Jeremiah 51:36-64, Oracles Against the Nations: A Message for Babylon (Part Four)
We discover that this oracle against Babylon was given during the fourth year of Zedekiah and presented to Israel in exile when Jeremiah accompanied Zedekiah on a trip to Babylon. Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon after this and initiated Babylon’s attack against Judah that destroyed the nation and took her captive.
36 Therefore this is what Yahweh says: “See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. 38 Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. 39 But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter—then sleep forever and not awake,” declares Yahweh. 40 “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.
Yahweh is defending Israel’s cause. The helpless young lions growling for food will be made to eat and drink to their own death. They will become like lambs for the slaughter.
41 “How Sheshak will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations! 42 The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. 43 Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels. 44 I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall.
Sheshak is a cipher for Babylon, as Leb Kamai was for Chaldea, Babylon’s other name. The demonic spirit who represented himself as Bel Marduk and drew worship from Babylon, will be punished by Yahweh in His punishment of Babylon.
45 “Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of Yahweh. 46 Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. 47 For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. 48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,” declares Yahweh.
God’s people must flee the coming destruction when it happens and not be cowed in fear by rumors.
49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. 50 You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember Yahweh in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem.” 51 “We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of Yahweh’s house.” 52 “But days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. 53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,” declares Yahweh.
Babylon is being punished because of her punishment of Jerusalem, which, when God’s people recall this, will bring them shame because it was their sin that led to Yahweh’s giving of the Temple into the hands of the Babylonians. No matter how powerful Babylon gets, she will be destroyed.
54 “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. 55 Yahweh will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. 56 A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For Yahweh is a God of retribution; he will repay in full. 57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake,” declares the King, whose name is Yahweh Almighty.
58 This is what Yahweh Almighty says: “Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”
The two things Babylon was known for, her seemingly undefeatable army, and her beautiful and impregnable walls, will become nothing.
59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’”
Expositor’s Commentary notes:
This is Jeremiah’s word to Seraiah, the staff officer who was responsible for looking after the comfort of the king of Judah whenever he stopped for the night. He was probably the brother of Baruch (cf. 32:12). In lieu of Jeremiah, Seraiah was to perform a symbolic act. The fourth year of Zedekiah (594-593 B.C.) was possibly the year when Zedekiah attempted to clear himself of complicity in a revolt against Babylon. Seraiah’s symbolic act was a visual enactment of the fall of Babylon. This passage is an appendix to this prophecy against Babylon that shows how it was taken to Babylon. It is remarkable that at the very time Jeremiah was advising submission to that city, he was also foretelling its final overthrow.
The words of Jeremiah end here.
A compiler’s note, though there is a historical note that follows in chapter 52.
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Discussion Questions:
- Read Daniel 10:1-14. Do you think a similar heavenly warfare was going on with the Prince of Babylon (Marduk)?
- How do you see the role of fallen angels in the events of human history?
- Even if God is using nations to judge the church, do you think He is judging the nations for their attacks against the church?
About the Author
Randall Johnson
A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.
