Jeremiah 50
-The word of the LORD concerning
Babylon is lengthy and condemning because of their haughtiness and idolatry.
God had given them temporary power and authority, but it would end in disaster,
horror, desolation, and shame coming from the north. Their idols would be
shattered eventually by the Medes and the Persians, even though at the time of
this prophecy they seemed immoveable and secure (Daniel 5:30-31). They would
one day face God’s wrath, punishment, and crushing for mistreating His people,
and would pay a horrible price for their insensitivity to the ways of the LORD.
Israel, on the other hand, is given a positive message as they will one day
turn their faces back to the land of covenant, which was guaranteed never to be
forgotten, to join with the LORD their God (Jeremiah 50:1-5). God says that His
people have become lost sheep because their shepherds led them astray to
worship idols and false gods on the mountains and hills of their homeland, and
they have forgotten their resting place. Those who have devoured them as
adversaries said, “We are not guilty, inasmuch as they have sinned against the
LORD who is the habitation of righteousness, even the LORD, the hope of their
fathers,” did so to their detriment because they too are now found guilty of
worshipping false deities in vanity (Jeremiah 50:6-7). God is arousing and
bringing up against them a horde of great nations from the north to take them
captive and plunder them by His Divine Word (Jeremiah 50:8-10). The reason is
given in the next verses. Babylon pillaged His heritage (Israel and in
particular Judah) in jubilation in the time of their strength and might.
Therefore, they will be ashamed, humiliated, and least among the nations
becoming a wilderness and a parched desert. God indignation and vengeance is
upon the Chaldeans now by the prophetic word, and they will become completely
desolate, running for their lives in fear and terror (Jeremiah 50:11-16).
-Israel’s history of being
conquered is recounted with the first destroyer Assyria and then later by the
Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar. The promise is that Babylon will be
punished severely by scattering and driving away just like Assyria, and that the
Israeli remnant would repopulate in satisfaction. At that time, God declares, a
search for iniquity will be made with none found. The sins of Israel and Judah
will be pardoned (Jeremiah 50:17-20). This is should be taken as a Messianic
prophesy, which is still coming in the future.
-For Babylon, they were caught in
a snare and unaware. The work of the LORD was designed to draw them to Him, but
they resisted and continued to worship their own false deities in feigned
ignorance. Now the repayment according to their work was to be held in account.
There was no excuse for them to claim now, and they would pay the price for
their disobedience. They oppressed the LORD’s people in their captivity holding
them fast for their own selfish benefit refusing to let them go. The God of the
Universe was not pleased with this. For the Jewish people’s “Redeemer is
strong, the LORD of hosts (all spiritual powers) is His Name; He will
vigorously plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil
to the inhabitants of Babylon (Jeremiah 50:21-34).” The sword would come
against the Chaldeans, their inhabitants, her officials, her wise men, her
oracle priests (who will become fools), her mighty men, their horses, their
chariots, the foreigners who are in the midst of her, and her treasures which
would be plundered (Jeremiah 50:35-37). There would be drought and famine in
this land of idols because the people were madly in love with them rather than
their Creator God. Jackals and ostriches would inhabit this land rather than
people from generation to generation just as Sodom and Gomorrah with its
neighbors (Jeremiah 50:38-40). The enemy is coming against Babylon from the
north as a great nation with many kings aroused from the remotest parts of the
earth with cruelty and no mercy. They leave the king of Babylon with limp
hands, distress, and agony like a woman in childbirth as he hears the report
about them. In an instant they will make them run away in fear and panic
because the LORD is ultimately in control and will preside over the affairs of
all the nations’ raisings and fallings. No plan formed against Him will
prosper. He is the One, the only One, who can shake the earth and make an
outcry heard among the nations. *Application* Babylon is a biblical symbol of
anything that sets itself up against God. The LORD has the ultimate authority
and will rule no matter what. We see here in the passage that He will give
opportunity to turn to Him repeatedly and with compassion He will heal and give
rest. However, if we reject His superiority, the antithesis will happen.
Babylon rejected the One-True God for their vain idols and paid the price historically
as a nation and futuristically as symbolized as any opponent of God. Don’t let
yourself be duped into thinking that you are loftier than God. He wins in the
end and wants to bless as His faithful, fearful, and blessed servants.
Verses to Memorize: Jeremiah 50:29, 34
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