Jeremiah 50:35-40

II. THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON

Jeremiah 50:35 to Jeremiah 51:26

In this section of the Babylon oracle the major theme of the fall of Babylon becomes more prominent. The minor theme of the deliverance of Israel occurs only in Jeremiah 51:5-6; Jeremiah 51:10.

A. Thorough Destruction Jeremiah 50:35-40

TRANSLATION

(35) A sword against the. Chaldeans (oracle of the LORD), against the inhabitants of Babylon, her princes and her wisemen. (36) A sword against the boasters, and they shall become fools! A sword against her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed! (37) A sword against her horses, chariots, and all the mixed people which are in the midst of her, and they shall become women! A sword against her storehouses, and they shall be plundered. (38) A drought against her waters and they shall be dry; for it is a land of graven images and they are mad over terrors. (39) Therefore, desert creatures with wolves shall dwell there, ostriches shall dwell in it. She shall not be inhabited any more forever, nor populated for all generations. (40) As God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring cities (oracle of the LORD), so a man shall not dwell there nor a son of man sojourn in her.

COMMENTS

The Lord will use the agents of sword and drought through the centuries to destroy all which supports Babylon's power and glory: the inhabitants of the city as well as the civil and religious leaders (Jeremiah 50:35), the liars, boasters or soothsayers, the strong armies and foreign mercenaries, the treasures of the city (Jeremiah 50:37), and the ancient and elaborate irrigation system (Jeremiah 50:38).[413] This tidal wave of destruction will sweep Babylonia because that land was a land of graven images and they are mad over idols (Jeremiah 50:38). The Hebrew word translated idols literally means horrors or terrors. The cruel, bloodthirsty and immoral gods of Babylon were indeed horrible creations of the depraved mind of man. What a pity that the highly cultured Babylonians had not used their wisdom and knowledge to turn to the true and living God. Certainly through their contacts with the people of Israel they had numerous opportunities to come to know the Lord of glory. Surely it was of such people that the apostle Paul spoke when he wrote: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things (Romans 1:22-23).

[413] One of the keys to the agricultural prosperity of Babylonia was the irrigation system which dates back to the time of Hammurapi in the eighteenth century before Christ. In fulfillment of the prophecy the famous canals of Babylon have silted up and all but disappeared.

The sword and the drought will eventually make Babylon as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. The point of comparison here is not the manner of Sodom's destruction but the results of that overthrow. Following its destruction Babylon will never again be inhabited by human beings (Jeremiah 50:40). The place will be fit only for desert creatures, the wolves or jackals (lit., howling creatures) and the owls or ostriches (Jeremiah 50:39). In this description of the desolation of Babylon Jeremiah is echoing the prophecy of Isaiah where many of the same thoughts occur (cf. Isaiah 13:19-22).