Babylon Will be Destroyed

Topic: Hope
Passage: Jeremiah 51:1–14

April 28, 2020

Commentary

The Lord sends a wind storm to destroy Babylon (v. 1). Foreign soldiers come from every direction and Babylonia will be empty and worthless (v. 2). He will tell these soldiers to kill and destroy their army before they can string their bows (vv. 3-4). Everyone in Israel and Judah is guilty but God has not abandoned them and ordered them the second time to go out of Babylon when the opportunity came (vv.5-6). Babylon was filled with the wine of His anger, causing the nations of the world to go insane (v. 7) but suddenly Babylon will fall and be destroyed (v. 8). They were told to get medicine for its wounds but the foreigners said they had tried to treat Babylon’s wounds, but they would not heal (v. 9).

The people of Israel said, “Tell everyone in Zion the Lord has taken revenge for what Babylon did to us” (v. 10). The Lord wants Babylon destroyed and Jeremiah describes the preparations of the armies who are set to attack them. He identifies the attackers as the kings of the Medes (which is today northern Iran (v. 11). The signal flag is raised to attack the city walls as the soldiers set up ambushes but nothing can stop them (v. 12). He warned them to get ready, set up their defense on the walls, and post watchman, because the invasion is about to begin (“thine end is come”) (v.13). He will carry out His purpose to destroy the Babylonians (who live by the Euphrates river) because He has promised that these invaders will completely cover Babylon like a swarm of locusts (v. 14). 

Application

It is easy for us today to put our hope in this present world. Many put there hope in money and material things. When these are gone all hope is gone and some even commit suicide because of it. If my hope is in the Lord, it doesn’t matter what I have or what circumstances I am in I will have peace and security. Where is my hope today?

Jeremiah 51:1– 14 (NET)

1 The Lord says: “I will cause a destructive wind to blow against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia.

2 I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff. They will winnow her and strip her land bare. This will happen when they come against her from every direction, when it is time to destroy her.

3 Do not give her archers time to string their bows or to put on their coats of armor. Do not spare any of her young men. Completely destroy her whole army.

4 Let them fall slain in the land of Babylonia, mortally wounded in the streets of her cities.

5 “For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken by their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. For the land of Babylonia is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. Flee to save your lives. Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins, for it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge. He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done.

7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath, so they have all gone mad.

8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed. Cry out in mourning over it! Get medicine for her wounds; perhaps she can be healed!

9 Foreigners living there will say, ‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed. Let’s leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country. For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’

10 The exiles from Judah will say, ‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us! Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion what the Lord our God has done!’

11 “Sharpen your arrows! Fill your quivers! The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media, for he intends to destroy Babylonia. For that is how the Lord will get his revenge— how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple.

12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall! Bring more guards; post them all around the city. Put men in ambush, for the Lord will do what he has planned. He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon.

13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off.

14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has solemnly sworn, ‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers. They will swarm over it like locusts. They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’