YHWH'S VENGEANCE ON BABYLON AND THE VINDICATION OF ISRAEL/JUDAH (JEREMIAH 51:1). 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... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD AS CREATOR IS COMPARED WITH FOOLISH MAN WHO CAN ONLY MAKE IDOLS WHICH ARE FUTILE AND LIFELESS (JEREMIAH 51:15). These verses are a repetition of Jeremiah 10:12 where YHWH as the genuine God of creation, the ‘former of all things', was contrasted with the gods of the nations who had not made the... [ Continue Reading ]
YHWH'S WAR-CLUB (JEREMIAH 51:20). The speaker here is clearly YHWH. What is more difficult to determine is the identity of God's ‘war-club and weapons of war'. Note that the pronouns are singular. (‘Thou' not ‘ye'). And if Jeremiah 51:24 is part of the passage, which the grammar suggests that it mu... [ Continue Reading ]
PREPARATION FOR THE COMING TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON (JEREMIAH 51:25). With the mention of what is to happen to Babylon in Jeremiah 51:24, YHWH's attention now turns on Babylon, describing it as a ‘destroying mountain' or ‘mountain of destruction'. Interestingly the same phrase is used in 2 Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BABYLONIAN RESPONSE (JEREMIAH 51:30). As already mentioned Gobryas, the Persian general, took the city of Babylon by stealth, having diverted the water course that led into the city, thus being able to walk into the city with his men along the dry river bed. We can imagine the effect that the s... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CRY OF JERUSALEM FOR VENGEANCE (JEREMIAH 51:34). In these two verses we have the words of ‘the inhabitants of Zion', the words of ‘Jerusalem' as they remind God of what Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, had done to them. Jerusalem lay in ruins, the Temple destroyed and emptied of its treasur... [ Continue Reading ]
YHWH PROMISES THAT THEY WILL BE AVENGED (JEREMIAH 51:36). God acknowledges the justice of their plea, and assures them that He will take vengeance on their behalf. Evil cannot be allowed to triumph, and therefore Babylon, that representative of all evil, must reap what she has sown. Babylon must be... [ Continue Reading ]
AN EXULTATION OVER THE CITY OF BABYLON'S DEMISE (JEREMIAH 51:41). We note in this exultation the emphasis on what is to happen to Bel (Marduk), the chief god of Babylon. Babylon had boasted that it was Marduk who had given them the nations. Now Marduk would be caused by YHWH to spew them out (altho... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE CALLED ON TO FLEE FROM BABYLON (JEREMIAH 51:45). This is not so much a call to God's people to return from exile, as a call to flee for their lives, deserting Babylon and all that it stood for, because of the catastrophe that was coming on it. Compare Jeremiah 50:8; Jeremiah 51:6. I... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REASONS FOR BABYLON'S DEMISE (JEREMIAH 51:47). We now learn again the reasons for Babylon's demise. It was because of her graven images (Jeremiah 51:47), with all their para-normal ramifications (Isaiah 47:9 ff), and because of what she had done to Israel (Jeremiah 51:49). On the one hand she h... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE LIGHT OF EVENTS GOD CALLS ON HIS PEOPLE TO REMEMBER HIM AFRESH, AND TO REMEMBER JERUSALEM, REVEALING THE STATE OF CONFUSION IN WHICH HIS PEOPLE ARE (JEREMIAH 51:50). God now calls on His exiled people, in the light of the events which will take place, to ‘remember YHWH' (turn their thoughts... [ Continue Reading ]
A FURTHER PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON AND ITS GODS (JEREMIAH 51:52). Note the similarity of these words with Jeremiah 51:47. The repetition brings out the importance and certainty of what is said. YHWH will execute judgment on the graven images of Babylon, bringing them into disrepute an... [ Continue Reading ]
A PROPHETIC DESCRIPTION OF THE FULFILMENT OF YHWH'S WORD SPOKEN AGAINST BABYLON AND CONFIRMATION THAT IT WOULD BE SO (JEREMIAH 51:54). The section dealing with YHWH's word against Babylon, which began at Jeremiah 50:1, ends with these verses making clear that Babylon will be laid waste and that God... [ Continue Reading ]
JEREMIAH HANDS TO ONE OF THE GODLY LEADERS WHO IS GOING WITH KING ZEDEKIAH ON A JOURNEY TO BABYLON A SCROLL CONTAINING HIS PROPHECIES ABOUT BABYLON. THIS WAS TO BE USED SYMBOLICALLY TO DENOTE THE CERTAIN JUDGMENT COMING ON BABYLON BY BEING THROWN INTO THE EUPHRATES (JEREMIAH 51:59). In what may be... [ Continue Reading ]