Jeremiah 51:52-58--The Utter Destruction of Babylon (Part 5)

Jeremiah 51:52-58
English Standard Version
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52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,
    when I will execute judgment upon her images,
and through all her land
    the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven,
    and though she should fortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
    declares the LORD.

54 “A voice! A cry from Babylon!
    The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the LORD is laying Babylon waste
    and stilling her mighty voice.
Their waves roar like many waters;
    the noise of their voice is raised,
56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
    upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
    their bows are broken in pieces,
for the LORD is a God of recompense;
    he will surely repay.
57 I will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
    her governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
    declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

58 “Thus says the LORD of hosts:
The broad wall of Babylon
    shall be leveled to the ground,
and her high gates
    shall be burned with fire.
The peoples labor for nothing,
    and the nations weary themselves only for fire.”

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The LORD is going to destroy Babylon and all of its idols.  The people that worshiped them and put their hope in them are going to suffer greatly and not be saved by them--in fact, many will die.  Though they mount up a defense as tall as the Tower of Babel (which was the origins of their rebellious people and kingdom), they will not prevail against the LORD.  They will be destroyed, though all the demons of the kingdom of darkness unite to fight alongside side these wicked men, the darkness cannot prevail against the Light.

A voice, a shout, a cry of pain and mourning and maybe a shout of triumph and victory.  The voice announces the LORD's destruction of Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans.  None of the warriors of Babylon are left standing because not even their combined strength could contend with the LORD.  Their bows are broken so that they have lost their strength and can no longer make war.  The LORD is going to repay them for atrocities they have committed and they will have to drink of the cup of the wrath of God to the dregs.  All of the leaders and government officials will be made to pay for what they did and what they allowed to happen.  Even if they did not actively participate, they capitulated by their silence.  Therefore, the LORD is going to put them all to death (a perpetual sleep they will not wake up from).

The thick walls around the capital city could not save them.  It will be broken and leveled to the ground.  Its gates will be burned with fire.  All the work the people had done to build up the defenses of this once-great city were for nothing once the LORD had marked it for destruction.  There were no natural defenses that could save or preserve them.  Notice the similarities and differences between Babylon and Jerusalem with the prophecies of this book.  The people were given a chance to surrender to the LORD and His plan, yet the LORD promises He will not completely destroy Judah.  He does not make the same promise to Babylon because Israel and Judah have a special place in history in the gospel of Jesus Christ that would be taken t to the whole world and in being witnesses and ambassadors for the kingdom of God t to the very end of days.  God will continue to save a remnant from every tribe, tongue and nation, but He will specifically continue to act to defend the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob whom He has made an eternal, unconditional covenant with.  He has chosen to use this people to accomplish His plans here on earth that will have eternal ramifications.  Even though the wickedness of the people of Israel may have been just as bad or worse than that of the Canaanites or the Babylonians, the LORD would discipline and punish them differently because He will not completely destroy Israel and Judah as He did with the Canaanites and the Babylonians.  This by no means gave Israel a free pass though.  Look at all the suffering they went through while they were in the midst of their rebellion that was unnecessary and the 70 years of Exile that could have been avoided and the loss of many lives that could have been saved if they would have listened to the LORD and His Prophets and repented.  We need to hear this message and learn this lesson as well.