Jeremiah 51

After all, we are not judged so much by how many sins we have committed but by how much light we have rejected. Vance Havner

After declaring the destiny of the Gentile nations (Jer. 46—49), the prophet now focused on Judah’s hateful enemy, the empire of Babylon. Jeremiah devoted 121 verses to the future of nine nations and 44 verses to the defeat and destruction of Jerusalem. When we count the number of verses in Jeremiah 50 and 51, however, he devoted 110 verses to the fall of Babylon. It is an important subject indeed!

In Scripture, the city of Babylon is contrasted with the city of Jerusalem—the proud city of man versus the Holy City of God. In Hebrew, the name babel means “gate of God,” but babel is so close to the word balal (“confusion”) that it’s associated with the famous tower of Babel and the confusion of human languages (Gen. 11:1–9). The founder of Babylon was Nimrod (10:8–10), “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (v. 9 niv). Some students interpret this to mean “a mighty rebel against the Lord.” Babel/Babylon is a symbol of rebellion against God, the earthly city of human splendor opposing the heavenly city that glorifies God. All of this culminates in the Babylon of Revelation 17:1— 19:10, “Babylon the Great” that symbolizes the anti-God system that controls the world in the end times and then is destroyed by the Lord. There are many parallels between Jeremiah 50—51 and Revelation 17—18, and I suggest you read all four chapters carefully.

Jeremiah wrote this prophecy during the fourth year of Zedekiah (594–593) and gave the scroll to Baruch’s brother Seraiah to read in Babylon and then throw into the Euphrates (Jer. 51:59–64). Since Seraiah was an officer in Zedekiah’s cabinet, he had access to things officially diplomatic. This would have been the last of Jeremiah’s “action sermons,” performed without Jeremiah, symbolizing the complete destruction of the great Babylonian Empire.

Jeremiah 50—51 is something like an extended declaration coupled with a conversation. Usually it’s the Lord speaking through His prophet, but occasionally we hear the Jewish people speaking and the Lord answering them. God speaks to and about Babylon; He also speaks to the invading army; and He speaks to the exiles of Judah. Three movements are in this declaration: God declares war on Babylon (50:1–28); God assembles the armies against Babylon (50:29— 51:26); and God announces victory over Babylon (51: 27–58).

Jeremiah’s prophecy about Babylon has both a near and a far fulfillment. The Medes and Persians captured Babylon in 539 (see Dan. 5), but they didn’t destroy the city. Cyrus issued a decree that the Jews could return to their land (Ezra 1:1–4), which many of them did in three stages: in 538 (Ezra 1—6), 458 (Ezra 7—10), and 444 (book of Nehemiah). It was Alexander the Great who finally destroyed Babylon in 330 and left it a heap of ruins. Since Babylon symbolizes the anti-God world system, however, the ultimate fulfillment is recorded in Revelation 17—18. Remember, the prophets often looked at “two horizons,” one near and one far, as they spoke and wrote about the future.

The first command had been “Declare among the nations!” But now the command was “Call together the archers!” God ordered the armies of the Medes and Persians (and later the Greeks) to shoot to kill and allow no one to escape.

God speaks to Babylon (50:31—51:4). He told them that He was against them because of their pride (50:31–32) and because of the way they had made the Jews suffer unnecessarily (v. 33). The exiles couldn’t free themselves, but their Strong Redeemer would free them! The phrase “plead their cause” speaks of a court case. Jehovah was defense attorney, judge, and jury, and He found Babylon guilty.

Now the Lord told Babylon what to expect on the day of their judgment. The first picture is that of a sword going through the land and cutting down the people (vv. 35–38). God’s sword will even attack the waters and dry them up (v. 38). Why? Because it is “a land of idols” (v. 38 niv), and God wanted to reveal that the idols were nothing. Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, nothing will be left. Babylon will become a haven for animals and birds, and the city will never be restored.

The Lord directed the Babylonians’ attention to the great army that He had called from the north—a cruel army without mercy, whose march sounded like the roaring of the sea (v. 42). This report paralyzed the king of Babylon. Like a hungry lion, looking for prey (see 49:19–21), Cyrus (and then Alexander) will attack Babylon, and nobody will be able to resist. God’s chosen servant will always succeed. The Lord’s judgment on Babylon will be like the winnowing of the grain: “Great Babylon” will be blown away like chaff along with its idols!

God speaks to the Jews (51:5–10). God assured His people that He hadn’t forsaken (“widowed”) them, and He ordered them a second time (50:8) to get out of Babylon when the opportunity arises. When Cyrus opened the door for them to go home, about fifty thousand Jews returned to Judah to restore Jerusalem and the temple. Babylon had been a “winecup” (see 25:15) in God’s hands, making the nations act like drunks (Rev. 18:3), but now the cup would be smashed and Babylon’s power broken. “Wail over her!” (Jer. 51: niv) finds a fulfillment in Revelation 18:9ff. Anybody who pinned his or her hope on Babylon was doomed to disappointment, but so is anyone today who pins his or her hope on this present world. “The world is passing away” (1 John 2: nkjv).

To whom does “we” in Jeremiah 51: refer—to the Jews or to Babylon’s allies who deserted her? Since the “us” in verse 10 refers clearly to the Jews and their vindication, it is likely that the exiles are speaking in verse 9, because Jeremiah had instructed them to be a blessing while living in Babylon (29:4–14). No doubt many of the Jews did seek the Lord, confess their sins, and trust His promise of deliverance. Some of them certainly prepared their sons and daughters to return to the land. They had the truth about Jehovah God and would have shared it with their captors, but the Babylonians preferred to taunt the Jews instead of listen to them discuss their religion (Ps. 137).

God speaks to Babylon (51:11–23). He warned them to get their weapons ready, set up their standards on the walls, and post their watchmen, because the invasion was about to begin. “Your end has come, the time for you to be cut off” (Jer. 51: niv). They had been weaving the luxurious tapestry of their power and wealth on the loom, but now God would cut it off and put an end to their plans (v. 13 niv).

The enemy soldiers would swoop down on the Babylonians like locusts and prove the utter helplessness of the gods of Babylon. Jeremiah revealed the stupidity of making and worshipping idols (vv. 15–19), and he magnified the greatness of the one true and living God (see 10:12–16; Isa. 40:12–26).

God speaks to His general (51:20–24). Just as Assyria had been God’s “rod” (Isa. 10:5–19), so His chosen commander (Cyrus, and later Alexander) would be His “hammer” to break the power of Babylon. The word “break” (shatter) is used nine times in this passage. They would pay Babylon back with the same treatment Nebuchadnezzar had given others. There is a law of compensation in God’s working in history, and the Lord will enforce it.

God speaks to Babylon (51:25–26). The city of Babylon sat on a plain, but in the sight of the nations, it was a huge destroying mountain that loomed on the horizon of history. By the time God was through with it, however, Babylon would be nothing but an extinct volcano (“a burnt mountain,” Jer. 51:25). Nobody would even excavate the ruins to find stones to build with; the city would be deserted and desolate forever.

Throughout this prophecy, God has frequently announced the fall of Babylon, but this closing section seems to focus on God’s total victory over the enemy.

God describes the victory (vv. 27–33). God’s armies were prepared, the commanders were ready, and the battle began; but the Babylonian army was helpless! They lay on the walls exhausted; their courage had failed them. The city was in flames, and the bars of the gates were broken. Nothing kept the enemy from entering the city and doing to it what the Babylonians had done to Jerusalem.

The Babylonians had an effective courier system and could quickly send messages to the various parts of their vast empire. In fact, Jeremiah described the runners meeting and exchanging messages for the king: “The river crossings have been seized!” “The marshes are set on fire!” “The soldiers are terrified!” “The city has been captured!” (see vv. 31–32 niv). It was God’s harvest, and Babylon was on the threshing floor.

God speaks to the Jews (vv. 34–50). First, the Jews reminded the Lord what Nebuchadnezzar had done to them (vv. 34–35). Like a vicious monster, he had picked up Judah as if it were a jar filled with food, swallowed down the food, vomited it up, and then broken the jar! He had chewed them up and spit them out! Now the Jews wanted the Lord to repay the Babylonians for all the suffering they had caused the people of God.

God’s reply was encouraging: Like a court advocate, He would take their case, plead their cause, and vindicate them (v. 36). The Lord described vividly what would happen to Babylon: The ruins of the city would become the haunt of animals and birds, a perpetual cemetery for the people slain in the invasion, a slaughterhouse where people would die like so many cattle, sheep, and goats.

Sheshach in verse 41 is a code name for Babylon (25:26) following a system where the last letter of the alphabet is substituted for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on. Why Jeremiah used a code name for the enemy in one sentence and then the real name in the next sentence isn’t easy to understand.

Nevertheless, the enemy army would cover Babylon just as the sea covers the land (51:42), but when “the tide is out,” a desert will be left behind. The Babylonian “monster” may have swallowed up God’s people, but the Lord would force it to disgorge them (v. 44), and the new king (Cyrus) would permit God’s people to return home. “The wall of Babylon shall fall” (v. 44) literally came true under Alexander, but “the wall came down” when Cyrus decreed that the exiles could go back to Judah and rebuild their temple.

For the third time, God ordered His people to get out of Babylon (v. 45; see 50:8; 51:6) and not to linger (51:50; see Gen. 19:16). Neither should they be afraid of the rumors they would hear about, which were about to happen. They didn’t need to be afraid of the vain Babylonian idols that could do nothing to hinder them. Heaven and earth will sing songs of praise when Babylon falls (Jer. 51:48; Rev. 18:20ff.).

The Jews speak and God replies (vv. 51–58). The exiles felt disgraced before the world because of what the Babylonians had done to the temple in Jerusalem. If the Lord wasn’t strong enough to protect His house, how could He ever be strong enough to defeat Babylon? If they left Babylon, they would go home only to ruin and shame. During the years of their captivity, those who had obeyed Jeremiah’s instructions (Jer. 29:4–14) probably enjoyed fairly comfortable lives. Thus, they would be exchanging security for danger and plenty for want.

God, however, made it clear that there was no future in Babylon, for He had determined to destroy the city. “For the Lord [is a] God of recompenses” (51:56). If His people remained in Babylon, they would suffer the fate of the city. If they obeyed the Lord and returned home, they would experience a new beginning under the blessing of the Lord.

It’s a matter of walking by faith and not by sight, trusting God’s Word instead of our own human evaluation. The exiles saw the high walls and huge gates of the city and concluded that such fortifications would repel any enemy, but they were wrong. Those walls and gates would become only “fuel for the flames” when the invaders arrived on the scene (v. 58 niv).

“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city!” (Rev. 14:8). And Babylon is still fallen!