has already settled His plan against the land of the Chaldeans. So who acts when an empire falls, why does God turn on a power He once used, and how far does the plan reach?
The verse names no army. It names the LORD whose plan it is.
In Jeremiah the destruction of the Babylon of that day by the Medes is called the work of the LORD of hosts. It is called 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 described there, so far as the Babylon on earth is concerned. That judgment has lasting consequences, as when He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. But whoever the instruments were, the judgment was God's.
Earlier in the book, Babylon's king carries the title of the Lord's servant. In chapters 50 and 51 that title is gone.
Our two chapters do not have that so much in view. They look at Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon from the side of their own actions. The king is no longer called the Lord's servant. Instead these chapters name him with contempt, "this Nebuchadnezzar" (Jer. 50:17), and they call Babylon "O destroying mountain" (Jer. 51:25). She had destroyed instead of ruling the earth; she had corrupted the nations as well. So God rejects her in these two chapters, and settles the redemption of Israel and Judah.
A plan against Babylon is also a plan for someone. Israel had been crushed by two proud empires, and the prophet turns to what God will do for His people.
The prophet again picks up the note of relief for Israel from the trouble of Babylon. If Assyria and her proud rival competed in crushing Israel with contempt, the LORD would plead the cause of His people fully.
The one who takes up their case is their Redeemer, and His strength works in two directions:
The Redeemer of Israel and Judah pleads their cause. He is strong to overthrow their oppressors in judgment, as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. He is strong to deliver His people and give them rest. The earth trembles at the fall of Babylon, and the cry goes out among the nations (vv. 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
The plan did not stay on the page. A named power carried it out, and one result mattered to God above the rest.
Its doom comes under the Medes, led by Cyrus the Persian. The consequence God cares about most 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 be there to destroy the last holder of the last empire completely. Compare Daniel chapters 2 and 7.
Two verses before ours, the king of Babylon hears the report and his hands go limp. That collapse has a recorded counterpart:
The picture of the king's anguish in verse 43 may be compared with the description in Isaiah 21, and with the history in Daniel 5.
H J Vine turns this to present use:
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 those who seek to exalt the Lord and to call on Him out of a pure heart. As we learn the mind of God, we are strengthened against the advance 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 is said, "THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG" (Jer. 50:34).
- Plan — The verse invites you to listen to a decision already made. Whoever the human instruments, the judgment was God's.
- Pride — Babylon had been God's servant. She destroyed instead of ruling, and she corrupted the nations. So God takes back the title and rejects her.
- Pleading — The plan that breaks the oppressor also takes up the case of the oppressed. Their Redeemer is strong, and He pleads their cause fully.
- Proof — It happened. The Medes under Cyrus came, and the door opened for God's people to go home.
- Practice — What fell once is a picture of a final deliverance still ahead. God's word to His people is to come out of her, and learning His mind keeps them clear of that system now.
At the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth hath quaked, and the cry is heard among the nations.
Jeremiah 50 ends with a sound, not a picture — the noise of Babylon's capture spreading until every nation has heard it. The last line raises the questions the prophecy has been building toward: who brought her down, why her fall shakes the world, and whether the ancient ruin was the end of it.
One commentator names the power that took the city, and what its fall opened up:
Its doom has come 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 a picture of a final deliverance, when someone greater than Cyrus will be there to destroy completely the last holder of the last empire.
The same writer points to where else this scene appears in Scripture:
Compare the picture of the king's anguish in verse 43 with the description in Isaiah 21, and with the history in Daniel 5.
One city falling does not shake the whole earth. Babylon was different. She was the empire God Himself had set up over the nations.
This is the judgment of that empire, to avenge Nebuchadnezzar's oppression of Israel, whose bones he had broken (chapter 50:17)... The destruction of Babylon was the judgment of the very thing God Himself had established as the empire of the nations. With Babylon, unlike the other empires, God set the empire up directly and placed man in it under responsibility. Man failed completely. He ruled God's people cruelly, set up a forced idolatry, and corrupted the world by it. He was given rule over the world; he has been judged, and Babylon is fallen.
These closing verses are not finished with the fall of the ancient city. One writer sums up the whole passage that ends with our line:
This judgment has a holy character, and Zion is to know it. It is the Lord's vengeance, the vengeance for 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 overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. He is strong to rescue His people and give them rest. The earth trembles at the fall of Babylon, and the cry is heard among the nations (vv. 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.
One writer explains why the noise carries so far:
Babylon's roots spread wide. She will have woven herself into almost every thread of the social life of the nations. So her fall will spread dismay and confusion everywhere, and it will leave human governments unstable and powerless.
The cry among the nations is not the noise of a setback. Babylon does not rebuild. One writer contrasts this with the way God treats His own people:
The judgment on Babylon was going to be final. Babylon would "sink, to rise no more." God deals with Babylon very differently from the way He deals with His own people. He disciplined His own people to restore them — or, to be exact, to restore the part of the people in whom the discipline would work, the remnant. Babylon, on the other hand, would receive a final judgment.
A judgment announced ahead of time gives you time to get clear. One writer applies the chapter to us now:
Babylonish principles are widespread today. As we see God's judgment on this system, we understand it and stay clear of it. What is Babylonish 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 advance 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. On this the word is: "Their Redeemer is strong" (Jer. 50:34).
- Taken. The capture was real history. Babylon fell to the Medes under Cyrus, and the king's terror matches the account in Daniel 5.
- Heard. The noise travels far because what fell was not one city. It was the empire God Himself had set up, so everything resting on it gives way.
- Freed. The same sound that terrifies the nations opens a prison door. Babylon's fall sends God's people home, and pictures a fuller rescue under one greater than Cyrus.
- Final. God disciplines His own people to restore them. Babylon He judges with no recovery: it sinks, to rise no more.
- Now. Babylonish principles are still at work. Learn God's verdict in advance and stay clear of what He has already sentenced. Their Redeemer is strong.