Judgment on Babylon (1): Jeremiah 50

Pray Psalm 83.1-3.
Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.

Sing Psalm 83.1-3.
(St. Chrysostom: We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought)
O God, do not be quiet now; do not be silent, nor be still!
See how Your foes erupt in a row and those who hate You chafe at Your will.
Shrewdly they plan, conspiring as one, against Your daughters and Your sons.

Read and meditate on Jeremiah 50.35-40.

Prepare.
1. How many different aspects of Babylonian life are mentioned here?

2. To what does God liken the overthrow of Babylon?

Meditate.
As if to emphasize the magnitude of His wrath against Babylon, God runs through a checklist of those aspects of Babylonian life that will fall to His sword.

All inhabitants of Babylon will be destroyed (v. 35). Princes, wise men, and soothsayers will be made fools (vv. 35, 36). All the mighty men of Babylon’s armies will be dismayed and defeated (v. 36). Horses, chariots, allied peoples – all will be reduced to feebleness (v. 37). All Babylon’s treasures will be stolen (v. 38). The word “drought” in v. 38 is unique to the Hebrew text (other versions stick with the “sword”). But this mention of drought is significant, because the armies of the Medes and Persians were able to enter the city of Babylon while the people were indulging in a feast (cf. Dan. 5) by diverting the waters of the Euphrates River, which flowed through the city, and simply wading under the walls.

The result will be a city as barren as Sodom and Gomorrah. No population, only ruined walls and streets, where desert beasts, jackals, and ostriches freely roam (vv. 39, 40). Such remains the state of ancient Babylon to this day.

It’s no wonder Jesus chose the fate of Babylon to envision the fate of the unbelieving world in the book of Revelation. If we want to know what’s coming in world history, Jesus says, look at what God has already done. That should strike fear into the hearts of those who do not know the Lord. But for those who do, it should bring comfort, knowing that Babylon’s final destruction will release us from our captivity in a fallen world into the promised land of the new heavens and new earth. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Reflect.
1. Why would it have been important for the Jewish remnant in Babylon to know that God was going to destroy every aspect of life there?

2. Why should it be important to us to know that God is going to destroy every aspect of the Babylon of this world (cf. 2 Pet. 3.10-14)?

3. What were the Jews in Babylon supposed to be doing as they awaited God’s deliverance? What are we supposed to be doing as we await ours?

Cyrus, as Xenophon relates, when attempting to take the city, used the same contrivance, and imitated those who had fortified Babylon, but for a different purpose; for he diverted the streams, so that the river might be forded. Thus, then, he dried up that great river, which was like a sea; so that Babylon was taken with no great trouble. Cyrus, indeed, entered in by night, and unexpectedly invaded Babylon, while they were securely feasting, and celebrating a festival, as we find in the book of Daniel. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Jeremiah 50.38

This world is passing away, I know, O Lord; help me to live for You so that I…

Pray Psalm 83.4-18.
God knows how to deal with His enemies, and how to save and protect His own. Rest in His sovereign grace and love. Call on Him to help you live for His Kingdom, which is coming on earth as it is in heaven.

Sing Psalm 83.4-18.
Psalm 83.4-18 (St. Chrysostom: We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought)
“Come, let us wipe them out,” they say. “Let Israel’s name no more be heard!”
Bold they conspire to do us away, and covenant against You, O Lord.
Peoples and nations cast in their lot for this ambitious, wicked plot.

Deal with them, Lord, and bring them down, as You against old foes prevailed,
When You Midian cast to the ground and all her kings and princes assailed –
all who Your pastures sought to possess You brought to ruin and deep distress.

Make them like whirling dust, O God!  Scatter them like the windblown chaff!
Rage like a fire consuming a wood, like flames that burn a mountain pass!
Blow like a tempest, bring them to harm, and terrify them with Your storm!

Fill with dishonor every face that they may seek Your Name, O Lord.
Bring them to shame, dismay, and disgrace, and let them perish under Your Word,
that they may learn Your infinite worth, O God Most High of all the earth!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).