Jeremiah 50:33-46, Oracles Against the Nations: A Message for Babylon (Part Two)

The first part of this judgment oracle against Babylon focused on arrows shot against the Babylonians from a distance. This part focuses on the sword, which must be used up close. It all pictures the devastating, death-dealing onslaught that is coming against Babylon from the hand of Yahweh.

³³ This is what Yahweh Almighty says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. ³⁴ Yet their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

Though this is an oracle against Babylon it is also a message for Israel and Judah, the northern and southern kingdoms, the first taken captive by Assyria, the second by Babylon. God is not finished with them. He is their Redeemer, the near kin who will rescue them from their captors.

³⁵ “A sword against the Babylonians!” declares Yahweh—“against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men! ³⁶ A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror. ³⁷ A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered. ³⁸ A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.

Babylon’s leaders have the bead drawn on them. Kings, officials, wise men, and prophets will be filled with terror. The sword will slay them, their armies, hired mercenaries, and treasuries. Their idols will also experience terror. There will be no respite for any.

  ³⁹ “So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. ⁴⁰ As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,” declares Yahweh, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.

⁴¹ “Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. ⁴² They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. ⁴⁴ Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?”

⁴⁵ Therefore, hear what Yahweh has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶ At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations.

The book of Daniel reports the defeat of the Babylonians by the Persians and the Medes. Yahweh warned the king with a message written on the wall by a disembodied hand:

^{Daniel 5:5} Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶ His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

Daniel was brought in to interpret the message to the king, that he had been weighed in the balance and found wanting, that judgment was coming to his kingdom. Daniel tells us:

^{Daniel 5:30} That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, ³¹ and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

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Discussion Questions:

1. Which would be more terrifying to you, death by an archer’s arrow or death by a warrior’s sword?
2. Why might Israel and Judah need some assurance in an oracle against Babylon?
3. What is God’s message to those who think they are all-powerful?