Babylon Will be Disgraced
September 7, 2020
Commentary
Jeremiah now focuses on Judah’s enemy, the empire of Babylon. Babylon sinned in proudly destroying Judah. God is not pleased with those who rejoice in destroying others and brag about it. Because of this he vowed to disgrace Babylon by destroying it so completely that those who pass by will be horrified and scoff at it. Three movements are evident in Jeremiah 50-51. (1) God declares war on Babylon (50:1-28), (2) He assembles the armies against Babylon (50:29-51:26), and (3) He announces victory over Babylon (50:27-58).
God speaks to Babylon (vv. 11-13). Yes, Babylon was God’s tool for chastening Israel, but the Babylonians went too far and enjoyed it too much. They acted like a joyful calf threshing the grain and getting its fill! Any nation that cursed the Jews will ultimately be cursed by God (Gen. 12:1-3).God speaks to the invading armies (vv. 14-16).Just as Babylon was God’s tool to chasten Judah, so Cyrus with the Medes and Persians and latter Alexander was God’s weapon to defeat Babylon. This was no ordinary war but it was the vengeance of the Lord (v. 15).God speaks about the Jews (vv. 17-20. Assyria had ravaged Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and Babylon had ravaged Judah (the Southern Kingdom, but now God would punish Babylon as He had Assyria. He promises to bring his people back to their own land.
Application
God has a law that what we sow we will reap. I’m not to rejoice in another mans trouble or I may reap what I sow. I want to weep when another person is sad and I want to rejoice when they rejoice.
Jeremiah 50:11– 20 (NET)
11 “People of Babylonia, you plundered my people. That made you happy and glad. You frolic about like calves in a pasture. Your joyous sounds are like the neighs of a stallion.
12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame. The land where you were born will be disgraced. Indeed, Babylonia will become the least important of all nations. It will become a dry and barren desert.
13 After I vent my wrath on it, Babylon will be uninhabited. It will be totally desolate. All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it.
14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon, all you soldiers who are armed with bows. Shoot all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! For she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city. She will throw up her hands in surrender; her towers will fall. Her walls will be torn down. Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, take out your vengeance on her! Do to her as she has done!
16 Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon; kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time. Let all the foreigners return to their own people. Let them hurry back to their own lands to escape destruction by that enemy army.
17 “The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now, last of all, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.
18 So I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, say: ‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture. They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan. They will eat until they are full on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead.
20 When that time comes, no guilt will be found in Israel. No sin will be found in Judah. For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. I, the Lord, affirm it!’”
Illustration: Three Boys Brag About Who Has The Best Father
Three boys in the school yard were bragging about who had the better father. The first boy says, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, and they give him $100.” The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, and they give him $1000.” The third boy says, “My Dad is even better than that. He scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a sermon, and it takes six men just to collect all the money!”