Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:1
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
Jer 51:1 . against them that dwell in Leb-kamai ] Observe mg. meaning, the centre of hostility to Jehovah. See on Jer 25:26 (“Sheshach”).
a destroying wind ] or better, the spirit of a destroyer, cp. Jer 51:11, and Hag 1:14.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In the midst of them that rise up against me – Or, in Leb-kamai, the cipher for Kasdim, i. e., Chaldaea. This cipher was not necessarily invented by Jeremiah, or used for concealment. It was probaby first devised either for political purposes or for trade, and was in time largely employed in the correspondence between the exiles at Babylon and their friends at home. Thus, words in common use like Sheshach Jer 25:26 and Leb-kamai, would be known to everybody.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 51:1
Let Jerusalem come into your mind.
Sacred memories
The captives in Babylon are charged to remember Jerusalem, because the temple of their God was there; to keep them from settling down in Babylon.
I. There is a Jerusalem here below which should come into our mind. The Church of the living God is our holy city, the city of the Great King, and we should have it in mind–
1. To unite with its citizens. Join with them in open profession of faith in Christ, in Christian love and mutual help, in holy service, worship, communion, &c.
2. To pray for its prosperity. Our window, like that of Daniel, should be opened towards Jerusalem.
3. To labour for its advancement. Remember it in the allotment of money, use of time, employment of talents, exercise of influence, &c.
4. To prefer its privileges above earthly gain. Consider these privileges in our choice of our residence, occupation, &c.
5. To act consistently with her holy character. Gods people must not degrade His name and cause by living in sin.
6. To lament its declensions and transgressions (Luk 19:41; Php 3:18).
II. There is a Jerusalem above which should come into our mind.
1. Let the believers thoughts often go thither, for Jesus is there, our departed brethren are there, our own home is there, and thither our hopes and desires should always tend. It should be upon our minds–
(1) In our earthly enjoyments, lest we grow worldly.
(2) In our dally trials, lest we grow despondent.
(3) In our associations, lest we idolise present friendships.
(4) In our bereavements, lest we grieve inordinately.
(5) In old age, that we may be on the watch for the home-going.
(6) In death, that visions of glory may brighten our last hours.
(7) In all seasons, that our conversation may be in heaven.
2. Let the unconverted permit such thoughts to come into their mind, for they may well inquire of themselves thus–
(1) What if I never enter heaven?
(2) Shall I never meet my godly relatives again?
(3) Where then must I go?
(4) Can I hope that my present life will lead me to heaven?
(5) Why am I not taking the right path?
(6) Unbelievers perish: why am I one of them? Do I wish to perish?
(7) How can I hope to enter heaven if I do not so much as think about it, or the Lord who reigns in it? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Longing for heaven
It may be a sin to long for death, but I am sure it is no sin to long for heaven. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Blessed are the home-sick, for they shall come at last to the Fathers house. (Heinrich Stillings.)
Heaven neglected
John Eliot was once on a visit to a merchant, and finding him in his counting-house, where he saw books of business on the table, and all his books of devotion on the shelf, he said to him, Sir, here is earth on the table, and heaven on the shelf. Pray dont think so much of the table as altogether to forget the shelf. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Jerusalem to be enshrined in memory and heart
But these captive Jews were not to be despairing Jews. In seventy years their captivity was to end. Meantime, as a resource against discouragement, against the infecting Babylonian evil with which they were to be surrounded, Jeremiah commands these Israelites, And let Jerusalem come into your minds. Think of what she has been; think of what restored Jerusalem is to be; remember that you are really citizens, not of this Babylon, but of Gods Jerusalem; and as citizens of this Jerusalem, even though you be in Babylon, endure, hope, live. Everywhere in Scripture the earthly Jerusalem is the symbol of the heavenly. We have right to generalise. From the fact that whatever God says is to be in this world comes to be, we have reason to believe that whatever God says concerning the other world certainly is. When the Scriptures tell me that the earthly Jerusalem points to a heavenly Jerusalem, because I find God s Word so true about everything in this world, I have right to believe it true about things in that; I have right to believe that there is a heavenly Jerusalem. So let the heavenly Jerusalem come into your minds.
1. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when it seems to you as though life were not worth the living. There is a better life beyond, for which this is preparation.
2. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when you seem to yourself specially baffled.
3. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when the fight with sin is sore and weary.
4. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when death seems complete victor. This is the greatest of questions for each one of us, Have we any title in that Jerusalem? Can we let it come into our minds as our own? (Homiletic Review.)
Quickened memories for Gods house and worship
Jerusalem should come into our mind so that we should prefer its privileges to earthly gain. Whenever we are about to make a settlement in any place, and have the choice of residence left to ourselves, the first matter we have to consider is the religions advantages and disadvantages. I admire the action of that Jew who, when he was about to select a city in which he would pursue his business, asked his friend the rabbi, Is there a synagogue in such and such a place? The rabbi replied, No. So the Jew said, Then I will not go to live there, for I will not settle in any place, where there is no synagogue, for I must gather with my people for the worship of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The first place in our thought to be given to Christs Church
The Church of God should come into our minds as spontaneously as the recollection of our wife or mother. When we look at a map of any country, we should think of how the cause of God prospers in that region. If we make a profit in business, one of our first thoughts should be, Now I can do something more for the work of the Lord. When the newspaper is read, it should be in relation to the progress of the kingdom of God. This one thing should tinge all other things with its own colour, and draw all other thoughts into its net. The cause of Christ should be an all-absorbing maelstrom, into which all our thoughts and pursuits should be drawn. A man of one idea aces thy universe by the light of it, and he who loves the Church of God with all his heart will do the same. How can we say, Lord, remember me, to Christ in heaven, if we do not remember His Church on earth?
Looking heavenward
These words were addressed to the exiled Jews in Babylon, in view of their enfranchisement, and their return to their own country. A four months journey lay before them, a road infested by savage men and marked by many discomforts had to be trodden, and hence this counsel was given to hearten and comfort the pilgrims. Let the dear place shine before your eyes, let its spell be upon your hearts, and this will relieve the tedium of the journey, make you brave to face the foe, keep you from fainting, and secure the success of your journey. The text is relevant to all times, and especially if we think of the heavenly instead of the earthly Jerusalem. Jesus was always reminding His hearers of the upper universe. Paul admonishes us to Seek those things which are above. And again and again we are reminded of our fugitive life in this world–we are strangers, sojourners, pilgrims, and are urged to look upward. In recent years there have been those who have disparaged everything in the nature of other-worldliness. I think it was George Eliot who set this modern fashion of condemning attention to the celestial world, but her life was a sad, suggestive commentary on her loss of faith. But George Eliot has had not a few followers in her anti-heavenly propaganda. Rationalists, Agnostics, and Socialists have vetoed the other-worldly life. There was little need for this adjuration. Heaven is one of the most neglected subjects in present-day preaching. The Sunday is not more restful and healing because given up to the consideration of secular subjects; character is not more refined, ethereal, and blessed because men look down instead of up; the world is not richer but poorer for ignoring the Ideal, the Mystical, the Transcendental, the Divine. The grandest souls of the past–noble-tempered, fine-charactered men and women of majestic mien–are thus described: They looked for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. There are three or four reasons why we should earnestly cultivate this other-worldly disposition.
I. It is necessary for our salvation. The Christian life is one of perpetual peril. We are menaced from every quarter. The microbe is ever on our track, and we need to be on our guard to ward off our foes. But the perils of our body are as nothing compared with our soul-perils. Our danger arises from this present evil world. It is always near us, appealing to us, setting its snares, offering us its bewildering and beguiling baits. It comes, too, in such subtle forms, in the form of a fair-faced friend; it can make use of such attractive things, and sometimes souls are ensnared before they are aware of it. Think of a man living daily in some social circles with their artificialities, their unrealities, white lies, lamentable hypocrisies; or in the world of politics with its understandings, trickeries, untruths; or in the world of business with its corners, monopolies, injustices, sharp practice! What does it mean? Full often the dulling of the mind, the paralysis of the conscience, ay, it means the heart loses its freshness, and the life its whiteness. And, mark you, it is not that one need voluntarily yield himself up to these blighting phenomena not to resist is to suffer. Then, what can be done to break the spell of this present world, and ensure our salvation? Let Jerusalem come into your mind, suffer the better world to overshadow the worse world, get into Gods own climate, cultivate the heavenly vision. Fetch heavens light down to earth. Fetch the fresh air of the eternal hills down to this stifling, stagnant scene. Fetch the music of heaven down to this terrestrial sphere. The better saves from the worse. Its glory will be glory no longer, its unreality will be sighted, and he will be saved. It is the far-off look that is needed, a vision of the eternal things which is our salvation. Sir Redvers Bullet has told us that in the late war the Boers fought better than our own soldiers, because they had better eyesight, and could see much farther, and no doubt the reason why many Christians are overtaken by spiritual calamities is because they cannot see afar off, they do not lift up their eyes on high. Let us accustom our eyes to see the glories of the New Jerusalem.
II. It is necessary for our amplification. Familiarity with the world does not broaden men, but narrows them. Born a man and died a grocer, says the epitaph, and the shrinkage of a soul is one of the painfullest features of life. Many people feel they are sadly caged up, with no poetry, romance, interests, change in their lives. Well, what are we to do? How to make life broader? Thank God, we have an answer–annex heaven. Reinforce, says one, this world with the world which is to come. What do they do in an inland state that is surrounded by other countries, and cramped in on every side? They fight to get down to the sea. Give a country only a few miles, and it is satisfied. Why? Because it will build a harbour there, and it will make ships there, and the enterprising spirits of the nation will man the ships, and the ships will go to the ends of the earth, carrying out such poor things as they have to send, but bringing home untold treasures. That single harbour holds the whole earth in its grasp. It is even so in our spiritual life. When I am linked with the skies, when I do commerce with heaven my life cannot be petty, narrow, insignificant. I am not lost in my trade, business, profession, nor does my soul undergo any shrinkage. Nay, I do my buying and selling, my getting and spending, in the eyes of heaven. A literary lady who went to consult an oculist about her eyes was told that her eye-weariness and brain-jadedness would pass away if she would now and then pause from her work, and sight the glorious hills in the distance, and she found it so. Is not this what we sorely need to save our life from getting cramped by what is sordid and petty–pauses to look away from lifes manifold engagements to the bright-topped hills of immortality? It is ours, like the apostle at Patmos, to see the fair city of our King, to fraternise with the denizens of the skies, to consort with God Himself, and to do this is to find the grandest emancipation.
III. It is necessary to our consolation. He was a wise professor who used to say to his students when going to preach, Never fail in any service to have at least a word of comfort. There is a sore, ii not a broken, heart in every religious assembly. Existence were a poor mockery if this world were all. To how many life is just one long bitter struggle. Think of those, the bruised and broken, who are on their back all their days; think of those who, through no fault of their own, are face to face with poverty most of their time; think of those who have been overtaken by a black bereavement with tragic suddenness; think of these who are left orphans when young, and are at the mercy of an unfeeling world; think of those who have secret trials–trials of which they never whisper even to their dearest friends; think of those who, in trying to live the Christian life, are sorely, buffeted! Where is the compensation? This: Let Jerusalem come into your mind. Think of it as the place where all lifes wrongs will be ended, where the weary-footed will lay aside their sandals, and the weary-hearted will find sweet rest, where the homeless will find a home, where the broken circles will be re-formed, and where the miseries of a lifetime will be forgotten in the first moment of hallowed bliss.
IV. It is necessary to our inspiration. One of our primary needs is inspiration, we so soon begin to flag and lose heart. It is needful for the maintenance of our ideals, for the shaping of a holy character, to keep us steadfast in the midst of strife and sorrow. It is painful to note how that when men forget the heavenward look, they drift from the golden life, part with their noble dreams, sink beneath their troubles, and fall into bondage to a sensuous life. There are wrecks on all sides of us–Demases who have loved this present world. We surmount the flesh by ascending with Christ to the realm of the spirit. In those who are occupied with Christ and His kingdom, who set their mind on the things above where Christ is, carnal passions cease to be nourished, the former channels of thought and desire are left bare and dry, the mans soul is caught by a keener excitement and a mightier current, he is drawn into the orbit of the Sun of Righteousness. He is absorbed in the great and entrancing things of God, and the old frivolities can no longer divert him. The same is true of every other phase of our earth-life. This was the temper of Moses, and it heartened him for the most prodigious tasks. He looked for the recompense of the reward. This was the temper of the old-world pilgrims, they desired a better country, that is a heavenly. The saints of God, the men for whom duty, religion, faith, love, character, possess their full meaning, are known by this far-away look, this detachment of spirit. At the bottom of their souls is a Divine home-sickness for the Eternal–and this made them spiritual stalwarts. This, also, was the temper of Jesus. Never for a moment did He forget the Father, the will, the home, the friendship and fellowship of the Father, I speak unto you the things that I have seen with the Father. I go to My Father. And a share of His glory He assured to all His faithful followers. I have read somewhere of a bewildered party on a mountain. Pressing on in the blinding snow, the track lost and the cold increasing, one of them at last in sneer fatigue sank flown to die. His friends coaxed him, urged him, expostulated with him so as to get him forward, but all to no purpose. But some one took from his pocket a picture of wife and children, and showed it to him. That was enough; what coaxing and threats failed to effect was done in an instant by that vision of the far-off home. He at once threw off the death-drowse that was so surely embracing him, and rousing himself with the new power that came from that vision, he pushed forward with his friends to a place of safety. And our Divine Leader, when we are flagging and wearying, gives us pictures of the heavenly home to hearten us. (J. Pearce.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER LI
Sequel of the prophecies of Jeremiah against Babylon. The
dreadful, sudden, and final ruin that shall fall upon the
Chaldeans, who have compelled the nations to receive their
idolatrous rites, (see an instance in the third chapter of
Daniel,) set forth by a variety of beautiful figures; with a
command to the people of God, (who have made continual
intercession for the conversion of their heathen rulers,) to
flee from the impending vengeance, 1-14.
Jehovah, Israel’s God, whose infinite power, wisdom and
understanding are every where visible in the works of creation,
elegantly contrasted with the utterly contemptible objects of
the Chaldean worship, 15-19.
Because of their great oppression of God’s people, the
Babylonians shall be visited with cruel enemies from the north,
whose innumerable hosts shall fill the land, and utterly
extirpate the original inhabitants, 20-44.
One of the figures by which this formidable invasion is
represented is awfully sublime. “The SEA is come up upon
Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves
thereof.” And the account of the sudden desolation produced by
this great armament of a multitude of nations, (which the
prophet, dropping the figure, immediately subjoins,) is deeply
afflictive. “Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a
wilderness; a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any
son of man pass thereby.” The people of God a third time
admonished to escape from Babylon, lest they be overtaken with
her plagues, 45, 46.
Other figures setting forth in a variety of lights the awful
judgments with which the Chaldeans shall be visited on account
of their very gross idolatries, 47-58.
The significant emblem with which the chapter concludes, of
Seraiah, after having read the book of the Prophet Jeremiah
against Babylon, binding a stone to it, and casting it into the
river Euphrates, thereby prefiguring the very sudden downfall
of the Chaldean city and empire, 59-64,
is beautifully improved by the writer of the Apocalypse,
Re 18:21,
in speaking of Babylon the GREAT, of which the other was a most
expressive type; and to which many of the passages interspersed
throughout the Old Testament Scriptures relative to Babylon
must be ultimately referred, if we would give an interpretation
in every respect equal to the terrible import of the language
in which these prophecies are conceived.
NOTES ON CHAP. LI
Verse 1. Thus saith the Lord] This chapter is a continuation of the preceding prophecy.
A destroying wind.] Such as the pestilential winds in the east; and here the emblem of a destroying army, carrying all before them, and wasting with fire and sword.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In this chapter the prophecy of the destruction of Babylon is continued under new metaphors; he begins with that of a wind,
a destroying wind, ( as northerly winds are ordinarily very pernicious,) but the Hebrew idiom so ill suiteth that of other languages, that it is no easy matter positively to assert the sense of the words used. In the Hebrew they are, and to, or against, those that inhabit the heart of those that rise up. Some would have it those that are wise in their own opinion, and are therefore said to dwell in their heart; others, those that are secure; but the best interpreters judge our translation to have best hit the sense,
them that dwell in the heart, that is, in the midst of the Chaldeans, who are here said to have risen up against God, to strive against God. Jer 50:24.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. in the midst of them that rise .. . against meliterally, “in the heart” of them.Compare Ps 46:2, “themidst of the sea,” Margin; Eze27:4, “the heart of the seas”; Margin; Mt12:40. In the center of the Chaldeans. “Against Me,”because they persecute My people. The cabalistic mode of interpretingHebrew words (by taking the letters in the inverse order ofthe alphabet, the last letter representing the first, and so on, Jer25:26) would give the very word Chaldeans here; but themystical method cannot be intended, as “Babylon” isplainly so called in the immediately preceding parallel clause.
windGod needs notwarlike weapons to “destroy” His foes; a wind orblast is sufficient; though, no doubt, the “wind” here isthe invading host of Medes and Persians (Jer 4:11;2Ki 19:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will raise up against Babylon,…. This is not a new prophecy, but a continuation of the former, and an enlargement of it. The Babylonians being the last and most notorious enemies of the Jews, their destruction is the longer dwelt upon; and as they were against the Lord’s people the Lord was against them, and threatens to raise up instruments of his vengeance against them:
and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me; that dwell in Babylon, the metropolis of the Chaldeans, the seat and centre of the enemies of God and his people. It is a periphrasis of the Chaldeans; and, so the Targum renders it,
“against the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans;”
and so the Septuagint version, against the Chaldeans; and Jarchi and Kimchi observe that according to “athbash”, a rule of interpretation with the Jews, the letters in “leb kame”, rendered “the midst of them that rise up against me”, answer to “Cashdim” or the Chaldeans; however they are no doubt designed; for they rose up against God, by setting up idols of their own; and against his people, by taking and carrying them captive: and now the Lord says he would raise up against them
a destroying wind; a northern one, the army of the Modes and Persians, which should sweep away all before it. The Targum is,
“people that are slayers; whose hearts are lifted up, and are beautiful in stature, and their spirit destroying.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Judgment of Babylon. | B. C. 595. |
1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; 2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. 3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. 4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. 5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. 6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD‘s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. 7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD‘s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. 9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. 10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. 11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. 12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. 14 The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. 15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. 16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name. 20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; 21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; 23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. 24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. 25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD. 27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. 28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. 29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling-places; her bars are broken. 31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, 32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps. 39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. 41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! 42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. 49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. 50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD‘s house. 52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. 54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: 55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: 56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. 57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
The particulars of this copious prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to so often that it could not well be divided into parts, but we must endeavor to collect them under their proper heads. Let us then observe here,
I. An acknowledgment of the great pomp and power that Babylon had been in and the use that God in his providence had made of it (v. 7): Babylon hath been a golden cup, a rich and glorious empire, a golden city (Isa. xiv. 4), a head of gold (Dan. ii. 38), filled with all good things, as a cup with wine. Nay, she had been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand; he had in a particular manner filled and favoured her with blessings; he had made the earth drunk with this cup; some were intoxicated with her pleasures and debauched by her, others intoxicated with her terrors and destroyed by her. In both senses the New-Testament Babylon is said to have made the kings of the earth drunk, Rev 17:2; Rev 18:3. Babylon had also been God’s battle-axe; it was so at this time, when Jeremiah prophesied, and was likely to be yet more so, v. 20. The forces of Babylon were God’s weapons of war, tools in his hand, with which he broke in pieces, and knocked down, nations and kingdoms,—horses and chariots, which are so much the strength of kingdoms (v. 21),– man and woman, young and old, with which kingdoms are replenished (v. 22),– the shepherd and his flock, the husbandman and his oxen, with which kingdoms are maintained and supplied, v. 23. Such havoc as this the Chaldeans had made when God employed them as instruments of his wrath for the chastising of the nations; and yet now Babylon itself must fall. Note, Those that have carried all before them a great while will yet at length meet with their match, and their day also will come to fall; the rod will itself be thrown into the fire at last. Nor can any think it will exempt them from God’s judgments that they have been instrumental in executing his judgments on others.
II. A just complaint made of Babylon, and a charge drawn up against her by the Israel of God. 1. She is complained of for her incorrigible wickedness (v. 9): We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. The people of God that were captives among the Babylonians endeavoured, according to the instructions given them (Jer. x. 11), to convince them of the folly of their idolatry, but they could not do it; still they doted as much as ever upon their graven images, and therefore the Israelites resolved to quit them and go to their own country. Yet some understand this as spoken by the forces they had hired for their assistance, declaring that they had done their best to save her from ruin, but that it was all to no purpose, and therefore they might as well go home to their respective countries; “for her judgment reaches unto heaven, and it is in vain to withstand it or think to avert it.” 2. She is complained of for her inveterate malice against Israel. Other nations had been hardly used by the Chaldeans, but Israel only complains to God of it, and with confidence appeals to him (Jer 51:34; Jer 51:35): “The king of Babylon has devoured me, and crushed me, and never thought he could do enough ruin to me; he has emptied me of all that was valuable, has swallowed me up as a dragon, or whale, swallows up the little fish by shoals; he has filled his belly, filled his treasures, with my delicates, with all my pleasant things, and has cast me out, cast me away as a vessel in which there is no pleasure; and now let them be accountable for all this.” Zion and Jerusalem shall say, “Let the violence done to me and my children, that are my own flesh, and pieces of myself, and all the blood of my people, which they have shed like water, be upon them; let the guilt of it lie upon them, and let it be required at their hands.” Note, Ruin is not far off from those that lie under the guilt of wrong done to God’s people.
III. Judgment given upon this appeal by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, on behalf of Israel against Babylon. He sits in the throne judging right, is ready to receive complaints, and answers (v. 36): “I will plead thy cause. Leave it with me; I will in due time plead it effectually and take vengeance for thee, and every drop of Jerusalem’s blood shall be accounted for with interest.” Israel and Judah seemed to have been neglected and forgotten, but God had an eye to them, v. 5. It is true their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. They were a provoking people and their sings were a great offence to God, as a holy God, and as their God, their Holy One; and therefore he justly delivered them up into the hands of their enemies, and might justly have abandoned them and left them to perish in their hands; but God deals better with them than they deserve, and, notwithstanding their iniquities and his severities, Israel is not forsaken, is not cast off, though he be cast out, but is owned and looked after by his God, by the Lord of hosts. God is his God still, and will act for him as the Lord of hosts, a God of power. Note, Though God’s people may have broken his laws and fallen under his rebukes, yet it does not therefore follow that they are thrown out of covenant; but God’s care of them and love to them will flourish again, Ps. lxxxix. 30-33. The Chaldeans thought they should never be called to an account for what they had done against God’s Israel; but there is a time fixed for vengeance, v. 6. We cannot expect it should come sooner than the time fixed, but then it will come; he will render unto Babylon a recompence, for the avenging of Israel is the vengeance of the Lord, who espouses their cause; it is the vengeance of his temple, v. 11, as before, ch. l. 28. The Lord God of recompences, the God to whom vengeance belongs, will surely requite (v. 56), will pay them home; he will render unto Babylon all the evil they have done in Zion (v. 24); he will return it in the sight of his people. They shall have the satisfaction to see their cause pleaded with jealousy. They shall not only live to see those judgments brought upon Babylon, but they shall plainly see them to be the punishment of the wrong they have done to Zion; any man may see it, and say, Verily there is a God that judges in the earth; for just as Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, has not only slain those that were found in arms, but all without distinction, even all the land (almost all were put to the sword), so at Babylon shall fall the slain not only of the city, but of all the country, v. 49. Cyrus shall measure to the Chaldeans the same that they measured to the Jews, so that every observer may discern that God is recompensing them for what they did against his people; but Zion’s children shall in a particular manner triumph in it (v. 10): The Lord has brought forth our righteousness; he has appeared in our behalf against those that dealt unjustly with us, and has given us redress; he has also made it to appear that he is reconciled to us and that we are yet in his eyes a righteous nation. Let it therefore be spoken of to his praise: Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God, that others may be invited to join with us in praising him.
IV. A declaration of the greatness and sovereignty of that God who espouses Zion’s cause and undertakes to reckon with this proud and potent enemy, v. 14. It is the Lord of hosts that has said it, that has sworn it, has sworn it by himself (for he could swear by no greater), that he will fill Babylon with vast and incredible numbers of the enemy’s forces, will fill it with men as with caterpillars, that shall overpower it will multitudes, and need only to lift up a shout against it, for that shall be so terrible as to dispirit all the inhabitants and make them an easy prey to this numerous army. But who, and where, is he that can break so powerful a kingdom as Babylon? The prophet gives an account of him from the description he had formerly given of him, and of his sovereignty and victory over all pretenders (Jer. x. 12-16), which was there intended for the conviction of the Babylonian idolaters and the confirmation of God’s Israel in the faith and worship of the God of Israel; and it is here repeated to show that God will convince those by his judgments who would not be convinced by his word that he is God over all. Let not any doubt but that he who has determined to destroy Babylon is able to make his words good, for, 1. He is the God that made the world (v. 15), and therefore nothing is too hard for him to do; it is in his name that our help stands, and on him our hope is built. 2. He has the command of all the creatures that he has made (v. 16); his providence is a continued creation. He has wind and rain at his disposal. If he speak the word, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens (and it is a wonder how they hang there), fed by vapours out of the earth, and it is a wonder how they ascend thence. Lightnings and rain seem contraries, as fire and water, and yet they are produced together; and the wind, which seems arbitrary in its motions, and we know not whence it comes, is yet, we are sure, brought out of his treasuries. 3. The idols that oppose the accomplishment of his word are a mere sham and their worshippers brutish people, Jer 51:17; Jer 51:18. The idols are falsehood, they are vanity, they are the work of errors; when they come to be visited (to be examined and enquired into) they perish, that is, their reputation sinks and they appear to be nothing; and those that make them are like unto them. But between the God of Israel and these gods of the heathen there is no comparison (v. 19): The portion of Jacob is not like them; the God who speaks this and will do it is the former of all things and the Lord of all hosts, and therefore can do what he will; and there is a near relation between him and his people, for he is their portion and they are his; they put a confidence in him as their portion and he is pleased to take a complacency in them and a particular care of them as the lot of his inheritance; and therefore he will do what is best for them. The repetition of these things here, which were said before, intimates both the certainty and the importance of them, and obliges us to take special notice of them; God hath spoken once; yea, twice have we heard this, that power belongs to God, power to destroy the most formidable enemies of his church; and if God thus speak once, yea, twice, we are inexcusable if we do not perceive it and attend to it.
V. A description of the instruments that are to be employed in this service. God has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes (v. 11), Darius and Cyrus, who come against Babylon by a divine instinct; for God’s device is against Babylon to destroy it. They do it, but God devised it, he designed it; they are but accomplishing his purpose, and acting as he directed. Note, God’s counsel shall stand, and according to it all hearts shall move. Those whom God employs against Babylon are compared (v. 1) to a destroying wind, which either by its coldness blasts the fruits of the earth or by its fierceness blows down all before it. This wind is brought out of God’s treasuries (v. 16), and it is here said to be raised up against those that dwell in the midst of the Chaldeans, those of other nations that inhabit among them and are incorporated with them. The Chaldeans rise up against God by falling down before idols, and against them God will raise up destroyers, for he will be too hard for those that contend with him. These enemies are compared to fanners (v. 2), who shall drive them away as chaff is driven away by the fan. The Chaldeans had been fanners to winnow God’s people (ch. xv. 7) and to empty them, and now they shall themselves be in like manner despoiled and dispersed.
VI. An ample commission given them to destroy and lay all waste. Let them bend their bow against the archers of the Chaldeans (v. 3) and not spare her young men, but utterly destroy them, for the Lord has both devised and done what he spoke against Babylon, v. 12. This may animate the instruments he employs, but assuring them of success. The methods they take are such as God has devised and therefore they shall surely prosper; what he has spoken shall be done, for he himself will do it; and therefore let all necessary preparations be made. This they are called to, Jer 51:27; Jer 51:28. Let a standard be set up, under which to enlist soldiers for this expedition; let a trumpet be blown to call men together to it and animate them in it; let the nations, out of which Cyrus’s army is to be raised, prepare their recruits; let the kingdoms of Ararat, and Minni, and Ashkenaz, of Armenia, both the higher and the lower, and of Ascania, about Phrygia and Bithynia, send in their quota of men for his service; let general officers be appointed and the cavalry advance; let the horses come up in great numbers, as the caterpillars, and come, like them, leaping and pawing in the valley; let them lay the country waste, as caterpillars do (Joel i. 4), especially rough caterpillars; let the kings and captains prepare nations against Babylon, for the service is great and there is occasion for many hands to be employed it.
VII. The weakness of the Chaldeans, and their inability to make head against this threatening destroying force. When God employed them against other nations they had spirit and strength to act offensively, and went on with admirable resolution, conquering and to conquer; but now that it comes to their turn to be reckoned with all their might and courage are gone, their hearts fail them, and none of all their men of might and mettle have found their hands to act so much as defensively. They are called upon here to prepare for action, but it is ironically and in an upbraiding way (v. 11): Make bright the arrows, which have grown rusty through disuse; gather the shields, which in a long time of peace and security have been scattered and thrown out of the way (v. 12); set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, upon the towers on those walls, to summon all that owed suit and service to that mother-city, now to come in to her assistance; let them make the watch as strong as they can, and appoint the sentinels to their respective posts, and prepare ambushes for the reception of the enemy. This intimates that they would be found very secure and remiss, and would need to be thus quickened (and they were so to such a degree that they were in the midst of their revels when the city was taken), but that all their preparations should come to no purpose. Whoever will may call them to it, but they shall have no heart to come at the call, v. 29. The whole land shall tremble, and sorrow (a universal consternation) shall seize upon them; for they shall see both the irresistible arm and the irreversible counsel and decree of God against them. They shall see that God is making Babylon a desolation, and therein is performing what he has purposed; and then the mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, v. 30. God having taken away their strength and spirit, so that they have remained in their holds, not daring so much as to peep forth, the might both of their hearts and of their hands fails; they become as timorous as women, so that the enemy has, without any resistance, burnt her dwelling-places and broken her bars. It is to the same purport with v. 56-58. When the spoiler comes upon Babylon her mighty men, who should make head against him, are immediately taken, their weapons of war fail them, every one of their bows is broken and stands them in no stead. Their politics fail them; they call councils of war, but their princes and captains, who sit in council to concert measures for the common safety, are made drunk; they are as men intoxicated through stupidity or despair; they can form no right notions of things; they stagger and are unsteady in their counsels and resolves, and dash one against another, and, like drunken men, fall out among themselves. At length they sleep a perpetual sleep, and never awake from their wine, the wine of God’s wrath, for it is to them an opiate that lays them into a fatal lethargy. The walls of their city fail them, v. 58. When the enemy had found ways to ford Euphrates, which was thought impassable, yet surely, think they, the walls are impregnable, they are the broad walls of Babylon or (as the margin reads it), the walls of broad Babylon. The compass of the city, within the walls, was 385 furlongs, some say 480, that is, about sixty miles; the walls were 200 cubits high, and fifty cubits broad, so that two chariots might easily pass by one another upon them. Some say that there was a threefold wall about the inner city and the like about the outer, and that the stones of the wall, being laid in pitch instead of mortar (Gen. xi. 3), were scarcely separable; and yet these shall be utterly broken, and the high gates and towers shall be burnt, and the people that are employed in the defence of the city shall labour in vain in the fire; they shall quite tire themselves, but shall do no good.
VIII. The destruction that shall be made of Babylon by these invaders. 1. It is a certain destruction; the doom has passed and it cannot be reversed; a divine power is engaged against it, which cannot be resisted (v. 8): Babylon is fallen and destroyed, is as sure to fall, to fall into destruction, as if it were fallen and destroyed already; though when Jeremiah prophesied this, and many a year after, it was in the height of its power and greatness. God declares, God appears against Babylon (v. 25): Behold, I am against thee; and those cannot stand long whom God is against. He will stretch out his hand upon it, a hand which no creature can bear the weight of nor withstand the force of. It is his purpose, which shall be performed, that Babylon must be a desolation, v. 29. 2. It is a righteous destruction. Babylon has made herself meet for it, and therefore cannot fail to meet with it. For (v. 25) Babylon has been a destroying mountain, very lofty and bulky as a mountain, and destroying all the earth, as the stones that are tumbled from high mountains spoil the grounds about them; but now it shall itself be rolled down from its rocks, which were as the foundations on which it stood. It shall be levelled, its pomp and power broken. It is now a burning mountain, like tna and the other volcanoes, that throw out fire, to the terror of all about them. But it shall be a burnt mountain; it shall at length have consumed itself, and shall remain a heap of ashes. So will this world be at the end of time. Again (v. 33), “Babylon is like a threshing-floor, in which the people of God have been long threshed, as sheaves in the floor; but now the time has come that she shall herself be threshed and her sheaves in her; her princes and great men, and all her inhabitants, shall be beaten in their own land, as in the threshing-floor. The threshing-floor is prepared. Babylon is by sin made meet to be a seat of war, and her people, like corn in harvest, are ripe for destruction,” Rev 14:15; Mic 4:12. 3. It is an unavoidable destruction. Babylon seems to be well-fenced and fortified against it: She dwells upon many waters (v. 13); the situation of her country is such that it seems inaccessible, it is so surrounded, and the march of an enemy into it so embarrassed, by rivers. In allusion to this, the New-Testament Babylon is said to sit upon many waters, that is, to rule over many nations, as the other Babylon did, Rev. xvii. 15. Babylon is abundant in treasures; and yet “thy end has come, and neither they waters nor thy wealth shall secure thee.” This end that comes shall be the measure of thy covetousness; it shall be the stint of thy gettings, it shall set bounds to thy ambition and avarice, which otherwise would have ben boundless. God, by the destruction of Babylon, said to its proud waves, Hitherto shall you come, and no further. Note, if men will not set a measure to their covetousness by wisdom and grace, God will set a measure to it by his judgments. Babylon, thinking herself very safe and very great, was very proud; but she will be deceived (v. 53): Though Babylon should mount her walls and palaces up to heaven, and though (because what is high is apt to totter) she should take care to fortify the height of her strength, yet all will not do; God will send spoilers against her, that shall break through her strength and bring down her height. 4. It is a gradual destruction, which, if they had pleased, they might have foreseen and had warning of; for (v. 46) “A rumor will come one year that Cyrus is making vast preparations for war, and after that, in another year, shall come a rumour that his design is upon Babylon, and he is steering his course that way;” so that when he was a great way off they might have sent and desired conditions of peace; but they were too proud, too secure, to do that, and their hearts were hardened to their destruction. 5. Yet, when it comes, it is a surprising destruction: Babylon has suddenly fallen (v. 8); the destruction came upon them when they did not think of it and was perfected in a little time, as that of the New-Testament Babylon–in one hour, Rev. xviii. 17. The king of Babylon, who should have been observing the approaches of the enemy, was himself at such a distance from the place where the attack was made that it was a great while ere he had notice that the city was taken; so that those who were posted near the place sent one messenger, one courier, after another, with advice of it, v. 31. The foot-posts shall meet at the court from several quarters with this intelligence to the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, and there is nothing to obstruct the progress of the conquerors, but they will be at the other end quickly. They are to tell him that the enemy has seized the passes (v. 32), the forts or blockades upon the river, and that, having got over the river, he has set fire to the reeds on the river side, to alarm and terrify the city, so that all the men of war are affrighted and have thrown down their arms and surrendered at discretion. The messengers come, like Job’s, one upon the heels of another, with these tidings, which are immediately confirmed with a witness by the enemies’ being in the palace and slaying the king himself, Dan. v. 30. That profane feast which they were celebrating at the very time when the city was taken, which was both an evidence of their strange security and a great advantage to the enemy, seems here to be referred to (Jer 51:38; Jer 51:39): They shall roar together like lions, as men in their revels do, when the wine has got into their heads. They call it singing; but in scripture-language, and in the language of sober men, it is called yelling like lions’ whelps. It is probable that they were drinking confusion to Cyrus and his army with loud huzzas. Well, says God, in their heat, when they are inflamed (Isa. v. 11) and their heads are hot with hard drinking, I will make their feasts, I will give them their portion. They have passed their cup round; now the cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned unto them (Hab 2:15; Hab 2:16), a cup of fury, which shall make them drunk that they may rejoice (or rather that they may revel it) and sleep a perpetual sleep; let them be as merry as they can with that bitter cup, but it shall lay them to sleep never to wake more (as v. 57); for on that night, in the midst of the jollity, was Belshazzar slain. 6. It is to be a universal destruction. God will make thorough work of it; for, as he will perform what he has purposed, so he will perfect what he has begun. The slain shall fall in great abundance throughout the land of the Chaldeans; multitudes shall be thrust through in her streets, v. 4. They are brought down like lambs to the slaughter (v. 40), in such great numbers, so easily, and the enemies make no more of killing them than the butcher does of killing lambs. The strength of the enemy, and their invading them, are here compared to an irruption and inundation of waters (v. 42): The sea has come up upon Babylon, which, when it has once broken through its bounds, there is no fence against, so that she is covered with the multitude of its waves, overpowered by a numerous army; her cities then become a desolation, an uninhabited uncultivated desert, v. 43. 7. It is a destruction that shall reach the gods of Babylon, the idols and images, and fall with a particular weight upon them. “In token that the whole land shall be confounded and all her slain shall fall and that throughout all the country the wounded shall groan, I will do judgment upon her graven images,” v. 47 and again v. 52. All must needs perish if their gods perish, from whom they expect protection. Though the invaders are themselves idolaters, yet they shall destroy the images and temples of the gods of Babylon, as an earnest of the abolishing of all counterfeit deities. Bel was the principal idol that the Babylonians worshipped, and therefore that is by name here marked for destruction (v. 44): I will punish Bel, that great devourer, that image to which such abundance of sacrifices are offered and such rich spoils dedicated, and to whose temple there is such a vast resort. He shall disgorge what he has so greedily regaled himself with. God will bring forth out of his temple all the wealth laid up there, Job xx. 15. His altars shall be forsaken, none shall regard him any more, and so that idol which was thought to be a wall to Babylon shall fall and fail them. 8. It shall be a final destruction. You may take balm for her pain, but in vain; she that would not be healed by the word of God shall not be healed by his providence, Jer 51:8; Jer 51:9. Babylon shall become heaps (v. 37), and, to complete its infamy, no use shall be made even of the ruins of Babylon, so execrable shall they be, and attended with such ill omens (v. 26): They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. People shall not care for having any thing to do with Babylon, or whatever belonged to it. Or it denotes that there shall be nothing left in Babylon on which to ground any hopes or attempts of raising it into a kingdom again; for, as it follows here, it shall be desolate for ever. St. Jerome says that in his time, though the ruins of Babylon’s walls were to be seen, yet the ground enclosed by them was a forest of wild beasts.
IX. Here is a call to God’s people to go out of Babylon. It is their wisdom, when the ruin is approaching, to quit the city and retire into the country (v. 6): “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and get into some remote corner, that you may save your lives, and may not be cut off in her iniquity.” When God’s judgments are abroad it is good to get as far as we can from those against whom they are levelled, as Israel from the tents of Korah. This agrees with the advice Christ gave his disciples, with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. Let those who shall be in Judea flee to the mountains, Matt. xxiv. 16. It is their wisdom to get out of the midst of Babylon, lest they be involved, if not in her ruins, yet in her fears (Jer 51:45; Jer 51:46): Lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land. Though God had told them that Cyrus should be their deliverer, and Babylon’s destruction their deliverance, yet they had been told also that in the peace there of they should have peace, and therefore the alarms given to Babylon would put them into a fright, and perhaps they might not have faith and consideration enough to suppress those fears, for which reason they are here advised to get out of the hearing of the alarms. Note, Those who have not grace enough to keep their temper in temptation should have wisdom enough to keep out of the way of temptation. But this is not all; it is not only their wisdom to quit the city when the ruin is approaching, but it is their duty to quit the country too when the ruin is accomplished, and they are set at liberty by the pulling down of the prison over their heads. This they are told, Jer 51:50; Jer 51:51: “You Israelites, who have escaped the sword of the Chaldeans your oppressors, and of the Persians their destroyers, now that the year of release has come, go away, stand not still; hasten to your own country again, however you may be comfortably seated in Babylon, for this is not your rest, but Canaan is.” 1. He puts them in mind of the inducements they had to return: “Remember the Lord afar off, his presence with you now, though you are here afar off from your native soil; his presence with your fathers formerly in the temple, though you are now afar off from the ruins of it.” Note, Wherever we are, in the greatest depths, at the greatest distances, we may and must remember the Lord our God; and in the time of the greatest fears and hopes it is seasonable to remember the Lord. “And let Jerusalem come into your mind. Though it be now in ruins, yet favour its dust (Ps. cii. 14); though few of you ever saw it, yet believe the report you have had concerning it from those that wept when they remembered Zion; and think of Jerusalem until you come up to a resolution to make the best of your way thither.” Note, When the city of our solemnities is out of sight, yet it must not be out of mind; and it will be of great use to us, in our journey through this world, to let the heavenly Jerusalem come often into our mind. 2. He takes notice of the discouragement which the returning captives labour under (v. 51); being reminded of Jerusalem, they cry out, “We are confounded; we cannot bear the thought of it; shame covers our faces at the mention of it, for we have heard of the reproach of the sanctuary, that is profaned and ruined by strangers; how can we think of it with any pleasure?” To this he answers (v. 52) that the God of Israel will now triumph over the gods of Babylon, and so that reproach will be for ever rolled away. Note, The believing prospect of Jerusalem’s recovery will keep us from being ashamed of Jerusalem’s ruins.
X. Here is the diversified feeling excited by Babylon’s fall, and it is the same that we have with respect to the New-Testament Babylon,Rev 18:9; Rev 18:19. 1. Some shall lament the destruction of Babylon. There is the sound of a cry, a great outcry coming from Babylon (v. 54), lamenting this great destruction, the voice of mourning, because the Lord has destroyed the voice of the multitude, that great voice of mirth which used to be heard in Babylon, v. 55. We are told what they shall say in their lamentations (v. 41): “How is Sheshach taken, and how are we mistaken concerning her! How is that city surprised and become an astonishment among the nations that was the praise, and glory, and admiration of the whole earth!” See how that may fall into a general contempt which has been universally cried up. 2. Yet some shall rejoice in Babylon’s fall, not as it is the misery of their fellow-creatures, but as it is the manifestation of the righteous judgment of God and as it opens the way for the release of God’s captives; upon these accounts the heaven and the earth, and all that is in both, shall sing for Babylon (v. 48); the church in heaven and the church on earth shall give to God the glory of his righteousness, and take notice of it with thankfulness to his praise. Babylon’s ruin is Zion’s praise.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 51
AN ORACLE CONCERNING BABYLON – Continued
Va. 1-6: A DESTROYING WIND
1. God is raising up an instrument of judgment against Babylon and those who dwell in the midst of her, (vs. 1; comp. Jer 4:11-12; Jer 23:19; Hos 13:15).
2. The “destroying wind” is NOT a tornado; it symbolizes the coming of “strangers” upon Babylon, who will winnow and empty her land, (vs. 2; comp. Jer 15:7; Psa 1:4, Isa 41:15-16; Mat 3:12).
3. It will be useless for the warriors of Babylon to take up weapons for defense; a path of human carnage will be left behind the invading army, (vs. 3-4; Jer 50:14; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:29; Isa 13:15; Isa 14:19).
4. The judgment of Babylon is a vindication of Israel and Judah -whom God has not forsaken, even though their land has been full of sin! (vs. 5; Jer 33:24-26; Isa 54:7-8; Hos 4:1-2).
5. Thus, He who counseled Judah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, NOW alerts her to be ready to FLEE FROM BABYLON, as the instrument of her judgment approaches, (vs. 6, 45; Jer 50:8; Jer 50:28; comp. Num 16:26; Jer 50:15; Jer 25:14).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
He proceeds with the same subject. Jeremiah seems, indeed, to have used more words than necessary; but we have stated the reason why he dwelt at large on a matter so clear: His object was not only to teach, for this he might have done in a few words, and have thus included all that we have hitherto seen and shall find in the whole of this chapter; but as it was an event hardly credible, it was necessary to illustrate the prophecy respecting it with many figures, and to inculcate with many repetitions what had been already said, and also to confirm by many reasons what no one hardly admitted.
He then says, Behold, I will, etc. God is made the speaker, that the word might have more force and power. Behold, he says, I will raise up a destroying wind against the Chaldeans. The similitude of wind is very appropriate, for God thus briefly reminded them how easy it was for him to destroy the whole world even by a single blast. The wind is, indeed, indirectly set in opposition to instruments of war; for when any one seeks to overcome an enemy, he collects many and strong forces, and procures auxiliaries on every side; in short, he will not dare to attempt anything without making every possible preparation. As, then, men dare not attack their enemies without making strenuous efforts, God here extols his own power, because it is enough for him to raise up a wind. We now, then, perceive the design of the similitude, when he says, that he would raise up a wind that would destroy or scatter the Chaldeans.
In the following words there is an obscurity; literally, they are, the inhabitants of the heart; for as the word ישבי , ishebi, is in construction, another word necessarily follows it, as for instance, the country of the Chaldeans. But the relative, ה, He, referring to Babylon, ought to have been put down. Yet as the words occur, we are compelled to read, and against the inhabitants of the heart Some will have the relative, אשר, asher, to be understood, but that is harsh, for it is an unnatural mode of speaking. They, however, give this rendering of אשר לב , asher leb, “those who in heart rose up against me.” But what if we read the words inhabitants of the heart metaphorically, as meaning those who gloried in their own wisdom? for the Babylonians, as it is well known, thought other men dull and foolish, and were so pleased with their own astuteness, as though they were fortified by inclosures on every side. They dwelt then in their own heart, that is, they thought themselves well fortified around through their own wisdom. In this sense the Prophet seems to call the Babylonians the inhabitants of the heart (80)
He adds, at the same time, that they rose, up against God, even because they had cruelly treated his people, and nearly destroyed them. And we know that God undertook the cause of his Church, and therefore complained that war was made on him by the ungodly, whenever they molested the faithful. It is also at the same time generally true, that all who arrogate to themselves wisdom rise up against God, because they rob God of the honor due to him. But it ought properly to be referred to the union which exists between God and his Church, when he charges the Chaldeans, that they rose up against him. It follows,—
(80) The Targ. and the versions widely differ from one another. The cabbalistic solution is very frivolous, by which the two words לב and קמי are made one, and made to signify “Chaldeans,” according to what was called “Athbash,” by which aleph, the first letter, was taken for tau, the last letter, and beth, the second, for shin, the last but one; and so on through the whole alphabet. But Blayney and others, such as Gataker and Venema, give a satisfactory explanation of the words. The word לב, the heart, often means the middle of anything, as “the heart of heaven,” in Deu 4:11 means the midst of heaven; and “the heart of the seas,” in Psa 46:2, means the midst of the seas. So here, “the heart of my adversaries,” means the centre of the country of his adversaries. i.e., Babylon, —
Against the inhabitants of the metropolis of my adversaries.
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.For Chronological Notes, see foregoing chapter.
Geographical References.Jer. 51:27. The kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenas. These nations of Western Asia are summoned to join the Medes in their attack on Babylon. By Ararat is meant the region of Upper or Major Armenia, in the vicinity of the mountain; by Minni, Lower or Minor Armenia; and by Ashchenaz, probably Asia Minor, in which Ascania stands.
Personal Allusions.Jer. 51:59. Seraiah, brother to Baruch (chap. Jer. 32:12) and the kings chamberlain; see below, Lit. Crit. on verse.
Literary Criticisms.Jer. 51:1. A destroying wind: possibly this should read a destroying spirit, i.e., Cyrus.
Jer. 51:5. Israel hath not been forsaken: read, Israel is not widowed nor Judah of his God.
Jer. 51:10. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: rather, righteousnesses, pl. , i.e., proofs that we are righteous.
Jer. 51:12. Upon the walls, should be against the walls.
Jer. 51:23. I will also break in pieces: Henderson notes that , from , to scatter, break, dash in pieces, designates the war-club anciently used by warriors for the purpose of clearing away all with whom they came in contact.
Jer. 51:41. Sheshach: vide Notes on chap. Jer. 25:26.
Jer. 51:50. Remember the Lord afar off: i.e., from afar; from Chaldea, far distant from Zion, Gods dwelling-place.
Jer. 51:59. A quiet prince, , has been variously rendered. The Sept., , as if Seraiah were the distributor of the royal presents. The Vulg., prince of prophecy. Other renderings are, chief of the caravan, lord chamberlain; but there is warrant for the rendering as the E.V. Comp. , a man of quietness, 1Ch. 22:9.
SUBJECT OF CHAPTER 51: MYSTIC BABYLON; ROMANISM DOOMED
General Survey: BABYLONS DOOM; MYSTIC BABYLONS DESTRUCTION
i. The Median power, which Babylon formerly invited to unite with her for Ninevehs destruction, was made the instrument for her own overthrow. So in the Apocalypse it is revealed that some of the kings who were once vassals of the mystical Babylon will be the instruments in Gods hands for chastising her (Rev. 17:16).
ii. Babylons colossal splendour formed no hindrance to Gods purposes of her fall, for He opens unlooked-for avenues along which His judgments may invade the strongholds of evil. The Euphrates of her power, which, with mystic Babylon, has flowed on for so many centuries, and in which she has trusted as her defence, the non possumus of the Pontifical arrogance, may prove the cause of her destruction. See Rev. 16:12. Nor shall all her vaunted majesty and glory save her in the hour of invasion, when Gods emissaries of judgment flow in upon her.
iii. The suddenness of Babylons capture (Jer. 51:8; Jer. 51:41) may have equal analogy. At a time when she is most exultant, revelling in some imposing festival or carnival, as Babylon was feasting at the time of its invasion, elate with pride, fearless of harm, provoking God by her sacrilege of sacred things, then the fingers of a mans hand shall write her downfall, and she shall be ensnared. See Rev. 18:10; Rev. 18:17. In one hour is thy judgment come!
iv. As with Babylon so with Rome, her fall shall be total and final, leaving her an absolute and hopeless ruin.
The walls of Babylon, of vast dimensions, 87 feet broad and 360 feet in height, the palaces and vast architectures within (Jer. 51:53), all suggested imperishable strength; as indeed the vast system of Romanism does to-day. But all her excellency became a ruin (Jer. 51:58), and ancient Babylon became a dreary wilderness, unsightly heaps (Jer. 51:37). Alexander the Great made efforts to rebuild Babylon, and employed 2000 workmen for two months in clearing away the foundations of the Temple of Belus, preparatory to his project: but he died in the midst of his ambitious scheme, and it was abandoned. Nor shall Rome ever exalt her head more when once the hand of doom lays her pride low. It shall be found no more at all (Rev. 18:21).
v. Babylons ruin became the signal for Israels release and redemption. The faithful Jews in captivity there found liberty once more, and returned to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the desolations of Zion. Even so shall the fall of Rome set free the souls of men from the galling captivities of superstition, and the true Israel, the Church of Christ, shall rise into honour, prosperity, and power (Rev. 19:1-9).
vi. Israel was admonished and enjoined to flee from Babylon and deliver every man his soul (Jer. 51:6; Jer. 51:45); so from mystic Babylon the voice of inspiration urges men to separate themselves from her sins and escape her impending destruction. I heard a voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues (Rev. 18:4).
General Topic: THE PREDICTED OVERTHROW OF BABYLON
Probably no people were ever more luxurious and licentious than the Babylonians at the time of their overthrow. Disgusting excesses marked the pleasures of the table, and debauchery crowned the banquet. Profligacy especially characterised the female sex; hence the image in Revelation of mystic Babylon as a vile woman (Jer. 17:1-2; Jer. 17:18, Jer. 19:2, &c.), hurled from the seat of her effeminacy into total misery and degradation, is used to represent Babylons doom.
I. Prophecy literally vindicated. Almost every step in the fall of Babylon, and its subsequent reverses, is the accomplishment of a prophecy.
1. The name of the victor, with his appointment by Providence to the work of retribution, was given more than a century before his birth (Isa. 45:1-3).
2. The varied character of the besieging host which would be engaged in the assault is minutely described. Not only the Medo-Persian army, but auxiliaries drawn from the highlands of Armenia, the provinces of Asia Minor, and the great deserts bordering on the Indian Caucasus (Jer. 50:41-42; Jer. 51:11; Jer. 51:27-28).
3. Some leading circumstances of the capture are also unequivocally pointed out. (1.) The intemperate festivity of the population (Jer. 51:57). (2.) The negligence of the guards in charge of the portals of the river: gates not shut (Isa. 45:1). (3) The remarkable operation upon the Euphrates (Isa. 44:27; Jer. 50:38; Jer. 51:32; Jer. 51:36). (4.) The suddenness and surprise of the capture (Jer. 50:24).
Nothing can be more exact that the correspondence between the futures of Babylon and the language of prophecy. Its story, viewed in connection with the previous announcement dictated by the Spirit of inspiration, is
i. A bright evidence of the truth of the Holy Scripture and of the divinity which breathes in its pages.
ii. A confirmation of the religious system revealed in Gods Word, from the first promise made to the first transgressor, to its perfect realisation in the Gospel of Christ.
II. Sacred lessons emphatically enforced. The records of Babylons overthrow should be read
1. By the believer.
(1.) With trembling awe, as an illustration of the divine anger against the sinfulness of man.
(2.) With grateful feelings also, as strengthening the conviction that the foundations of his faith and hope are solid.
(3.) With assurance of the verity of Gods promises, that, as He fulfilled the words of awful retribution, so will He His promises of gracious deliverance: for light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
2. By the enemies of Gods peoplewith the appalling thought that as Babylon, the great oppressor of Gods ancient people, has been reduced to nothingness, so certainly will all the persecuting enemies of the Church of Christ, of which that people is the selected type, be brought to confusion.
3. By the sceptic and infidel. The whole case is abundantly admonitory to such. Well would it be for them to compare the convincing evidences of the religious system they reject with the difficulties and hollowness of their own theories; to remember that if Christianity be true, its truth is awful to those who repudiate it; and to turn from their own delusive dogmas to receive the revelation of the Bible, while yet an insulted but still merciful God is waiting to be gracious to the chief of sinners through the mediation of the Son of His love.Babylon and Nineveh.
HOMILIES AND COMMSNTS ON CHAPTER 51
Jer. 51:5. Theme: ISRAEL NOT ABANDONED.
See Lit. Cri.t on verse: Not widowed, not deserted by the Lord, who is her Husband.
Comp. chap. 3, Jer. 5:14; Homilies on p. 60. Banished yet still beloved; and 66. God a loving Husband, et seq.
Jer. 51:6. Theme: ROMANISM RENOUNCED.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity.
I. A doomed system entails the doom of its votaries. As they who will not leave a sinking vessel, sink with her.
II. Identification with a false religion is culpable in Gods regard. Her iniquity becomes the iniquity of each individual adherent, and each will be cut off as being responsible for and sharing her sins. Men cannot screen themselves on the plea that they have always been what they are, and therefore they should stay where they are. Flee out, &c.
III. The souls safety is jeopardised by delusive systems. Deliver every man his soul.
False beliefs are as fatal as no beliefs. Refuges of lies will be destroyed, and houses built on sand will fall.
IV. Prompt and earnest separation from Babylons errors is enjoined. Flee out of the midst of Babylon.
1. We have responsibilities towards truth, and should flee from error.
2. We have duties to our souls, and should separate ourselves from known spiritual delusions and dangers.
3. We have clear forewarnings of judgment, and should haste to escape from the coming tribulation.
Note
A time may come when it is well to separate ones self. There may come moments in the life of a Church when it will be a duty to leave the community. Such a moment is come when the community has become a Babylon. When the soul can no longer find in the Church the pure and divine bread of life, it is well to deliver the soul that it perish not in the iniquity of the Church.Article on Sects in Herzog, R.-Enc.
Jer. 51:7. Theme: ROMES LUXURIANCE.
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lords hand, that made all the earth drunken.
For the metaphor see Topic, chap. Jer. 25:15 seq.; The wine-cup of wrath (p. 474).
Compare for identification of Babylon with Rome, Rev. 14:8; Rev. 17:4.
I. A golden cup dazzles and fascinates the beholder. Mens eyes are bewitched and dazed by the glitter and splendour of gold, by the gilded errors of Rome, so that they do not inquire what the cup contains. (So suggests Origen.)
II. From a golden cup men may drink maddening intoxicants. The nations have drunken of her wine: therefore the nations are mad. This suggests that the errors and blandishments of Rome, her opulence and splendour, stupefy mens reason and conscience, as wine does the inebriate.
III. In Romes golden chalice are delusive and destructive drinks. Mark well, says Origen, in the golden cup of Babylon is the poison of idolatry, the poison of false doctrines, which destroy the souls of men. I have often seen such a golden cup in the fair speeches of seductive eloquence, and when I have examined the various ingredients of the golden chalice, I have recognised the cup of Babylon.
IV. From this golden cup the Lord administers judgment to Romes intoxicated dupes. A golden cup in the hand of the Lord. Jehovah used ancient Babylon to punish the godless nations and apostate Israel. He now uses Rome as an agency of judgment on faithless souls. They who will not use their endowments and opportunities aright, who prostitute their reason, conscience, and will before the fascination of these golden errors of Rome, who neglect the sacred chalice of the Holy Bible and prefer to drink from Romes cup of errors, God uses Romanism to punish such: Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, that they may believe a lie (2Th. 2:11).
Jer. 51:9. Theme: ROMES REJECTION OF HEALING.
I. Health-giving teaching, if received, might have healed the errors of Rome. This was offered Babylon; her remedy lay in receiving Gods Word, urged upon her by Gods prophets. So with mystical Babylon: she has been offered instruction and warning by Paul (2Th. 2:2-9), by the Apocalypse (Revelation 13-18) Protestantism has been attempting to heal Rome by the literature diffused and arguments addressed against Romes errors, and by appeals to Scripture truth.
II. Besotted attachment to wrong leads to the refusal of Gods truth. Saving doctrines are rejected when they would save from cherished errors and beloved sins and profitable lies. So still: light shines in Christian teaching sufficient to scatter the darkness. But men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. Rome refuses healing, rejects truth, because errors are her traffic.
III. From the outraged heavens doom hangs over deceitful and destructive Rome. Her sins have reached unto heaven (Rev. 18:5). Therefore her judgment reacheth unto heaven, as if pressing upon God the urgency of executing her overthrow. And certainly God hath sent the forewarnings of Romes doom from the heavens in His Word, and ere long the thunders of His destructive wrath will sweep down upon the Antichrist.
Jer. 51:10. Theme: ISRAEL JUSTIFIED AGAINST BABYLON. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness.
I. Punishment of sinners testifies of the advantages of righteousness.
II. Overthrow of error testifies to the veracity of divine truth, on which righteous souls lived by faith.
III. Defeat of Gods foes testifies to the blessedness of His people, whom He befriends.
IV. Deliverance of the righteous testifies that, though their adversaries may for a while prevail, the injustice of evildoers and the goodness of Gods children will ultimately be vindicated.
Therefore
1. Wait patiently under endurance of wrong. God will work your justification against evil-doers (Psa. 37:7).
2. Believe in Gods watchfulness of you in the day of your oppression. He marks your conduct during your captivity, remembers to your account your righteousness, and will bring it forth in due season. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning (Isa. 58:8).
Jer. 51:13. Theme: ROMES RESOURCES DESOLATED. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
Many waters. Not only was Babylon protected and nourished by the mighty river Euphrates, but by numerous canals and streams. These were essential to her very existencefor drink, food, health, transit, and safety. Thus with Romanism, that sitteth upon many waters (Rev. 17:1); and the waters are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues (Jer. 51:15). These form the tributary streams to nourish Rome by gifts, money, popular sympathy.
Abundant treasures. The immense booty of Nineveh, the plunder of Jerusalem, the tributes which Syrian and Phoenician cities furnished, the fruitfulness of the Babylonian territory itself. Comp. Rev. 18:12; Rev. 18:19.
Her end come. The words are, Thy end is come, i.e., the retribution for (or limitation of the period of) thy covetousness. Babylons day for spoiling others and enriching herself closed. So shall Romes (Revelation 18.)
Jer. 51:15-19. Theme: AN APPEAL TO GODS WORKS.
See Homily on p. 219, chap. Jer. 10:12-16, verbatim.
Jer. 51:25. Theme: VOLCANIC ROME.
O destroying mountain.
The imagery here is of a volcano, whose burning lava rolls down, itself a burnt mountain; lit., a mount of burning.
Such was Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar; its destructive energy was like the fierce outbreak of volcanic fires, and its rapid collapse was as a volcano whose fires had burned themselves extinct.
Rome, which has raised itself up to heaven in lofty assumption, which has surrounded itself with bewitching charms, like the luxuriancies of nature that abound in warm and fertile volcanic regions, which has proudly domineered like a lofty mountain over surrounding lands, will also, like a volcano, bring ruin on itself and on all it overshadows by the fires which are ready to burst forth in Gods time.
I. A volcano impresses beholders with its majestic beauty. So does Rome.
II. A volcanic mountain wears the appearance of enduring strength. So does Rome.
III. Near a volcano residents dwell oblivious of perils. So with the adherents of Rome.
IV. The absence of fiery portents in a volcano is a sign to the wise of gathering fury. So when Rome shows no threatening signs she is most seductive.
V. Within a volcano slumber ruinous fires. And Rome will be both destroyed herself and all who trust in her.
Note: The mystical Babylon will be overthrown with fire: Rev. 17:16; Rev. 18:8-9; Rev. 18:18the smoke of her burning.
Jer. 51:30-33. BABYLONS CAPTURE BY CYRUS.
For historic records comp. on chap. 25 pp. 473, 474.
Note: Prophets beforehand and historians afterwards coincide in describing the events.
Jer. 51:33. Theme: A COMING HARVEST. Yet a little while and the time of the hervest shall come.
The noble practice of Jewish antiquity was that the harvest should never be gathered in till the first ripe sheaf was brought into the Temple of the Lord, and presented as an acknowledgment to the Lord of the harvest (Lev. 9:14). This was to connect the Giver with His gifts, to associate our temporal mercies with the sanctuary of religion, and to hold communion with God in the enjoyment of His favours.
Ought we not to be thankful to the God of our mercies when we see a smiling spring followed by a joyful harvest, &c.? Always the practice of saints (Psalms 65)
The very constancy of Nature banishes our Creator from our thoughts. We need to be told there is going on everywhere around us a vast system utterly independent of human wisdom; need to be reminded of invisible dominion and concealed omnipotence.
Text points us to another harvest; and the plain doctrine is every man has a harvest of his own daily ripening, and may be unexpectedly gathered in:A harvest of punishment for the ungodly (from this our only refuge is the Cross of Christ); of mercy to the penitent (through Christ); of consolation to the sorrowful; of final blessedness to the righteous.
I. There is a harvest of punishment for the ungodly. Prophecy against Babylon, type of all sinners.
Life is the seedtime of an immortal harvest. It is the scene of a mighty preparation; it is the first step of an infinite series; it is the dawn of an everlasting day. We are beginning to be what we shall for ever be. In your nature are united mortality and immortality.
God has made a seedtime of iniquity the certain forerunner of a harvest of shame and punishmentpartly present, partly future. He has laid it down as an unalterable maxim of His government that what a man soweth he shall reap. The law that regulates the return of day and night and the renewal of seedtime and harvest is not more sure than that sin brings sorrow here or hereafter. These are things of every days experience. A wild and wasteful youth makes an unhappy and unrespected manhood. He who neglects the cultivation of his mind and the formation of his character when young can never repair the damage afterwards; just as if the husbandmen let his seedtime pass without sowing, the whole year is lost to him beyond recovery. The same law prevails in much higher matters. The man that lives without Christ usually dies without Him; and he who dies without Christ perishes to all eternity without Him. Every day the sinner carries a brand to his own burning.
Inquire what seed you are sowing? What a harvest you expect to reap? The wages of sin is death. The way of transgressors is hard. And if it be solemn now for sinners to eat the fruit of their own ways, to be caught in their own snare, and even on earth to be pierced through with many sorrowswhat will it be in eternity, when righteousness shall be laid to the line and judgment to the plummet, when they shall be resigned to the evil they have chosen, and when God shall verify to the wicked the anticipations of their own remorse, and give them bread (the bread of sorrow) to eat unto the full? We rejoice in the return of harvest; but know you not that there is a harvest of which God is the proprietor, angels are the reapers, and the souls of men are to be gathered in? Know you not that the world is ripening for the harvest, and you are ripening with it? Know you not that that Saviour who was once crucified on Calvary, and has been often crucified by you, is about to ascend the throne of judgment, and to send forth His angels and gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and cast them into the lake of fire? Soon shall the signal be given, Thrust in thy sickle.
Yet a little while. All your hope hangs upon those two short wordsa little while. What a revolution may be accomplished! You may flee for refuge; may exercise repentance and faith; may obtain salvation with eternal glory; may share the sanctifying influence of the Spirit; may have the tide of damnation rolled back; may have incorruptible seed sown in your souls.
It is but a little while. Oh, delay not. Escape for life. Listen not to tempter. Better Councillor asks your heed.
II. A harvest of mercy to the penitent. They that sow in tears, &c. All the provisions of the Gospel covenant go to assure peace and pardon to those who, renouncing self-dependence and relying on the mercy of God in Christ, place all their hope where God placed all their help.
But we are no strangers to the anxiety of the penitent on this head. Our fears are usually in proportion to our hopes. You may be assaulted with many temptations, the subject of many apprehensions, doubtful whether your sins are not too many and aggravated, alarmed lest you should not have come aright. We are not ignorant of Satans devices, nor of the misgivings of the burdened mind. But strong consolation is promised to them that flee for refuge. Prayers and tears and desires for pardon and purity offered by faith in Christ will produce a harvest nothing else will. The promise is sure: Him that cometh. Ask and you shall.
III. A harvest of consolation to the sorrowful. Comfort ye. He that goeth forth, &c. Many afflictions are the Christians portion. But God gives songs in the night. And the time is limitedthe night is followed by morning. Our light afflictions but for a momentfar more. God tempers and mitigates trial. God fortifies the mind under it, strengthening to bear that the prospect of which would have overwhelmed. Internal peace in outward trial. Harvest nowhereafter. No one of that palm-bearing company regrets past trials (Rev. 7:9-14).
IV. A harvest of final blessedness to the righteous. Be faithful unto death, &c.S. Thodey, 1825.
Jer. 51:41. SHESHACH. Comp. p. 475.
Jer. 51:45. QUITTING BABYLON. See on Jer. 51:6.
Jer. 51:46. Theme: FOREWARNINGS OF EVIL.
Ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard.
The fall of Babylon was to be preceded by a state of disquiet, mens minds being unsettled partly by rumours of the warlike preparations of the Medes and of actual invasions, in repelling one of which Neriglissar fell; partly by intestine feuds, in which Evil-Merodach and Latorosoarchod was murdered. So before the conquest of Jerusalem by the Romans the Church had similar warnings (Mat. 24:6-7).
I. Opportunity precedes impending judgment.
II. God thus ameliorates the severity of grave crises.
III. Responsibility is thereby thrown upon us to heed His warnings and utilise the interval of grace.
IV. Neglect of such interludes, during which God stays the judgment, much increases the anguish when the storm at length bursts.
V. Spiritual wisdom in discerning the propitious hour is given to and distinguishes those who are appointed to salvation.
VI. Senselessness of danger amid these forewarnings shows men to be ripe for destruction.
These Babylonians laughed danger to scorn on the very night when doom fell upon them. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Jer. 51:48. Theme: JOY IN HEAVEN OVER BABYLONS FALL.
I. Songs of judgment upon the enemies of Israel. See Exo. 15:5 seq.; Psa. 118:12; Psa. 118:15-16; Rev. 18:20.
II. Songs of deliverance for Gods people redeemed. Comp. Jer. 51:49-50.
This is in effect the joy described in Luk. 15:6-7.
III. Songs of celebration of Gods promises fulfilled.
For the heavenly hosts surely watch the accomplishment of Jehovahs pledges to His afflicted people, and hail the day of their completion (Isa. 43:23).
Jer. 51:50. Theme: REVIVED MEMORIES OF SPIRITUAL PRIVILEGES. Remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
This is an appeal to the Jews to turn all their longings Zionward so soon as Cyrus opens Babylon for them to escape.
I. Sorrowing exiles of Zion cherish tender memories of long-lost privileges.
II. Freedom regained should be promptly used for our glad return to God.
III. Sacred heritages in God and Zion await the ransomed of the Lord on their return.
Or, Valedictory address to missionaries or emigrants.
Langes Commentary says
This text may be used at the sending out of missionaries or the departure of emigrants. Occasion may be taken to speak
1. Of THE GRACIOUS HELP AND DELIVERANCE which the Lord hath hitherto shown to the departing. Ye that have escaped of the sword.
2. They may be ADMONISHED TO FIDELITY in that distant land.
(1.) In remembering the Lord, i.e., ever remaining sincerely devoted to Him, and trusting Him as the shield of our salvation.
(2.) In faithfully serving Jerusalem, i.e., the Church and cause of Christ, with all their powers, keeping the progress of the kingdom of our Lord ever near their hearts.
Jer. 51:56. Theme: RECOMPENSES. The Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite.
I. All history illustrates and establishes this fact.
Not an evil has been committed, not a good has been done, but has been followed with recompense. The sin of Adam, of Cain, of Sodom, of the Antediluvians, all were recompensed.
Nor does good fail of reward. He is not unmindful to forget your labour of love. Even the gift of a cup of cold water is to be rewarded. Comp. Mat. 25:35 seq.
II. The requiting of mens deeds often finds illustration in the laws of our physical and mental being.
God has so constituted us that evil is productive of evil and good of good. By the very laws of our nature the drunkard is recompensed by loss of reason, the libertine by loss of health, &c.; so by the same laws of our being the kind, the compassionate, &c., are requited with joy, peace, &c.; a great recompense of reward.
These are the natural recompenses which flow from the operation of Natures laws apart from Gods judgments.
III. There still remains to be superadded the judicial recompense, which the Righteous Judge will administer.
He will render to every man according to his deeds: deeds of wickedness by the frown of His anger and the sentence, Depart, ye cursed; deeds of righteousness by the smile of His favour and the welcome, Come, ye blessed.
IV. Yet notwithstanding this natural and judicial recompense, men are not deterred from evil nor constrained to do good.
How astounding the depravity of the human heart! Desperately wicked indeed, when the fearful consequences of evil and the blessed results of good, here and hereafter, fail to influence the heart.
V. From the ultimate consequences of our deeds there can be no possible escape. The Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful, with the upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; with the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure, and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.
Compare Walks with Jeremiah.Pledge.
Jer. 51:58. THE BROAD WALLS OF BABYLON.
These walls were 85 English feet in width (according to Herodotus), 32 feet (according to Strabo and Q. Curtius). Their height was 335 feet (Herodotus), 235 (Pliny), 150 (Curtius), 75 (Strabo). But as there was an outer and inner enclosure, they may not all have been referring to the same walls, or the outer wall may have differed in height in different parts. The entire length of the walls was (according to lowest estimate) 41 miles, and by other authorities is estimated at 48, and by Herodotus at 60 miles in extent.
Berosus says that triple walls encompassed the outer, and the same number the inner city; and that Cyrus ordered the outer walls to be demolished. A cylindrical inscription records that Esar-haddon was the real builder of the walls of Babylon, and that Nebuchadnezzar only completed them.
HER HIGH GATES. One hundred in number, twenty-five on each of the four sides of the square-built city. An ancient inscription exists which says, In the thresholds of the great gates I inserted folding-doors of brass, with very strong railings and gratings (?).
Jer. 51:59. SERAIAH CARRYING THE PREDICTION OF DELIVERANCE TO THE EXILES IN BABYLON.
Zedekiah the king may have journeyed voluntarily to Babylon in order to obtain some favour from Nebuchadnezzar, or because he was summoned to be present, as Nebuchadnezzars vassal, on some state occasion; or Nebuchadnezzar might have distrusted Zedekiahs fidelity, and have demanded an explanation of the presence of those ambassadors who met that year at Jerusalem from Moab, &c. (chap. Jer. 27:3).
Jeremiah used the opportunity for intrusting Seraiah, the kings chief attendant, with these predictions for the exiles at Babylon. (He had already sent them a letter full of affection and hope, chap. 29.)
As Zedekiahs retinue paused each night on the journey across the desert, it is quite conjectural that Seraiah, his chief courier, may have read to the king the contents of this prophetic roll. What an interesting subject for conjecture (says Wordsworth) does this view open upon us! How many thoughts may have passed through the mind of the king and of Seraiah his chamberlain at the time! How many conversations may they have hador certainly might they have hadconcerning the destiny of Jerusalem and of Babylon, and concerning things in the far-off futurethe liberation and return of the captives of Israel from Babylon by the same road on which they were travelling; and even with regard to blessings more remote, which Jeremiah had pre-announcedthe graces and glories of the Gospel of Christ!
Jer. 51:63. THE PROPHETIC ROLL SUNK IN THE EUPHRATES.
Not in order to destroy it, but as symbolic of events to come. It signified that Babylon should be likewise overwhelmed and sink from sight. It foreshadowed the like fate of mystic BabylonAntichristian Rome (see Rev. 18:21, A mighty angel took up a stone, &c.) The reiteration of the weird and pensive words
THEY SHALL BE WEARY, is also suggestive. They were the final words Jeremiahs prophecy contained (Jer. 51:58), and their reiteration as the roll sank would pronounce (what the words imply) the decayed energy and life of the Chaldeans, a worn-out powera fit requiem to accompany the symbolic burial of Babylon.
ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 51: HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN BABYLONS FALL
In his fathers absence Belshazzar took the direction of affairs within the city, and met and foiled for a considerable time all the assaults of the Persians. He was young and inexperienced, but he had the counsels of the queen-mother to guide and support him, as well as those of the various lords and officers of the court. So well did he manage the defence, that after awhile Cyrus despaired; and, as a last resource, ventured on a stratagem in which it was clear that either he must succeed or perish.
Withdrawing the greater part of the army from the vicinity of the city, and leaving behind him only certain corps of observation, Cyrus marched away up the course of the Euphrates for a certain distance, and there proceeded to make a vigorous use of the spade. His soldiers dug a channel or channels from the Euphrates, by means of which a great portion of its waters could be drawn off, and hoped in this way to render the natural course of the river to be fordable.
When all was prepared, Cyrus determined to wait for the arrival of a certain festival, during which the whole population were wont to engage in drinking and revelling, and then silently, in the dead of the night, to turn the water of the river and make his attack. All fell out as he hoped and wished. The festival was even held with greater pomp and splendour than usual, for Belshazzar, with the natural insolence of youth, to mark his contempt of the besieging army, abandoned himself wholly to the delights of the season, and himself entertained a thousand lords in his palace. Elsewhere the rest of the population was occupied in feasting and dancing. Drunken riot and mad excitement held possession of the town; the siege was forgotten; ordinary precautions were neglected. The non-closing of the river gates must have been a neglect of this kind. Had the sentries even kept proper watch, the enemys approach must have been perceived.
Following the example of their king, the Babylonians gave themselves up for the night to orgies, in which religious frenzy and drunken excess formed a strange and revolting medley.
Meanwhile, outside the city, in silence and darkness, the Persians watched at two points where the Euphrates entered and left the walls. Anxiously they noted the gradual sinking of the water in the river-bed; still more anxiously they watched to see if those within the walls would observe the suspicious circumstance and sound an alarm through the town. Should such an alarm be given, all their labours would be lost. If, when they entered the river-bed, they found the river walls manned, and the river gates fast locked, they would be indeed caught in a trap (Herod. i. 191). Enfiladed on both sides by an enemy they could neither see nor reach, they would be overwhelmed and destroyed by his missiles before they could succeed in making their escape. But as they watched, no sounds of alarm reached them, only a confused noise of revel and riot, which showed that the unhappy townsmen were quite unconscious of the approach of danger.
At last shadowy forms began to emerge from the obscurity of the riverbed, and on the landing-places opposite the river gates scattered clusters of men grew into solid columns; the undefended gateways were seized, a war-shout was raised, the alarm was taken and spread, and swift runners started off to show the king of Babylon that his city was taken at one end (Jer. 51:31). In the darkness and confusion of the night a terrible massacre ensued (Xenophon, Cyrop. vii. 5). The drunken revellers could make no resistance. The king, paralysed with fear at the awful handwriting upon the wall, which, too late, had warned him of his peril, could do nothing even to check the progress of the assailants, who carried all before them everywhere. Bursting into the palace, a band of Persians made their way to the presence of the monarch and slew him on the scene of his impious revelry. Other bands carried fire and sword through the town (Xenophon, Cyrop. vii. 5). When morning came, Cyrus found himself undisputed master of the city, which, if it had not despised his efforts, might with the greatest ease have baffled them.Robinsons Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii. p. 515.
The Persians came upon them unawares, and on account of the extent of the city, as is said by those who dwelt there, when the extremities of it were taken, the Babylonians who dwelt in the middle of it were not aware that they were captured, but were dancing at the time (for it happened to be a festival), and were rejoicing, until they perceived it in very deed.Herodotus, i. 191.
Babylon was more like a nation than a city, and it is said that when it was taken, some of its inhabitants did not hear of the capture till the third day.Aristotle, Polit., iii. c. l.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
B. Ruthless Destruction Jer. 50:41 to Jer. 51:5
TRANSLATION
(41) Behold, a people shall come from the north, a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the distant parts of the earth. (42) They grasp bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy; the noise they make sounds like the roaring sea. They ride on horses arrayed as a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon. (43) The king of Babylon has heard the news and his hands grow feeble, distress takes hold of him, pangs as a woman in childbirth. (44) Behold, like a lion going up from the pride of Jordan unto the perennial pasture, so will I suddenly make them run from it. The one who is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me? And who will challenge Me? And who is the shepherd who can stand before Me? (45) Therefore, Hear the counsel of the LORD which He has made against Babylon and the plans which He has formulated against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely their pasture shall be shocked over what happens to them. (46) At the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles and the cry is heard among the nations. (1) Thus says the LORD: I am about to raise up against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai a destroying wind. (2) I will send strangers to Babylon and they will winnow her and empty her land; for they shall be against her on all sides in the day of calamity. (3) Let the archer bend his bow against the archer, and against the one who rises up in his armor. Have no mercy upon her youths! Utterly destroy all of her hosts! (4) Slain shall they fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. (5) For Israel and Judah have not been widowed of their God, the LORD of hosts; because their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
COMMENTS
For the third time the prophet announces the approach of the conquerors of Babylon: Behold, a people shall come from the north. No doubt the prophet is presenting here a composite picture of the several conquerors who would attack the city of Babylon beginning with the Medo-Persian armies of Cyrus and concluding with Parthian armies of Mithridates II. The enemy is described as a great nation because of the size of the host. Many kings all over the world are being stirred up to the attack against Babylon (Jer. 50:41). The vast host surges forward towards Babylon armed for war. The sound of their coming is likened to the roar of the sea. They are cruel and ruthless warriors who show no pity to the daughter of Babylon, (i.e., the inhabitants of the city Jer. 50:42). The king of Babylon is petrified at the news of the approaching host. His hands become limp; distress seizes his heart like that of a woman beginning her travail (Jer. 50:43). One cannot read this description of the terror of the king of Babylon without thinking of what is said of Belshazzar in the Book of Daniel when he hears the prophetic interpretation of the handwriting of doom on the walls of his palace: Then the kings countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his knees smote one against another (Dan. 5:6).
Babylons judgment shall be that Edom (cf. Jer. 49:19-21). It matters nothing to the Lord whether the nation be small and insignificant like Edom or a mighty empire like Babylon. Any nation which proudly lifts itself up against the Holy One of Israel will be punished. Babylons conqueror will burst upon the land like a lion from the pride (jungle) of the Jordan leaping upon a helpless and unsuspecting flock. No shepherd or leader of Babylon will be able to withstand the impact of this divinely appointed one (Jer. 50:44). The Lord God has taken counsel against Babylon and has laid plans for the destruction of that land. The invader will make desolate the inhabitants of that land like helpless sheep (Jer. 50:45). The earth trembles in astonishment at the news of Babylons fall. The final gasping cry of Babylon is heard throughout the nations of the earth (Jer. 50:46).
The description of the destroyers of Babylon continues in Jer. 51:1-5. God is raising up against Babylon a destroying wind (Jer. 50:1) and strangers (Jer. 50:2) by means of which He will winnow or sift the inhabitants of Babylonia as a farmer winnows the chaff from the grain. The reference in Jer. 50:1 to Leb-kamai (ASV) is most interesting. This term means literally the heart of those who rise up against me. By this title Babylon is designated as the very heart of opposition to the Lord. But the term Leb-kamai has another meaning too, a meaning that the English reader completely misses. Leb-kamai is another example of the use of the cipher called Atbash (cf. Jer. 25:26) in which the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is replaced by the last letter, the second letter by the next to the last, the third by the third from the last, etc. When Leb-kamai is decoded it spells the word Chaldeans in Hebrew.
In Jer. 50:3 the attacking armies are again addressed. In spite of the fact that the Babylonians stand guard with their weapons and arrayed in their armor, yet the archers are urged to attack them from without. No one is to be spared; every Chaldean soldier is to be slain in the streets of the city (Jer. 50:4). The reason for the slaughter is twofold. First, by means of the destruction of Babylon the Lord will prove that Israel and Judah have not been forsaken (lit., widowed) by their God. Second, the land of Babylon is full of guilt with respect to the Holy One of Israel (Jer. 50:5). The word translated though in the KJV and ASV is best rendered for or because and the guilt is best regarded as that of the Chaldeans and not the Israelites.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
LI.
(1) I will raise up . . . a destroying wind.Literally, the wind of a destroyer. In Hag. 1:14; Ezr. 1:1; Ezr. 1:5; 1Ch. 5:26 the phrase is used for stirring up the spirit of a man, and that may be its meaning here. The context, however, suggests, in the fanners of the next verse, the literal meaning of wind, and it is quite possible that the phrase may have been used by Jeremiah in this sense, and afterwards acquired a figurative meaning. It does not appear in any earlier book of the Old Testament.
Against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me.Literally, in the heart of my adversaries. In the judgment of most commentators the Hebrew words Leb-kamai, which answer to the last ten words of the English, furnish another example of the Atbash or cypher-writing of which we have seen an instance in the Sheshach of Jer. 25:26. Interpreted by that cypher Leb-kamai becomes Chasdim or Chaldans. Obviously the significance of the cypher-words gives force to its employment here, and presents a parallel to the use of the names Merathaim and Pekod in Jer. 50:21. Some commentators, indeed, rest in that significance without recognising the hidden meaning of the Atbash. The LXX. and Syriac versions translate against the Chaldans, as recognising the use of the cypher. Both this and Sheshach had probably become familiar in the correspondence between the exiles and those of their countrymen who remained in Judaea, and so both would understand them when used by Jeremiah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE HOSTILE NATION, Jer 51:1-4.
1. Against them that dwell in the midst, etc. Literally, the inhabitants of the heart of my risers up. The original for heart of risers up is the word Chasdim, (Chaldeans,) written according to the canon Atbash, “for the purpose of obtaining the more important meaning that Chaldea is the centre of God’s enemies.” It is probable that some words in common use, written according to this cipher Atbash, were generally familiar.
Destroying wind Keil translates, spirit of a destroyer; but the leading Versions agree with the common English Version. The sense is a good one, and in harmony with the following verse.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH’s Vengeance On Babylon And The Vindication Of Israel/Judah ( Jer 51:1-14 ).
The proclamation of the certainty of YHWH’s coming judgment on Babylon, and on all that it stands for, continues. While it may be necessary to pay tribute to it for a while, it is with the knowledge that God will judge it in the end. The same is true in all centuries. It is true today. Today Babylon controls the world, and we as Christians have to pay it tribute, but that does not mean that we should conform to its ways. We may be in Babylon, but we should not be of Babylon. Rather we are to flee from it, recognising that it will be brought into judgment, and that our citizenship is in Heaven (Php 3:20).
Jer 51:1
“Thus says YHWH,
This phrase probably introduces a new prophecy, the prophet thereby emphasising that he is not just declaring his own ideas, but is bringing a true message from God..
Jer 51:1-2
Behold, I will raise up (or ‘stir up’) against Babylon,
And against those who dwell in Leb-kamai,
The spirit of a destroyer (or ‘a destroying wind’) – ruach).
And I will send to Babylon strangers (or ‘winnowers’),
Who will winnow her,
And they will empty her land,
For in the day of trouble,
They shall be against her round about.”
The word ruach can mean ‘wind’, when speaking of nature, or ‘spirit’, when speaking of attitude of mind (see Jer 51:11). It may well be that here both meanings are combined. The destroying spirit may be seen as present in the foreigners, sent by YHWH and moving them to act as they do (Jer 51:11), or the destroying wind could be seen as YHWH’s activity in doing the winnowing (the removing of the chaff from the grain by it being tossed up into the wind with a winnowing-fork. See Psa 1:4; Psa 35:5; Isa 17:13; Isa 29:5). Either way the idea is that Babylon will be ravaged by foreigners in ‘the day of trouble’, who will bring on her a sifting which will destroy her. This may include the idea that the good grain, those who are ready and willing to flee Babylon (prominent in what follows), will come out of the situation still whole, while the chaff which is what Babylon essentially is, will be ‘blown away’. And it is emphasised that this will be at the hand of invading forces (‘they will be against her round about’).
The word for strangers (zrym) could with different vowel points signify ‘winnowers’ and would seem to suggest a play on words so common to Hebrew writers. The following verb ‘winnow’ (zrh) is based on the same stem.
‘Leb-kamai’ may be seen as an athbash for ‘Chaldea’ i.e. Babylon. An ’athbash is a cryptogram, regularly used in ancient days, whereby the last letter of the alphabet was put in the place of the first latter, the second last letter put in the place of the second letter, and so on. (In English that would mean that we would put ‘z’ instead of ‘a’, ‘y’ instead of ‘b’ and so on. In Hebrew tau instead of aleph, shin instead of beth and so on). But we must remember that in ancient Hebrew only consonants were used (with rare exceptions). Thus lbqmy becomes cshdym. Clearly its use here was not cryptographic as it is made plain in the parallel that Babylon is meant. This may suggest that the usage was rather openly derogatory of Babylon, with Leb-kamai having become a regularly used insulting epitaph.
Jer 51:3-4
“Against the one who bends (i.e. is an archer) let the archer (bender) bend his bow,
And against the one who lifts himself up in his coat of mail,
And do not you spare her young men,
Destroy you utterly all her host,
And they will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And thrust through in her streets.”
For the first line the Hebrew is very repetitive. ’l ydrk ydrk hdrk. In Hebrew an archer is ‘a bender (of the bow)’. Thus both the trained Babylonian archer, and the fully-armoured Babylonian soldier, will have the bows of the enemy bent against them. Nor are the young men to be spared. Indeed there is to be widespread death (‘all her host’) as men fall down slain, and are thrust through in the streets of her cities. This would necessarily occur as resistance was made to a powerful invader in a day when fighting and bloodshed was commonplace. Note that this ‘in the land of the Chaldeans’ not necessarily in the city of Babylon itself.
Jer 51:5
“For Israel is not forsaken (literally ‘widowed’),
Nor Judah, of his God, of YHWH of hosts,
Though their land is full of guilt,
Against the Holy One of Israel.”
The reason why Babylon is being treated in this way is revealed. It is because YHWH has been so much aware of what they have done to His people, and that even though His people too were undeserving. For He wants His people to know that He has not forgotten them or forsaken them, even though their land is full of guilt against ‘the Holy One of Israel’. He has not ceased to be their husband (compare Hosea 2-3). Thus what is to happen to Babylon is partly due to His faithfulness to His people. He has not overlooked what Babylon has done to them.
The contrast with ‘the Holy One of Israel’, the One uniquely separate from all others as ‘Wholly Other’ (totally unlike all others in Being and essence and purity), suggests that the main guilt in mind was with regard to idolatry. They had chosen to worship what was of this world (‘the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds and of fourfooted beasts and of creeping things -’ – Rom 1:23) , rather than the One Who was not of this world, resulting in their own physical and moral debasement. And the signs of their guilt were everywhere, the land was full of them. But it would also include the fact that they were ignoring the requirements of the covenant in other ways as well, as Jeremiah has previously made clear. All breaches of the covenant brought them into a position of guilt, and they were, at the time at which Jeremiah was prophesying, making huge breaches in that covenant.
Jer 51:6
“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life,
Be not cut off in her iniquity,
For it is the time of YHWH’s vengeance,
He will render to her a recompense.”
All who are in Babylon are called on to flee for their lives so that they will not share in her guilt. Babylon was no longer the place to be. The message is addressed to all sojourners in Babylon who are called on to return to their own countries (see Jer 51:9). But following on Jer 51:5 we may see this as especially an injunction to His erring people. They especially are not to cling to Babylon, for YHWH’s vengeance is coming on Babylon, and it is about to receive what is due to it at His hand.
Babylon was a centre to which men had flocked from all countries as they had sought wealth, pleasure and lascivious living within its walls. It was a hotbed of all that appealed to man’s lowest nature, and men loved it. Indeed many Israelites also would be reluctant to leave such things behind. But they are being reminded here that if they continue to associate themselves with Babylon they will share in its guilt and in the consequences of YHWH’s vengeance.
It is a warning to us all today. We too must choose between the degradation of Babylon and the purity of the Holy One of Israel. We must flee from Babylon. ‘Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world, for if any one loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away and all its desires, but he who does the will God abides for ever’ (1Jn 2:15-17). For Babylon will perish, and all that it clings to, and only what is of God will endure.
Jer 51:7
“Babylon has been a golden cup in YHWH’s hand,
Which made all the earth drunk,
The nations have drunk of her wine,
Therefore the nations are mad.”
For Babylon is like a golden cup, abounding in wealth, showy, and extravagant, full of intoxicating drink. And it has forced all the known world to drink of that cup, as it has ravaged and pillaged the nations, resulting in their behaving madly, partaking in her idolatry and her evil ways. But we are here reminded that Babylon has not just gone on its way randomly. For that cup is in YHWH’s hand. Nothing is outside His control, not even Babylon. And through that cup YHWH has brought judgment on the nations. For as we have seen described in the previous chapters He has had His purposes to fulfil against those other nations. And they have drunk of the cup of Babylon and are beside themselves at what has come upon them. Once more we are faced with the paradox of sovereignty and freedom. Babylon carried out its activities in accordance with its own evil desire, and the way it went about it was its own choice. It was not God Who made it do evil. It was Babylon’s inhumanity. But behind all, overruling history, was God, as He sought to bring about His purposes for all nations.
Jer 51:8-9
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed,
Wail for her,
Take balm for her pain,
If so be she may be healed.
We would have healed Babylon,
But she is not healed,
Forsake her,
And let us go every one into his own country,
For her judgment reaches to heaven,
And is lifted up even to the skies.”
In a striking display of compassion Jeremiah calls on Israel/Judah, not to exult in Babylon’s downfall, but to weep for her and even to take some balm to her in order to aid in her healing. But this is only in order to emphasise the doubt as to whether she can be healed. For Israel’s reply comes back, saying, ‘We would have healed Babylon but she is not healed’. Babylon was never willing to receive the truth, even when in extremity.
It is of great interest in this regard to note that Scripture depicts both Assyria and Babylon as having had their moments of revelation to which had they responded permanently they might have been healed. Jonah went to Nineveh which experienced a short term revival (Jon 3:5-10), and Nebuchadrezzar had a unique experience of God Most High, the King of Heaven and responded in humility and worship (Dan 4:34-37). Both were given the opportunity to be healed. But both in the end failed to respond to that healing. So Israel makes clear here that they have sought to heal Babylon by going there with Biblical truth, but that it has proved fruitless. In consequence the only thing left is to forsake her, and for everyone sojourning there to return to their home countries, because Babylon’s situation is hopeless. Her judgment is heaven sent.
‘For her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.’ There may well here be a reference to the tower Babel which also reached up to heaven bringing judgment on itself (Gen 11:1-9). The point is that Babel (Babylon) has not changed, and is still calling down judgment on herself. That is why she cannot be healed.
Jer 51:10
YHWH has brought forth our righteousnesses,
Come, and let us declare in Zion the work of YHWH our God.”
In view of Jer 50:4-6; Jer 50:17-20; Jer 50:28 we may see this as referring to the return of exiles from the many places to which they had been taken (Isa 11:11-12), including Babylonia (Jer 50:28). There in those places many Israelites had been honed and moulded by YHWH so that they had begun to produce righteous behaviour (‘righteousnesses – plural noun), both religiously and morally. He had ‘brought forth their righteousnesses’. Therefore they were now determined to return to their land and declare in Zion what God had done for them as He had purified His people. They would declare ‘the work of YHWH our God’ upon themselves, in partial fulfilment of Jer 31:31-34. For throughout all history God is continually working to bring out a remnant for Himself.
Jer 51:11
“Make sharp the arrows,
Hold firm (literally ‘fill’) the shields,
YHWH has stirred up,
The spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because his purpose is against Babylon,
To destroy it,
For it is the vengeance of YHWH
The vengeance of his temple.”
In a series of three short stanzas Jeremiah declares the certainty of God’s judgment on Babylon. Firstly he names those who will carry out God’s purpose, ‘the kings of the Medes’. Chief among these was Cyrus, king of Persia, whose mother was a Mede and who had close association with the Median royal family. He had subjugated Media with its kings. We note that it was ‘Darius the Mede’ (which may have been another name for Cyrus) who would ‘receive the kingship’ and rule in Babylon (Dan 5:31). Media was a country north-west of Persia and north of Babylon. Their ‘spirit’ has been stirred up by YHWH, in order that they might carry out His will in obtaining vengeance for what Babylon had done to His Temple, something which had been an insult to YHWH as the Temple accoutrements were ignominiously carried off to Babylon. Babylon had destroyed the Temple. Now the God of the Temple would destroy Babylon. We can compare how YHWH was avenged on the Philistines when they carries off the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 5). God is not mocked in the end.
‘Fill the shields’ might have in mind the full length size of the Persian shield into which a man could fit his body. Or it could refer to the means by which the shield was held as the man ‘filled’ it with his arm. As with sharpening the arrows it was basically indicating preparation for battle.
Jer 51:12
“Set up a standard (or ‘signal’) against the walls of Babylon,
Make the watch strong,
Set the watchmen,
Prepare the ambushes,
For YHWH has both purposed and done,
What he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.”
The instructions to the invaders now continue. They are to go about the investment of Babylon efficiently and zealously. They are to set up their standards surrounding Babylon, or alternately the signals that direct the attack; they are to establish a good watch, preventing surprise attack or escape; and they are to prepare ambushes in case of sallies out of the city. And this was because God was carrying out His purpose against Babylon. Pre-eminent in Jeremiah’s thought is that in the end, whatever man’s part in it might be, all is determined by YHWH, for He has ‘spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon’.
Jer 51:13-14
“O you who dwell on many waters,
Abundant in treasures,
Your end is come,
The measure of your covetousness (or ‘the time for you to be cut off’),
YHWH of hosts has sworn by himself,
(saying), Surely I will fill you with men,
As with the young locusts,
And they will lift up a shout against you.”
As well as being used for irrigation the River Euphrates would have been used as a means of arranging defences against attack, by causing it to flow round Babylon. This being so Babylon would look like a city ‘on many waters’. This could be seen as supported by the words on an inscription of Nebuchadrezzar’s, ‘I made water to flow all around in this immense dyke of earth –.’ Alternately the thought may simply be of Babylon’s prosperity as a result of benefiting from the Euphrates, thereby paralleling the ‘abundant in treasures’ and indicating that it was prosperous both agriculturally and materially. Paradoxically it was the diversion of the river that enabled the attackers to take the city by surprise.
The end that is coming on them reveals the depth of their greed. They had coveted the wealth of the nations, now they were receiving judgment in accordance with the measure of their greed. It was not just God against whom Babylon had done a disservice. They had robbed the nations. Thus they had brought on themselves men’s retribution as well as God’s, and would find themselves infested with men arriving like a swarm of locusts. But central is either the thought that God is judging them because of their attitude of heart which contradicted the tenth ‘word’ of the covenant (‘you shall not covet’), or that the measure of their cutting off (i.e. its time) had now come .
They had desired what the nations had, and had filled Babylon’s treasure houses with it, but they had not reckoned on the nations following this up by invading Babylon, filling the city with their ‘men’ arriving like a swarm of locusts. This was not, however, just man’s doing. It was what YHWH had purposed. Indeed He had sworn by Himself (the highest possible form of oath – see Jer 49:13; Amo 6:8; Heb 6:13) that He would do it. Babylon’s prosperity was a constant reminder to God of how they had obtained it. Now the time for payment had come.
‘The lifting up of a shout’ may indicate the battlecries as they took over the city, or the cry of triumph that followed (or indeed both).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Prophecy Of Judgment On The Nations Continued ( Jer 49:1 to Jer 51:64 ).
Having learned that judgment was coming on Egypt, Philistia and Moab, we now go on to learn that it will also visit Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Arabia, Elam and then Babylon itself. None are immune from God’s judgment.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
YHWH’s Judgment On Babylon And His Promises Concerning The Restoration Of The Remnant Of His People ( Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:64 ).
The series of prophecies against the nations had commenced with the prophecy against Egypt, the greatest nation of the area south of the Euphrates. It now finishes with a declaration of judgment against mighty Babylon, which at this time towered over the nations of the whole area. It was also the centre of all that was seen as debauched and debased, it magnified wealth, it engaged in all forms of idolatry and its connected features, and it was glorified by the pagan world. It is representative of much of civilisation today. Geographically Babylon was situated in the area that is now southern Iraq. At the same time, however, alongside the judgments on Babylon is the fact that the restoration of God’s people is assured. It is always God’s aim to bring His people out of ‘Babylon’ to a place where they worship Him truly.
It must be recognised, as is clear from Isaiah’s prophecy, that Babylon was seen as more than just a powerful nation that arose and fell over this period. Rather to Israel it had symbolised all that was in rebellion against God from the beginning. It was the great anti-God city which had commenced its rebellion against God at the time of Nimrod and of the tower of Babel (Babylon) as far back as Gen 10:10; Gen 11:1-9. It had led the incursion into Palestine in the time of Abraham (Gen 14:1 – Shinar = Babylon). And it would shortly underline its invidious position by its destruction of the Temple of YHWH, an act which would have so appalled all Israelites, that it would have been seen as confirming that Babylon was the great Anti-God. While not always independent its splendour and magnificence was renowned throughout the area, a symbol of all that was worldly and debauched. It contained over fifty temples to various gods, was at one stage 200 square miles in size, being built on both sides of the Euphrates, and had huge walls, containing 250 towers, along the top of which chariots could drive. Alexander the Great intended to make it the capital of his empire. Thus the fall of Babylon represented not only the cessation of a great empire, but the destruction of all that was anti-God from the beginning of recorded time. That is why prophecies against it always have such prominence. It was not just literal but symbolic. And it is significant that here in Jeremiah its judgment occupies almost as much space as the remainder of the prophecies against foreign nation put together. It is an indication that YHWH will not only restore His people, but will also finally deal with all that is ‘Anti-God’.
Thus while Jeremiah had earlier counselled submission to Babylon (e.g. Jer 29:5-7), seen as God’s instrument of chastening, it had always been in the light of the coming ultimate destruction of Babylon, and the final restoration of Israel, which are the subjects of what follows. YHWH’s purposes would finally prevail.
It should be noted that unless we dogmatically assert that predictive prophecy is impossible, there are no grounds for refusing to attribute these prophecies to Jeremiah. There are indications of his style, and, as is revealed by his letters, he was sufficiently cognisant of what was going on in Babylon to be able to speak of it with some knowledge.
One last word should be said here. The importance of these chapters lies precisely in what Babylon represented, something which is equally prevalent in the world today. Babylon turned men’s thoughts to the supernatural world which was antagonistic to God, to entering the psychic world; it turned men’s minds to the desire for building up great wealth; it raised in men’s hearts thoughts of great pride and greed. The condemnation of Babylon is therefore a condemnation of all these things. That is one of its major messages for us today. If we shy away from the continuing threats being made against Babylon, we overlook the fact that God is equally vehement in His condemnation of all these traits in our world today. Every verse of these next two chapters should hammer into us the message, ‘God will call all things into account, and here is the evidence’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 51:48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
Jer 51:48
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prophecies Against the Nations Jer 46:1 to Jer 51:64 consists of a collection of nine prophecies against the nations surrounding the land of Israel. The Lord had spoken to Jeremiah during his divine commission and said, “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jer 1:9-10)
1. Prophecy Against Egypt Jer 46:2-28
2. Prophecy Against the Philistines Jer 47:1-7
3. Prophecy Against Moab Jer 48:1-47
4. Prophecy Against the Ammonites Jer 49:1-6
5. Prophecy Against Edom Jer 49:7-22
6. Prophecy Against Damascus Jer 49:23-27
7. Prophecy Against Kedar and Hazor Jer 49:28-33
8. Prophecy Against Elam Jer 49:34-39
9. Prophecy Against Babylon Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:64
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prophecy Against Babylon – Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:64 is a prophecy against Babylon.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Threat of Jehovah in its Various Forms
v. 1. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up against Babylon and against them that dwell in the midst, v. 2. and will send unto Babylon fanners, v. 3. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, v. 4. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through, v. 5. For Israel hath not been forsaken nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts, v. 6. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul, v. 7. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, v. 8. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed, v. 9. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed, v. 10. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness, v. 11. Make bright the arrows, v. 12. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, v. 13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, v. 14. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by Himself, v. 15. He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
v. 16. When He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings with rain and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures.
v. 17. Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
v. 18. They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
v. 19. The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the Former of all things, and Israel is the rod of His inheritance; the Lord of hosts is His name. v. 20. Thou art My battle-ax, v. 21. and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider, and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider, v. 22. with thee also will I break in pieces man and woman, and with thee will I break in pieces old and young, and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid, v. 23. I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, v. 24. And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, v. 25. v. 26. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate forever, saith the Lord,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Jer 51:1
Against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me. The Hebrew has leb-kamai, which is Kasdim, or Chaldea, written in the cypher called Athbash (see on Jer 25:26); just as Sheshach in Jer 51:41 is equivalent to Babel. The question arises whether the prophet himself is responsible for this covert way of writing, or a scribe in later times (so Ewald). In favour of the former view it may be urged that Babylon and Chaldea receive symbolic names (though not in Athbash) in the connected chapter (Jer 50:21, Jer 50:31, Jer 50:32); in favour of the latter, that the Septuagint has in Jer 51:1, and does not express Sheshach in Jer 51:41, also that the clause to which Sheshach belongs in Jer 25:26 is of very dubious genuineness. A destroying wind; rather, the spirit (ruakh) of a destroyer (or perhaps, of destruction). The verb rendered in this verse “raise up,” when used in connection with ruakh, always means “to excite the spirit of any one” (Jer 25:11; Hag 1:14; 1Ch 5:26).
Jer 51:2
Farmers. This is supported by the Septuagint, Peshito, Targum, Vulgate, according to the Massoretic pointing, however, we should render “enemies.” Possibly the prophet intended to suggest both meanings, a and o being so nearly related. Shall empty her land. The original has a much mere striking word, shall pour out (for the figures, comp. Jer 48:12), which occurs again in similar contexts in Isa 24:1; Nah 2:3 (Hebrew, 2).
Jer 51:3
Against him that bendeth, etc. There are two readings in the Hebrew Bibleone that given by the Authorized Version; the other, “Against him that bendeth (let) him that bendeth his bow (come).” The difficulty, however, is in the first two words of the clause, which are the same in either reading. It would be much simpler to alter a single point, and render, “Let not the archer bend his bow; and let him not lift himself up in his coat of mail” (for the old word “brigandine,” see on Jer 46:4); which might be explained of the Babylonians, on the analogy of Jer 46:6, “Let him not bend his bow, for it will be useless;” but then the second half of the verse hardly suits the firstthe prohibitions seem clearly intended to run on in a connected order. On the other hand, the descriptions, “him that bendeth,” and “him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine,” seem hardly a natural way of putting “the Chaldean army.”
Jer 51:4
In her streets; i.e. in the streets of Babylon.
Jer 51:5-14
The covenant between Jehovah and Israel is one reason why Babylon must fall; and Babylon’s own guilt is another. Hence pity is out of place.
“Here liveth piety where pity ends;
Can any man be guilty more than he
Whose bias with the doom of God contends?”
(Dante, ‘Inferno,’ 20.28, Cayley.)
Flee, therefore, lest ye be involved in Babylon’s ruin. For Jehovah’s purpose of vengeance cannot be reversed.
Jer 51:5
Hath not been forsaken. The Hebrew is much more forcible, “is not widowed”alluding to the fundamental Old Testament idea of a mystic marriage between God and his people (comp. Isa 50:1; Isa 54:4-6; Hos 2:1-23.). Was filled with sin; rather, with guilt (Hebrew, asham).
Jer 51:7
Babylon, as the instrument used by God for his judicial purposes, is likened to a wine cup, which “made all the earth drunken” (comp. Jer 25:15, Jer 25:16); and, more than this, to a golden cup, such was the impression made upon the Jewish prophets, by Babylon’s unexampled splendour. So, in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the image, the head of the image is of gold (Dan 2:32, Dan 2:38). But neither her splendour nor her honourable position as God’s minister could save her from merited destruction.
Jer 51:8
Destroyed. The Hebrew, more forcibly, has “is broken.” The Authorized Version wished, perhaps, to avoid the objection that a golden cup could not, properly speaking, be broken. But if we once begin to harmonize the language of Hebrew poetry, we shall have no end. It is not the cup which falls, but the state, considered as a house (the “breach” of God’s people is constantly referred to; e.g. Psa 60:2; Isa 30:26). Howl for her. Sympathetic bystanders are dramatically appealed to. From the next verse it would seem that they are the various foreigners who, whether by choice or force, have been resident in Babylon, and who have acquired an interest in her fate. Hitzig thinks the foreign mercenaries (Jer 50:37) or allies are specially referred to. Take balm for her pain (comp. Jer 8:22; Jer 46:11). The images of fracture and wound are combined, as in Isa 30:26.
Jer 51:9
We would have healed Babylon. Experience shows that it is useless to attempt to correct such inveterate evils. Everyone into his own country (as Jer 50:16). Her judgment; i.e. her punishment. Perhaps there is an allusion to the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, burned by fire from heaven. But we might also render “her crime” (comp. Deu 19:6, where “worthy of death” is more strictly “a capital crime”).
Jer 51:10
Our righteousness; literally, our righteousnesses; not in the sense of “righteous deeds “(as in Isa 64:6; Jdg 5:11), but “those things which prove us to righteous; i.e. by punishing Babylon he hath justified us” (Payne Smith).
Jer 51:11
Make bright; rather, polish, so that the arrows may penetrate easily (comp. Isa 49:2, “a polished shaft”). Gather the shields; rather, fill the shields (viz. with your arms); i.e. take hold of them. Comp. the phrase, “to fill the hand with the bow” (2Ki 9:24). The rendering” quivers” is wanting in philological authority, and seems to have been inferred from this passage, where, however, it is unnecessary. The kings of the Medes. The prophet speaks of the Medes and not the Persians (comp. Isa 13:17). “The reason, probably, is twofold:
(1) that the name Madai became known to the Jews at an earlier period than Paras, ‘Persia;’ and
(2) that the generals of Cyrus were apparently Medes”. The new Cyrus inscription throws light on the latter circumstance.
Jer 51:12
Upon the walls of Babylon; rather, toward the walls (as Jer 4:6). The “standard” was carried before the army, to show the direction of the march. Make the watch strong. Not merely for the safety of the invaders, but to blockade the city. Comp. the phrase, “Watchers [a synonymous Hebrew word is used] came from a far country” (Jer 4:16); i.e. besiegers. Prepare the ambushes. To press into the city when the besieged have made a sally (as Jos 8:14-19; Jdg 20:33, Jdg 20:37).
Jer 51:13
Babylon is addressed as thou that dwellest upon many waters, with reference, not only to the Euphrates, but to the canals, dykes, and marshes which surrounded the city. The measure of thy covetousness. A strange expression, even when we have supplied (and have we a right to do so?) a suitable verb, such as “is full.” “Measure” is, literally, ell, “covetousness” should rather be gain, or spoil. Another possible rendering is, “The ell measure of thy cutting off.” In fact, the root meaning of the word rendered “gain,” or “covetousness,” is “to cut off;” and the figure of cutting off a man’s half-finished life, like a web from the loom, is familiar to us from the psalm of Hezekiah (Isa 38:12; comp. Job 6:9).
Jer 51:14
Surely I will fill thee, etc. This is the rendering of Hitzig and Graf; the enemies are compared to locusts, as in Jer 46:23. But the expression, “to fill a city with men,” is more naturally taken of the increase of the population of the city; and it is better to render, with Ewald and Keil, “Even though [or, ‘Surely even though’] I have filled thee with men, as with locusts, they shall raise over thee the cheer of the vintage;” i.e. the millions of Babylon’s population will not save her from the most utter ruin. For the vintage cheer, see on Jer 25:30; and for the figures, see especially, Isa 63:1-6.
Jer 51:15-19
Probably interpolated from Jer 10:12-16 (the only verbal difference is in Jer 10:19, where “Israel” is left out before “the rod of his inheritance”). But may not Jeremiah have quoted himself? Conceivably, yes; but he would surely not have quoted such a passage here, where it spoils the context. For granting that a point of contact with verse 14 may be found for verses 15, 16 (Jehovah who has sworn has also the power to accomplish), yet the passage on the idols stands quite by itself, and distracts the attention of the reader.
Jer 51:20-26
Israel is now to be Jehovah’s hammer, striking down everything, even the Chaldean colossus. But though Babylon may be as great and as destructive as a volcanic mountain, it shall soon be quite burnt out.
Jer 51:20
My battle axe; or, my mace. The mace (for a picture of which, see Rawlinson, ‘Ancient Monarchies,’ 1.459) was a weapon constantly employed by the Assyrians and presumably by the Babylonian kings. The battle axe was much less frequently used. But who is addressed by this terrible title? The commentators are divided, some inclining to Babylon,
(1) because Babylon was the last person addressed (see Jer 51:14), and
(2) because a similar title was given to Babylon in Jer 50:23 : others to Israel, on the ground that the tenses are the same throughout the passage (Jer 50:20-24). The latter view is probably the best. How could Babylon be said to shatter her own “governors” and “viceroys” (for the prophet deliberately chooses the Babylonian official names)? The argument from the context is not very weighty; for it is clear that the connection of the parts of this prophecy is very loose. We may assume, then, that Jer 50:20 begins a fresh paragraph, standing quite apart from that which precedes. The objection of Graf and Keil, is that Israel could not himself be styled a “mace,” it being Israel’s destiny to be delivered by others. But is not a very similar statement made of Israel in Isa 41:15; Psa 149:7-9? (Kuenen offers a third explanationCyrus.) The nations kingdoms. First the great social organisms are mentioned; next comes the military power; next the population, according to sex, age, and class.
Jer 51:23
Captains; rather, governors. It is the Hebraized form (pekhah) of the official name of an Assyrian or Babylonian governor (pahhat). Rulers; rather, viceroys; Hebrew, segamin (plural). The singular, sagan, is Hebraized from the Assyrian sakun, Babylonian sagun.
Jer 51:25, Jer 51:26
Another image for the destruction of Babylon.
Jer 51:25
O destroying mountain. The description evidently points to a volcano.
(1) Jehovah says that he will roll the mountain down from the rocks, which can only be understood of the stones and lava hurled down from the crater;
(2) that he will make it a “mountain of burning,” i.e. either to a burning, or, more forcibly, a burnt out mountain; and
(3) that, as a consequence of this, its stones shall be unsuitable for the purposes of the builder. Now, Palestine, it has been clearly made out, “lies almost in the centre of one great volcano region of the earth’s surface, that, namely, which includes the basin of the Mediterranean and the provinces of Western or Central Asia. Traces of that volcanic action are found in every direction. The black basaltic rock of the Hauran, the hot springs of Tiberius and Emmaus and Gadara, the naphtha fountains near the Dead Sea, the dykes of porphyry and other volcanic rooks that force their way through the limestone, the many eaves in the limestone rocks themselves,all these show that we are treading on ground where the forces of the hidden fires of earth have been in times past in active operation. We are, that is, in a zone of earthquakes”. There is a striking parallel to this prophetic description in Rev 8:8, where the destruction of a great empire is likened to the submersion in the sea of a great burning mountain, (Vitringa has noticed the parallel.)
Jer 51:26
And they shall not take of thee, etc. “Of thee,” i.e. “of the Babylonian power” personifiednot “of Babylon,” which was built of brick, not of stone. The figure of the mountain is still preserved.
Jer 51:27-37
A more detailed sketch of the conquest of Babylon; followed (somewhat out of the natural order) by a complaint on the part of Israel, and a promise of championship on that of Jehovah.
Jer 51:27
Prepare the nations; literally, consecrate the nations; viz. by religious rites. It is in an especial sense a religious war to which they are summoned (see on Jer 6:4, and comp. Isa 13:3). Ararat. Ararat appears in the cuneiform inscriptions under the form “Urartu? In Isa 37:38 the Authorized Version renders correctly by “Armenia.” The Assyrian kings, since Shalmaneser, were constantly at war with the Armenians; Assurbanipal reduced them to pay tribute. Minni. The Mannai of the cuneiform inscriptions. The locality of this tribe has been hitherto wrongly given as the mountain country about Lake Vau. But Professor Sayco has shown that they are rather to be looked for to the southwest of Lake Urumiyeh. A captain. The word (tifsar) is singular, but is probably to be understood collectively as equivalent to “captains,” like the word (sus, “horse,” equivalent to “horses”) to which it is parallel. It is here used loosely of certain officials of the Armenians; but properly it is an Assyrian word (adopted from the Accadian or proto-Babylonian), meaning “tablet writer,” and derived, according to Friedrich Delitzsch, from dip or dup, a tablet, and sat, to write (Accadian words). As the rough caterpillars. This is the third of the four kinds of locusts mentioned in Joe 1:4; or, to speak more precisely, it is the locust in its penultimate stage, when its wings are already visible, but enveloped in horn-like sheaths, which stand up upon its back. Hence the epithet “rough,” or “bristling.” Keil’s rendering, “as the dreadful (horrifying) locust,” implies a faulty interpretation of Joe 1:4. It would be strange indeed if Joel had accumulated four synonymous terms for locust in such a peculiar context.
Jer 51:28
The captains the rulers; rather, the governors the viceroys (as Jer 51:23). Thereof refers to the land of Medea; his dominion to the King of Medea, as the suzerain of the inferior chiefs.
Jer 51:29
Shall tremble and sorrow. The Hebrew has “trembled and sorrowed” (or, “quaked and writhed for pain”); and in the sequel, have stood (i.e. been ratified by the event, as Jer 44:28). The prophet here, as so often, regards what is still future as past from the point of view of eternity.
Jer 51:30
Despair of the Babylonian warriors. Have forborne to fight should rather be have ceased to fight. In their holds. The word is used of hill or mountain fastnesses, and such presumably are referred to here. Their might; rather, their courage. They have burned, etc. The subject is “the enemies.” Her bars; viz. those with which the city gates were secured (comp. Isa 45:2; Amo 1:5).
Jer 51:31
One post shall run to meet another, etc. The wall being broken through at various points, couriers would meet each other on their way to the royal palace. This was itself a fortress in the centre of the city, on the Euphrates. The newly discovered cylinder inscription, however, shows that Nabonidus, the last King of Babylon, was not actually in the city at the time of the capture. At one end; rather, from end to end (see on Jer 50:26).
Jer 51:32
And that the passages are stopped; rather, are seized (as Jer 48:41). Babylon, it should be remembered, was divided nearly in half by the Euphrates. It was guarded, says Professor Rawlinson, “by two walls of brick, which skirted them along their whole length. In each of these walls were twenty-five gates, corresponding to the number of the streets which gave upon the river; and outside each gate was a sloped landing place, by which you could descend to the water’s edge, if you had occasion to cross the river. Boats were kept ready at these landing places to convey passengers from side to side; while for those who disliked this method of conveyance, a bridge was provided of a somewhat peculiar construction” (‘Ancient Monarchies,’ 2.514). The reeds they have burned with fire. This rendering is no doubt tenable, though it gives an unusual meaning to the first noun. The “reeds” would be those of the marshes in the neighbourhood of Babylon; and Kimchi suggests that these would be cut down to facilitate the entrance of the army into the city, Surely a very forced explanation. The natural meaning of the first noun is “pools” or “lakes,” and, considering that Herodotus (1.185) speaks of a lake in connection with the defences of Babylon, it has been thought (e.g. by Vitringa) that the prophet may refer to something which was to happen to this and similar lakes; “burned with fire” is then regarded as a hyperbolical expression equivalent to “dried up” (comp. Jer 51:36). This, however, is hardly less forced than the first interpretation; and we seem almost compelled to assume s corruption of the text, and to read (for ‘agammn) ‘armonm, palaces. If “palaces” (i.e. lofty houses, for such is the etymological meaning) were not uncommon at Jerusalem (Isa 32:14), much more frequent must they have been at Babylon, Or perhaps the prophet refers to the two magnificent royal palaces, which, together with the temple of Bel, constituted the wonders of Babylon. They were on opposite sides of the river, and were guarded with triple enclosures, the circumference in the one case amounting to sixty stadia (nearly seven miles), and in the other to thirty (Rawlinson, ‘Ancient Monarchies,’ 2.514, etc.).
Jer 51:33
It is time to thresh her; rather, at the time when it is trodden (i.e. made level by treading or trampling); comp. Isa 21:10; Mic 4:13.
Jer 51:34
The Jewish captives are introduced, describing the offences of Babylon. Hath devoured me; rather, hath devoured us, and so on. “My delicates” (delights), however, is correct. He hath made me; rather, he hath set us (down) as. Swallowed me up like a dragon; or, literally, like the dragon. Comparing this with Jer 51:44, it is difficult not to see an allusion to the Babylonian myth of the Serpent, who in the fight with Marduk (Meredach) devoured the tempest, which rent asunder her belly. The cuneiform text is given in Transactions of Society of Biblical Archaeology, vol. 4. part 2, appendix plate 6. Part of it runs thus
25. ip-te-ra pi-i-sa Ti-amtu a-na la-h-a-h-sa
Opened also her mouth Tiamtu to swallow it.
26. rukhu limnu yus-te-ri-ba a-na la ca-par sap-ti-sa
The evil wind he caused to enter into the uncovering of her lips [= into her lips before she could close them]
27. iz-zu-ti rukhi car-sa-sa i-tsa-mi-va
violent (were) the winds (which) her belly filled; and
28. in-ni-kud lib-ba-sa va-pa-a-sa yus-pal-ki (?)
she was pierced in her heart and her mouth it caused to divide.je-7
Readers of Smith’s ‘Chaldean Genesis’ will remember Tiamtu the dragon, and the representations thereof given from the gems. In line 27 the word rendered “her belly” contains the Babylonian analogue of the word rendered in this verse “his belly” (kres). With my delicates, he hath cast me out; rather, cast us out; or, from my delights he hath cast as out. For the variation of person, comp. Jdg 11:19, “Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place;” and on the whole phrase, Mic 2:9, ” ye have cast out from their pleasant homes.”
Jer 51:35
And to my flesh; rather, and my (eaten)flesh (comp. Mic 3:3). Inhabitant; rather, inhabitress; i.e. virgin inhabiting.
Jer 51:36
Her sea; i.e. the Euphrates (comp. Isa 21:1), or perhaps the lake dug by Nitocris to receive the waters of the Euphrates, Herod; 1.185 (Payne Smith). Comp. on “the reeds,” Jer 51:32. Her springs, rather, her reservoirs. There are no springs, remarks Dr. Payne Smith, in the flat alluvial soil of Babylonia. The Hebrew word makor is used here collectively for the whole system of canals and reservoirs for the storing of the water.
Jer 51:37
Heaps. “Vast ‘heaps,’ or mounds, shapeless and unsightly, are scattered at intervals over the entire region where it is certain that Babylon anciently stood” (Rawlinson, ‘Ancient Monarchies,’ 2:521). Dragons; rather, jackals.
Jer 51:38-49
Fall of Babylon; joy of the whole world.
Jer 51:38, Jer 51:39
They shall roar . In their heat; rather, They may roar (yet) when they wax warm (with lust) I will prepare. The banquet which Jehovah will prepare is the “cup of bewilderment” spoken of in Psa 60:3; comp. Isa 51:17 (i.e. a calamitous judgment).
Jer 51:40
I will bring them down, etc. (comp. Isa 34:6; Eze 39:18).
Jer 51:41
How is Sheshach taken! The Septuagint omits “Sheshach” (see, on the name, Jer 25:26), and very possibly rightly.
Jer 51:42
The sea is come up, etc. It is not clear whether this is to be taken literally or metaphorically (of the sea of nations, comp. Jer 51:55). Probably it is meant literally. It is said that the annual inundations of the Euphrates at present render many parts of the ruins of Babylon inaccessible.
Jer 51:44
Bel; i.e. Merodach, the patron deity of Babylon (see on Jer 50:2). Swallowed up. An allusion to the myth mentioned above (see Jer 51:34). That which Bel, i.e. Babylon, has “swallowed up” is not only the spoil of the conquered nations, but those nations themselves. Yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall; literally, is fallen (is as good as fallen). The famous wall of Babylon (comp. Jer 51:58) is described by Herodotus. From this clause down to the first half of Jer 51:49 is omitted in the Septuagint.
Jer 51:46
And lest your heart faint, etc.; rather, and (beware) lest, etc. A rumour shall both come; rather, for a rumour shall come. The war, then, will last some time, and all kinds of rumours will be in the air. Keil compares Mat 24:6.
Jer 51:48
From the north. The same statement as in Jer 50:3, Jer 50:9, Jer 50:41.
Jer 51:49
As Babylon hath caused, etc. The verse is very difficult. Ewald and others render thus: “Not only must Babylon fall, O ye slain ones of Israel, but slain ones of the whole earth have fallen because of Babylon.” But why this address to the slain ones of Israel? Besides, the antithesis indicated in the Hebrew is thereby destroyed. Hell explains the antithesis thus: “Just as Babylon was intent on the fall of slain ones in Israel, so also there fall because of Babylonian slain ones of all the earth,” viz. because there are to be found, in the capital of the empire, people from all quarters of the world, who are slain when Babylon is conquered. A better antithesis seems to be gained if we follow the Peshito, and read, at the end of the verse, “in the whole earth.” It will then be asserted by the prophet that, just as Babylon was the cause of the slaying of Israelites, so (as a punishment) the Babylonian fugitives shall be slain wherever they may wander.
Jer 51:50-58
Conclusion of the prophecy.
Jer 51:50
Ye that have escaped the sword. Evidently Jews are the persons addressed. It is not, however, perfectly clear whether the escape is from the sword of Babylon or from that of Divine vengeance. The parallel of Isa 24:14 would suggest the latter; but in the following verses the fall of Babylon is described as still to come. Stand not still. Lest ye be overtaken by the judgment.
Jer 51:51
We are confounded. A reflection of the exiles, expressing their deep shame at the ignominy which has been their lot. Are come; or, came.
Jer 51:53
The height of her strength; i.e. her lofty walls and towers.
Jer 51:55
The great voice; rather, the loud sound; i.e. the tumult of the city. When her waves; rather, and her waves; i.e. the conquering hosts (comp. Jer 46:7).
Jer 51:56
The Lord God of recompenses shall, etc.; rather, The Lord is a God of recompense; he will, etc.
Jer 51:57
Her captains, and her rulers (see on Jer 51:23).
Jer 51:58
The broad walls of Babylon and her high gates. See Herod; 1.179, 181, and the parallel accounts from other authors, cited by Duncker (‘Hist. of Antiquity,’ 3.373, etc.), who taxes Herodotus with exaggeration, but admits as probable that the walls were not less than forty feet broad. Utterly broken; rather, destroyed even to the ground (literally, made bare). The people; rather, peoples.
Jer 51:59-64
Epilogue. The word, etc. (see Jer 51:61). Seraiah. Apparently the brother of Baruch. With Zedekiah. The Septuagint has “from Zedekiah,” which is referred by Bleek and Gratz. It would thus be an embassy, of which Seraiah was the head. According to the ordinary reading, Zedekiah went himself. A quiet prince. Not so. The Hebrew means probably, “in command over the resting place,” i.e. he took charge of the royal caravan, and arranged the halting places. But the Targum and the Septuagint have a more probable reading (not, however, one involving a change in the consonants of the text, “in command over the gifts,” i.e. the functionary who took charge of the presents made to the king. M. Lenormant speaks of an official called “magister largitionum” (bel tabti) in the Assyrian court.
Jer 51:61
(Comp. Jer 50:3; Jer 51:26.) And shalt see, and shalt read; rather, See that thou read.
Jer 51:64
And they shall be weary. Accidentally repeated from Jer 51:59 (see introduction to Jer 1:1-19.). Thus far, etc. Proving that the Book of Jeremiah once ended with Jer 51:1-64.
HOMILETICS
Jer 51:5
Suffering, but not forsaken.
Israel is not forsaken because she is driven from her home. Babylon is not more favoured because she flourishes for a season as a “golden cup in the Lord’s hand.” For the land of the Chaldeans is filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. Thus the truth is quite contrary to appearances.
I. WHEN GOD CHASTISES HIS PEOPLE HE MUST NOT BE THOUGHT TO HAVE FORSAKEN THEM. The chastisement is for their own good. It is, therefore, a proof that God has not neglected them. Instead of being an indication of hatred or indifference, chastisement is a sign of God’s love. Moreover, when his people suffer God is peculiarly near to them. Those captives who hung their harps on the willows by the rivers of Babylon found God more present than he had been to the careless sinful Jews who assembled in the courts of his temple. It is to be remembered that God is near to us when we do not perceive him, and often nearest in those dark hours when bitterness of soul prevents us from having any comforting hope in him.
II. THOUGH GOD WILL CHASTISE HIS PEOPLE HE WILL NEVER FORSAKE THEM. This is a further step. Not only is the chastisement no proof of God’s having forsaken his people, but in no case will he forsake them; no such proof can ever be found. True, they may be separated from God and may become “castaways;” but this is only because they forsake him. He is ever true to his side of the covenant. Let us, therefore, be prepared to expect the chastisement, but also be well settled in faith that the far worse trouble, the neglect of our souls by God, can never come.
III. OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NO INDICATIONS OF OUR RELATIONS WITH GOD. The great contrast between Israel and Babylon furnishes a striking instance of this truth. It is strange. For one would have thought that the outward and inward life would harmonize. So they will ultimately. Then the “golden cup” will be broken and the suffering child of God exalted to honour. But now the world is in confusion, evil is allowed a certain liberty for the consequent discipline of good, and thus the sufferers may be near to God while the fortunate and happy are far away in sin,
Jer 51:10
Public thanksgiving.
In the destruction of Babylon and the restoration of Israel the devout sufferers of the Captivity see the justification of their conduct which had lain under a shadow while they shared in the punishment of their guilty brethren. So happy an issue from their troubles calls for devout gratitude, and this finds its expression in hymns of praise and public thanksgiving.
I. PRAISE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF WORSHIP. Two faults may be observed in much of our worshipboth arising from our centring it in ourselves.
1. It is too selfish. We are more earnest in prayer than in praise. In sore need we cry out with terrible anxiety; but when the need is satisfied we return thanks in poor and faint tones. We are eager to obtain blessings for ourselves, but little desirous of glorifying God. Yet the essence of worship is self-surrender. We degrade it and contradict its spirit when we make it serve the ends of self-seeking.
2. It is too subjective. We dwell much on our own feelings instead of going out of self in the contemplation of God. Consequently our worship is pitched too much in the minor key. We wail out “Misereres” when we should be shouting “Magnificats.” We have much to say about our low estate, but little concerning the way in which God has regarded it. But, the highest worship is adorationthe going out of self in wonder, love, and praise towards the glory of God. It would be well if we made less mention of our own feelings and were more ready to “declare the work of the Lord our God.”
II. PRAISE MUST BE DEFINITE IF IT IS TO BE EARNEST. Much of our worship is vapid and senseless because it is expressed in big vague phrases which carry little thought to our minds.
1. We should praise God by declaring his works. It is his character that we adore. But we see and realize this as it is reflected in his works. We see the glory of the sun, not by gazing with eagle vision into its dazzling centre, but by looking abroad on the many hues that it casts on land and sea and sky. We cannot see the glory of God by abstract speculations on divinity; we must study his works in nature, providence, and redemption.
2. We should praise God by noting those particular works which affect our experience. This is the secret of earnest praise. The Jews declare the works they have witnessed; i.e. the special blessings of the restoration. Each man can call to mind some of the blessings he has personally enjoyed, and in the consideration of these see good ground for glorifying God.
III. THE EXPRESSION OF PRAISE SHOULD BE PUBLIC. The people come together; they assemble at Zion, the place of public worship; they declaremake publicthe works of God. This is fitting for many reasons.
1. It glorifies God. This is the only way in which we can glorify him. We cannot add to his glory, but we may reflect it.
2. It increases our own thankfulness. Joy is sympathetic. By sharing it we increase it.
3. It leads others to see the same glory and goodness of God. A song of praise is the most effectual sermon on the grace of God; for it is
(1) the language of experience,
(2) an expression of feeling, and
(3) a vivid representation of “the works of the Lord our God.”
Jer 51:10
(See homily on Jer 10:16.)
Jer 51:20
God’s battle axe.
I. GOD SOMETIMES WORKS DESTRUCTION. He does not. delight in destruction. It is not his chief work. But he has performed it and he may again. When a thing is absolutely evil it is best that it should cease to be. For the prevention of further evil it must be destroyed. The Creator then becomes the destroyer.
II. GOD USES HUMAN INSTRUMENTS. He might have sent death, as he created life, with a word. But he chose to use a weapon, “a battle axe,” i.e. a human instrument. Thus
(1) he honours good men by making them his servants, and
(2) he counteracts the evil influence of bad men by overruling it for ends of Divine judgment.
III. THEY WHO CANNOT SERVE GOD IN THE HIGHER WORK MAY YET SERVE HIM IN SOME NEEDFUL MISSION. The man who cannot become a prophet may act as “God’s battle axe.” In God’s great kingdom there is work for all classes and kinds of men. Rough and rude natures may find some mission. Still the highest mission is not that. of destruction. The most worthy servant of God is he who follows Jesus Christ and. “goes about doing good,”
Jer 51:45
Flight from the city of Destruction.
As Christ advised his disciples to flee from Jerusalem when the judgment of heaven was about to fall, Jeremiah here calla upon the Hebrew residents in Babylon to escape from the doomed city. The parallel suggests that similar circumstances may render similar conduct again desirable.
I. THE SINFUL WORLD IS A CITY OF DESTRUCTION. The world as God created it. is good and safe. But man has made the world a dangerous place by his abuse of its lower properties. Thus the worldly spirit is an evil spirit, and the prince of this world is the supreme power of wickedness. Jesus Christ blended together his picture of the destruction of Jerusalem with a larger vision of the end of the world. In what way the wider and more distant fulfilment of his prophecy will come about we cannot tell; the day of it is known to no man, not even to the “Son of man” (Mat 24:36). Meanwhile the world lies under a certain doom. It has been so corrupted and abused that to yield to its spirit, to follow its ways, to live mainly for its advantages, is to court ruin.
II. THE CHRISTIAN IS URGED TO FLEE FROM THIS CITY OF DESTRUCTION. (2Co 6:16-7:1.) It would seem that the sharp line of separation between the world and the Church is melting away. Perhaps it was somewhat stiff and arbitrary. Many innocent things were once put under the ban which most of us would not now think of condemning, and an unhealthy sanctimoniousness was fostered by the idea that strictness was holiness. We are growing more free and more reasonable in some respects, learning that “every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified through the Word of God and prayer.” Moreover, we may hope that the Spirit of Christ has penetrated into the world beyond the boundaries of the Church, so that the very atmosphere of worldly society is more or less permeated by purifying Christian ideas. Nevertheless the approach of the world and the Church is mutual If the world is coming nearer to the Church, the Church is in some respects approaching the world. A worldly spirit in business, in pleasure, even in religion, is too apparent. We forget that we are pilgrims and strangers here and seek another city. We live too much as if worldly prosperity were the goal of life. We need to be reminded that this is not our rest, that in so far as we yield to the spirit of worldliness we court the doom of the city of Destruction.
III. THE CHRISTIAN‘S FLIGHT FROM THE CITY OF DESTRUCTION MUST BE SPIRITUAL. Jews were to flee bodily from Babylon and Christians from Jerusalem But the flight we need is wholly different in character. Monks and hermits thought to flee from the world by hiding within still cloisters or far away among desert solitudes. But they made a double mistake. They neglected their duty to the world and yet they did not escape from the evil of it. We may carry the world into the wilderness, for it is in our hearts. While we have bodies and live on the earth no change of place will be an escape from the world. Then we have a mission to fulfil, and no pretence of care for our own souls can excuse us for shirking the work of life; certain views of salvation are often put forth according to which Christianity is supreme selfishnessthe saving of one’s own soul even though others suffer. These are false. The great duty of the Christian is to live for me good of his fellow men. To do this he must be in the world. Intercourse with the world for such a purpose is right. It is foolish to visit an infected locality for pleasure, but divinely charitable to do so to minister to the sick. The flight from the world must be escape from its spirit, its evil influence, its sinful delights. Christ prays, not that we shall be taken out of the world, but that we shall be saved from the evil of it. Through him we may have this deliverance, because he has “overcome the world.”
Jer 51:50
The duty and encouragement of the saved.
I. THE DUTY. “Stand not still.”
1. Why the duty is requisite. Past deliverance is no security for the future. The first arrow missed the mark, but the second may strike. The tide advances; though the waves have not yet reached us, they will overwhelm us if we remain where we are.
(1) It is possible to avoid one earthly trouble and succumb to anotherto escape the sword and fall a prey to the pestilence.
(2) It is possible to escape much distress in this world and then to fall under a terrible doom in the next world.
(3) It is possible to be safe now from the terrible effects of sin and to yield to future temptation and so bring upon our heads ruin in the future.
2. How the duty is to be performed.
(1) We must be prayerful. As the danger is ever renewed so must the grace be. Therefore we need to be always seeking aid from heaven.
(2) We must be watchful.. New dangers may arise at any moment.
(3) We must be anxious to flee from evil. Our whole course must be with the back to the city of Destruction.
(4) we must be diligent. The attainments of the past will not suffice. Forgetting those things which are behind, we must press forward. The Christian’s safety is not in indolent reliance upon Christ, but in trustful obedience.
II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT. “Remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind”
1. God’s grace in the past is an encouragement for the future. Past deliverances will not secure us against future danger, but they wall furnish reasons for seeking safety again in God.
2. The chief reason for pressing diligently and hopefully forward is to be found in the contemplation of God. His holiness should make us fear sin; his love should make us trust in his helping grace. That we may not stand still, we should “remember the Lord.”
3. Our very remoteness from God should urge us not to stand still We may have wandered far from God in sin, or have forgotten him among the crowd of worldly distractions. But when we realize our condition, when we come to ourselves, we shall see that our only safety will be in arising and going to our Father. We can never be too far to return by Christ” the Way.” The further we are from God the greater is our danger, the nearer we approach him the more of his grace and help shall we enjoy.
4. Thoughts of our mission and destiny should induce us not to stand still. The Jews are to remember Jerusalem, their ancient home, the seat of their future destinies. If there were no such city they might despair in their exile. The thought of Jerusalem suggests a centre of union and an aim for the future. If a man loses all hope, he loses himself. When we think of our possible future and of our mission, we are roused to take up the tangled threads and weave our life’s work with patience according to the pattern of God’s will.
Jer 51:52-64
The book cast into the river.
I. MEN DO NOT SUFFER FOR THEIR SINS WITHOUT WARNING FROM GOD. Seraiah was to go to Babylon and see that he read there the words of the prophecy concerning the city. God has warned us of the doom of sin, and he has sent the warning to us. We have not to search for it. It sounds in our ears. It is written large in the Bible. It is repeated in the lessons of providence.
II. IF A DIVINE WARNING IS DISREGARDED IT IS USELESS TO THE DOOMED. The prophecy seems to have had little or no effect on the people of Babylon. No doubt it was sent in mercy like Jonah’s preaching against Nineveh, to lead the people to repentance. But if they failed to repent, the Divine message could afford no protection. Unless we are influenced by the Bible, it will be useless for us to hold it in our hands. It can be then only a witness against us. Neither the mere possessor of Scripture, nor the reader, nor the student of it finds a way of safety in its teachings, but only he who follows its truths in practice. He who hears Christ’s sayings and does them builds on the rock.
III. WHEN A DIVINE WARNING IS PROVED TO BE INEFFECTUAL IT MAY BE WITHHELD. The book, no longer of use, is to be cast into the river and sunk with a stone attached to it. The voice of conscience grows silent from being long unheeded. While men neglect to obey the teachings of Scripture, they harden themselves against the reception of them. If there is no mere warning, they may grow careless as though there were no more danger. They should rather take this silence as Ominous of the approaching destruction which the warning has been ineffectual in urging them to escape.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Jer 51:5
Divine love not to be severed from its object.
A marvellous statement. A down-trodden, sinful remnant of his people, who had broken every engagement of his covenant, is still owned and cared for.
I. A PROOF OF THE FAITHFULNESS AND LONG SUFFERING MERCY OF GOD.
1. Having entered into covenant relations with Israel, he will not withdraw from them, even although their portion of the agreement has not been kept. He remains faithful, notwithstanding human unfaithfulness. The awful guilt of the elect nation cannot invalidate the obligations God has imposed upon himself. He is ready, therefore, at any moment to fulfil these when the conditions are complied with.
2. But it is rather to be taken as illustrating Divine mercy. The purposes of his love are never laid aside. He devises schemes of salvation when we are yet sinners.
3. Though hidden from human eyes, Divine love works continually and through all things. It was hard for mere men to see the favour of God in such times. Many of the Israelites themselves, doubtless, imagined themselves forsaken. Yet was redemption nearer to them in Babylon than when at Jerusalem they insulted and disobeyed him. “All things work together for good to them that love God,” ere.; “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15).
II. A REVELATION FULL OF WARNING AND ENCOURAGEMENT.
1. The enemies of the Church are not to presume upon her misfortunes.
2. The Church itself, although cast down and feeble, is to be of good courage, for it is not cast off. Adversity is not forsakenness. “Lo, I am with you alway.” There is no room for presumption, for the chastisements of love have greater severities in store for aggravated guilt. But, relying on the grace of God, it may arise and recommence the mission it has forsaken.M.
Jer 51:6, Jer 51:50
The duty of separating from the world.
I. IN WHAT SENSE OBLIGATORY UPON THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
1. Spiritual detachment is always the duty of saints. In heart and life they are to be separate unto the Lord. Their motives, ulterior aims, and dispositions are to be such as the Holy Spirit creates and fosters. They obey the law of the resurrection life, and “seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, setting their affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:1, Col 3:2).
2. Physical removal may be requisite when
(1) all hope of saving or benefiting sinful men is at end; or
(2) there is danger that we snail yield to the temptations of their society, or encourage them in their evil courses, and thus share their curse. The Jews were to seek the peace of Babylon so long as that was possible; to share in civic life, business pursuits, and social intercourse, until this prophecy came to their knowledge.
II. THE MOTIVES AND AIMS THAT ARE TO INFLUENCE US IN DOING THIS, They are not selfish. It is only when spiritual interests are at stake. There must be no idleness or lingering when the call of duty comes. The Jew was to arise and seek his long forsaken land at once. His motives were:
1. Allegiance to God. He was to “remember the Lord afar off.” God was indeed near to him, even there in Babylon. lie is to seek more closely to serve and honour him. And this ought ever to be the aim of Christians: “a closer walk with God.” And if he be spiritually minded, he will feel the attraction of the Divine presence and the blessedness of the Divine communion, which far more than make up for temporal loss or sorrow incurred for conscience’ sake. It is the special duty of Christians to call upon God and obey him when amongst those who do not know his Name.
2. The interests of the kingdom of God on earth. God sought to separate and sanctify to himself a peculiar people in olden time, that it might witness to his truth. He still seeks to gather a spiritual Church, whose communion consists of those who are redeemed by the blood of his Son. Through its manifold ministries he is carrying out the salvation of the world. Every Christian is bound to connect himself with it in some form or other, and to take his part in its worship and work. The language of the ancient exile might well be adopted by every member of the new IsraelPsa 122:1-9.; Psa 137:5, Psa 137:6.M.
Jer 51:10
Praise the outcome of saintly experience.
These are the words of Jeremiah, but there can be little doubt he is but instinctively interpreting the emotion that must fill the breasts of his countrymen when his predictions were accomplished. As a representative Israelite, he expresses the deep-seated impulse that is felt when the greater providences and special spiritual deliverances of life are realized.
I. EXPERIENCES OF SAVING GRACE AN OCCASION OF THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE. We owe thankful recognition to God for our creation, preservation, and the recurring, mercies of our temporal life; but there are stronger emotions awakened by the experiences of grace in the spiritual nature.
1. Notice some of these. This deliverance from Babylon. Conversion, or the rescue of the soul from the spiritual Babylon. The triumphs of the gospel; faithfulness of saints; increase of spiritual power and influence; preservation of Christian institutions in times of spiritual apathy or persecution; evangelization of heathen lands, etc. Special answers to prayer, or peace and comfort in private fellowship with our heavenly Father.
2. Their general character. “The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness” (“righteousnesses”). This deliverance was a great act of judgment. The cause of God’s people was vindicated, and the guilt of Babylon avenged! (cf. Psa 37:6). The whole world was witness of the character and meaning of the event. And this is the element in all the experiences of grace that awakens special thanksgivingthey are manifestations of Divine righteousness in the life of men; triumphs of truth and holiness and love.
II. THE SPECIAL DUTY TO WHICH THEY CALL US.
1. Declaring and interpreting God’s work to men,
(1) by word;
(2) by work.
2. Public celebration in God’s house. Zion was the most fitting and representative, place for such a duty. Public worship should be linked with the experiences of private devotion and the spiritual life. Public and common praise is the privilege and delight of Christians.M.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Jer 51:6
Escape for thy life!
“Flee out of the midst of Babylon,” etc. This word was addressed to those who should be found in Babylon when the day of vengeance came upon her (cf. Gen 19:15). And it seems to anticipate what was afterwards the factthat many of the Jews would not care to go away from Babylon. Note
I. WHO ARE TO ESCAPE. This word was not addressed to all. Many of God’s people did “let Jerusalem come into their mind,” and, as soon as ever opportunity was given them, they returned to their own land. But there were many who chose to stay. They had long dwelt in Babylon. They had got to like her rule, for they had prospered in this world’s wealth. The surrounding idolatries did not “vex” their souls. They felt secure in her; they had become morally and spiritually enslaved. Hence they would not return with their brethren when the opportunity came. And how like is the position of men now! They are in bondage and spiritual captivity under the power of “the prince of this world.” Some have heard the word and have escaped, but others care not to flee. They are content to be where and as they are.
II. WHENCE THEY ARE TO ESCAPE. Babylon stands for the kingdom of evil, which is ruled over by the spirit of evil. Now, that kingdom is fitly represented by Babylon. The power, the attractiveness, the fascination, the deceptiveness, the widespread and long continued rule of the one find their type and likeness in the other. And the unwillingness which was felt by the great majority of Jews to quit Babylon is paralleled by the more sad unwillingness to abandon that kingdom of evil which God is ever bidding us escape and flee from.
III. WHY WE ARE TO ESCAPE. It is “for our life.” This cannot be taken literally of the Jews in Babylon. For, so far as this life was concerned, they prospered greatly under the Persian rule (cf. Book of Esther in proof). And their descendants lived on right down to the times of the apostles, and were those “of the dispersion” of whom we read in the New Testament. But for the most their national and spiritual life was lost by their disobedience to this command. They ceased to be Jews, and were absorbed in the heathen nations around. And, of course, their religious life perished at the same time (see histories of the Captivity). And so in regard to the spiritual analogies of these events. Men will not, do not, literally lose this life by refusing to come away from the kingdom of evil into the kingdom of God. On the contrary, they seem to flourish greatly. The prosperity of the ungodly has been a notorious and perplexing fact in all ages of the world, And it is a sore temptation and trial to those who feel the drawing of the kingdom of God. And the temptation can only be overcome by remembering that the life of the soul depends upon our obedience to this word. It is when the unseen and the eternal are seen by faith that the gloss and glamour of the world are seen at their real and poor value, and the solid worth of the kingdom of God is confessed and yielded to. The angels had to “hasten” even “just Lot,” though the fire of the Lord was on the point of descending on “the cities of the plain.” And how we need hastening now! How slow to believe that judgment is nigh! For with the advent of death that judgment begins to every soul that enters into eternity unforgiven and unsaved.
IV. HOW WE SHALL ESCAPE. The one all-essential question isDo you really wish to? For if there be the genuine desire, the path of escape will be soon revealed. No directions are of any use until this desire be awakened in the soul. But where it exists, it will express itself in what the Bible calls “seeking the Lord.” And, as this is continued, there will he deepened in the soul that hatred of sin and aspiration after holiness which lie at the root of all true religious life. Repentance will thus be formed within the soul, and will be fostered by careful obedience to the will of God as declared in his Word. But
V. WHITHER SHALL WE ESCAPE? There is but one answer to this. To the Lord Jesus Christ. It is as we look up to him in lowly, earnest trust, renouncing all self-reliance, that the new life is begotten in us, and we are grafted in him, and so become “new creatures,” as St. Paul tells, and so are we in the kingdom of God, and clean escaped from the kingdom of the evil one. We are pardoned, accepted, made possessors of the Holy Ghost and of eternal life.C.
Jer 51:10
The response of the redeemed.
“The Lord hath come, and let us” etc.
I. WHAT THE LORD HATH DONE. “Brought forth our righteousness.” Now, by this we may understand:
1. The Lord lath brought forth, made known, revealed, him who is our Righteousness. By his representative character, what is done by him is as done by us. “We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead” (2Co 5:14). There is nothing unreasonable in this. We are perpetually imputing to others what is not in them or but very faintly in them. We do so when we treat strangers with all kindness for the sake of thosesome honoured and beloved oneswho commend them to us. We cause to flow over on them the worth and goodness of those by whom they are commended. They may not merely be strangers, but unworthy and evil, and yet, for the sake of others, we deal with them, not as they are, but as those are from whom they come. So is the Lord Jesus our Righteousness, blessed be his Name!
2. The Lord hath brought forth righteousness in us. But for him there would have been no righteousness at all. Some speak of “natural goodness.” There is no such thing. All goodness, like all light, has but one source. Divines tell of ruined arches, stately pillars, etc; relies of the noble fabric that once was. But Scripture rather teaches that sin wrought death. If, then, there be aught that is beautiful and good, fair and righteousand there is, and muchit is not a relic, but a new creation. It comes from him who is “the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Joh 1:1-51.; cf. Jas 1:16). And when a man yields up his soul to Christ, thenvitally grafted into him, the true Vine, and having become a living branchhe will more and more yield the fruit of righteousness, as he never did or could before.
3. The Lord hath brought forth his covenant. That is to say, he hath brought forth in his own mind, so as to remember, his covenant that he made (cf. Psa 105:8-15; Psa 111:1-10; etc.). It is ever declared to be on the ground of this covenant that God dealt well with his people. Now, that covenant had been, as it were, put out of the Divine mind by the multitude of their sins. But now he brings it forth again.
4. The Lord hath vindicated us. The enemies of the Lord blasphemed his people. Counted them as having no worth or goodness at all; as far inferior to all others. But, despised as his people were and condemned, now, by God’s redemption of them, he was to bring forth their righteousness, vindicate them, on and before all (cf. Psa 37:5-7). This, which he did for Israel, he will do for all his people”will bring forth their righteousness as the light, and their judgment as the noonday.”
II. WHAT, THEREFORE, SHOULD WE DO? “Come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.” This is what we are to do.
1. Why should we do this? For the honour of God. It is his due. For our own soul’s sake; to keep silence on what he has done for us is not only dishonouring to him, but disastrous to our own souls. For the encouragement of others, that they may be led to trust in him.
2. How should we do this? Openly: “Let us declare in Zion,” etc. Not concealing our obligation, not refusing to confess him. Unitedly: “Come, and let us,” etc. Join with them of a like mind. Heartily: calling on others to do the like, “Come,” etc. In his Church: “In Zion.” There taking our place, falling into rank in the army of the Lord. In the heavenly Zion the redeemed of the Lord never tire of thus declaring the work of the Lord.C.
Jer 51:19
The Portion of Jacob
.C.
Jer 51:20
The Church God’s battle axe.
God ever employs instruments to accomplish his purposes. He is a God that “hideth” himself. Hence many see nothing but instruments, and forget, or deny, the hand that uses them. “That does not seem much of a sword;” said one, as he looked upon the treasured weapon of a great national hero and valiant soldier. Ah, but you do not see the hand that wielded it, was the just reply. So as we look on the agencies God employs, how feeble they seem to be! But think of the force behind them, and then the works they accomplished are explained. Now, this is true of all God’s works. Especially is it true in all the great spiritual achievements which we have heard of or seen. This verse refers to Israel, in reference to the idolatrous nations around them, and to Babylon especially. Israel was the unseen cause that led to the overthrow and destruction of one nation after another. For the Church’s sake God governs the world. “All things are yours.” Now, note
I. THE WITNESS OF HISTORY to the truth that God’s people are his “battle axe and weapons of war.” “I came not to send peace upon earth, but a sword,” said Jesus, and in the same sense as this verse declares that word is true. “Magna est veritas, et prevalebit,” is another rendering of the same fact.
1. Before the birth of Christ the pure monotheistic faith of Israel had, after their captivity, begun its iconoclastic work. Over large portions of the then civilized world that faith began to permeate and cleave its way. So that the old idolatries were in many places stricken with a mortal blow before even he was proclaimed who was to draw all men unto him.
2. The downfall of paganism. Notwithstanding the many accretions of error and superstition with which the pure faith of Christ so soon became encumbered, there yet remained inherent in it and inseparable from it such vital and mighty energy that it smote as with a “battle axe” one falsehood after another, until they were well nigh all slain. The forces against her in that ancient world were simply tremendous, but the Church went forth conquering and to conquer. In vain the scorn of the great, the fires of awful persecution, the power of venerable superstition; in vain the hindrances which she herself put in her own way; the Church was still God’s destroying power against the false religions of that age, until at length the last emperor of Rome who endeavoured to revive paganism, Julianwhom a corrupt hierarchy malignantly branded as “the apostate,” though, in fact, he was less apostate than themselvesconfessed with his dying breath, “O Galilaean, thou hast conquered!” In all that long and heart-stirring conflict this declaration of the prophet was illustrated again and again.
3. In the Reformation. Not alone in those nations in which the Reformation principles took root, but in the Church of Rome herself, was the error and evil destroying power of the truth that dwelt in the hearts of God’s people made manifest. See in such a book as Ranke’s ‘History of the Popes’ what vast difference and improvements were brought about in the Catholic Church itself by the awful discipline through which she had then to pass. Whatever stern censures may have to be passed on that Church since the days of the Reformationand they are neither few nor lightyet candour must admit that they are far fewer and far lighter than those which the outraged conscience of Christendom heaped upon her in the generations before.
4. In all missionary and evangelistic triumphs over heathendom.
II. THE WITNESS OF INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. We are wont to speak of the truth of God as “mighty to the pulling down of the strongholds of sin and Satan.” This is a Christian commonplace. And is it not true? What but this battle axe slew the giant sins that ruled and oppressed in each soul?
III. THE SECRET OF THIS FORCE. What makes the Church God’s battle axe? We answer:
1. The truth that sustains her. The truth concerning God and our relations to himhe our Father and we all his children.
2. The spirit that animates her; not one of hate or disregard to man, as was common before Christ came, but lovelove even towards the vilest for Christ’s sake.
3. The rule that regulates her. The heathen looked on with amazement at the blamelessness of life and the sanctity of character which the faith of the Church produced, and they felt and owned its power.
4. The love that constrains her. She ever “bore about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,” and, mindful of that, she shrank from no suffering and refused no service.
5. The hope that cheers her. She wrought, not for a corruptible crown, but an incorruptible; and the hope, “that blessed hope,” of her Lord’s appearing to receive and reward his people, cheered them on amid the awful sufferings which they were called on to bear. And still it is in proportion as these mighty motives animate the Church in the individual soul that faithful and effectual service is done for Christ against the many and mighty adversaries of God with which the world abounds.C.
Jer 51:25
A fatal fact.
“Behold, I am against thee.”
I. ITS TRUTH CONFESSED. When Jerusalem was taken the captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s army avowed that what had happened was of God (cf. Jer 40:2). So afterwards when, by the Roman army, Jerusalem was again captured, as our Lord foretold it would be, then too we have it on record that a like avowal was made by the leader of the Roman armies. And so here in regard to Babylon, no other conclusion could be come to. So vast was the power of Babylon that only the Divine opposition could explain the calamities that came upon her. And so when we see nations, Churches, men, that have every worldly advantage nevertheless brought low, as Rome was by the Goths, we can account for it only by this fact”I am against thee.”
II. ITS FATALITY SHOWN. If empires like Babylon cannot stand when God is against them, who else can stand? “If these things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” If the mightiest fall beneath the Divine opposition, who of lesser power can hope to endure? “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” He is sure to if these do.
III. ITS CONCLUSION EVIDENT. Send an embassage and seek conditions of peace (Luk 14:31). “Be ye reconciled unto God.” “Acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace.”C.
Jer 51:33
Harvests of horror and threshings of wrath.
The Bible continually makes use of the similitude of the harvest and its labours, but it is only by its qualifying words that we can know what kind of harvest is meant. Here we have the frequent metaphor, but it tells of no joy, of sorrow only. Similar language has been used of Israel as is here used of Babylon (cf. Isa 21:10; Isa 41:15). Israel’s sins had been the seed of that harvest, and it was a terrible one. All the sorrows of the invasion and destruction of their beloved land and city, their holy city, Jerusalem, and all those which were associated with and sprang out of their bitter exile in Babylon, were but parts of that harvest and strokes of “the bruising flails of God’s corrections.” But here it is Babylon that is spoken of (cf. Isa 21:1-17. for a yet earlier prediction of Babylon’s fall). She had sown the seed; the cup of her iniquity was full ere the harvests and threshings told of here came upon her. “Dissolute and luxurious in their habits, the Babylonians hid under their soft luxurious exterior a fierceness, an insatiable lust for blood, such as marked many Eastern tribessuch, for instance, as we ourselves have found in ‘the mild Hindoo.’ The Hebrew prophets describe them as ‘a bitter and hasty,’ a ‘terrible and dreadful’ people, ‘fiercer than the evening wolves,’ a people who ‘made the earth tremble and did shake kingdoms.'” They conquered well nigh all the kingdoms of the then known world; they pillaged every country they conquered, and often went far to depopulate the countries they pillaged. In Judaea, for instance, the land became a mere haunt of wild beasts after the Babylonians had subdued it, and from Jerusalem they pillaged even the sacred vessels of the temple. Hence to Isaiah they appeared as “the spoiler spoiling, and the destroyer destroying.” And besides all this, there seems to have been an inherent and ineradicable wickedness in the nation itself, or it could hardly have been selected, as it is, as the type of all that is abominable and hateful in the sight of God. For many a generation and century she had been spared. From the beginning to the end of the Bible we read of her. In her decayed greatness there was a little Christian Church there, of which St. Peter tells (1Pe 5:1-14 :19). But up to the time of the Exile, and during far the grater portion of it, Babylon seemed only to advance in splendour, in wealth, and power. But at length the time of her harvestan awful time, indeedcame, and in the sorrows connected with her capture and overthrow, and in the hard and hated rule of her Persian lords, there was the “threshing” of which both Isaiah and Jeremiah tell The contemplation of it filled the Prophet Isaiah with an unspeakable horror: “My loins are filled with pain: pangs have taken hold on me” (Isa 21:3, Isa 21:4). Jew as he was, he could not behold the dread vision of what was to come on Babylon without deep anguish. She “must have filled in his thoughts much the place which Rome held in the mind of a cultivated Spaniard or Carthnginian of the early Christian centuries. To him the Medes and Persians, plunging down from their unknown, mysterious mountain fastnesses upon the wealthy Babylonian plain, must have seemed much as the Goths and Vandals morned to the more civilized races of Europe, when they came pouring down the Alps, to carry sword and fire through the storied plains of Italy. The whole Christian world shuddered when Rome fell; and as her fall to the modern so was the fall of Babylon to the ancient world.” Harvest and threshing: these images of the barn commonly suggest that which is peaceful and joyous; but here they tell of the reverse of thatof horror and woe unspeakable. Learn, therefore
I. SINS ARE SEEDS WHICH MAY HAVE A LATE, BUT SHALL SURELY HAVE A LARGE AND TERRIBLE HARVEST.
II. RELUCTANT AS GOD MAY BE TO AFFLICT THE CHILDREN OF MEN, HE WILL NOT SPARE A SINGLE STROKE SO LONG AS THEY CLING TO THE EVILS WHICH DEGRADE AND DESTROY THEM.
III. THE JUDGMENTS AND PUNISHMENTS OF GOD ARE NOT VINDICTIVE AND FINAL, BUT THE “THRESHINGS OF THE CORN OF HIS FLOOR” (Isa 21:10). The separation, that is, of the evil from the good, the worthless from that which is precious and shall be preserved forevermore.C.
Jer 51:48
Joy over judgment.
I. THE SINNER WILL WEEP AND WAIL. This is the constant declaration of the Word of God. “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Would that the sinner would look steadily on to the end, and so consider his ways!
II. HUMAN NATURE, IN SYMPATHY WITH THE SINNER‘S WOES, WILL SORROW. (Cf. Isa 21:10.) We have need to be on our guard against this. In the present day our sympathy with the suffering leads us to forget the causes and the blessed results that come from the judgment of God. No criminal is ever condemned to die but at once there are those who strive to get his punishment remitted. It is a false sympathy and needs to be resisted.
III. BUT HEAVEN AND EARTH REJOICE. Cf. the many psalms in which we are called on to rejoice because the Lord “cometh to judge the earth.” The grounds of this joy are:
1. Righteousness is vindicated.
2. The oppressed are delivered.
3. Men will learn righteousness.
4. They that are judged will be brought to a better mind.
5. The kingdom of God will more speedily come.C.
Jer 51:50
The charge to them that are spared.
This charge, addressed to Israelites spared from Babylon, may be applied to all in Christ. For
I. ALL IN CHRIST ARE SPARED ONES. Spared from:
1. The condemnation due to sin.
2. The abiding tyranny of sin.
3. The crushing power of sorrow.
4. The misery of alienation from God.
5. The might of death.
II. TO SUCH THIS THREEFOLD CHARGE IS ADDRESSED.
1. They are to “go away, stand not still.” As Israel from Babylon that had enslaved them, so these from the sins which. God has forgiven them. “Let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Many Jews despised this charge, and stayed on in Babylon. Some not merely stayed in Babylon as Jews, but probably far more of them were “mingled with the heathen, and learned their ways.” “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” Even those who disobeyed only the letter of the command suffered, whilst those who disobeyed both the letter and the spirit were simply lost, cut off from the house of Israel. And they who have received Christ, if they do not break away from their old sins and from all that would hold them in bondage to such sins, will lose their religion and are in sore peril of apostatizing from Christ. Therefore let such put further and further distance between themselves and their former life, lest again they be entangled and. overcome.
2. To “remember the lord afar off.” In their sin and misery God seemed afar off to Israel. “My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God”such was their grievous lament. But they were to remember him, turn their thoughts and prayers toward him, and believingly wait his promised answer. And to the believer now “it doth not yet appear what we shall be;” we are far off from that; but we are to remember the Lord, though we be yet in condition and character so far off from him. Remember him in our meditations, prayers, purposes, and aims; wait on him, and so renew our strength.
3. “Let Jerusalem come into your mind.” How blessed to be there! how she demands our earnest service!her joys, her sanctity, her children, her employ; our place there prepared for us, and our preparation for the place. So remember her, and so be delivered from being wearied and faint in our minds.C.
Jer 51:58
The broad walls.
I. THE EMPIRE OF SIN HAS SUCH WALLS. Those referred to here may be taken as a type of them. They were:
1. To separate. Have we not proof of this in the wide distance, the invincible barriers, Which keep the ungodly from sympathizing, associating, or in any way uniting, with the people of God? The kingdom of evil remains shut up from the kingdom of God. Mansoul cannot be entered by way of the gates; the messengers of the King seek admission, but cannot obtain it. And hereafter the Reparation will continue (cf. Luk 16:1-31; “Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed”). Separation, which is voluntary now, becomes involuntary then.
2. For security. A terrible security it is. In vain do the ambassadors of God endeavour to penetrate within those walls. In vain do his soldiers seek to scale them and his weapons of war to destroy them. The strong man armed keepeth his goods in peace. What minister of Christ has not again and again retired baffled from before these broad walls, so high, so strong, so impregnable?
3. For enjoyment. The broad walls of cities such as Babylon were places for pleasant walking for recreation and enjoyment. So does the sinner’s fancied security lull his soul to rest, make him cry, “Peace, peace!” when there is no peace. But
II. THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS ITS BROAD WALLS. (cf. Neh 3:8, where we read of the broad walls of Jerusalem.) Let us see to it that we maintain and preserve those walls.
1. For separation. Let us not seek to come close to the world, in its habits, maxims, spirit, behaviour. Keep the wall broad, strong: high. We cannot serve God and mammon. Let there be no attempt at compromise. And these walls are also.
2. For security. If we do not maintain them we run great risk for ourselves. Tampering with sin is perilous work. And let us not think that we are more likely to win the world by such breaking down of the broad walls. The result is all the other way. See how broad a wall Christ maintained between himself and the world. God has built these walls. His power, his wisdom, his love, his promise, are all portions of these walls by which his Church is guarded and against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.
3. For enjoyment. What comfort there is in the thought of them, of the sure defence, the wall of fire, which God will be to his people! And on these walls, as we “walk about Zion, and go round her, and tell the towers thereof,” what rest, what communion one with another, and what bright prospects are ours! The broad walls of Babylon shall be “broken down;” but these are eternal. Are we within them?C.
Jer 51:64
The weariness of sin.
“They shall be weary.” With these sad words the Prophet Jeremiah closes his book. The shadows are over it all, nor are they in the least lifted where we most love to see them liftedat the end. They are spoken of the inhabitants of Babylon, and repeat what was said in verse 58. They suggest the themeThe weariness of sin.
I. WEARINESS IS ALWAYS PAIN. It may be of the body, and then exhaustion and fatigue render exertion any longer only so much torture. Or of the mind. The brain becomes dazed, bewildered, incapable of effort. Or of the heartthat which is caused by disappointment, ingratitude, unfulfilled desire, hopelessness. Or that of the soul, which is the weariness told of here. But in all cases it is full of pain.
II. WEARINESS IS A UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE. The child of God is often weary. Such are exhorted not to be “weary in well doing,” the exhortation implying the more than possibility of such weariness being experienced. And our Saviour knew this wearinessnever of, but often in, his work. In a world like this there are causes enough for such weariness to lay hold on the servants of God. But if they know weariness, yet more do the children of this world; for
III. THE WORST WEARINESS IS THAT OF SIN. For a while the enjoyment which springs from sin may so intoxicate and dazzle the wrong doer that he will laugh at the idea of weariness, and declare that his is the alone path of pleasure and good. But after a while that ceases, and then comes satiety and weariness.
1. The causes of this are:
(1) Negative. In serving sin we have not those great aids to endurance and restoration of strength which are ever present to the child of God. The servant of sin has no high and noble motive, no worthy motive at all, in what he does. The motives of affection, of duty, of gratitude, of love, which sustain so mightily the mind of the Christian,these are all lacking in the servant of sin. Good hope also cheers the child of God; but what harvest can the sinner expect to reap? It is such as he dares not, and therefore will not, contemplate. The communion of the Spirit of Godthat Spirit who “giveth songs in the night,” is present to the Christian, and in the deepest distress enables him to rejoice. But nought of this can the ungodly know in their hard work and service. Drawing near to God is another aid of the child of God. For
“We may kneel and cast our load,
E’en while we pray, upon our God,
Then rise with lightened cheer;
Sure that the Father, who is nigh
To hear the famished ravens cry,
Will hear in that we fear.”
This most real help the ungodly never know.
(2) But there are positive causes of weariness in the service of sin. Jesus said, “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” His cup of woe was bitter, but theirs would be more bitter still. Now, the positive causes of the weariness of sin are such as these. The powerlessness of sin to minister pleasure continually. The goadings of conscience, which will not be silent. God’s judgmentsso full of pain, so inevitable, so irremediable, as these on Babylon. The hopelessness of sin’s outlooknothing but a fearful looking for of judgment.
2. The effects of this weariness are seen in such as Saul and Judas, and in the myriad others who have sought, in self-destruction or by wild plunging into yet deeper sins, to escape that weariness which tracks their footsteps continually. Well might Paul ask, “What profit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?” Who would begin a career that ends in such a way? What an argument such facts furnish for seeking, if haply we may find it:
3. The cure of all such weariness! The child of God knows it well. The ungodly may know it too if they will. It consists in submission to that Lord who says to all such, “Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden,” etc. There alone is the cure.C.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Jer 51:5
Unforsaken Israel.
I. AN APPARENT FORSAKING. Israel looked forsaken. It was in exile, in captivity, and under the asserted judgment of Jehovah. We have always, to a certain extent, to accept the appearances of things. God’s presence had been manifested in outward favour and prosperity, and what was more plausible than to say that the withdrawing of the favour and prosperity meant the withdrawing of God himself? But then it is forgotten that God’s presence may be manifested in many ways. Outward prosperity is not essential to signify God’s satisfaction with us. Nor must we infer that, because a backsliding Christian has fallen into trouble and misery, therefore God has forsaken him. The signs of man forsaking God are made very clear, so that there may be all possible incentives to repentance; but if God ever does forsake a man, leaving him utterly to his own folly and recklessness, no sign of it is given to us. There is quite enough already in our own wild fancies to make us desponding and despairing.
II. A PLAUSIBLE CAUSE FOR FORSAKING. The land of Israel was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. Men think of God as they do of themselves. The patience of the human master soon gets exhausted with the servant who disobeys many commandments and obeys others in the most perfunctory way.
III. A REAL CAUSE FOR CLOSE ADHERENCE. That Israel, chosen and beloved of God, fills his land with sin, so far from being a reason for forsaking, is a reason for closer adherence than ever. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep in safety and goes into the wilderness after the lost one. If only men, brought at last to a sense of their wickedness and recklessness, could see how near God is to them, how ready and able to help, they would be filled with hope. “God is love,” and therefore the greater our need the greater his nearness. The real difficulty is that we flee to the succours and solaces of self, and so the nearness of Cod, with all his suitable and ample supplies, is only too easily obscured.
IV. A FRESH MANIFESTATION OF THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. Never does God’s holiness so appear as when he is dealing with sinners in the way of long suffering, if perchance they will surrender at last and permit him to restore them to righteousness and peace. Surely God’s holiness shines most in his greatest attribute, and that is love. God is marked off from all created things by his power and his righteousness, but most of all by his transcendent love. Here is the most glorious aspect of his holiness, that, no matter how much men may sin against him, neglect his will, and abuse his world, yet, when they are ready to turn, he is close at hand with everything prepared to receive them.Y.
Jer 51:6
Individual escape.
Two whole chapters are taken up in enforcing the inevitable doom on Babylon. The city as a whole cannot possibly escape; therefore so much the more necessary is it to point out escape for the individual and put hope into his heart. Observe
I. HOW THIS EXHORTATION TO THE INDIVIDUAL SETS BEFORE US CLEARLY THE GENERAL DOOM. All who stay in heedlessness and unbelief must perish. Particular inhabitants of Babylon have not to sin some special sin in order to bring destruction on themselves. All they have to do is just to go on in their buying, selling, and getting gain. So the natural man everywhere has just to go on within the common worldly limits and according to the common worldly traditions. Going on quietly accepting the position of the unregenerate, he will assuredly come to the end of such. “Out of Christ we may perish” is not the word to be said, but “Out of Christ we must perish.”
II. GOD‘S CONSTANT CONSIDERATION FOR THE INDIVIDUAL. Masses of men have to suffer because the great bulk of them will ever be heedless of the signs of danger. But every wise, foreseeing individual, in whose heart there are steady inclinings to the right, may escape. Certainly we cannot escape always involvement in temporal calamities. It might even be cowardly and selfish to run away from them. To run away from a temporal calamity might be the very way to bring on ourselves the severest spiritual calamity. But with respect to spiritual perils, in comparison with which temporal perils are mere trifles, every individual has his chance. He must have individuality of character in this matter, ability to see danger when others see none, and courage to flee when others stand still and laugh at him. Recollect that there may be flight in one sense, while in another sense things remain unchanged. We may remain in a community, and yet flee from all danger by avoiding its follies and its disobedience to God.
III. THE NEED FOR PROMPTITUDE AND DECISION. Not specified, promptitude is yet evidently implied. Flee at once; for if you wait until you can see danger, it may be too late.Y.
Jer 51:10
Declaring in Zion the work of the Lord.
I. THAT WHICH HAS TO BE DECLARED. The work of Jehovah, the God of Israel, that work being the brining forth of what is described as “our righteousness.” What, then, was this righteousness? We can only conjecture, but probably it was that righteousness, ever well pleasing to God, shown by those who believe in his promises and obey his directions. There was ample field for righteousness of this kind on the part of the Israelites in captivity; for had not God told them expressly, however unlikely the event might appear, that they would yet return to their former dwelling place? In due time there was to be a vindication of their faith. But out of that faith there is to be kept every element of self-glorification. It is man’s blessedness, but not his praise, that he recognizes the certainty of what a promise keeping, omnipotent One will do for him. Declaring the work of God is always a satisfactory thing, for the work of God itself is always satisfactory. Well begun, thorough, completed, necessary work it is.
II. THOSE WHO DECLARE IT. Those who are the materials of the work and for whom the work is done. They are not mere bystanders and spectators. The sign that real Divine work is being done in a human heart comes when praise and acknowledgment of the great Worker is expressed. We are God’s workmanship. It is he who extricates us from our confusions, nullifies the vain doings of the merely natural man, and makes us capable of actions that will abide and glorify him. It is part of God’s very work to put into us the spirit of declaration, so that we perceive the change wrought in us, the Worker of it, the continuity of it, in short, all the good connected with it. And perceiving all this, how should we do other than declare in one mingled utterance the glory of God and our gratitude to him?
III. THE PLACE OF DECLARATION. In Zion, with its memories of Jehovah’s presence in the past. Zion was a name to humble Israel, in the thought of former apostasy and idolatry; but Zion was nothing but glorious so far as Jehovah was concerned. Zion had been too long neglected, not indeed so far as a certain outward worship was concerned, but the worship of the heart was lacking. Now Zion would appear in an altogether new aspect. Instead of mere words, mere ritual routine, there was an acknowledgment of deeply felt benefit at the hands of God. The place of worship was the same, yet not the same, for the old scene had new associations. We may acknowledge God anywhere; we must acknowledge him everywhere; but yet there is a suitability in making certain acknowledgments in certain places. What could be more appropriate than to utter forth words of true spiritual recognition on that sacred spot where God had been so long misunderstood and defied?Y.
Jer 51:13
The dweller on many waters.
I. THE RECOGNITION OF NATURAL RESOURCES. The great natural advantages of Babylon are allowed to the fullest extent. She stands on “the great river Euphrates.” A great river for navigable purposes means prosperity to a city. There is also to be considered the facility of getting water for all the other purposes of life. The abundance of Babylon’s treasures was in part a result of her dwelling on many waters. The waters helped to set off the magnificence and splendour of her buildings. Nothing is gained by minimizing the treasures of this world. Let them be displayed and acknowledged to their fullest extent (see Rev 18:1-24.).
II. THESE RESOURCES CANNOT AVERT DOOM. The fact is that the abundance of these resources can only manifest itself in certain directions. There is abundance of that which ministers to carnal ambition and lust, abundance of that which feeds the pride of individuals and nations, abundance of that which gives merely human security against merely human attack. But when we come to consider the highest satisfactions and the greatest dangers, then we find scantiness instead of abundance. The many waters dry up into a shallow pool here and there. The characteristic of the abundance given by Christ is that it avails for all possible needs. Never can it be said to the Christian, livingly connected as he is with his heavenly treasures, that his end is come. Of his treasure, his blessedness, and his security, there shall be no end.
III. AN INDICATION OF WHAT MADE THESE RESOURCES SO DECEITFUL. They were, largely at least, the accumulations of covetousness. We must not look too closely at the magnificent houses of a great city, with their contents, or else we shall be speedily undeceived as to their real glory. We shall see how much greed and unjust gain and the grinding of the poor had to do with such buildings. Grand buildings for some men to live in can have no charm to the Christian eye, if a necessary condition for their existence is that many others should live in ruinous hovels. The just and loving God must look on splendid cities with a very different eye from the human one. And doing so, he must of necessity fix a limit to covetousness. Covetousness goes on adding to its treasures, until at last it excites the covetousness of others. And even apart from this, outward treasures, unduly esteemed, must in time corrupt the inward man.Y.
Jer 51:15
The resources of Jehovah.
Here are the resources of Jehovah as over against the resources of Babylon. Note the differences between them.
I. THEY ARE RESOURCES IN JEHOVAH HIMSELF. It is from the very being of Jehovah that his works flow forth, whether these works be considered as illustrating his power, his wisdom, or his understanding. When a prophet of Jehovah has to speak of human resources, he speaks of things outside the man. Apart from the soil on which he stands, the world in which he lives, what can man do? His very body is derived from the soil, and to the soil returns. His chosen treasures, the things on which he leans, are treasures upon earth. But when a prophet comes to speak of Jehovah, he can think of him separated from all the visible and tangible. He does not depend on these things, for they would have had no existence but for him. We may, in a certain qualified sense, speak of human power, wisdom, and understanding; we must indeed use such terms, for some men are so weak that others must be spoken of as powerful, some so foolish that others must be spoken of as wise, some so shallow and ignorant that others must be spoken of as men of understanding. But the very power of a man reveals in time his essential weakness, his very wisdom his essential folly, his very understanding his essential ignorance. God alone is power, and in him is no weakness at all; God alone is wisdom, and in him no folly at all; God alone is understanding, and in him nothing of the limited and erroneous knowledge which is so often a humiliation to human pride.
II. THEY ARE RESOURCES UNITED IN ONE BEING. Judged according to human standards, some men are powerful, some men wise, and some are men of understanding; but very seldom, even according to the human standard, are all three qualities united in one man; and it is not very often that even two of them are found. Man may have power, mere muscular strength, the power of the athlete, the power of the ox, without anything worthy the name of wisdom. So there may be wisdom without power; and there may be a very high degree of wisdom apart from large knowledge or a powerful understanding. Men are made so that what is defective in one may be supplied by another. The greatest human works are done when the power of one is joined with the wisdom of a second and the understanding of a third. But with Jehovah all these qualities, in their highest degree, are found united in One. The only account after all that man can give of the making of matter is that it has been made by a God. And then his wisdom has reduced everything to order, arranged the world in all its grades, organisms, and mutual connections. The natural man comes nearest to God when he can combine the power of one, the wisdom of another, and the understanding of yet a third, to make as it were one new man for the doing of special work; and the spiritual man comes nearest to God when, still preserving his individuality of action, he exchanges for his natural weakness the spiritual power of Christ, for his natural folly the spiritual wisdom of Christ, and for his often useless and deluding knowledge of the things of this world that knowledge which comes in the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.Y.
Jer 51:19
The Portion of Jacob contrasted with the confidences of Babylon.
I. THE NAME BY WHICH JEHOVAH IS HERE INDICATED. The Portion of Jacob. So the psalmist says, “My flesh and my heart faileth but God is my Portion forever” (Psa 73:26; see also Psa 16:5). Men had their appointed portions, and no doubt they varied in value. But few were those who could rise above mere external things and look on the invisible God as their real Portion. And yet these were the only ones who had a portion and inheritance in the fullest sense of the words. For only so were they lifted above all temptation to envy, and above all the consequences of terrestrial impairments and losses. True, we have an inheritance of invisible and everlasting things, of which the present visible possessions give the preparatory conditions; but to possess these things we must possess God, must be sure of his interest, his spiritual providence, his sufficiency, for only in him can even spiritual possessions have their beginning and continuance. Nor must we fail to note what may be called the mutual character of this portion and inheritance. Jehovah being the Portion of Jacob, it is equally true that Jehovah’s portion is his people (Deu 32:9). Even the best possessions of a natural man are not mere legal property, not mere intellectual knowledge, but those human beings whom he can call friends. Such a one is rich according to the quality of his friends, those on whom he has claims and who have claims on him. He is rich according to the opportunities he has of getting service from them; richer still according to his opportunities for rendering service, on the principle that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And so God will be our Inheritance just in proportion as we are God’s inheritance. We cannot get satisfaction out of God unless he is getting satisfaction out of us. Our faith, our obedience, our devotion, are the conditions of his peculiar and richest bounty.
II. THE CONTRAST OF JACOB‘S PORTION WITH THE PORTION OF OTHERS. They inherit a barren land. It may look promising; it may yield the appearance of fruit; but real and abiding fruit there is none. Babylon has taken Bel for its portion, and now the portion and the possessors are alike turned to confusion. Indeed, the portion has vanished into nothingness; for never was it anything but a name, an imposing fiction, a proof both of man’s need of a portion and how incompetent he is to make such a portion for himself. But Jehovah always remains a Portion. The typical Jacob, the typical people of God that is, were unable to keep Jehovah as their Portion; they never had any real grasp of him, never more than the merest external acquaintance. But for those who can lay bold of him he is surely a Portion still.Y.
Jer 51:25, Jer 51:26
The destroying mountain destroyed.
I. THE DESTROYING MOUNTAIN. The mountain is a very fitting symbol of a people eminent among the nations and seeming easily to dominate over them. In such a symbol there is involved the undisputed assertion of superiority. The mountain looks down on the plains, and the plains accept the position. But whereas, in nature, the mountain looks down upon the plains with a mingling of benefits and injuries, of which even the injuries are seen to be benefits when looked at more closely, here we have a destroying mountain spoken ofa mountain that destroys the whole earth. God is against Babylon, not merely for the hurt it has inflicted on his own people, but because destruction is the very element in which it lives. Wheresoever Babylon came it brought spoliation, enslavement, and misery. Men and nations are made eminent that, like the mountains in the natural world, they may communicate good everywhere. But if they form destroying purposes then their very eminence increases their destroying power. The mountain that by its very elevation helps to distribute pleasant and profitable waters over the face of the earth, when turned to a volcano is just as well placed for sending down the lava torrents.
II. ITS UTTER DESTRUCTION. That which must be considered first of all is the safety of the whole earth. It is God’s way to uproot all that menaces the security and peace of his universe. To impair and enfeeble is not enough; the evil thing must be destroyed. And this is possible because it is God who is against it. He can destroy and obliterate where men would not for a moment dream of such a possibility. Did not Jesus tell his disciples that great mountains could be plucked up and cast into the sea, great obstacles and great menaces to Christian progress be utterly removed? And here the prophet signifies the completeness of the destruction by asserting that Babylon shall become as a mountain reduced as it were to mere ashes. To that mountain men have been in the habit of resorting to find corner stones and foundation stones, but such is their resort no longer. There is complete destruction of the enemies of God’s people, and of course this implies complete safety of God’s people themselves. (For a corresponding metaphor, see Isa 30:14.)Y.
Jer 51:30
Effeminacy.
Doubtless in this utterance there is something of the then customary scorn with respect to women. But this must not make us forget that one of the worst things to be said of a man is that he has become as a woman, just as one of the worst things to be said of a woman is that she has become as a man.
I. THIS UTTERANCE DOES NOT REPROACH THE WOMAN, BUT THE MAN. Woman has her natural limitations. Her usual place is not in the battlefield or on the walls of the attacked city. An army of women against an army of men would be an unnatural, a revolting spectacle. But this very difference between the proper place of women and the proper place of men intensifies the reproach against a man when it can truly he said of him that he has become as a woman. Those qualities which in a woman are womanly in a man are only effeminate.
II. THE CORRESPONDING POSSIBLE REPROACH UPON WOMEN. A woman must not allow it to be said of her that she has become as a man. She must never forget the limitations and duties of her sex. Yet on the other hand, she must not be too ready to accept common opinion in interpreting those limitations and duties.
III. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN IT MAY BE THE GREATEST HONOUR TO A MAN TO BECOME AS A WOMAN. There are times when the strength of the man, without being lost, becomes unnoticed because of the presence of a woman-like tenderness. And of course there is the corresponding truth that woman may be honoured in becoming as the man, else where would be the fame of Joan of Arc and the Maid of Saragossa? Both men and women alike must have the courage to face mere external reproaches. Nothing is easier than to taunt a man with being unmanly and a woman with being unwomanly, but if only men and women alike persevere in what they feel to be fight, they will in due time escape from the region of baseless taunts. After all, the humanity common to men and women alike is greater than peculiarities of sex. In Jesus Christ there is neither male nor female.Y.
Jer 51:36
Making the springs dry.
I. MAN‘S EFFORT TO SUPPLY HIS NEED. There are the springs breaking forth among the hills and inviting men freely to use them. But there are also the wells men dig for themselves. Men must have water, yet they cannot always go and live by the natural springs, and so where they have to live they dig wells, and wonderfully do they succeed oftentimes in getting what they want. Water comes apparently in exhaustless abundance. Thus it is with the natural resources which man strives to obtain for himself. They open out before him far larger than any present wants. And thus when man sees all this within his reach, he naturally devises great undertakings on the strength of such great resources.
II. THE SELFISH USE OF HIS SUCCESS. It not unfrequently happens that the man who digs a well for himself does it at the expense of others, making their wells to run dry. The thing may be done unintentionally, or almost on a commonly accepted principle of every one looking out for himself; still it is to be looked on as pure selfishness. The resources of Babylon were increased by diminishing the resources of other peoples, This is a point to be always looked at in estimating men of large resources, namely, how far those resources have been gained by leaving others without resource at all or with but a scanty one.
III. GOD‘S REMOVAL OF HIS RESOURCES. “I will make her springs dry.” God can dry up all humanly provided wells. We must not boast ourselves of their number, their depth, or the ease with which they keep to a certain level in spite of all drains upon them. Powerful nations, proud of their history and their achievements, need to remember this Divine interference. Men, looking hack on a long course of individual success, need to remember the same. One can imagine a city in a time of siege, thoroughly provisioned, knowing exactly how much it had for food, and not troubling itself at all about drink, seeing that it had a deep well, the waters of which showed hardly any difference even in the driest summer. Yet all at once that well may fail, and, however large the other supplies, thirst will compel surrender. God dries up all wells that have been dug in covetousness and injustice.
IV. THE IMPLICATION OF OTHER ENDURING RESOURCES. “With thee is the fountain of life,” says the psalmist (Psa 36:9). We must look, not to the wells of our own digging, but to the springs from the everlasting hills. Especially we must catch the spirit of Psa 87:1-7. There the psalmist praises Zion, and finishes up by saying, “All my springs are in thee.” Let our springs be in the holy and abiding mount of God (Heb 12:22).Y.
Jer 51:50
A timely recollection and its practical effect.
Jehovah is making his severest judgments to fall on Babylon. How severe they are is indicated by the fact that two long chapters are occupied with denunciations upon her. But all the time Israel is in her midst. Israelites are domiciled and settled down. How far they lived by themselves and how far they mingled with their captors we cannot tell. One thing, however, we are sure of, that in the midst of so much destruction to Babylon they, or at least the bulk of them, were preserved. It must have been a very discomposing time for them, even though they had tolerable confidence that all would turn out right. There may be real safety where as yet there is not clear perception of it, and therefore no possibility of untroubled peace. But at last the danger is over, and what will the Israelite do then? He may elect, for reasons personal to himself, to stay in Babylon. He may be tempted to forget his duty as a part in a greater whole. Not for himself, however, not to further any aims of his own, was he thus preserved. He has escaped the sword only that he may the better serve God. Present ease, pleasant associations, may rise attractively in his mind. Not, of course, that these could be found in desolated Babylon, hut they might surely be found somewhere else than in Jerusalem so far away. Against natural thoughts of this kind the prophet’s word comes in here as a guard. It is a word for those Israelites living in Babylon at the time of Babylon’s downfall. The things near to them, which their eyes see and their hands handle, are the least important. The really important considerations are those which may most easily be forgotten. Thus, so to speak, they must be pushed before the mind. Every right-hearted Israelite would keep the God and the city of his fathers in his heart. And so we should keep Jehovah and Jerusalem in mind. The greatest duties and hopes of our life come from our connection with such recollections.Y.
Jer 51:60
Evil written in a book.
I. THE FACT THAT EVIL IS WRITTEN AS WELL AS SPOKEN. The evils that Jehovah denounced against Babylon were such as could be written in a book, because the denunciations were not those of selfish and hasty passion, but expressed the calm wrath of a righteous God. The judgment on Babylon arose from the necessity of the position. A righteous God could not have acted otherwise. What a difference between his words in anger and our words! If all our angry, hasty, petulant words were perforce written in a book, what a record of shame there would be! Such a consequence of their utterance might make us a little more cautious, but still the words would come at times. If we are to understand what it is to be really angry and sin not, we must look at the deliberate records of Jehovah’s wrath in the Scriptures. We are glad that our angry words should be forgotten; God, so to speak, takes trouble that his words should be remembered.
II. THE NECESSITY THAT THESE WORDS SHOULD BE WRITTEN. It is not enough that the words might be writtenthere had to be a reason for the writing. This is found in the necessity for doing all that could be done by way of warning and preparation. What was written could be shown first to one and then another. There was a necessity that even people of Babylon themselves should have ample opportunity to profit by the words spoken against their city. A necessity too in history. The fall of Babylon is a remarkable event in history, altogether outside of Scripture records, but the real secret of its fall is only to be known when we read such solemn and sustained predictions as are found in these two chapters.
III. GOD‘S DENUNCIATIONS ARE NOT HIS ONLY WRITTEN WORDS. God has to write down his threatenings, but we are bound to remember that they are only a partand how small a part they are!of the total that he has caused to be written. How different he is in this respect from men! Their threatenings and angry words would sometimes fill a goodly volume, but their words of kindness and long suffering, on, now few are they! God’s delight is to cause words of grace and premises of reward to be written.Y.
Jer 51:63, Jer 51:64
A symbol of irretrievable loss.
It was fitting that the exhibition and record of a symbol such as this should close the long denunciation of Babylon. Where God determines to destroy no man can either avert or recover. This stone, perhaps, still lies at the bottom of Euphrates, and possibly even there may be something to signify the book once attached to it. We know not what relics of Old Testament times might yet be disentombed, what confirmations and revelations are still in actual existence.
I. GOD‘S POWER OF UTTER DESTRUCTION. The impossibility of discovering this stone has to be considered relatively. Strictly speaking, it might perhaps have been recovered if it had been worth while. But for all practical purposes it was finally lost. Here is the difference between human destructions and the Divine destruction. Babylon is a wilderness still. Where God has chosen to make special marks of his wrath with the unrighteousness of men there rests a blight which no human effort can overcome; and generally speaking there is no disposition to overcome it. But where destruction comes simply through human passion and power there may be comparatively speedy recovery. This is a side of war on which we do well to reflect. Wars, with all their terrible accompaniments, may do something to get rid of some evils, and may thus be the condition of great good. Man cannot destroy where God wills to preserve. But where God destroys he destroys finally, and it is just this dreadful possibility of final ruin that should make men cautions in their estimate of the future, and prompt to turn from all evil and selfish paths.
II. THE CHEERING SIDE OF GOD‘S UTTER DESTRUCTIONS. With God destruction always means salvation. Destruction is never for its own sake, never an arbitrary, aimless thing. All Divine destruction must be looked on as part of the process of salvation. Nations are scattered, human institutions overthrown, the temporal life of individuals ended, but the individual man in his abiding relations to God remains. This stone lost in one sense was not lost in another. Nay, it was serving a higher purpose than any it could have served simply as a stone. It became a teacher, and it is a teacher still. Abel, being dead, yet speaketh. And this stone from the bottom of Euphrates speaks still, warning all ambitious men and all neglecters of the commandments and predictions of Jehovah.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jer 51:1. Them that rise up against me, &c. See chap. Jer 4:11.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
11. THE HEART OF THE INSURGENTS, THE FANNERS AND THE INVIDUATE
Jer 51:1-6
1Thus saith Jehovah:
Behold, I raise up against Babylon,
And against the inmates of the heart of my insurgents
A destroying wind.1
2And I sent unto Babylon fanners,2
Who shall fan it and empty out its land,
For upon it are they from all sides in the day of calamity.
3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow,
And against him who lifteth himself up3 in his harness,4
And spare ye not her young men,
Banish ye the entire host.
4That the slain fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
And the pierced through in her streets.
5For Israel and Judah are not widows5 from their God,6 Jehovah Zebaoth,
But their land is full of guilt on account of the Holy One of Israel.
6Flee out of Babylon, and let every man deliver his soul;
Let not destruction come upon you through their sin.
For it is a time of vengeance for Jehovah,
He rendereth recompense unto her.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Babylon, the heart of Jehovahs opponents, shall be fanned like chaff (Jer 51:1-2). Without a figure; a strong, warlike power shall cast down Babylon (Jer 51:3-4). For Israel and Judah are not forsaken widows; rather shall they be delivered and Jehovahs vengeance executed on Babylon (Jer 51:5-6).The passage thus consists of two halves: Jer 51:1-4, and Jer 51:5-6. In the first half the judgment on Babylon is announced, (a) under the figure of fanning, Jer 51:1-2; ( b) in unfigurative language, Jer 51:3-4. The second half is related to the first as a statement of the reason (For, Jer 51:5). The judgment, namely, is impending, because the Lord will show Himself a faithful husband with respect to Israel, a righteous recompenser with respect to Babylon.
Jer 51:1-2. Thus saith calamity. Whether [heart of my insurgents] is to be explained by the Atbash [or principle of alphabetical inversion, according to which it is equivalent to Casdim, the Chaldeans] is doubtful, for the expression might be used by the prophet without any reference to that permutation of letters. As he called Babylon Double-defiance and Visitation in Jer 50:21 and Pride in Jer 50:31, so might he call it Heart-of-my-insurgents. This designation was a natural one. It is founded in the significance which the idea of Babylon has in the consciousness of the entire Old and New Testament prophecy. For though it is only in the Apocalypse that Babylon is distinctly set forth as the comprehensive centre of all and every hostility to the Lord and His kingdom (comp. Naegelsb. Jer. u. Bab., S. 10 ff.), this representation is rooted in the views of the Old Testament prophets concerning Babylon, and we shall not err if we regard this passage as the chief basis of this conception of Babylon by the New Testament revelator, according to which it is declared to be the Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth (Rev 17:5). Still it is remarkable that the name should form, according to the Cabbalistic play upon words, an expression with a suitable meaning (comp. Buxtorf, Lex. Chald., p. 248, 9; Herzog, Real-Enc., VII., S. 205). The expression signifies indeed everywhere else (Jer 51:11; Hag 1:14; Ezr 1:1; Ezr 1:5; 1Ch 5:26; 2Ch 21:16; 2Ch 36:22) to awaken, excite the spirit. But the expression is not necessarily restricted to this meaning. In this passage where fanning is spoken of, the context requires the meaning wind. It seems that the expression first began to come into use in the time of Jeremiah, for previously it does not occur. It is however quite natural that a mode of expression still in its formative state should at first waver in its signification. Only when it has become fixed by long usage in a definite sense can it no longer be taken in another sense without misapprehension.Who shall fan. Comp. Jer 49:32; Jer 49:36.And empty. Comp. Jer 19:1; Jer 19:7; Isa 24:1; Nah 2:3. Here the prophet passes from the figurative to the literal mode of speech, for the fanning will consist in just this, that the land will be emptied, men and property being carried away.For upon it, etc. Comp. Jer 4:17; Jer 17:17-18.
Jer 51:3-6. Against him unto herSpare not, etc. Comp. Isa 13:18; Jer 1:14.Fall, etc. Comp. Jer 51:47; Jer 51:49; Jer 51:52; Jer 37:10; Isa 13:15.Not widows, etc. Comp. Isa 1:1; Isa 54:4-6; Lam 1:1.Their is to be referred to Babylon. The sense of this half of the verse is: it might appear as if the Lord were better disposed towards Babylon than Israel, because the latter is a captive in the power of the former. It is not so. Babylonia is laden with guilt with respect to Jehovah, and is therefore under the curse of the Holy One of Israel. I do not see what there is unlike Jeremiah in this verse. That for guilt does not occur elsewhere in Jeremiah is nothing to the point. The occurrence of the expression Holy One of Israel here, as in Jer 50:29, is not strange in view of the frequent quotations from Isaiah. With respect to the connection with the preceding and following contexts, however, it should be mentioned that Jer 51:5 in an exceedingly appropriate manner gives a double reason for the announcement contained in Jer 51:1 to Jer 4:1. a negative one (Israel is not rejected); 2. a positive one (Babylon is full of guilt). Jer 51:5 is also connected with Jer 51:6 in two ways: 1. as an integral part of the entire discourse, Jer 51:1-5, in so far that Jer 51:6 draws the inference from all that has gone before (Jer 51:1-5); 2. specially by the words, Let not destruction come upon you through their sin, which apparently refer to their land is full of guilt.Flee, etc. Comp. Isa 13:14; Isa 48:20; Jer 48:6; Jer 1:8.Let not, etc. Comp. Jer 49:26; Jer 50:30Gen 19:15.For it is a time, etc. Comp. Isa 34:8; Isa 46:10; Isa 1:15; Isa 1:28; Isa 51:11Rev 18:4.Vengeance, etc. Comp. Joel 4:4; Isa 59:18; Isa 66:6; Pro 19:17; Psa 137:8.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Daniels Babylonian empire resumes, as it were, the thread which was broken off with the tower-erection and kingdom of Nimrod. In the Babylonian tower-building the whole of the then existing humanity was united against God; with the Babylonian kingdom began the period of the universal monarchies, which again aspired after an atheistical union of entire humanity. Babylon has since and even to the Revelation (Jeremiah 18) remained the standing type of this world. Auberlen, Der proph. Daniel, S. 230.
2. For what reason does Babylon appear as a type of the world? Why not Nineveh, or Persepolis, or Tyre, or Memphis, or Rome? Certainly not because Babylon was greater, more glorious, more powerful or prouder and more ungodly than those cities and kingdoms. Nineveh especially was still greater than Babylon (comp. Duncker, Gesch. d. Alterth. I. S. 474, 5), and Assyria was not less hostile to the theocracy, having carried away into captivity the northern and larger half of the people of Israel. Babylon is qualified for this representation in two ways: 1. because it is the home of worldly princedom and titanic arrogance (Gen 10:8; Gen 11:1-4); 2. because Babylon destroyed the centre of the theocracy, Jerusalem, the temple and the theocratic kingdom, and first assumed to be the single supreme power of the globe.
3. When God has used a superstitious, wicked and tyrannical nation long enough as His rod, He breaks it in pieces and finally throws it into the fire. For even those whom He formerly used as His chosen anointed instruments He then regards as but the dust in the streets or as chaff before the wind. Cramer.
4. No monarch is too rich, too wicked, too strong for God the Lord. And He can soon enlist and engage soldiers whom He can use against His declared enemies. Cramer.
5. Israel was founded on everlasting foundations, even Gods word and promise. The sins of the people brought about that it was laid low in the dust, but not without hope of a better resurrection. Babylon, on the other hand, must perish forever, for in it is the empire of evil come to its highest bloom. Jeremiah owns the nothingness of all worldly kingdoms, since they are all under this national order to serve only for a time. We are to be subject to them and seek their welfare for the sake of the souls of men, whom God is educating therein; a Christian however cannot be enthusiastic for them after the manner of the ancient heathen nor of ancient Israel, for here we have no abiding city, our citizenship is in heaven. The kingdoms of this world are no sanctuaries for us and we supplicate their continuance only with the daily bread of the fourth petition. Jeremiah applies many words and figures to Babylon which he has already used in the judgments on other nations, thus to intimate that in Babylon all the heathenism of the world culminates, and that here also must be the greatest anguish. What, however, is here declared of Babylon must be fulfilled again on all earthly powers in so far as, treading in its footprints, they take flesh for their arm and regard the material of this world as power, whether they be called states or churches. Diedrich.
6. On Jer 50:2. In putting into the mouth of Israel, returning from Babylon, the call to an everlasting covenant with Jehovah, the prophet causes them 1. to confess that they have forgotten the first covenant; 2. he shows us that the time of the new covenant begins with the redemption from the Babylonish captivity. He was far, however, from supposing that this redemption would be only a weak beginning, that the appearance of the Saviour would be deferred for centuries, that Israel would sink still deeper as an external , and that finally the Israel of the new covenant would itself appear as a , (1Pe 1:9-12).
7. From what Jeremiah has already said in Jer 31:31-34 of the new covenant we see that its nature and its difference from the old is not unknown to him. Yet he knows the new covenant only in general. He knows that it will be deeply spiritual and eternal, but how and why it will be so is still to him part of the .
8. On Jer 50:6. Jeremiah here points back to Jeremiah 23. Priests, kings and prophets, who should discharge the office of shepherds, prove to be wolves. Yea, they are the worst of wolves, who go about in official clothing. There is therefore no more dangerous doctrine than that of an infallible office. Jer 14:14; Mat 7:15; Mat 23:2-12.
9. On Jer 50:7. It is the worst condition into which a church of God can come, when the enemies who desolate it can maintain that they are in the right in doing so. It is, however, a just nemesis when those who will not hear the regular messengers of God must be told by the extraordinary messengers of God what they should have done. Comp. Jer 40:2-3.
10. On Jer 50:8. Babylon is opened, and it must be abandoned not clung to, for the captivity is a temporary chastisement, not the divine arrangement for the children of God. Gods people must in the general redemption go like rams before the herd of the nations, that these may also attach themselves to Israel, as this was fulfilled at the time of Christ in the first churches and the apostles, who now draw the whole heathen world after them to eternal life. Here the prophet recognizes the new humanity, which proceeds from the ruins of the old, in which also ancient Israel leads the way; thus all, who follow it, become Israel. Diedrich.The heathen felt somewhat of the divine punishment when they overcame so easily the usually so strongly protected nation. But Jeremiah shows them still how they deceived themselves in thinking that God had wholly rejected His people, for of the eternal covenant of grace they certainly understood nothing. Heim and Hoffmann on the Major Prophets.
11. On Jer 50:18. The great powers of the world form indeed the history of the world, but they have no future. Israel, however, always returns home to the dear and glorious land. The Jews might as a token of this return under Cyrus; the case is however this, that the true Holy One in Israel, Christ, guides us back to Paradise, when we flee to His hand from the Babylon of this world and let it be crucified for us. Diedrich.
12. On Jer 50:23. Although the Chaldeans were called of God for the purpose of making war on the Jewish nation on account of their multitudinous sins, yet they are punished because they did it not as God with a pure intention, namely, to punish the wrong in them and keep them for reformation; for they were themselves greater sinners than the Jews and continued with impenitence in their sins. Therefore they could not go scot-free and remain unpunished. Moreover, they acted too roughly and dealt with the Jews more harshly than God had commanded, for which He therefore fairly punished them. As God the Lord Himself says (Isa 47:6): When I was angry with My people I gave them into thine hands; but thou shewedst them no mercy. Therefore it is not enough that Gods will be accomplished, but there must be the good intention in it, which God had, otherwise such a work may be a sin and call down the divine punishment upon it. Wrtemb. Summ.
13. On Jer 50:31-34. God calls Babylon Thou Pride, for pride was their inward force and impulse in all their actions. But worldly pride makes a Babylon and brings on a Babylons fate . Pride must fall, for it is in itself a lie against God, and all its might must perish in the fire; thus will the humble and meek remain in possession of the earth: this has a wide application through all times, even to eternity. Diedrich.
14. On Jer 51:33. Israel is indeed weak and must suffer in a time of tyranny; it cannot help itself, nor needs it to do so, for its Redeemer is strong, His name The Lord Zebaothand He is, now, having assumed our flesh, among us and conducts our cause so that the world trembles. Diedrich.
15. On Jer 50:45. An emblem of the destruction of anti-christian Babylon, which was also the true hammer of the whole world. This has God also broken and must and will do it still more. And this will the shepherd-boys do, as is said here in Jer 51:45 (according to Luthers translation), that is, all true teachers and preachers. Cramer.
16. On Jeremiah 51. The doctrines accord in all points with the previous chapter. And the prophet Jeremiah both in this and the previous chapter does nothing else but make out for the Babylonians their final discharge and passport, because they behaved so valiantly and well against the people of Judah, that they might know they would not go unrecompensed. For payment is according to service. And had they done better it would have gone better with them. It is well that when tyrants succeed in their evil undertakings they should not suppose they are Gods dearest children and lean on His bosom, since they will yet receive the recompense on their crown, whatever they have earned. Cramer.
17. [Though in the hand of Babylon is a golden cup; she chooses such a cup, in order that mens eyes may be dazzled with the glitter of the gold, and may not inquire what it contains. But mark well, in the golden cup of Babylon is the poison of idolatry, the poison of false doctrines, which destroy the souls of men. I have often seen such a golden cup, in fair speeches of seductive eloquence: and when I have examined the venomous ingredients of the golden chalice, I have recognized the cup of Babylon. Origen in Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
The seat and throne of Anti-christ is expressly named Babylon, namely, the city of Rome, built on the seven hills (Rev 17:9). Just as Babylon brought so many lands and kingdoms under its sway and ruled them with great pomp and pride (the golden cup, which made all the world drunk, was Babylon in the hand of the Lord (Jer 51:7), and all the heathen drank of the wine and became mad)so has the spiritual Babylon a cup in its hand, full of the abomination and uncleanness of its whoredom, of which the kings of the earth and all who dwell on the earth have been made drunk. As it is said of Babylon that she dwells by great waters and has great treasures, so writes John of the Romish Babylon, that it is clothed in silk and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls (Rev 18:12). Of Babylon it is said that the slain in Israel were smitten by her; so also the spiritual Babylon is become drunk with the blood of the saints (Rev 17:6). Just, however, as the Chaldean Babylon is a type of the spiritual in its pride and despotism, so also is it a type of the destruction which will come upon it. Many wished to heal Babylon but she would not be healed; so many endeavor to support the ruinous anti-christian Babylon, but all in vain. For as Babylon was at last so destroyed as to be a heap of stones and abode of dragons, so will it be with anti-christian Babylon. Of this it is written in Rev 14:8 : She is fallen, fallen, that great city, for she has made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication. And again, Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and a hold of all foul and hateful birds (Rev 18:2). As the inhabitants of Babylon were admonished to flee from her, that every man might deliver his soul (Jer 51:6)and again, My people, go ye out from the midst of her and deliver every man his soul, etc. (Jer 51:45)so the Holy Spirit admonishes Christians almost in the same words to go out from the spiritual Babylon, that they be not polluted by her sins and at the same time share in her punishment. For thus it is written in Rev 18:4, I heard, says John, a voice from heaven saying, Go ye out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins reach unto heaven and God remembers her iniquities. Wurtemb. Summarien.
18. On Jer 51:5. A monarch can sooner make an end of half a continent than draw a nail from a hut which the Lord protects.And if it is true that Kaiser Rudolph, when he revoked the toleration of the Picards and the same day lost one of his principal forts, said, I thought it would be so, for I grasped at Gods sceptre (Weismanni, Hist. Eccl. Tom. II. p. 320)this was a sage remark, a supplement to the words of the wise. Zinzendorf.
19. On Jer 51:9. We heal Babylon, but she will not be healed. Babylon is an outwardly beautiful but inwardly worm-eaten apple. Hence sooner or later the foulness must become noticeable. So is it with all whose heart and centre is not God. All is inwardly hollow and vain. When this internal vacuity begins to render itself externally palpable, when here and there a rent or foul spot becomes visible, then certainly come the friends and admirers of the unholy form and would improve, cover up, sew up, heal. But it does not avail. When once there is death in the body no physician can effect a cure.
20. On Jer 51:17; Jer 51:19-20. The children of God have three causes why they may venture on Him. 1. All men are fools, their treasure is it not; 2. The Lord is their hammer; He breaks through everything, and 3, they are an instrument in His hand, a heritage; in this there is happiness. Zinzendorf.
21. On Jer 51:41-44. How was Sheshach thus won, the city renowned in all the world thus taken? No one would have thought it possible, but God does it. He rules with wonders and with wonders He makes His church free. Babylon is a wonder no longer for its power, but for its weakness. We are to know the worlds weakness even where it still appears strong. A sea of hostile nations has covered Babylon. Her land is now a desolation. God takes Bel, the principal idol of Babylon, symbolizing its whole civil powers in hand, and snatches his prey from his teeth. Our God is stronger than all worldly forces, and never leaves us to them. Diedrich.
22. On Jer 51:58. Yea, so it is with all walls and towers, in which Gods word is not the vital force, even though they be entitled churches and cathedrals Gods church alone possesses permanence through His pure word. Diedrich.
23. On Jer 51:60-64. When we wish to preserve an archive safely, we deposit it in a record-office where it is kept in a dry place that no moisture may get to it. Seraiah throws his book-roll into the waters of the Euphrates, which must wash it away, dissolve and destroy it. But this was of no account. The main point was that he, Seraiah, as representative of the holy nation had taken solemn stock of the word of God against Babylon, and as it were taken God at His word, and reminded Him of it. In this manner the matter was laid up in the most enduring and safest archive that could be imagined; it was made a case of honor with the omniscient and omnipotent God. Such matters can, however, neither be forgotten, nor remain in dead silence, nor be neglected. They must be brought to such an end as the honor of God requires.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 50:2. This text may be used on the feast of the Reformation, or any other occasion with reference to a rem bene gestam. The Triumph of the Good Cause, 1. over what enemies it is gained; 2. to what it should impel us; (a) to the avoidance of that over which we new triumph; (b) to the grateful proclamation of what the Lord has done for us, by word and by deed.
2. On Jer 50:4-8. The deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian captivity a type of the deliverance of the Church. 1. The Church must humbly acknowledge the captivity suffered as a judgment of God. 2. She must turn like Israel inwardly with an upright heart unto the Lord; 3. She must become like Israel to all men a pattern and leader to freedom.
3. On Jer 50:5. A confirmation sermon. What is the hour of confirmation? 1. An hour which calls to separation; 2. an hour which leads to new connections; 3. an hour which fixes forever the old covenant with the souls friend. Florey, 1853.
4. On Jer 50:18-20. Assyria and Babylon the types of all the spiritual enemies of the church as of individual Christians. Every one has his Assyria and his Babylon. Sin is the destruction of men. Forgiveness of sins is the condition of life, for only where forgiveness of sins is, is there life and blessedness. In Christ we find the forgiveness of sins. He destroys the handwriting. He washes us clean. He is also the good shepherd who leads our souls into green pastures, to the spiritual Carmel.
5. On Jer 50:31-32. Warning against pride. Babylon was very strong and powerful, rich and splendid. It seemed invincible by nature and by art. Had it not then a certain justification in being proud, at least towards men? No; for no one has to contend only with men. Every one who contends has the Lord either for his friend or his enemy. It is the Lord from whom cometh victory (Pro 21:31). He it is who teacheth our hands to fight (Psa 18:35; Psa 144:1). His strength is made perfect in weakness (2Co 12:9). He can make the lame (Isa 33:23; Mic 4:7) and mortally wounded (Jer 37:10) so strong that they overmaster the sound (comp. Jer 51:45). He can make one man put to flight a thousand (Deu 32:30; Isa 30:17). With him can one dash in pieces a troop and leap over a wall (Psa 18:29). No one accordingly should be proud. The word of the Lord, I am against thee, thou proud one! is a terrible word which no one should conjure up against himself.
6. On Jer 50:33-34. The consolation of the Church in persecution. 1. It suffers violence and injustice. 2. Its redeemer is strong.
7. On Jer 51:5. God the Lord manifests such favor to Israel as to declare Himself her husband (Jer 2:2; Jer 3:1). But now that Israel and Judah are in exile, it seems as if they were rejected or widowed women. This, however, is only appearance. Israels husband does not die. He may well bring a period of chastisement, of purification and trial on His people, but when this period is over, the Lord turns the handle, and smites those through whom He chastised Israel, when they had forgotten that they were not to satisfy their own desire, but only to accomplish the Lords will on Israel.
8. On Jer 51:6. A time may come when it is well to separate ones self. For although it is said in Pro 18:1; he who separateth himself, seeketh that which pleaseth him and opposeth all that is goodand therefore separation, as the antipodes of churchliness, i.e., of churchly communion and humble subjection to the law of the co-operation of members (1Co 12:25 sqq.) is to be repudiated, yet there may come moments in the life of the church, when it will be a duty to leave the community and separate ones self. Such a moment is come when the community has become a Babylon. It should, however, be noted that one should not be too ready with such a decision. For even the life of the church is subject to many vacillations. There are periods of decay, obscurations, as it were, comparable to eclipses of the stars, but to these, so long as the foundations only subsist, must always follow a restoration and return to the original brightness. No one is to consider the church a Babylon on account of such a passing state of disease. It is this only when it has withheld the objective divine foundations, the means of grace, the word and sacrament, altogether and permanently in their saving efficacy. Then, when the soul can no longer find in the church the pure and divine bread of life; it is well to deliver the soul that it perish not in the iniquity of the church. From this separation from the church is, however, to be carefully distinguished the separation within the church, from all that which is opposed to the healthy life of the church, and is therefore to be regarded as a diseased part of the ecclesiastical body. Such separation is the daily duty of the Christian. He has to perform it with respect to his private life in all the manifold relations, indicated to us in Mat 18:17; Rom 16:17; 1Co 5:9 sqq.; 2Th 3:6; Tit 3:10; 2Jn 1:10-11.Comp. the article on Sects, by Palmer in Herzog, R.-Enc., XXI., S. 21, 22.
9. On Jer 51:10. The righteousness which avails before God. 1. Its origin (not our work or merit, but Gods grace in Christ); 2. Its fruit, praise of that which the Lord has wrought in us (a) by words, (b) by works.
10. On Jer 51:50. This text may be used at the sending out of missionaries or the departure of emigrants. Occasion may be taken to speak 1, of the gracious help and deliverance, which the Lord has hitherto shown to the departing; 2, they may be admonished to remain united in their distant land with their brethren at home by (a) remembering the Lord, i.e., ever remaining sincerely devoted to the Lord as the common shield of salvation; (b) faithfuly serving Jerusalem, i.e., the common mother of us all (Gal 4:26), the church, with all our powers in the proper place and measure, and ever keeping her in our hearts.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer 51:1. as masc. also in Exo 10:13; Psa 51:12; Ecc 1:6. , comp. Jer 51:25; Jer 2:30; Jer 5:26.
[2]Jer 51:2.. The analogy of Jer 48:12 seems to require the punctuation . is very troublesome. Although violence by strangers is spoken of in many places (comp. Jer 51:51), this idea does not at all suit this connection, and the frequent occurrence of while is not found elsewhere (only occurs in Rth 3:2), may indeed have occasioned the Masoretic punctuation, unless itself may be taken as Part. Kal. after the analogy of , ,, etc. (comp. Olsh., 245, a).
[3]Jer 51:3.. This is the main difficulty in Jer 51:3. For, 1. this Hithp. form does not occur elsewhere, 2. the abbreviated Imperfect form, if the word comes from , is surprising. According to the laws of the Hebrew language, however, can come only from (comp. Olsh., 269, d). It must then signify lift ones self up. Then the abbreviated form is strange, which might be in place after , but not after . I do not think, however, that we need be so scrupulous in the matter. As in Jeremiah (and elsewhere) the full form stands where we should expect the abbreviated (comp. Jer 3:7; Ew., 224, c), so may the latter stand where we should expect the former. Comp. Jer 17:8, Chethibh; Ewald, 224, c, Anm.; Ges., 128, 2, Anm. Then the rest, according to the reading of the Chethibh, affords no difficulty. With respect to the absence of the nota relationis, comp. 1Ch 15:12; Naegelsb. Gr., 80, 6, 2, a.
[4]Jer 51:3.. Comp. Jer 46:4; Ewald, 49, d.
[5]Jer 51:5.The masc. here onlyto be regarded as neuter. Comp. , Jer 4:30.
[6]Jer 51:5.. Pregnant construction. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 112, 7.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Daniels Babylonian empire resumes, as it were, the thread which was broken off with the tower-erection and kingdom of Nimrod. In the Babylonian tower-building the whole of the then existing humanity was united against God; with the Babylonian kingdom began the period of the universal monarchies, which again aspired after an atheistical union of entire humanity. Babylon has since and even to the Revelation (Jeremiah 18) remained the standing type of this world. Auberlen, Der proph. Daniel, S. 230.
2. For what reason does Babylon appear as a type of the world? Why not Nineveh, or Persepolis, or Tyre, or Memphis, or Rome? Certainly not because Babylon was greater, more glorious, more powerful or prouder and more ungodly than those cities and kingdoms. Nineveh especially was still greater than Babylon (comp. Duncker, Gesch. d. Alterth. I. S. 474, 5), and Assyria was not less hostile to the theocracy, having carried away into captivity the northern and larger half of the people of Israel. Babylon is qualified for this representation in two ways: 1. because it is the home of worldly princedom and titanic arrogance (Gen 10:8; Gen 11:1-4); 2. because Babylon destroyed the centre of the theocracy, Jerusalem, the temple and the theocratic kingdom, and first assumed to be the single supreme power of the globe.
3. When God has used a superstitious, wicked and tyrannical nation long enough as His rod, He breaks it in pieces and finally throws it into the fire. For even those whom He formerly used as His chosen anointed instruments He then regards as but the dust in the streets or as chaff before the wind. Cramer.
4. No monarch is too rich, too wicked, too strong for God the Lord. And He can soon enlist and engage soldiers whom He can use against His declared enemies. Cramer.
5. Israel was founded on everlasting foundations, even Gods word and promise. The sins of the people brought about that it was laid low in the dust, but not without hope of a better resurrection. Babylon, on the other hand, must perish forever, for in it is the empire of evil come to its highest bloom. Jeremiah owns the nothingness of all worldly kingdoms, since they are all under this national order to serve only for a time. We are to be subject to them and seek their welfare for the sake of the souls of men, whom God is educating therein; a Christian however cannot be enthusiastic for them after the manner of the ancient heathen nor of ancient Israel, for here we have no abiding city, our citizenship is in heaven. The kingdoms of this world are no sanctuaries for us and we supplicate their continuance only with the daily bread of the fourth petition. Jeremiah applies many words and figures to Babylon which he has already used in the judgments on other nations, thus to intimate that in Babylon all the heathenism of the world culminates, and that here also must be the greatest anguish. What, however, is here declared of Babylon must be fulfilled again on all earthly powers in so far as, treading in its footprints, they take flesh for their arm and regard the material of this world as power, whether they be called states or churches. Diedrich.
6. On Jer 50:2. In putting into the mouth of Israel, returning from Babylon, the call to an everlasting covenant with Jehovah, the prophet causes them 1. to confess that they have forgotten the first covenant; 2. he shows us that the time of the new covenant begins with the redemption from the Babylonish captivity. He was far, however, from supposing that this redemption would be only a weak beginning, that the appearance of the Saviour would be deferred for centuries, that Israel would sink still deeper as an external , and that finally the Israel of the new covenant would itself appear as a , (1Pe 1:9-12).
7. From what Jeremiah has already said in Jer 31:31-34 of the new covenant we see that its nature and its difference from the old is not unknown to him. Yet he knows the new covenant only in general. He knows that it will be deeply spiritual and eternal, but how and why it will be so is still to him part of the .
8. On Jer 50:6. Jeremiah here points back to Jeremiah 23. Priests, kings and prophets, who should discharge the office of shepherds, prove to be wolves. Yea, they are the worst of wolves, who go about in official clothing. There is therefore no more dangerous doctrine than that of an infallible office. Jer 14:14; Mat 7:15; Mat 23:2-12.
9. On Jer 50:7. It is the worst condition into which a church of God can come, when the enemies who desolate it can maintain that they are in the right in doing so. It is, however, a just nemesis when those who will not hear the regular messengers of God must be told by the extraordinary messengers of God what they should have done. Comp. Jer 40:2-3.
10. On Jer 50:8. Babylon is opened, and it must be abandoned not clung to, for the captivity is a temporary chastisement, not the divine arrangement for the children of God. Gods people must in the general redemption go like rams before the herd of the nations, that these may also attach themselves to Israel, as this was fulfilled at the time of Christ in the first churches and the apostles, who now draw the whole heathen world after them to eternal life. Here the prophet recognizes the new humanity, which proceeds from the ruins of the old, in which also ancient Israel leads the way; thus all, who follow it, become Israel. Diedrich.The heathen felt somewhat of the divine punishment when they overcame so easily the usually so strongly protected nation. But Jeremiah shows them still how they deceived themselves in thinking that God had wholly rejected His people, for of the eternal covenant of grace they certainly understood nothing. Heim and Hoffmann on the Major Prophets.
11. On Jer 50:18. The great powers of the world form indeed the history of the world, but they have no future. Israel, however, always returns home to the dear and glorious land. The Jews might as a token of this return under Cyrus; the case is however this, that the true Holy One in Israel, Christ, guides us back to Paradise, when we flee to His hand from the Babylon of this world and let it be crucified for us. Diedrich.
12. On Jer 50:23. Although the Chaldeans were called of God for the purpose of making war on the Jewish nation on account of their multitudinous sins, yet they are punished because they did it not as God with a pure intention, namely, to punish the wrong in them and keep them for reformation; for they were themselves greater sinners than the Jews and continued with impenitence in their sins. Therefore they could not go scot-free and remain unpunished. Moreover, they acted too roughly and dealt with the Jews more harshly than God had commanded, for which He therefore fairly punished them. As God the Lord Himself says (Isa 47:6): When I was angry with My people I gave them into thine hands; but thou shewedst them no mercy. Therefore it is not enough that Gods will be accomplished, but there must be the good intention in it, which God had, otherwise such a work may be a sin and call down the divine punishment upon it. Wrtemb. Summ.
13. On Jer 50:31-34. God calls Babylon Thou Pride, for pride was their inward force and impulse in all their actions. But worldly pride makes a Babylon and brings on a Babylons fate . Pride must fall, for it is in itself a lie against God, and all its might must perish in the fire; thus will the humble and meek remain in possession of the earth: this has a wide application through all times, even to eternity. Diedrich.
14. On Jer 51:33. Israel is indeed weak and must suffer in a time of tyranny; it cannot help itself, nor needs it to do so, for its Redeemer is strong, His name The Lord Zebaothand He is, now, having assumed our flesh, among us and conducts our cause so that the world trembles. Diedrich.
15. On Jer 50:45. An emblem of the destruction of anti-christian Babylon, which was also the true hammer of the whole world. This has God also broken and must and will do it still more. And this will the shepherd-boys do, as is said here in Jer 51:45 (according to Luthers translation), that is, all true teachers and preachers. Cramer.
16. On Jeremiah 51. The doctrines accord in all points with the previous chapter. And the prophet Jeremiah both in this and the previous chapter does nothing else but make out for the Babylonians their final discharge and passport, because they behaved so valiantly and well against the people of Judah, that they might know they would not go unrecompensed. For payment is according to service. And had they done better it would have gone better with them. It is well that when tyrants succeed in their evil undertakings they should not suppose they are Gods dearest children and lean on His bosom, since they will yet receive the recompense on their crown, whatever they have earned. Cramer.
17. [Though in the hand of Babylon is a golden cup; she chooses such a cup, in order that mens eyes may be dazzled with the glitter of the gold, and may not inquire what it contains. But mark well, in the golden cup of Babylon is the poison of idolatry, the poison of false doctrines, which destroy the souls of men. I have often seen such a golden cup, in fair speeches of seductive eloquence: and when I have examined the venomous ingredients of the golden chalice, I have recognized the cup of Babylon. Origen in Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
The seat and throne of Anti-christ is expressly named Babylon, namely, the city of Rome, built on the seven hills (Rev 17:9). Just as Babylon brought so many lands and kingdoms under its sway and ruled them with great pomp and pride (the golden cup, which made all the world drunk, was Babylon in the hand of the Lord (Jer 51:7), and all the heathen drank of the wine and became mad)so has the spiritual Babylon a cup in its hand, full of the abomination and uncleanness of its whoredom, of which the kings of the earth and all who dwell on the earth have been made drunk. As it is said of Babylon that she dwells by great waters and has great treasures, so writes John of the Romish Babylon, that it is clothed in silk and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls (Rev 18:12). Of Babylon it is said that the slain in Israel were smitten by her; so also the spiritual Babylon is become drunk with the blood of the saints (Rev 17:6). Just, however, as the Chaldean Babylon is a type of the spiritual in its pride and despotism, so also is it a type of the destruction which will come upon it. Many wished to heal Babylon but she would not be healed; so many endeavor to support the ruinous anti-christian Babylon, but all in vain. For as Babylon was at last so destroyed as to be a heap of stones and abode of dragons, so will it be with anti-christian Babylon. Of this it is written in Rev 14:8 : She is fallen, fallen, that great city, for she has made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication. And again, Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and a hold of all foul and hateful birds (Rev 18:2). As the inhabitants of Babylon were admonished to flee from her, that every man might deliver his soul (Jer 51:6)and again, My people, go ye out from the midst of her and deliver every man his soul, etc. (Jer 51:45)so the Holy Spirit admonishes Christians almost in the same words to go out from the spiritual Babylon, that they be not polluted by her sins and at the same time share in her punishment. For thus it is written in Rev 18:4, I heard, says John, a voice from heaven saying, Go ye out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins reach unto heaven and God remembers her iniquities. Wurtemb. Summarien.
18. On Jer 51:5. A monarch can sooner make an end of half a continent than draw a nail from a hut which the Lord protects.And if it is true that Kaiser Rudolph, when he revoked the toleration of the Picards and the same day lost one of his principal forts, said, I thought it would be so, for I grasped at Gods sceptre (Weismanni, Hist. Eccl. Tom. II. p. 320)this was a sage remark, a supplement to the words of the wise. Zinzendorf.
19. On Jer 51:9. We heal Babylon, but she will not be healed. Babylon is an outwardly beautiful but inwardly worm-eaten apple. Hence sooner or later the foulness must become noticeable. So is it with all whose heart and centre is not God. All is inwardly hollow and vain. When this internal vacuity begins to render itself externally palpable, when here and there a rent or foul spot becomes visible, then certainly come the friends and admirers of the unholy form and would improve, cover up, sew up, heal. But it does not avail. When once there is death in the body no physician can effect a cure.
20. On Jer 51:17; Jer 51:19-20. The children of God have three causes why they may venture on Him. 1. All men are fools, their treasure is it not; 2. The Lord is their hammer; He breaks through everything, and 3, they are an instrument in His hand, a heritage; in this there is happiness. Zinzendorf.
21. On Jer 51:41-44. How was Sheshach thus won, the city renowned in all the world thus taken? No one would have thought it possible, but God does it. He rules with wonders and with wonders He makes His church free. Babylon is a wonder no longer for its power, but for its weakness. We are to know the worlds weakness even where it still appears strong. A sea of hostile nations has covered Babylon. Her land is now a desolation. God takes Bel, the principal idol of Babylon, symbolizing its whole civil powers in hand, and snatches his prey from his teeth. Our God is stronger than all worldly forces, and never leaves us to them. Diedrich.
22. On Jer 51:58. Yea, so it is with all walls and towers, in which Gods word is not the vital force, even though they be entitled churches and cathedrals Gods church alone possesses permanence through His pure word. Diedrich.
23. On Jer 51:60-64. When we wish to preserve an archive safely, we deposit it in a record-office where it is kept in a dry place that no moisture may get to it. Seraiah throws his book-roll into the waters of the Euphrates, which must wash it away, dissolve and destroy it. But this was of no account. The main point was that he, Seraiah, as representative of the holy nation had taken solemn stock of the word of God against Babylon, and as it were taken God at His word, and reminded Him of it. In this manner the matter was laid up in the most enduring and safest archive that could be imagined; it was made a case of honor with the omniscient and omnipotent God. Such matters can, however, neither be forgotten, nor remain in dead silence, nor be neglected. They must be brought to such an end as the honor of God requires.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 50:2. This text may be used on the feast of the Reformation, or any other occasion with reference to a rem bene gestam. The Triumph of the Good Cause, 1. over what enemies it is gained; 2. to what it should impel us; (a) to the avoidance of that over which we new triumph; (b) to the grateful proclamation of what the Lord has done for us, by word and by deed.
2. On Jer 50:4-8. The deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian captivity a type of the deliverance of the Church. 1. The Church must humbly acknowledge the captivity suffered as a judgment of God. 2. She must turn like Israel inwardly with an upright heart unto the Lord; 3. She must become like Israel to all men a pattern and leader to freedom.
3. On Jer 50:5. A confirmation sermon. What is the hour of confirmation? 1. An hour which calls to separation; 2. an hour which leads to new connections; 3. an hour which fixes forever the old covenant with the souls friend. Florey, 1853.
4. On Jer 50:18-20. Assyria and Babylon the types of all the spiritual enemies of the church as of individual Christians. Every one has his Assyria and his Babylon. Sin is the destruction of men. Forgiveness of sins is the condition of life, for only where forgiveness of sins is, is there life and blessedness. In Christ we find the forgiveness of sins. He destroys the handwriting. He washes us clean. He is also the good shepherd who leads our souls into green pastures, to the spiritual Carmel.
5. On Jer 50:31-32. Warning against pride. Babylon was very strong and powerful, rich and splendid. It seemed invincible by nature and by art. Had it not then a certain justification in being proud, at least towards men? No; for no one has to contend only with men. Every one who contends has the Lord either for his friend or his enemy. It is the Lord from whom cometh victory (Pro 21:31). He it is who teacheth our hands to fight (Psa 18:35; Psa 144:1). His strength is made perfect in weakness (2Co 12:9). He can make the lame (Isa 33:23; Mic 4:7) and mortally wounded (Jer 37:10) so strong that they overmaster the sound (comp. Jer 51:45). He can make one man put to flight a thousand (Deu 32:30; Isa 30:17). With him can one dash in pieces a troop and leap over a wall (Psa 18:29). No one accordingly should be proud. The word of the Lord, I am against thee, thou proud one! is a terrible word which no one should conjure up against himself.
6. On Jer 50:33-34. The consolation of the Church in persecution. 1. It suffers violence and injustice. 2. Its redeemer is strong.
7. On Jer 51:5. God the Lord manifests such favor to Israel as to declare Himself her husband (Jer 2:2; Jer 3:1). But now that Israel and Judah are in exile, it seems as if they were rejected or widowed women. This, however, is only appearance. Israels husband does not die. He may well bring a period of chastisement, of purification and trial on His people, but when this period is over, the Lord turns the handle, and smites those through whom He chastised Israel, when they had forgotten that they were not to satisfy their own desire, but only to accomplish the Lords will on Israel.
8. On Jer 51:6. A time may come when it is well to separate ones self. For although it is said in Pro 18:1; he who separateth himself, seeketh that which pleaseth him and opposeth all that is goodand therefore separation, as the antipodes of churchliness, i.e., of churchly communion and humble subjection to the law of the co-operation of members (1Co 12:25 sqq.) is to be repudiated, yet there may come moments in the life of the church, when it will be a duty to leave the community and separate ones self. Such a moment is come when the community has become a Babylon. It should, however, be noted that one should not be too ready with such a decision. For even the life of the church is subject to many vacillations. There are periods of decay, obscurations, as it were, comparable to eclipses of the stars, but to these, so long as the foundations only subsist, must always follow a restoration and return to the original brightness. No one is to consider the church a Babylon on account of such a passing state of disease. It is this only when it has withheld the objective divine foundations, the means of grace, the word and sacrament, altogether and permanently in their saving efficacy. Then, when the soul can no longer find in the church the pure and divine bread of life; it is well to deliver the soul that it perish not in the iniquity of the church. From this separation from the church is, however, to be carefully distinguished the separation within the church, from all that which is opposed to the healthy life of the church, and is therefore to be regarded as a diseased part of the ecclesiastical body. Such separation is the daily duty of the Christian. He has to perform it with respect to his private life in all the manifold relations, indicated to us in Mat 18:17; Rom 16:17; 1Co 5:9 sqq.; 2Th 3:6; Tit 3:10; 2Jn 1:10-11.Comp. the article on Sects, by Palmer in Herzog, R.-Enc., XXI., S. 21, 22.
9. On Jer 51:10. The righteousness which avails before God. 1. Its origin (not our work or merit, but Gods grace in Christ); 2. Its fruit, praise of that which the Lord has wrought in us (a) by words, (b) by works.
10. On Jer 51:50. This text may be used at the sending out of missionaries or the departure of emigrants. Occasion may be taken to speak 1, of the gracious help and deliverance, which the Lord has hitherto shown to the departing; 2, they may be admonished to remain united in their distant land with their brethren at home by (a) remembering the Lord, i.e., ever remaining sincerely devoted to the Lord as the common shield of salvation; (b) faithfuly serving Jerusalem, i.e., the common mother of us all (Gal 4:26), the church, with all our powers in the proper place and measure, and ever keeping her in our hearts.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The same subject is prosecuted in this Chapter. The utter destruction of Babylon is declared, and the Lord’s judgments upon her determined.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I beg the Reader particularly to take notice of this last verse. Amidst all the chastisements of the Lord, and the permission given to the enemies of the Church to oppose her, the Lord’s own testimony is here given, that neither Israel nor Judah had been forsaken of the Lord of hosts, though their land had been filled with sin. Oh what a word of comfort is here to all precious souls, under the various exercises of their pilgrim state!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 51:7
Babylon, then, for all its power and all its independence, was an instrument of God, and no one can deeply study the Word of God without coming to perceive the awful emphasis that it lays on the fact of instrumentality.
I. Now sometimes the blindest eye can see how exquisitely the instruments of God are fitted to the task God has in hand. But is not the general rule the very opposite? I think it is the reverse that strikes us most.
1. Think, for example, of the instrument which He used to keep alive the knowledge of His name. A man could not do it, it required a nation; God’s name is too great for one man to hold in trust; but of all the unlikely nations in the world, I think Israel was the most unlikely. To the human eye that seems the worst of choices, and yet that nation was the chosen of God. Israel became the instrument of heaven. It was Israel that was the cradle of the Christ.
2. Whenever I think of God’s unlikely instruments, I think of little Samuel in the temple. God chose a little child to be His instrument.
II. Now if Jesus of Nazareth be the Son of God, I shall expect to find Him adopting the same procedure. I surmise from His very methods that Christ was Son of God whenever I think of His choice of the disciples. Twelve men, provincial and unlettered and all the world against them in the battle. Yet by such men, inspired by the Holy Ghost, victories were won that changed the world.
III. What, then, does that inexplicable feature of God’s choice mean for you and me?
First it guards us against putting limits upon God. Who shall dare say what powers may not be used by heaven if even Babylon be a golden cup in the Lord’s hand? That is the first use of God’s unlikely instruments. It makes us watchful, open-hearted, very humble. We must be alive to possibilities of usefulness, or the chances are we may be missing God.
And it should make us very strong when we are called to any little service. The men who think that they are fit for anything are very seldom fit for God’s work. But the men who cry, as Jeremiah cried, ‘Ah, Lord God, I am a child, and cannot speak’ it is such men whose lips are touched with fire, whose hearts are emboldened, and whose way is opened. For God is not bent on glorifying you; God is bent on glorifying Jesus.
G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise, p. 240.
References. LI. 50. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2648. LII. 1-11. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Isaiah and Jeremiah, p. 398. LII. 8-11. A. Phelps, The Old Testament A Living Book for All Ages, p. 215.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
XI
THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH CONCERNING THE NATIONS
Jeremiah 46-51
We now take up the prophecies of Jeremiah to the foreign nations, recorded in Jeremiah 46-51. We note first, by way of introduction, that when Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, it was said, Jer 1:5 : “I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.” Note again in Jer 1:10 : “I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow.” Thus Jeremiah’s work was not to be confined to Israel, but to comprise the known world, at least all that part of it which had any relation to or connection with Israel. So, in Jer 25 , we see him exercising this function of prophet to the nations. Jehovah speaks to him and says) Jer 25:15 : “Take this cup of wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.”
We are not told that Jeremiah visited other nations. By this passage it seems that he did either visit them and deliver the prophecy, or that he wrote it and sent it to them by a messenger. Certain it is that he sent this message of destruction to all the nations that troubled Israel. He goes on, Jer 25:17 : “Then took I the cup at Jehovah’s hand and caused all nations to drink it unto whom Jehovah sent me.” In the next several verses we have all these nations named. There are twenty-one, altogether. And those nations which he names in Jer 25 constitute some of the very people to whom he is writing the messages in this section. Again in Jer 27 we have Jeremiah exercising the prophetic function to the nations. In verses 2, 4 he makes a yoke to be sent to the kings of the nations and addresses the ambassadors that have been assembled at Jerusalem to arrange a plan for rebellion against Babylon and devise methods by which they may throw off the Babylonian yoke. Jeremiah meets them and Zedekiah and says, as recorded in the latter part of Jer 27:12 : “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him arid live.” He gave them this advice because he had said, “All the nations shall serve the king of Babylon, and all those that do not serve him shall perish, or go into captivity, at the hands of the great Nebuchadnezzar. It is interesting to note that in the Septuagint Version, made in the third century before Christ, the prophecies found in chapters 46-51 are found immediately following Jer 25:13 , where their names are mentioned. That looks as if these were written and sent to the nations about the same time that Jeremiah gives his counsel to the messengers of the nations and to Zedekiah.
The dates of these chapters range from 604 B.C. to about 594 B.C. The critics put some of them much later. But there is ample evidence to lead to the conclusion that they occurred in that period in which Pharaoh-Necho suffered defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, unto the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah. Notice that these various prophecies to the nations are grouped together as Isaiah and Ezekiel grouped them. See Isaiah 12-23 and Ezekiel 25-32.
The date of the prophecy concerning Egypt is about 604 B.C. Probably the latter portion of the chapter was written a little later, but certainly the first twelve verses were written about 604 B.C. Compare with this Isa 19 and Ezekiel 29-32 which deal with the same subject, the downfall and punishment of Egypt. Jer 46:1 is a general introduction to all these various prophecies.
We have an account of Egypt’s defeat at Carohemish (Jer 46:2-12 ). The second verse gives the date and the occasion of the prophecy. They occurred somewhere about tour years after the disastrous defeat and death of the good King Josiah at Megiddo. Pharaoh-Necho had pressed as far north and east as the fords of the Euphrates, seeking to swell his coffers and enlarge his territory. He was met there by the invincible Nebuchadnezzar. There was fought the great battle which was to decide the fate of one or the other of these two kings. Carchemish was a large city on the banks of the Euphrates, commanding the fords of that great river, which was the dividing line between the empires. Pharaoh-Necho was overwhelmed and driven back to Egypt. Jeremiah in the spirit of sarcasm addresses the great army of Pharaoh-Necho: “Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.”
Note the tone of verse Jer 46:5 : “Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side.” Then again with a note of sarcasm he raises this question, verse Jer 46:7 : “Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?” That is Egypt. Again, with a note of stinging sarcasm he continues in verse Jer 46:9 : “Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Gush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.” In Jer 46:10 he pictures the defeat: “For that day is a day of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he many avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.” This magnificent picture is the description of the hand of God punishing Egypt. It is a sacrifice of Jehovah’s righteousness.
In Jer 46:13 he gives the occasion and the substance of the prophecy. Nebuchadnezzar would come and smite the land of Egypt. Then in Jer 46:14 he speaks of the cities of Egypt. He tells them to be ready and prepared. With a note of sarcasm he continues in Jer 46:15 by asking a question, “Why are thy strong ones [thy gods] swept away?” Then the answer follows in the same verse: “Because Jehovah did drive them.” That is the reason. In Jer 46:17 we have a striking prophecy: “Pharaoh) the king of Egypt, is but a noise.” He has no power; he is only a noise; all boast and brag and not to be feared.
In Jer 46:25 he prophesies that Pharaoh’s city, the city of Thebes, called “Noamon,” or “Amon of No,” shall perish. Of late years Egyptologists have discovered that city, and it is today just as Jeremiah described it in this prophecy. It is utterly destroyed. In the latter part of Jer 46:26 he makes a remarkable promise regarding the kingdom of Egypt. There shall not be made a full end of it; “afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old”; Egypt shall not be utterly destroyed. It shall live. But Egypt was never the same after her defeat and subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar. Profane history tells us that in the year 560 B.C. or thereabout, Nebuchadnezzar defeated and overthrew Egypt. Jeremiah is vindicated in his prophecy here, since what he wrote took place beyond any doubt.
There are words of reassurance and encouragement to Israel in Jer 46:27-28 : “Fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; for I am with thee: for I will make a full end of all nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.” That sounds much like the second part of Isaiah. In that prophecy this same promise is worked out in the great doctrine of the servant of God. The Philistines were the old, hereditary enemies of Israel. From the days of Samuel and the Judges, David and Solomon this nation had existed and was, all the time, an enemy and troubler of Israel and Judah.
The date of the prophecy (Jer 47:1-7 ) is a little uncertain. The latter part of the first verse says that this prophecy came before Pharaoh smote Gaza. Now that was the Pharaoh-Necho who defeated Josiah, some time previous to 604 B.C. He had laid siege to Gaza, the chief city of Philistia, and had utterly overwhelmed it. Previous to that Jeremiah uttered this prophecy against Philistia. He says in Jer 47:2 , “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein.” Thus he pictures the invading hosts of Nebuchadnezzar coming from the north like an overflowing river, down the plains of Tyre to this Philistine city. In Jer 47:4 he says that they shall all be overthrown.
Now, we have a remarkable question on this part of Jeremiah, Jer 47:6 . He sees this fearful shedding of blood, and raises the question, “O thou sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still.” Evidently this implies that God ordered this bloodshed and that the nation was doing his will in thus punishing the wickedness of the Philistines.
What the relation of Moab to Israel and what the main points of the prophecy against her (Jer 48:1-47 )? It is interesting here to compare this passage with Isaiah 15-16, and also Eze 25:9-11 . Israel had come into very intimate relations with Moab. They passed through that land, and the tribe of Reuben had the territory which joined Moab. Between these two (Reuben and Moab) there were constant feuds with intermittent friendship. Finally Moab succeeded in throwing off the yoke of Israel and absorbing the tribe of Reuben. Moab was famous for her pride, her self-sufficiency. She was one of the proudest nations of the world. It was against this pride and self-sufficiency that this prophecy was directed. It contains a great many expressions that are identical with what we find in Isaiah 15-16. In this chapter the prophet gives us much of the geography of Moab. He mentions, altogether, about twenty-six cities. The principal thoughts are these:
1. Moab’s threatened destruction and exile by Babylon (Jer 48:1-10 ).
2. Moab’s disappointed hope, and the imminence of her calamity (Jer 48:11-25 ).
3. The humiliation of Moab, and her fate described (Jer 48:26-46 ).
4. A promise of return: “Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith Jehovah” (Jer 48:47 ).
I call attention to two or three striking passages in this prophecy against Moab. In Jer 48:10 Jeremiah is speaking of the terrible work which Nebuchadnezzar will do to Moab and he wants that work thoroughly done, and says, “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently.” Now that is a fine text. He continues, “Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.” The idea in it all is that Jehovah wants these Babylonians to do their work thoroughly. Also in Jer 48:11 we have a striking passage: “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed.” The figure here is that of fresh wine left to stand. When it is left thus, sediment gathers in the bottom. It becomes thick and stagnant and the quality is injured. Something like that had happened in Moab. She had grown stagnant; had been quiet for years. It was not good for her to remain in this condition. Self-satisfaction is not a good thing.
We have the prophecy against Ammon (Jer 49:1-6 ). The country of Ammon bordered on the land of Moab and the territory of the tribe of Reuben. There was constant strife between Ammon and Reuben. When Tiglath-Pileser invaded the land and deported the inhabitants, Ammon came up and seized the country that belonged to Reuben. Because of that incident Jeremiah uttered these oracles: “Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? Why then doth Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?” He had seized the property that belonged to Israel, and that is what Jeremiah is denouncing. They shall all go into exile. He then closes this prophecy with a promise of restoration: “But I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon.”
Compare with the prophecy against Edom the prophecy of Obadiah, which is almost identical. Jeremiah must have been familiar with the prophecy of Obadiah. Compare also Isa 34 . Edom was a kinsman of the house of Jacob. Edom dwelt in his mountain fastnesses and impregnable heights, and was something of a military power. He never lost the bitterness of Esau against Jacob because the latter got his birthright and blessing. They first dwelt in tents and were Bedouin, but at this time most of them dwelt in cities or towns. Edom watched from his fastnesses the career of Jacob and, as Obadiah says, looked on her destruction without pity. When she had opportunity she took some of the inhabitants of Israel, made them slaves and rejoiced over the downfall of Jerusalem. For such unbrotherly conduct Judah never forgave Edom. Sufficient is it to say that we have here the pronouncement of doom upon her and there is no promise of restoration. For several centuries Edom flourished to some extent, and in the time of the restoration she occupied considerable territory of Judah. In the time of Christ an Edomite sat upon the throne of Judah, but since then Edom has gone down and today nothing remains of her but a great wilderness of mountains and deserts.
In connection with the prophecy against Damascus (Jer 49:23-27 ) we have prophecies concerning two little countries, namely, Hamath and Arpad. Damascus is to have troubles, she is to be sad in her fate and she is to wax very feeble. Her city is to be, not utterly destroyed, but greatly humbled. There is no promise of restoration.
Kedar is the name of the wandering and marauding, warlike tribes that live in the deserts east of Palestine, between eastern Palestine and the river Euphrates. They are called the “Children of the East.” They have lived there from time immemorial. They were there before the days of Abraham and are there yet. The men of Kedar are to be overwhelmed by the Babylonian power. The city of Hazor is referred to as belonging to this people. The larger portion of these Arabians lived in tents and were Bedouin, but some of them lived in cities or villages. So the prophet addresses both classes, Kedar and Hazor, pronouncing destruction upon them.
We have the prophecy against Elam (Jer 49:34-39 ). In Abraham’s time there was a king of Elam, who was the overlord of Babylon, and the over-lord of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He came to the plains of Palestine and collected tribute from them. Elam was one of the principal forces that Abraham attacked and destroyed. A great many of the inhabitants were transported to northern Palestine when Samaria was destroyed by Sargon, so that Jeremiah is brought into touch with these Elamites because they lived in the northern part of the country. The fate of Elam is bound ‘up with the fate of Babylon and that of Israel. Elam is threatened with destruction, but in Jer 49:39 there is a promise of restoration. It is interesting to note that in the fulfilment of that promise of restoration, there were Elamites in the city of Jerusalem when Peter preached his great sermon at Pentecost. Doubtless there were Elamites converted at that time and brought into the fold of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The prophecy against Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51) is the longest of any of the prophecies concerning the foreign nations. Compare this with Isaiah 13-14; 40-48. The date of this prophecy is set forth in Jer 51:59 . It was in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, about 494 B.C. Jeremiah penned this long prophecy and sent it by a messenger to the king of Babylon, to be read by the exiles, and he says in Jer 51:63 , “When thou hast made an end of reading this book, thou shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: and thou shall say, Thus shalt Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her.” A copy of the prophecy was kept by the prophet. This action was symbolical. We cannot go into detail in the study of this prophecy. The situation is the same as that set forth in Isaiah 40-66. It presents many of the same ideas and the same problems. There are scores of similar expressions. The principal ideas are as follows:
1. The people of Israel were in exile in Babylon and the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed: Jer 50:6-7 ; Jer 50:17 ; Jer 50:28 ; Jer 50:33 ; Jer 51:11 ; Jer 51:34 ; Jer 51:51 .
2. Babylon was the instrument of Jehovah in punishing Israel and the nations, four times stated: Jer 50:7 ; Jer 50:17 ; Jer 51:7 ; Jer 51:20-23 .
3. Jehovah remains the deliverer of his people. This is stated by the prophet four times: Jer 50:34 ; Jer 51:5 ; Jer 51:15-19 ; Jer 51:36 .
4. Jehovah will execute his wrath upon Babylon and her gods and they shall be destroyed. Fully two-thirds of this entire prophecy is given to the discussion of this thought: Jer 50:2-3 ; Jer 50:10-16 ; Jer 50:18 ; Jer 50:21-27 ; Jer 51:1-4 ; Jer 51:8-9 ; Jer 51:11-19 .
5. The Modes and their allies are to break the Babylonian yoke. This is stated eight times altogether: Jer 50:3 ; Jer 50:9 ; Jer 50:41-42 ; Jer 50:44 ; Jer 51:11 ; Jer 51:27-28 .
6. Promise of release from Babylon and command to leave the city. Eleven times the prophet makes statements to that effect: Jer 50:4-5 ; Jer 50:8 ; Jer 50:19-20 ; Jer 50:28 ; and others.
7. Spiritual renewal of Israel shall follow the return from Babylon. This is stated by the prophet five times: Jer 50:4-5 ; Jer 51:10 ; Jer 51:50-51 .
In these seven divisions we have the substance of these chapters. Isaiah 40-48 contains the same thoughts, sometimes even in the same words.
Almost all the critics maintain that Jeremiah did not write these chanters. Even a Baptist professor produced a commentary that was published by a Baptist publishing house, in which it is plainly affirmed that Jeremiah did not write them. The arguments used against the Jeremiah-authorship are in substance, as follows:
1. The historical situation had not yet arrived. These chapters picture Israel in exile, the Temple destroyed and Jerusalem in ruins. If Jeremiah wrote these chapters in 594 B.C. (and it is plainly stated that he did) Jerusalem was still standing, the Temple intact, and the end of Babylon was yet seventy years more in the future. Therefore, the critics conclude that since the historical situation was not in harmony with these chapters, Jeremiah did not write them. That conclusion is undeniably based upon the assumption that Jeremiah could not see the future.
2. There is not the same point of view on the part of the prophet. The point of view of the prophet about this time was that Zedekiah and his people must submit to Babylon, and if they would submit, they would be saved. But now in these chapters the point of view of the prophet seems to be that these nations are to be destroyed and Judah triumph. Therefore, Jeremiah must have a different point of view. Did he? As in the other contention, it is based upon the assumption that Jeremiah could not see the future.
3. The temper which permeates these chapters was not that of Jeremiah. In other words, Jeremiah, during the reign of Zedekiah, had been friendly to Babylon in that he continually counseled submission to Babylon. He seems to be a friend to Babylon. Now, these two chapters were written by a man whose soul seemed to be on fire with denunciation of Babylon because of her ruthless and unrelenting cruelty to Israel. The critics cannot account for the change in the temper of Jeremiah, if it is conceded that he wrote these two chapters in question.
In reply, it may be asked, Does it follow that because he advised submission to a foreign power he loved that power and was not loyal to his own people? Jeremiah counseled submission to Babylon, not because he loved Babylon, but because he could see, in fact it was revealed to him, that Babylon was destined to prevail and that if his people would quietly submit, it would be better than to resist. By no means does it follow that he loved Babylon. He did not love Babylon; he was a patriotic Israelite and could not but have hated that savage nation that overwhelmed his own beloved kinsmen. It is easy to see how he could, with perfect consistency, thus write the doom that was coming upon this savage nation for its wickedness. Though it was a wicked heathen nation, God could overrule its cruelty to be the just punishment for Israel’s sins and wickedness.
4. It is full of repetitions and lacks logical development. And so it does. But is it not in that very fact, like the work of Jeremiah? Our critical friends have worked out a system of logical development and they make heaven and earth fit into the mold of their theory. I fear that in trying to get all heaven into their logical system, they have failed to get any of it into their hearts.
Here are five reasons for accepting the Jeremiah authorship of chapters Jeremiah 50-51:
1. It is expressly stated that Jeremiah did write it (Jer 51:59-64 ). That ought to settle the question.
2. The style is like that of Jeremiah, full of repetitions. We have called attention to that very thing over and over again in our studies of the book.
3. The prophecy is altogether appropriate. Jeremiah was a patriotic Israelite, and his feelings toward Babylon could not have been that of friendship. He must have been permeated with the spirit of denunciation.
4. Denial of his authorship is based upon a mechanical theory of prophecy and inspiration. That is, after all, the real source of these denials.
5. Granting inspiration, Jeremiah was thoroughly competent to write every word of these two chapters. We could not expect that Jeremiah, a prophet to the nations, would live and die without having something to say about Babylon.
QUESTIONS
1. What the theme of Jeremiah 46-51 and what the evidence elsewhere of Jeremiah’s call to this special function as a prophet?
2. What the dates of these several prophecies?
3. What the date of the prophecy concerning Egypt, what parallel prophecies in the other prophets and what the nature of Jer 46:1 ?
4. Give an account of Egypt’s defeat at Carchemish (Jer 46:2-12 ).
5. Give an account of the overthrow of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 46:13-26 ).
6. What the words of reassurance and encouragement to Israel in Jer 46:27-28 ?
7. Who were the Philistines, what the date of this prophecy (Jer 47:1-6 ) against them and what the prophecy itself, especially verse 6?
8. What the relation of Moab to Israel and what the main points of the prophecy against her? (Jer 48:1-47 .)
9. What things worthy of special note in this prophecy against Moab?
10. What the occasion of the prophecy against Ammon in Jer 49:1-6 and what the points of the prophecy?
11. What the relation of Edom to Israel and what the prophecy here (Jer 49:7-22 ) against her?
12. What the prophecy against Damascus? (Jer 49:23-27 .)
13. Who was Kedar and what the prophecy here against Kedar? (Jer 49:28-33 .)
14. Who were the Elamites and what the prophecy against Elam in Jer 49:34-39 ?
15. How does the prophecy against Babylon compare with the other prophecies here given, what the date and what the symbolical action in this connection, the meaning of it, and what the principal ideas?
16. What the arguments of the critics against the authenticity of this section and upon what is each based?
17. Give five reasons for accepting the Jeremiah authorship of Jeremiah 50-51.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jer 51:1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
Ver. 1. Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst, ] scil., Of the land of Chaldea, in the royal seat and centre of that great monarchy.
A destroying wind.
a Ventum pestilentem. – Vulg, . – Septuag.
Jeremiah Chapter 51
There is a renewal of the divine warning against Babylon. Nothing seemed less likely than the fall of the haughty city which had for the first time succeeded in achieving a world-wide supremacy, where the civilization of that age prevailed. It was well therefore to express in the clearest manner and repeated by a reverse of which men could have had no previous experience, and this as a sign that Jehovah had not widowed His people, spite of their sin and its punishment in their land.
“Thus saith Jehovah; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; and will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of His God, of Jehovah of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.” (Ver. 1-5.) The reference is to the Medo-Persian conqueror, who should make a clear riddance of all that man valued in Babylon and among the Chaldeans.
Some read [this] not as the preposition but as the negative . The difference in the sense resulting from the latter would be that the verse would begin with a call to the defender of Babylon not to bend his bow, nor to be proud of his coat of mail; while the same verse would close, as admitted on all sides, with a charge to the followers of Cyrus to spare not their enemies.
Then verse 6 calls on the Jews to hasten their escape from the guilty and doomed city, once used of Jehovah in vengeance on others (ver. 7), now the object of His vengeance herself (ver. 8), so that her allies, though challenged, own her hopeless ruin. (Ver. 9.)
“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and lot us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and lot us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.” (Ver. 6-10.) Babylon’s fall is the justification of Judah, who thence turns in heart to Zion, that they might there publish the work of Jehovah their God.
Babylon had need of all its military appliances now; for Jehovah had roused the spirit of her northern foes against her, and resolved to destroy her. Hence the prophet says, “Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: Jehovah hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for Jehovah hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.” (Ver. 11-14.)
This is followed by a noble testimony to God, in contrast with idols and their votaries, in verses 15-19. “He hath made the earth by His power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: fell his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them, They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things. and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.” This differs from Jer 10:12-16 , only in the omission of Israel in the last verse. It is evidently understood, if we regard its insertion as a correction of some of the copies.
Then the Spirit of prophecy addresses Babylon in a minutely graphic enumeration of the ways in which she had been employed of God before her fall. “Thou [not “art” but] wast my battle axe, weapons of war: with thee I have broken nations in pieces; and with thee I have destroyed kingdoms. And with thee I have broken in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee I have broken in pieces the chariot and its rider; and with thee I have broken in pieces the husband and the wife; and with thee I have broken in pieces the aged and the young; and with thee I have broken in pieces the youth and the maid. And with thee I have broken in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee I have broken in pieces the ploughman and his team; and with thee I have broken in pieces the governors and prefects. And I have rendered unto Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea all the evil which they have done in Zion in your sight, saith Jehovah.” But this did not hinder His vengeance now. “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith Jehovah.” (Ver. 25, 26.) The Medes would be joined by the nations in Asia Minor or the neighbourhood. “Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars. Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.” (Ver. 27, 28.) Jehovah’s purpose was fixed and sure. Babylon must be reduced to a desolation without an inhabitant. The circumstances of its fall next portrayed confirms this. “And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of Jehovah shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling-places; her bars are broken. One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, and that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.” (Ver. 29-83.)
In verses 34, 35, is given the plaint of Jerusalem. “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.” (Ver. 24, 35.)
This the answer of Jehovah follows at length in verses 36-44. “Therefore thus saith Jehovah; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions; they shall yell as lions’ whelps. In their bent I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not Row together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.” The prophet thereon exhorts the people to leave a city, which, far from sheltering any, could only expose to its own destruction. “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of Jehovah. And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.” (Ver. 45, 46.)
Jehovah again takes up the word of judgment for her idols in verses 47-58. “Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith Jehovah. As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fill the slain of all the earth. Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still, remember Jehovah afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah’s house. Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will do judgment upon her graven images, and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith Jehovah. A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: because Jehovah hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for Jehovah God of recompenses shall surely requite. And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.”
The closing verses (59-64) constitute a kind of seal on the charge laid by Jeremiah on Seraiah, who, after coming to Babylon, was to read this book, and cast it with a stone attached to it into the Euphrates in token of the sure and total fall of Babylon.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 51:1-4
1Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai
The spirit of a destroyer.
2I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her
And may devastate her land;
For on every side they will be opposed to her
In the day of her calamity.
3Let not him who bends his bow bend it,
Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor;
So do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
4They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And pierced through in their streets.
Jer 51:1 Leb-Kamai This is a construct of heart (BDB 524) and the verb arise or stand up (BDB 877, Qal active participle). It could be translated literally as
1. UBS Text Project – heart of my adversaries
2. NKJV (footnote) – the midst of those who rise up against Me
3. AB and UBS Handbook – the heart of those who rise up against Me
The LXX and most English commentators and translations take it as an Atbash cipher (letters of the alphabet are reversed to make them into a code) for Kasdim (i.e., Chaldean referring to Babylon). Another cipher for Babylon is Sheshach of Jer 25:26 or Sheshak of Jer 51:41. The Apostle John used a similar code mechanism in Revelation 18, where Babylon refers to Rome.
NASBthat spirit of a destroyer
NKJV, NRSV,
TEV, NJB,
LXX, REB,
JPSOAa destroying wind
The Hebrew word ruah (BDB 924) can mean wind, breath, or spirit (see Special Topic: Spirit in the Bible ). Only context can determine which is intended by the original author. In this context (i.e., Jeremiah) wind fits best (cf. Jer 4:11-12; Jer 13:24; Jer 18:17; Jer 22:22; Jer 49:32; Jer 49:36). Jer 51:11 b demands a translation of spirit. Context, context, context!
Jer 51:17 demands a translation of breath.
Jer 51:2
NASB, TEV foreigners
NKJV, NRSV,
NJBwinnowers
JPSOAstrangers
The MT has strangers (BDB 266 I, cf. Jer 5:19; Jer 30:8; Jer 51:2; Jer 51:51; Lam 5:2), but other ancient versions read winnowers (BDB 279, cf. Jer 4:11; Jer 15:7; the same root is translated scatter in Jer 49:32; Jer 49:26). The UBS Text Project gives strangers a C rating (considerable doubt).
The LXX translates this term as spoilers or insolent men.
Jer 51:3 This verse is uncertain. It could be addressing the invaders to charge ahead or it could address the defenders that all their efforts are useless. The invaders are called on
1. not to spare (BDB 328, KB 328, negated Qal imperfect, cf. Jer 51:4)
2. to devote to God (BDB 355, KB 353, Hiphil imperative, i.e., put under the ban, cf. Jer 25:9; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:36)
All of Babylon’s defenders are helpless, just as they mercilessly defeated others, so now no mercy to them!
Jer 51:4 pierce This verb (BDB 201, KB 230, Pual participle) denotes a badly wounded person (cf. Jer 37:10).
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos.
Me. A Massoretic note (App-30) says that this is a cryptogram (Hebrew “Casdim”), meaning “the Chaldees”. See note on Jer 51:41; Jer 25:26.
destroying = laying waste. Hebrew. shahath. The same word as in verses: Jer 51:11, Jer 51:20, Jer 51:25. Not the same as in verses: Jer 51:3, Jer 51:8, Jer 51:54, Jer 3:55.
wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
Jer 51:1-5
PROPHECY AGAINST BABYLON (continued)
(The introduction for Jeremiah 50 also applies to this chapter.)
Jer 51:1-5
Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind. And I will send unto Babylon strangers, that shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. Against [him that] bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against [him that] lifteth himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Them that dwell in Leb-kamai…
(Jer 51:1). The proper name here is a kind of trick word called an athbash, devised by numbering the Hebrew alphabet from each end (for example, in English X, Y, Z, would be numbered 3, 2, 1, etc.; and A, B, C, would be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. Thus, to form an athbash, the letters of a name would be changed. The letter A would be written Z, and the letter B would be written Y, etc.). Leb-kamai here is an athbash for Chaldea.
No one knows why such a device was used here. It was usually a device for concealing the meaning of a word from all except those “in the know”; but the equivalent of Chaldea, i.e., “Babylon,” has already been mentioned. We encountered another example of this in Jer 25:26.
Barnes believed that this word for Chaldea, Leb-kamai, was probably “known to everybody”; and, if so, it could have been a kind of nickname for Babylonia, such as “Gotham” or “The Big Apple.”
A destroying wind…
(Jer 51:1). Keil noted that this should be translated, The spirit of a destroyer. That rendition is most likely correct, because it was not a wind that mined Babylon; it was a human destroyer, i.e., Cyrus. In Hebrew, the word for wind and spirit is the same.
Strangers. they shall winnow her …..
(Jer 51:2). These were the Medes (Jer 51:11) who would destroy Babylon. F4 The word winnow was a word connected with the threshing industry; and one still hears remarks like, He gave him a threshing!
For Israel. Judah … is not forsaken of his God …..
(Jer 51:5). Throughout this chapter, the destruction of Babylon, and the protection and blessing of Israel are mentioned in that order repeatedly.
The description of the destroyers of Babylon continues in Jer 51:1-5. God is raising up against Babylon a destroying wind (Jer 50:1) and strangers (Jer 50:2) by means of which He will winnow or sift the inhabitants of Babylonia as a farmer winnows the chaff from the grain. The reference in Jer 50:1 to Leb-kamai (ASV) is most interesting. This term means literally the heart of those who rise up against me. By this title Babylon is designated as the very heart of opposition to the Lord. But the term Leb-kamai has another meaning too, a meaning that the English reader completely misses. Leb-kamai is another example of the use of the cipher called Atbash (cf. Jer 25:26) in which the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is replaced by the last letter, the second letter by the next to the last, the third by the third from the last, etc. When Leb-kamai is decoded it spells the word Chaldeans in Hebrew.
In Jer 50:3 the attacking armies are again addressed. In spite of the fact that the Babylonians stand guard with their weapons and arrayed in their armor, yet the archers are urged to attack them from without. No one is to be spared; every Chaldean soldier is to be slain in the streets of the city (Jer 50:4). The reason for the slaughter is twofold. First, by means of the destruction of Babylon the Lord will prove that Israel and Judah have not been forsaken (lit., widowed) by their God. Second, the land of Babylon is full of guilt with respect to the Holy One of Israel (Jer 50:5). The word translated though in the KJV and ASV is best rendered for or because and the guilt is best regarded as that of the Chaldeans and not the Israelites.
In the second movement of the prophecy which deals with Babylon’s doom and Israel’s responsibility, Jeremiah first repeated his declarations concerning the determination of Jehovah to bring about the complete overthrow of Babylon, and thus to ensure the deliverance of His people.
Then, in a passage full of force and beauty, Jeremiah described the invincibility of Jehovah. He is the Creator, the very sounding of whose voice creates tumult in the heavens, and all the forces of nature are under His control. By comparison with Him man is brutish, and the gods which he makes are vanity and delusion. In this connection the description of the greatness of Jehovah by contrast with the false gods is intended to indicate the certainty of the ultimate victory of His people over the people who trust in idols.
Proceeding to describe the judgment, he again, and at greater length, recognized that Babylon was an instrument in the hand of Jehovah which He had used for judgment. Jeremiah was viewing Babylon as she then was, at the height of her power. Yet against her Jehovah declared Himself, and so complete will be her destruction that she is to become a desolation without inhabitant.
Continuing, the prophet at length declared that the purpose of the divine judgment of Babylon was the ultimate deliverance of His people. Zion is personified as uttering her complaint against Babylon, describing the cruelty practiced against her. This complaint is answered by the declaration of Jehovah that He will plead the cause of His people, making her desolation a desert, and delivering from her captivity a people whom she had oppressed.
Jeremiah then addressed himself in the name of Jehovah to the people of God, calling on them to go out of the midst of Babylon, and to turn their faces again to Jerusalem. He ended his prophecy concerning Babylon with a reaffirmation of the absolute certainty of her ultimate doom.
This prophecy closes with an account of the charge which Jeremiah gave to Seraiah, to write these words and read them in Babylon. This happened in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, when Seraiah, who was the brother of Baruch (32:12), accompanied the king on a visit to Babylon. Thus if, as is probable, Zedekiah was acquainted with this prophecy concerning Babylon, one can understand his repeated questioning of Jeremiah in the latter days of the siege concerning the ultimate issue of Babylon’s attack on the city.
The following chapter, which closes the series, continues the same general subject.
“Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against Me, a destroying wind; and I will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about” (Jer 51:1-2).
As grain is winnowed and the chaff carried off by the wind, so should the inhabitants of Babylon be swept away by the “destroying wind” (Jer 51:1) of the Lord’s indignation. The only wheat to be found therein was the feeble remnant of Israel and Judah-scattered because of their sins though they were.
“Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets” (Jer 51:3-4).
All attempts at defensive warfare were destined to be in vain. Neither archers nor strategy could avail anything to save the city when the Lord had devoted it to destruction.
“For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel” (Jer 51:5).
Israel and Judah were under the rod of the Lord’s chastening because of their sins, but nothing could alter His covenanted mercies to them. It was the Holy One with whom they had to do; one who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; but even their failure could not change the word of His grace and the love of His heart. He was for them still, and therefore more than all that could be against them. Accordingly, He apprises them of the judgments before they fall, and warns them to depart from the doomed city.
“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He will render unto her a recompense” (Jer 51:6).
So also, in the days when the apocalyptic vials are being poured out upon the earth, the call will go forth to the Jewish remnant of that fearful time, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev 18:4).
As righteous Lot was delivered from Sodom ere fire from heaven fell, so the opportunity was given for the men of Judah and Israel to flee out of Babylon in time to escape the visitation of the Lord’s wrath. It was the same before Jerusalem was taken by Titus, when the Christians in accordance with the word of the Lord JESUS, were permitted to retire from the city prior to the final assault.
The same principle holds good in regard to the Church in this dispensation, which is to be caught away to be with the Lord before the seven-sealed book is opened and the trumpet and vial judgments are meted out to this guilty, Christ-rejecting world. “Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world” (Rev 3:10).
“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad” (Jer 51:7).
It is the wine of idolatry that was passed from one nation to another, but which had its origin in Babylon. Her mystical antitype has in her hand a golden cup, with which she too makes drunk the nations “with the wine of her fornication” (Rev 17:1-6). There, the wine speaks of spiritual adultery, which is the union of the Church and the world. It will be observed how closely the New Testament Babylon is likened to that of the older revelation.
“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.” (Jer 51:8) Though her fall is so sudden, yet, as remarked in our study of the preceding chapter, she was not instantaneously blotted out. Here, after her fall, her admirers have remedies to offer for her recovery. But it is too late. Her end is decreed.
So the remnant declares: “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God (Jer 51:9-10).
May we not make an application of this solemn word to present conditions in Christendom?
Not yet have the Roman and Protestant communions fully developed into Babylon the Great. But is it not patent, even now, that there is no healing for the professing body?
– The Word of GOD is rejected, and its inspiration called in question.
– The Holy Spirit is quenched and resisted.
– The Lordship of CHRIST, the Church’s Head, is denied practically.
What remains for those who value the favor and the truth of GOD in such a time as this but to forsake every company where these conditions prevail? And, like Judah and Israel returning to Zion, ask once more for the old paths and gather in simplicity to the name of the Lord JESUS, refusing, in any sense, to go on with that which dishonors Him through whose precious blood we have been redeemed to GOD.
“We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her!” (Jer 51:9)
It is useless to go on seeking to purify what will never be purified. When evil can no longer be purged out (as in accordance with I Corinthians 5), the only other resource is to purge one’s self out of all that is in opposition to GOD and His Word, as in 2Ti 2:15-21.
When men who take the place of Christian teachers make it manifest that they have but a form of godliness and deny the power thereof, the only course left for those who would be faithful to GOD and His truth is implicit obedience to the injunction, “From such turn away” (2Ti 3:5).
Turning again to the words of Jeremiah, we note the realistic description of the march upon Babylon.
“Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for His device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of His temple. [See Jer 50:28] Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which He spake against the inhabitants of Babylon” (Jer 51:11-12).
With the vividness of an eyewitness, the prophet depicts the advancing army of the enemy, led, be it noted, not by Cyrus in person, though he directed it all, but by “the kings of the Medes.” (Jer 51:11) That part of the army which was sent against Babylon was, according to Dan 5:31, under the command of “Darius the Median;” and although contemporary history does not use the actual name Darius, it does assure us that it was a Median chief and not the mighty Cyrus himself who had charge of the troops that besieged and sacked the capital city. Scripture is ever exact. How could it be otherwise, when it is the very breathing of the living GOD? Not only does Jeremiah vividly portray the assembling of the Median troops, but with a few master-strokes he presents the confident activity of the imperial guard. Every precaution was taken to insure the safety of Babylon; but they knew not that the hour of the Lord’s vengeance had struck, the vengeance of His insulted and wasted temple.
Though they dwelt in apparent security “upon many waters,” and flattered themselves that they were “abundant in treasures,” the Lord had decreed, “Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.” He had therefore sworn by Himself, saying, “Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against thee” (Jer 51:13-14).
As the destruction of a field of green herbs by that most common of all tropical plagues – an onslaught of ravenous, crawling creatures – so should be the destruction of haughty Babylon, the queen city of the ancient world, whose gardens were numbered among its seven wonders.
He with whom they had to do was not as the powerless idols of the nations, nor yet as the malignant demons behind them.
“He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding” (Jer 51:15).
Against the Mighty One who controls the vapors, the lightnings and the rain, had the Chaldean girded on his armor. Made brutish by idolatry, confounded because of confidence in breathless images, they must learn the vanity of their hope; for “in the time of their visitation they shall perish” (Jer 51:16-18).
How different the “portion of Jacob.” “He is the Former of all things: and Israel is the rod of His inheritance: The Lord of hosts is His name” (Jer 51:19).
He, the omnipotent Creator of all things, had deigned to take up the seed of poor, failing Jacob – surnamed, in grace, Israel. This people He had formed for Himself. He would use them as His battle-axe and weapon of war. With them He would break in pieces the nations and destroy the kingdoms of their oppressors.
All classes must learn that the Lord hath chosen Jacob; for with them, not the warrior only, but the people in every walk of life, must be broken, and His word fulfilled which declared, “And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord” (Jer 51:21-24). How deeply significant it was, in view of all this, that in the last night of the Chaldean kingdom, it was a Jewish captive, Daniel, who read the mystic letters of doom upon the wall of Belshazzar’s palace and gave the terrified king the interpretation!
“Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out My hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate forever, saith the Lord” (Jer 51:25-26).
Words could not be plainer to declare Babylon’s absolute destruction.
Not only shall the city itself never be rebuilt, but the very stones should not be used, as in the case of many another fallen capital, for the building of any other place. As an accursed thing, her foundations should be held in perpetual abhorrence and her site given up to continual desolation. Nor can the words, by any process of reasoning, be legitimately made to refer to a future overthrow immediately before the Millennium. For over two millenniums already the wastes of Babylon have been a testimony to the sure Word of GOD. It will be so forever.
Jer 51:27-28 emphasize what we have been going over by recapitulation, with additional details. The kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz are found under the Median standard.
“And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant” (Jer 51:29).
The final entry into the city “at either end and the demoralization of its defenders, are described before the actual event in language only possible to the pen of inspiration.
“The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling-places; her bars are broken. One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end and that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted” (Jer 51:30-32).
The waters of the Euphrates, which flowed directly through Babylon, having been, as described by Herodotus, turned out of their course through the city, left an entry way at each end for the warriors of Darius to enter, under the walls, in the dry river bed. Thus they were able to appear suddenly in the streets at a time when the people were given up to frivolity and merry-making, and a thousand of their lords were reveling in the palace of the effeminate Belshazzar.
Having thus pictured the consummation, the prophet goes back to continue the recital of the Lord’s grievance against this impious city. As a ripe field, ready for the threshing-floor, Babylon’s harvest was near, when judgment without mercy should be meted out to her because of Nebuchadrezzar’s severity to the inhabitants of Zion and Jerusalem.
The violence done to Israel should be upon Babylon, and the bloodshed be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea (Jer 51:33-35). The Lord would plead the cause of His downtrodden people. He it was, not Darius merely, who would “dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.” As a result, “Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons [jackals]”, “an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions, they shall yell as lions’ whelps” (Jer 51:36-38).
It is to be noted that this utter desolation is to follow, not some future overthrow, but the sack of the city resulting upon the turning aside of the waters in which her inhabitants trusted. They are doomed to “sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord” (Jer 51:39).
From the bed of her river her enemies should arise and come upon her like the sea while her defenders were feasting and drunken. In that very hour they should be given up “as lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.” Thus should Sheshach be taken, and Babylon become a desolation among the nations (Jer 51:40-42). Sheshach is used symbolically for Babylon. The name is said to be derived from the goddess Shach.
“Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby” (Jer 51:43).
Such is the present state of the once prosperous land of Chaldea. Even in the Millennium Babylon’s judgment will be the perpetual reminder of GOD’s abhorrence of idolatry.
“And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall” (Jer 51:44).
It was against the demon symbolized by Bel that the wrath of the only true GOD was vented.
He it was who had instigated Nebuchadrezzar and the Chaldeans to persecute Judah. Because of their sins the Lord had given them into the hands of the Babylonians; but now He was about to visit their cruelties and wickedness upon their own heads. By this means would Judah’s deliverance be effected. To them He says,
“My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord. And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumor that shall be heard in the land; a rumor shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumor, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler” (Jer 51:45-46).
He would have His own little flock delivered from the strife of tongues, dependent upon Himself and resting on His Word.
Whatever might come, He would not forget them. The warring nations should but work out His counsels; for “He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He doth restrain.” (Psa 76:10)
The disquieting rumors of approaching disaster, that might be calculated to strike terror to their hearts, but pointed to the overthrow of the power of their oppressors and the judgment of “the graven images of Babylon,” when “her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for [joy over] Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord. As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth” (Jer 51:47-49).
Pointedly the remnant are told to count upon GOD when this awful period of judgment should arrive. It was but the precursor of their deliverance. “Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind” (Jer 51:50).
In perfect accord with this, we find the Lord stirring up the spirit of Cyrus, in his first year as world-ruler, to permit the rebuilding of the temple and the return of the Jewish remnant to the land of their fathers.
Jer 51:51 is the suited expression of their hearts as they turn again to their GOD. “We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces; for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.”
This might be taken as the key to the attitude of the returned company, as told in the book of Ezra.
Because of the insult to the Lord’s house, the days were near when He would pour judgment upon the idols of Babylon, and cause her wounded to groan through all the land.
“Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord” (Jer 51:52-53).
He was about to arise in His might to avenge His own elect.
Therefore:
“the sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite. And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is The Lord of hosts” (Jer 51:54-57).
Solemn indeed is the title taken by the offended GOD of despised Jacob in this section: “The Lord God of recompenses.” (Jer 51:56) How seldom do men in general think of Him in this character! In the 24th verse He had declared that He would do unto Babylon and Chaldea “all their evil that they had done to Zion.” (Jer 51:24) Here He reveals Himself in a special way as the GOD of vengeance. In Psa 94:1 the remnant of Israel are heard addressing Him in this way: O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show Thyself.” And in the New Testament the apostle Paul reminds us that He has said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay [or, recompense], saith the Lord” (Rom 12:19; Heb 10:30; Deu 32:35).
Because of this he entreats the suffering Christians to avenge not themselves, but rather give place unto wrath. It is never necessary for the child of GOD to be occupied with the thought of self-preservation, or self-vindication. He can afford to leave all in the hands of “the Lord God of recompenses.” (Jer 51:56) No power can turn aside His governmental dealings; none can stay His hand, or hinder the activities of His righteousness.
“It is a righteous thing with God,” we are told, “to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you” (2Th 1:6). This being the case, the Christian can well afford to leave his affairs entirely in the hands of infinite wisdom, knowing that “he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong he hath done; and there is no respect of persons with God. (Col 3:25)
It was because of this principle that Jeremiah had ever counseled submission and obedience to the king of Babylon.
He would have His people accept the affliction as from the Lord, and leave with Him the matter of dealing with the oppressing power in His own way and time. It was given to the same prophet to set forth that judgment, and to make known the nature of the recompense that had been decreed:
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary” (Jer 51:58).
With these words he concludes the burden of Babylon.
This, then, was to be the end of all her splendor and haughty independence of GOD. Her broad walls, upon which several chariots could be driven abreast of each other, if Herodotus is to be believed, were to be utterly thrown down, and her massive gates consumed by the flames.
The labor of the people to make it the grandest city in all the world would thus end in vanity. They had been building for the fire. How significant the words! May not the same be said of man’s vaunted energy in this progressive age? He fancies he is building what shall be the lasting admiration of generations yet unborn. But, though he realizes it not, “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh,” (Jam 5:8) and it soon shall be manifested that he has but been building for the fire!
Having concluded this series of messages to the nations, thus making known the future of the Gentiles surrounding Palestine, Jeremiah wrote in a book “all the evil that should come upon Babylon,” (Jer 51:60) and gave it into the hand of Seraiah, chief chamberlain of Zedekiah. These prophecies were uttered a number of years before this prince was taken captive; it is plain, therefore, there was a moral reason for placing them where they are in the book which we have been considering. Seraiah was going down to Babylon on behalf of the Jewish monarch, as an ambassador to the court of Nebuchadrezzar, in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign (Jer 51:59-60). We thus learn that during much of the time that Jeremiah was urging submission to Babylon, he was aware of its impending doom.
Seraiah was commanded to read the book when he reached his destination; and having done so, he was to say, O Lord, Thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever” (Jer 51:61-62).
Having so said, he was instructed to bind a stone to the roll and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, crying, “Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary” (Jer 51:63-64). Clearly and unequivocally the finality of her overthrow was thus attested in the mouth of two witnesses.
“Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.” (Jer 51:64)
We have now gone briefly over the varied messages of this honored, yet persecuted servant of the Lord, embracing a very wide range of prophetic ministry, commencing with his early appeals to Judah in the revival days of Josiah, and closing with his words to the nations. As to the actual order of his prophecies, the words of chapter 44 are the latest; but it was morally fitting that the messages to Judah and Israel should be given first, then those to the Gentiles. The order in the Septuagint varies considerably from that followed in the Hebrew, but it seems plain that in the Greek translation we have but a sample of man’s meddling, attempting to improve upon the divine order. The words with which the chapter closes are, in our judgment, meant to inform us that Jeremiah was his own editor. He, by the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit, arranged his books in the order we have in our Bibles. A later hand, equally inspired by GOD, added the Historical Appendix that follows.
~ end of chapter 25 ~
I will: Jer 50:9, Jer 50:14-16, Jer 50:21, Isa 13:3-5, Amo 3:6
midst: Heb. heart
rise: Jer 50:24, Jer 50:29, Jer 50:33, Zec 2:8, Act 9:4
a destroying wind: Jer 4:11, Jer 4:12, Jer 49:36, 2Ki 19:7, Eze 19:12, Hos 13:15
Reciprocal: Isa 43:14 – For Jer 50:41 – General Jer 51:53 – from Hos 4:19 – wind
Jer 51:1. This long chapter is a con-tinuation of Jeremiahs predictions against Babylon. Much of the language is figurative even as the prophetic style often is. Wind ta very destructive when It comes in great vol-umes, and the onrushing of the Persians was to be like such a wind. Rise up against me. Since the Lord was the power that was bringing the Persian army against the land of Babylon, those who opposed them were opposing Him.
Jer 51:1-2. Behold, I will raise up against Babylon Darius and Cyrus, who came against Babylon, came by a divine instinct. God excited their spirits to accomplish his purpose against that idolatrous city, and the oppressive government which had its seat there. Against them that dwell in the midst Hebrew, in the heart; of them that rise up against me That is, in the centre of the country of mine adversaries, which by a circumlocution means the same as Babylon itself. A destroying wind See note on Jer 4:11, where the prophet describes the Chaldean army coming up for the destruction of Judea under the same metaphor. The Chaldeans had been like a destroying, blasting wind to the Jews, and now the Medes and Persians are to be like one to them. And will send unto Babylon fanners Enemies who shall drive them away as chaff is driven away by the fan; or those who shall disperse her forces, and empty or spoil her land of all its riches, &c. This image is frequently made use of by the Hebrew prophets, to represent the ease with which the Almighty disperses and destroys his enemies: see notes on Jer 15:7; Isa 21:10; Isa 41:16. For in the day of trouble they shall be against her, &c. Or, as the words may be rendered, When they shall come round her on every side in the evil (or adverse) day.
Jer 51:7. Babylon is a golden cup in the hands of Jehovah. All the captives and allies are intoxicated with it. All nations bow to her idols, submit to her power, wonder at her riches, applaud her victories, and adore her splendour. Little indeed suspecting that her power should fall headlong from the highest pinnacle of elevation, and all her allies be instantaneously converted into foes.
Jer 51:11. Make bright the arrows. Sharpen their points, rouse the spirit of the Median kings to war, and plant the standards of Elam upon her highest towers.
Jer 51:13. Oh thou that dwellest upon many waters. All resources of wealth are at thy command, yet thy waters shall be drained. The Euphrates, which ran through the city, was two hundred and fifty paces broad; and a communication was opened with the Tigris by a canal. These waters supplied her with merchandise; but the river once opened by Cyrus into the lower channel, almost forsook the city, and diminished the navigation.
Jer 51:14. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himselfI will fill thee with men. As when a cloud of locusts descends on the fields and vineyards, and cease not their depradations till the verdure is all consumed, so shall the allied armies enter Babylon. And who can say what their licentiousness would be. They were all learned in the crimes of the Babylonian armies. True is the proverb, the laws are silent in war.
Jer 51:15. He hath made the earth by his power. These words are of the same import as in Jer 10:13.
Jer 51:20. Thou art my battle-axe. This is an apostrophe to Nebuchadnezzar, who is called the hammer of the whole earth, Jer 50:23; the hammer that dashed Nineveh to pieces. Nah 2:1. Now the axe should be turned against Babylon, to which city the apostrophe is continued, as in the following words.
Jer 51:25. Oh destroying mountain. Though situate on a plain, Babylon was a very high mountain in regard of power over all Asia. I will roll thee down from the rocks, and make thee a burnt mountain, or a mountain of combustion. Babylon was not burned by the Persians, the prophet might therefore have in view the sublime irruptions of volcanic mountains, which sometimes burst at once. Pliny names an earthquake which destroyed twelve cities of Asia; and Hecla, by one irruption, covered the sea for seventy miles with pumice. Babylon had so vomited fire and devastations on the nations, as to merit the appellation of a destroying mountain.
Jer 51:26. They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation, as from other ruins. See on Jer 50:40.
Jer 51:27. Ararat is a mountain in Armenia, isolated, very high and pointed, with a double summit, inaccessible and covered with snow. The lower hills abound with ruins. Minni seems to be Armenia the less, as the Chaldaic reads. N. Damascenus, in Josephus, calls it Minias, a mountain. Strabo and Pliny call it Mylias. By Ashchenaz, some understand the country which reached to Scythia. Others, with more propriety, understand it of Phrygia and Mysia, as part of this country is called by Homer Ascaria. Poole has a long criticism on this verse.
Jer 51:31. One post shall run to meet another to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end. Here the prediction and the events are so striking, that I would translate the words of Herodotus, a pure and unsuspected historian. After stating how the flood-banks of Semiramis had been cut, and the river made fordable; and how the troops had boldly entered the river, and thence ascended into the city; he adds, If the Chaldeans had conceived the least idea of Cyruss design, they could without doubt have prevented the entrance of the Persians, and repulsed them. Had they closed the smaller ports which led to the river, and posted themselves on the quays, they would have fought their enemies from above, and defeated them with ease. But the Persians surprised them when they had not the least idea of their movements; and the city was so great, if one may believe the inhabitants, that those who lived in the end were already taken, before those who lived in the middle were apprised of the event. Add to this, that as the day (Xenophon says night) on which they were taken was a day of festivity, they were wholly occupied with games and rejoicings when apprised of their calamity. Clio, or book 1.
Jer 51:38. They shall roar together like lions. Shut up in their dens, and unable to escape, their fury would be beyond description. Spirit in their soldiers existed no more. In one hour their wanton songs were changed to doleful cries. Oh what curses did they belch out against their rulers, and against their gods! Oh what echoes would conscience make of their former bloody deeds.How different is the state of Zion in the day of visitation! He that believeth shall not make haste.
Jer 51:41. How is Sheshach taken. A name of some palace in Babylon, or some temple, as in Jer 25:26. See the note on that verse.
Jer 51:43. Her cities are a desolation. This is strictly true; travellers describe Babylon as a mass overgrown and uncultivated.
Jer 51:44. I will punish BelI will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up. The treasures of the plundered and demolished temples of Asia were deposited in the temple of Belus; and it is supposed that they amounted to twenty one millions of our money. See Prideauxs Connection.
Jer 51:45. My people, go ye out of the midst of her. These words the prophet often repeated to the Jews, and the Spirit in the Revelation of John, repeats them to the church. Let christians avoid associations with the ungodly, and cherish the sweet communion of saints. God warned his people to leave Babylon in time, for a succession of calamities would yet come on those who, for the time, had escaped the visitations of justice.
Jer 51:59. Seraiah was a quiet prince, of the legation which Zedekiah had sent to Babylon; but the Seraiah mentioned in Jer 52:24 was a priest, and not the person to whom Jeremiah wrote.
Jer 51:63. Thou shalt bind a stone, and cast it into the Euphrates. The angel threw a millstone into the sea, with the like execration on mystical Babylon. Rev 18:21. An instance of the like nature is recorded by Herodotus in Euterpe. When the Phoceans, of Ionia in Asia, said to be the first who made long voyages, were driven from their country by the Persians, they resolved to go to Cyrnos, now Corsica; but on quitting Phocea, they sunk a mass of iron into the sea, and bound themselves with an oath never to return till that iron could swim on the water. This was a curse on the Persians, as the sinking of the stone was an execration on Babylon.
REFLECTIONS.
In this sublime and beautiful elegy on the fall of Babylon, we are struck with the grandeur, the boldness, and the glory of the figures employed by the prophet to depict the scene. Inspiration elevated the prophets soul; ideas and figures crowded on his mind, and he could scarcely restrain the impetuosity of his spirit.
In addition to the reflections in the preseding chapter, we may here remark, it is foretold in Jer 51:8, that the fall of Babylon should be sudden and unexpected. It was to happen in one day. Isa 49:9. Cyruss army was at first too small to excite suspicion, and his object was to reduce the nations which had been subject to Media, to their former homage. Besides, his operations were chiefly in the north of Asia minor, which excited the less suspicion and fear in the effeminate Chaldeans. Hence when he found himself sufficiently strong, and supported by allies, to make a direct approach to Babylon, terror came upon them suddenly; yet deeming their walls impregnable, and having plenty of provisions, they were lulled into a fatal slumber that time would compel him to retire. They never dreamed that their waters could be drained. Their king and their nobles were feasting and drunk, when God spread a net for their feet. The cry of terror ran through the streets, Babylon is suddenly fallen, while the Medes roared like lions when they make a carnage of the flock.
The prophecies of the fall of Babylon were purposely written to support the Jews in their long captivity, that they might abstain from idolatry, from intermarrying with the heathen, and keep their eye on the promises of restoration. By so doing, piety would comfort them in affliction, and faith would anticipate happier times.
Seraiah was to read these words, and to sink with a stone the scroll in the Euphrates, with a predictive malediction that Babylon shall so sink, as it appears literally to have done in a considerable degree. St. John, speaking of mystic Babylon, or the power of Rome to set up her decrees and doctrines above the bible, uses those very words, when he saw the angel casting a millstone into the sea. Rev 18:21. Hence the prophecies, that bible christianity shall fill the earth, should in like manner support and comfort the christian world. Let us constantly keep our eye on the glorious things which are spoken of the church, as suggested in the general reflections at the end of Isaiahs prophecies; and let us rest assured that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:58. Babylon.This long and monotonous prophecy, which is without order or logical development of ideas, is largely a compilation from the prophetic writings of Jeremiah and others (cf., e.g., Jer 50:41 ff., Jer 51:15). It presupposes the destruction of Jerusalem, apparently as a remote rather than a recent event. Its idea of Babylon is that of a cruel tyrant to be punished by Yahweh, not that of a Divinely commissioned agent of Yahwehs wrath against Israel, as Jeremiah teaches. We are not at liberty to make it contemporaneous with such exilic writings as Isaiah 13, 40-55, because of its obvious dependence on these amongst other prophecies (see the notes); but the survival of Babylon (under the Persian empire) in the post-exilic period would provide later occasion for such a compilation. Moreover, the narrative of Jer 51:59-64, which tells of a (private) scroll of prophecy sent by Jeremiah to Babylon, foretelling its end, would easily give rise to such a compilation by some later writer. In the present (editorial) arrangement of the text, this narrative is made to date the prophecy of Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:58 in 593 B.C., which is impossible (cf. Jeremiah 27-29 for the actual conditions about that date).
Jer 51:1-10. Yahweh is stirring up the spirit of a destroyer (so render for a destroying wind; cf. Jer 51:11 and 2Ch 36:22) against Babylon (cypher as mg.; cf. Jer 25:26), which shall be fanned, i.e. winnowed, by her assailants. Yahwehs people are not abandoned; Babylon is held guilty. Let the Jews flee from Babylon (cf. Jer 51:45) to escape the vengeance on her guilt. Babylon has been a cup from which other nations drank frenzy (Jer 25:15 f.); now the cup is broken (so Hebrew for destroyed, Jer 51:8), and her hurt is incurable. The Jews recognise this, and urge other foreigners to depart (Jer 51:9); the justice (righteousness, Jer 51:10) of the Jewish cause is to be manifested by the overthrow of Babylon.
Jer 51:2. strangers: point as mg.2 with Syr., Vulg., Targ.
Jer 51:3. Omit the first and second not, with LXX, making the whole verse refer to the assailants of Babylon (so Cornill); as it stands, the first half refers to the Babylonians, the second to their enemies.
Jer 51:5. Render but their land, i.e. that of the Babylonians.
Jer 51:11-14. Let the assailants polish their arrows and put on their shields, for the king (sing. with LXX, i.e. Cyrus) of the Medes (cf. Isa 13:17) is executing Divine vengeance on Babylon; let the blockade be begun, because the measure of Babylons destiny (Jer 51:13, lit. cutting off, rather than gain; cf. Isa 38:12) is accomplished, and a swarm of invaders shall fill her.
Jer 51:13. many waters: with reference to the canals and water-defences of Babylon.
Jer 51:14. cankerworm: the locust in its chrysalis stage; cf. Jer 51:27.
Jer 51:15-19. Yahwehs power and the powerlessness of the idols are contrasted. The verses are repeated from Jer 10:12 ff. (mg.).
Jer 51:20-27. Babylon has been Yahwehs war-club to destroy other nations; now it shall be repaid in the sight of Israel for its own evil-doing, and the destroyer shall be destroyed.
Jer 51:20. Render do I break, and so throughout; cf. Jer 50:23. Others, with the rendering of the RV, suppose that Cyrus is addressed in Jer 51:20-23.
Jer 51:25. mountain: purely figurative.
Jer 51:26. The stone is made useless for building by being burnt; cf. Isa 33:12.
Jer 51:27-33. The nations, especially those of (the present) Armenia (Ararat, etc.), and the Medes, are called out against Babylon, which is defenceless; its capture is described (Jer 51:30-32). Babylons time of suffering is come.
Jer 51:27. The rough cankerworm: the bristling locust-chrysalis, its most destructive stage.
Jer 51:28. kings: sing. with LXX.
Jer 51:32. For the corrupt pools of Hebrew text (see mg.,) read their palisades (i.e. muzzabhem; cf. Isa 29:3), which LXX implies (though it pointed the consonants mazzabhem, their garrisons).
Jer 51:33. The earth of the threshing-floor is trodden hard in preparation for the threshing.
Jer 51:34-44. Israel declares the wrongs done to her by Nebuchadrezzar, and invokes a curse on Babylon. Yahweh promises vengeance through the desolation of Babylon. The Babylonians, amid the very feasting on their prey, are stupefied (Jer 51:39; so LXX, for may rejoice) and brought to slaughter; the city that is the glory of the earth is captured. A sea of invaders (cf. Isa 8:7 f.) floods her, and Babylon is compelled to disgorge her prey (i.e. the captured nations).
Jer 51:34. crushed: discomfited; made: set (as); cast: driven (re-pointed). For the figure of the dragon or sea-monster, cf. Eze 29:3, Isa 27:1.
Jer 51:36. her sea: possibly the lake for defensive purposes made by Nebuchadrezzar.
Jer 51:38. Omit shall in both cases.
Jer 51:44. Bel: see on Jer 50:2.
Jer 51:44-58. Israel is told to escape, and not to be afraid amid wars and rumours of wars; the judgment of Babylon is greeted with universal joy. Israel is bidden remember Jerusalem (Jer 51:50); has not Jerusalem been defiled? (Jer 51:51). Hence the irresistible judgment which sweeps over Babylon, even to the destruction of her walls and gates. LXX omits Jer 51:44 b Jer 51:49 a.
Jer 51:49. The doubtful text should be rendered with Driver, Yea, Babylon must fall, O ye slain of Israel; yea, for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
Jer 51:55. the great voice: referring to the din of a great citys life, here overcome by the greater tumult of invasion.
Jer 51:57. Cf. Jer 51:39.
Jer 51:58. walls: sing, with LXX and Vulg., and with its Heb. adjective broad.overthrown: should be as mg. (the foundations are bared).
Jer 51:58 b. Note reference of mg.; the two passages are drawn from some common source; here the application is to the vanity of human achievements, as represented by the fortifications of Babylon.
Jer 51:59-64. The Mission of Seraiah.This royal official (the brother of Baruch, Jer 32:12) was journeying to Babylon with the king in 593, being concerned with the halting-places, etc. of the journey (Jer 51:59 mg.). Jeremiah gave him a scroll containing a prophecy against Babylon. He is to read this at Babylon, to remind Yahweh of His word, and to sink the scroll in the Euphrates, as a symbolic anticipation of the sinking of Babylon (see on Jer 13:1 ff., for the force of such symbolism). The closing sentence of Jer 6:4 is editorial, and is omitted by LXX, as also are the words, and they shall be weary, which are a scribal repetition from Jer 51:58, by error.
Jer 51:59. with Zedekiah: nothing is known of this visit, though see on Jer 27:12 ff. for its possible object.
Jer 51:60. Omit even all these words, etc., which has been added to identify the scroll with the prophecy of Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:58.
Jer 51:62. thou: emphatic.
51:1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise against me, a destroying {a} wind;
(a) The Medes and Persians who will destroy them as the wind does the chaff.
8. The certainty of Babylon’s judgment 51:1-14
The next prophecies assure the judgment of Babylon.
Yahweh announced that He would arouse against Babylon and Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer, or a destroying wind. Leb-kamai (lit. heart of my adversaries) was a code name (atbash) for Chaldea (cf. Jer 51:41; Jer 25:26). Here it functions as a poetic synonym. [Note: Another use of the atbash was to hide the identity of the nation referred to (cf. 1 Peter 5:13).]
"This explanation of the name involves the thought that all enmity against God the Lord culminates in Babylon; on the basis of this representation Babylon is called, Rev. xvii. 5, ’the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.’" [Note: Keil, 2:289.]
CHAPTER XXV
BABYLON
Jer 50:1-46, Jer 51:1-64
“Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces.”- Jer 50:2
THESE chapters present phenomena analogous to those of Isa 40:1-31; Isa 41:1-29; Isa 42:1-25; Isa 43:1-28; Isa 44:1-28; Isa 45:1-25; Isa 46:1-13; Isa 47:1-15; Isa 48:1-22; Isa 49:1-26; Isa 50:1-11; Isa 51:1-23; Isa 52:1-15; Isa 53:1-12; Isa 54:1-17; Isa 55:1-13; Isa 56:1-12; Isa 57:1-21; Isa 58:1-14; Isa 59:1-21; Isa 60:1-22; Isa 61:1-11; Isa 62:1-12; Isa 63:1-19; Isa 64:1-12; Isa 65:1-25; Isa 66:1-24, and have been very commonly ascribed to an author writing at Babylon towards the close of the Exile, or even at some later date. The conclusion has been arrived at in both cases by the application of the same critical principles to similar data. In the present case the argument is complicated by the concluding paragraph of chapter 51, which states that “Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon,” in the fourth year of Zedekiah, and gave the book to Seraiah ben Neriah to take to Babylon and tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.
Such a statement, however, cuts both ways. On the one hand, we seem to have what is wanting in the case of Isa 40:1-31; Isa 41:1-29; Isa 42:1-25; Isa 43:1-28; Isa 44:1-28; Isa 45:1-25; Isa 46:1-13; Isa 47:1-15; Isa 48:1-22; Isa 49:1-26; Isa 50:1-11; Isa 51:1-23; Isa 52:1-15; Isa 53:1-12; Isa 54:1-17; Isa 55:1-13; Isa 56:1-12; Isa 57:1-21; Isa 58:1-14; Isa 59:1-21; Isa 60:1-22; Isa 61:1-11; Isa 62:1-12; Isa 63:1-19; Isa 64:1-12; Isa 65:1-25; Isa 66:1-24 -a definite and circumstantial testimony as to authorship. But, on the other hand, this very testimony raises new difficulties. If 50 and 51 had been simply assigned to Jeremiah, without any specification of date, we might possibly have accepted the tradition according to which he spent his last years at Babylon, and have supposed that altered circumstances and novel experiences account for the differences between these chapters and the rest of the book. But Zedekiahs fourth year is a point in the prophets ministry at which it is extremely difficult to account for his having composed such a prophecy. If, however, Jer 51:59-64 is mistaken in its exact and circumstantial account of the origin of the preceding section, we must hesitate to recognise its authority as to that sections authorship.
A detailed discussion of the question would be out of place here, but we may notice a few passages which illustrate the arguments for an exilic date. We learn from Jer 27:1-22; Jer 28:1-17; Jer 29:1-32, that, in the fourth year of Zedekiah, the prophet was denouncing as false teachers those who predicted that the Jewish captives in Babylon would speedily return to their native land. He himself asserted that judgment would not be inflicted upon Babylon for seventy years, and exhorted the exiles to build houses and marry, and plant gardens, and to pray for the peace of Babylon. {Jer 29:4-14} We can hardly imagine that, in the same breath almost, he called upon these exiles to flee from the city of their captivity, and summoned the neighbouring nations to execute Jehovahs judgment against the oppressors of His people. And yet we read:-
“There shall come the Israelites, they and the Jews together:
They shall weep continually, as they go to seek Jehovah their God;
They shall ask their way to Zion, with their faces hitherward.” {Jer 50:4-5}
“Remove from the midst of Babylon, and be ye as he-goats before the flock.” {Jer 50:8}
These verses imply that the Jews were already in Babylon, and throughout the author assumes the circumstances of the Exile. “The vengeance of the Temple,” i.e., vengeance for the destruction of the Temple at the final capture of Jerusalem, is twice threatened. {Jer 50:28; Jer 51:11} The ruin of Babylon is described as imminent:-
“Set up a standard on the earth,
Blow the trumpet among the nations,
Prepare the nations against her.”
If these words were written by Jeremiah in the fourth year of Zedekiah, he certainly was not practising his own precept to pray for the peace of Babylon.
Various theories have been advanced to meet the difficulties which are raised by the ascription of this prophecy to Jeremiah. It may have been expanded from an authentic original. Or again, Jer 51:59-64 may not really refer to Jer 50:1 – Jer 51:58; the two sections may once have existed separately, and may owe their connection to an editor, who met with Jer 50:1-46; Jer 51:1-58 as an anonymous document, and thought he recognised in it the “book” referred to in Jer 51:59-64. Or Jer 50:1-46; Jer 51:1-58 may be a hypothetical reconstruction of a lost prophecy of Jer 51:59-64 mentioned such a prophecy and none was extant, and some student and disciple of Jeremiahs school utilised the material and ideas of extant writings to supply the gap. In any case. it must have been edited more than once, and each time with modifications. Some support might be obtained for any one of these theories from the fact that Jer 50:1-46; Jer 51:1-58 is prima facie partly a cento of passages from the rest of the book and from the Book of Isaiah. {Jer 50:8; Jer 51:6, with Isa 48:20; Jer 50:13 with Jer 49:17; Jer 50:41-43 with Jer 6:22-24; Jer 50:44-46 with Jer 49:19-21; Jer 51:15-19 with Isa 10:12-16}
In view of the great uncertainty as to the origin and history of this prophecy, we do not intend to attempt any detailed exposition. Elsewhere whatever non-Jeremianic matter occurs in the book is mostly by way of expansion and interpretation, and thus lies in the direct line of the prophets teaching. But the section on Babylon attaches itself to the new departure in religious thought that is more fully expressed in Isa 40:1-31; Isa 41:1-29; Isa 42:1-25; Isa 43:1-28; Isa 44:1-28; Isa 45:1-25; Isa 46:1-13; Isa 47:1-15; Isa 48:1-22; Isa 49:1-26; Isa 50:1-11; Isa 51:1-23; Isa 52:1-15; Isa 53:1-12; Isa 54:1-17; Isa 55:1-13; Isa 56:1-12; Isa 57:1-21; Isa 58:1-14; Isa 59:1-21; Isa 60:1-22; Isa 61:1-11; Isa 62:1-12; Isa 63:1-19; Isa 64:1-12; Isa 65:1-25; Isa 66:1-24. Chapters 50, 51, may possibly be Jeremiahs swan song, called forth by one of those Pisgah visions of a new dispensation sometimes granted to aged seers; but such visions of a new era and a new order can scarcely be combined with earlier teaching. We will therefore only briefly indicate the character and contents of this section.
It is apparently a mosaic, compiled from lost as well as extant sources; and dwells upon a few themes with a persistent iteration of ideas and phrases hardly to be paralleled elsewhere, even in the Book of Jeremiah. It has been reckoned that the imminence of the attack on Babylon is introduced afresh eleven times, and its conquest and destruction nine times. The advent of an enemy from the north is announced four times. {Jer 50:3; Jer 50:9; Jer 51:41; Jer 51:48}
The main theme is naturally that dwelt upon most frequently, the imminent invasion of Chaldea by victorious enemies who shall capture and destroy Babylon. Hereafter the great city and its territory will be a waste, howling wilderness:-
“Your mother shall be sore ashamed,
She that bare you shall be confounded;
Behold, she shall be the hindmost of the nations,
A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert.
Because of the wrath of Jehovah, it shall be uninhabited;
The whole land shall be a desolation.
Every one that goeth by Babylon
Shall hiss with astonishment because of all her plagues.” {Jer 50:12; Jer 13:13; Jer 50:39-40; Jer 51:26; Jer 51:29; Jer 51:37; Jer 51:41-43}
The gods of Babylon, Bel and Merodach, and all her idols, are involved in her ruin, and reference is made to the vanity and folly of idolatry. {Jer 51:17-18} But the wrath of Jehovah has been chiefly excited, not by false religion, but by the wrongs inflicted by the Chaldeans on His Chosen People. He is moved to avenge His Temple:- {Jer 50:28}
“I will recompense unto Babylon
And all the inhabitants of Chaldea
All the evil which they wrought in Zion,
And ye shall see it-it is the utterance of Jehovah”. {Jer 51:24}
Though He thus avenge Judah, yet its former sins are not yet blotted out of the book of His remembrance:-
“Their adversaries said, We incur no guilt.
Because they have sinned against Jehovah, the Pasture of Justice,
Against the Hope of their fathers, even Jehovah”. {Jer 50:7}
Yet now there is forgiveness:-
“The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none;
And the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found
For I will pardon the remnant that I preserve”. {Jer 50:20}
The Jews are urged to flee from Babylon, lest they should be involved in its punishment, and are encouraged to return to Jerusalem and enter afresh into an everlasting covenant with Jehovah. As in Jer 31:1-40, Israel is to be restored as well as Judah:-
“I will bring Israel again to his Pasture;
He shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;
His desires shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.” {Jer 50:19}
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary