Joseph Benson’s Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 51:60-62
So Jeremiah wrote in a book Namely, in the two foregoing Chapter s; all the evil that should come upon Babylon This was done that it might be known even in Babylon itself that Jeremiah had foretold the destruction of that city, six years before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. And Jeremiah said, When thou shalt see and read all these words This is probably to be understood, not of a mere private reading of them by himself, but of his reading them to the Jews in Babylon, (namely, those that had been carried thither in Jehoiakim's captivity,) to comfort them under their exile, and, perhaps, in the hearing of some of the Babylonians themselves. Then shalt thou say Looking up to God, and making a solemn protestation of the divine authority, and unquestionable certainty, of that which thou hast read; O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place And I believe what thou hast spoken. Thou hast passed sentence upon Babylon, and it shall be executed. This is like the angel's protestation, Revelation 19:9, concerning the destruction of the New Testament Babylon, These are the true sayings of God: and Revelation 21:6, These words are true and faithful. To cut it off, that none shall remain in it, &c. Though Seraiah and the captive Jews see Babylon flourishing, yet, having read this prophecy, they must foresee Babylon falling, and by virtue of this foresight, must learn neither to envy its pomp nor fear its power. Thus, reader, when we observe what this world is, how glittering are its shows, and how flattering its proposals, let us read in the book of the Lord, that its fashion passeth away, and that it shall shortly be cut off, and made desolate for ever, and we shall learn to look upon it with a holy contempt, and to die to all its false glories and illusive joys.