Jeremiah Chapter 50
1 The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 "Declare amongst the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don't conceal: say, 'Babylon has been taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed! Her images are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed.'
3 For a nation comes up out of the north against her, which will make her land desolate, and no one will dwell in it. They have fled. They are gone, both man and animal.
4 "In those days, and in that time," says the LORD, "the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping, and will seek the LORD their God.
5 They will enquire concerning Zion with their faces turned towards it, saying, 'Come, and join yourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.'
6 My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who found them have devoured them. Their adversaries said, 'We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of righteousness, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.'
8 "Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks.
9 For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set themselves in array against her. She will be taken from there. Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man. None of them will return in vain.
10 Chaldea will be a prey. All who prey on her will be satisfied," says the LORD.
11 "Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;
12 your mother will be utterly disappointed. She who bore you will be confounded. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the LORD's wrath she won't be inhabited, but she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her. Spare no arrows; for she has sinned against the LORD.
15 Shout against her all around. She has submitted herself. Her bulwarks have fallen. Her walls have been thrown down, for it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword, they will each return to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land.
17 "Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones."
18 Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan. His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
20 In those days, and in that time," says the LORD, "the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah, and they won't be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
21 "Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them," says the LORD, "and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation amongst the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren't aware. You are found, and also caught, because you have fought against the LORD.
25 The LORD has opened his armoury, and has brought out the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, the LORD of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps. Destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left.
27 Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation.
28 Listen to those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29 "Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Pay her back according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her young men will fall in her streets. All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day," says the LORD.
31 "Behold, I am against you, you proud one," says the Lord, the LORD of Armies; "for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.
32 The proud one will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all who are around him."
33 The LORD of Armies says: "The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All who took them captive hold them fast. They refuse to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong: The LORD of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 "A sword is on the Chaldeans," says the LORD, "and on the inhabitants of Babylon, on her princes, and on her wise men.
36 A sword is on the boasters, and they will become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
37 A sword is on their horses, on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her; and they will become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they will be robbed.
38 A drought is on her waters, and they will be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols.
39 Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein; and it will be inhabited no more forever; neither will it be lived in from generation to generation.
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbour cities," says the LORD, "so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.
41 "Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
42 They take up bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea. They ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands become feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labour.
44 Behold, the enemy will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make them run away from it. Whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it; for who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?"
45 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they will drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles; and the cry is heard amongst the nations.
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Jeremiah Chapter 50 Guide
The last of the prophecies concerning the nations has to do with Babylon. Throughout the whole of Jeremiah's prophetic utterances, she has been seen as the instrument of God's judgment. Finally, on account of her own sin and corruption, that judgment must inevitably fall upon her. That is the great burden of the message. It is perfectly evident throughout that the prophet had in mind the nations of Judah and Israel, and what he said concerning Babylon had its direct bearing on these as the people of God.
The prophecy falls into two parts, the first contained in chapter fifty foretelling Babylon's doom and Israel's deliverance; the second, in chapter fifty-one, indicating Israel's responsibility in view of this doom determined on Babylon. The paragraph (verses Jeremiah 50:1-20) contains the first movement of the first prophecy, in which, in general terms, the prophet announced the coming overthrow of Babylon, and foretold the repentant return of the children of Israel and Judah. He then more definitely described the destruction of the city of Babylon itself. A confederacy of nations would come against her and destroy her, and that because she had rejoiced and been wanton in her dealing with the people of God. That people, though scattered and driven away, would be gathered and restored, while the iniquity of Israel and the sins of Judah would be pardoned.
The prophecy increases in power as it proceeds, as Jeremiah foretold the completeness of the overthrow determined against Babylon. The completeness he described as consisting in the utter humbling of her pride, and the absolute destruction of her power. He recognized that Babylon had been the instrument in the hand of Jehovah as he referred to her as "the hammer of the whole earth." But the hammer is broken, and Babylon become a desolation. He described the destruction of her strong men as bullocks going to the slaughter. Escaping captives announce in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah. Her overthrow is to be according to all that she herself had done, and the prophet reveals the reason for the divine vengeance. "She hath been proud against Jehovah." The hammer had practically turned in rebellion against the hand that held it. There fore the pride of Babylon was to be humbled. All the things in which Babylon had put her trust, her multitudes, her princes, her wise men, her mighty men, her horses, her chariots, "the mingled people that are in the midst of her," her treasures, her waters, are seen as under the destroying sword of Jehovah, doomed to destruction as complete as that of Sodom and Gomorrah. The instrument in the hand of Jehovah is described as people from the north, but the prophet emphatically and with great clearness declared that the judgment is to be accomplished by the invincible Jehovah.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Jeremiah Chapter 50 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- The ruin of Babylon. -- (1-3,8-16,21-32,35-46;)
- The redemption of God's people. -- (4-7,17-20,33,34)
Verses 1-7
The king of Babylon was kind to Jeremiah, yet the prophet must foretell the ruin of that kingdom. If our friends are God's enemies, we dare not speak peace to them. The destruction of Babylon is spoken of as done thoroughly. Here is a word for the comfort of the Jews. They shall return to their God first, then to their own land; the promise of their conversion and reformation makes way for the other promises. Their tears flow not from the sorrow of the world, as when they went into captivity, but from godly sorrow. They shall seek after the Lord as their God, and have no more to do with idols. They shall think of returning to their own country. This represents the return of poor souls to God. In true converts there are sincere desires to attain the end, and constant cares to keep in the way. Their present case is lamented as very sad. The sins of professing Christians never will excuse those who rejoice in destroying them.
Verses 8-20
The desolation that shall be brought upon Babylon is set forth in a variety of expressions. The cause of this destruction is the wrath of the Lord. Babylon shall be wholly desolated; for she hath sinned against the Lord. Sin makes men a mark for the arrows of God's judgments. The mercy promised to the Israel of God, shall not only accompany, but arise from the destruction of Babylon. These sheep shall be gathered from the deserts, and put again into good pasture. All who return to God and their duty, shall find satisfaction of soul in so doing. Deliverances out of trouble are comforts indeed, when fruits of the forgiveness of sin.
Verses 21-32
The forces are mustered and empowered to destroy Babylon. Let them do what God demands, and they shall bring to pass what he threatens. The pride of men's hearts sets God against them, and ripens them apace for ruin. Babylon's pride must be her ruin; she has been proud against the Holy One of Israel; who can keep those up whom God will throw down?
Verses 33-46
It is Israel's comfort in distress, that, though they are weak, their Redeemer is strong. This may be applied to believers, who complain of the dominion of sin and corruption, and of their own weakness and manifold infirmities. Their Redeemer is able to keep what they commit to him; and sin shall not have dominion over them. He will give them that rest which remains for the people of God. Also here is Babylon's sin, and their punishment. The sins are, idolatry and persecution. He that will not save his people in their sins, never will countenance the wickedness of his open enemies. The judgments of God for these sins will lay them waste. In the judgments denounced against prosperous Babylon, and the mercies promised to afflicted Israel, we learn to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.