Jeremiah 51:11-23.  Again we continue the message to/against Babylon. Yesterday we saw that God was going to send a destroyer to “pay back” Babylon. The main issue was the bad influence Babylon had had on mankind for centuries. Way back in Genesis 11 Babylon, or Babel as it was called there, was a place of rebellion and self-exaltation. God had told Adam that he and his descendants were to “fill the earth”. He repeated this instruction to Noah after the flood (Genesis 9:1). Instead of “filling the earth” the descendants of Noah seem to have followed his great-grandson, Nimrod as he established a kingdom who’s capital was Babel. There in Babel the descendants of Noah decided to settle and stay together. The figured that they would build a city with a tower that would reach all the way to Heaven and that they would make a “name for themselves” there. They also were very clear that they did not want to be “scattered all over the earth”. It seems that this idea of man being the “top dog” in the universe was the main legacy of Babel or Babylon down to the time of its destruction.

In verse 11 we see a contrast to this “we will control our own destiny” attitude. Nebuchadnezzar had been king of Babylon when Jerusalem was conquered and the Jews were taken as exiles back to Babylon. His son, Nabonidus, was technically king at the time of our story today but he had moved away from the capital and the day to day job of running the kingdom. Nabonidus’ son, Belshazzar was running the nation from the capital of Babylon. At one point in his time as ruler Nebuchadnezzar had become very proud of the kingdom he had built. God caused his to go crazy for a while and live like a beast in the fields, even eating grass. Eventually Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses and honored the one true God, Yahweh, as the source of his power. At the time of the destruction of Babylon Belshazzar was showing a great deal of disrespect for Yahweh. Daniel, one of the exiles and a messenger for God, explained a miraculous warning given to Belshazzar about the coming destruction of his kingdom. It was because of his knowing disrespect for Yahweh that his kingdom would be taken from him (Daniel 5:21-23). This happened at a party Belshazzar was having in Babylon in spite of the fact that the city was under siege by Median troops. Belshazzar was so sure of himself and the fortification of his city that he continued to party after the warning. That very night the city was invaded and he was killed by the Median troops and Cyrus became king of Babylon (Daniel 5:30).

IN verse 11 we are told that Yahweh was the one responsible for Cyrus deciding to invade the city. The verse uses the plural for the kings of the Medes because, like many large nations of ancient history, Cyrus’ kingdom was made up of many smaller kingdoms. As he conquered an area he would usually leave their king in power but would require obedience and loyalty from them. If a king defected or rebelled he would be re-conquered and replaced. We saw this sort of thing in Nebuchadnezzar’s dealings with Judah. The reason God stirred up the “kings of the Medes” to destroy Babylon (and its influence) was because of the “temple”. In the ancient world people honored all sorts of gods, the inventions of their hands and minds. This “worship” often centered around a place, a building or temple built for that purpose. Usually these building would have some sort of statue in them representing the particular god. The temple was a place to remember and honor the “god”. What these people remembered though is a mystery or a myth since their “gods” were only in their minds and had no real existence nor power. The one true God, Yahweh, also had a temple and it too was a place to remember. It was different though, there was no image of Yahweh in it (in fact that was forbidden in the first ten rules that God gave to Moses). What was in the Temple in Jerusalem were real historic objects fro real historic events that involved Yahweh’s power. There were the two stone tablets that had the ten commandments on them, there was a branch that Moses’ brother had held during the Israelite’s escape from Egypt that had miraculously formed flowers, and there was a jar of manna (the miraculous food that literally rained down from heaven each day while the Israelites lived in the wilderness before entering the land promised to them). The temple in Jerusalem also had many things that were used to remember other historic events in the life of the Israelite nation. It was all about remembering the historic actions of the one true God, Yahweh, not a place of wishful thinking and attempts to manipulate a “god” that was an invention of their own minds. Because of the destruction of this true temple (and the attitude so clearly represented by the Babylonian leadership (see what Belshazzar was doing in Daniel 5)) God was going to destroy Babylon.

In verses 12-14 we see a brief description of the invasion of the city. It would be invaded by many soldiers. Locusts are insects like a grasshopper that swarm in huge numbers. When they enter a field they usually eat everything in the field leaving only bare stalks. Here the locusts represent the Median army. The important thing to see though is the source of the invasion, or power behind it, is Yahweh. When God says he “swore by himself” it is the most serious kind of promise.

Verses 15-16 give a short description of some of God’s true power. In Romans 1:19-20 Paul tells his readers that when we look at the physical universe around us it is very clear that it was make by a powerful loving creative organized being. In our world today many of not most people try to tell us that the universe came from an explosion of compressed matter, the Big Bang. And that everything that is “evolved” from the mess left by the explosion. Some scientists have begun to reject that idea because they recognize that the universe is intelligently designed. Most of these scientists are rejected and made fun of by the rest of their scientific community and many non-scientists as well.

In verse 17 we see God’s response to those who deny him, “They are stupid and know nothing.” What is worse is that these same people then turn around and make of useless powerless gods to honor. Although the message here is about Babylon being destroyed for its rejection of God, in verse 18 the rest of us are warned that if we reject God that one day our destruction will come and our fake gods will be destroyed with us.

Verse 19 is kind of interesting because it might go with verses 17-18 or it might link to verses 20-23. It certainly links to the verses before it because it says “the portion of Jacob is not like these”. Jacob was the birth name of Israel. God changed his name to Israel and promised that he would become a great nation. Israelites are descendants of Jacob or Israel (see “What’s in a Name”). A “portion” is a part of something given to someone. In this verse it is God’s way of describing himself, we see that in the parallel description in the verse where the “portion of Jacob” is also called the “maker of all”. If that is not clear enough he even gives his personal name, Yahweh (LORD). Often God adds descriptions to point out some part of his being. In this verse he identifies himself as Yahweh of hosts. Host is a way of saying army and often refers to armies of angles. Here it could be that, but more likely it is referring to human armies, it is God’s way of saying he is in control of what is going on on earth. So Yahweh is not like powerless manmade “gods”.

Bible experts don’t agree on who the “you” is in verses 20-23. Since this is a message about the destruction of Babylon and Cyrus and the Median army were going to be the specific nation used by God to destroy Babylon,, many experts think that the “you “ is Cyrus or his army. It is interesting though that verse 19 specifically brings the Israelites to the front of the picture. The talk by God in verses 12-18 doesn’t really have a link to the Israelites. But remember back in verse 11 that this all started because of the temple. It is important to remember that God chose the Israelites to help the world understand about him. If we see God’s existence and some of him in the creation, we get more of the picture from his dealings with the Israelite people, that story is told in the Old Testament part of the Bible (see “The Old Testament Connection”). By bringing up “Jacob” in verse 19 I think God is bringing the message back to the real point of the temple, teaching mankind about sin (disrespect, disobedience and rebellion toward God) and the solution for our broke relationship with him. And notice that verse 20 says “with you I shatter nations”. It’s not “nation” like just Babylon but “nations”. It seems like the “you” in verse is dealing with more that just punishing Babylon, all of the “shattering” going on seems to be about destroying all those things that get between us and God.

In verse 20 we see nations mentioned maybe what keeps some of us from God is national or ethnic loyalty. In verse 21 there seems to be some sort of military connection perhaps all of the things we chose to fight over, all the reasons for wars, are what keep us from God. In verse 22 we see words that might describe our personal lives; man and woman, adult and child. Sometimes we can get so caught up in our day to day personal lives that we forget God. Verse 23 seems to describe work and that too can get between us and God. We need to be careful not to become “monks” though. God created our lives, our feelings, our socialness. In Ecclesiastes Solomon tells us to enjoy life but to remember that we need to honor God in all we do (Ecclesiastes 5:18, 11:9, 12:13). God doesn’t want us to stop living but he wants us to live in a why that honors him. And remember it is God that created all the color, taste, beauty, and goodness in the universe. We honor God when we enjoy the world in the way he created it to be enjoyed. But when we put any of the things he has created above him then we are in trouble and looking for God to correct us. Babylon had worshipped mankind for a long lime and the time had come for God to teach the world what happens when you ignore him.

I’m so glad that God warns us. Even the message to Babylon was a warning, though it was sure to happen (Jeremiah even uses a past tense in verse 14 that literally says “I have filled you with men…”) it was a warning. God knew that Belshazzar would reject the warning and so he knew that he would allow the Medes to invade. What God knows we will do doesn’t mean he made us do it, it means that he could see our actions before we did them. That’s how it goes when you are not limited by time and space; when you are omniscient (all knowing). I’m also glad that God teaches us. The creation, the Israelites, the Bible. God wants us to know how the universe really works how our relationship with him really works; about the betrayal, the brokenness, the consequences and especially about the solution. God clearly wants us back on good terms with him. God loves us very much. The down side is that he won’t force us to love him, we can walk away, but away is a very bad place for a very long time (forever).

God thank you for your love. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond to your love. Thank you for “chances”. Help us learn and respond positively before it is too late. I know you will ultimately deal with evil in our world; our universe, but as individuals we need to decide now, we don’t have until the ultimate end. Thank you for letting me be a part of your forever family help me show many people the way to peace with you forever. Thank you for Jesus.

Jeremiah 51:1-10. If you notice the dates on the reading list you will see that it has been a while since I wrote. As I have explained before that does not mean that my relationship with God has been neglected. I want this blog to be a way for anyone who uses it to spend time with God on a regular basis but it is not the only way. I spend time with God as I prepare to teach my Junior High class each week, I spend time with God as I listen to Christian radio when I am traveling around for work, I spend time with God when I go to church each week, I spend time with God as I think about Him and pray to him during my day, and I spend time with God as I interact with Christians and others. I love these times of reading and studying just for these posts. I want to know God better through his word, the Bible, and I want to help others understand too. It is frustrating when the stuff we have to do every day and the stuff that happens every day makes it difficult to sit down and study and write. I hope there will be less of that kind of stuff in the future and I will be able to be more consistent bringing new posts to this site.

Today’s reading continues the message to and about Babylon. Remember that the last remnant of the Jewish nation had been taken as captives to Babylon. This was planned by God because they had filed to honor Him during much of their time in the land. In the law which God gave to Moses to run the nation with there were certain festivals that the Jewish people were supposed to celebrate. These festivals were supposed to help the people remember God and what he had done for them. Some festivals were a day, some a week and others were longer. Every seventh year the people were supposed to let their fields go unplanted. It was to be a year of rest and trust as they watched how God provided for them. Evidently they didn’t oblserve this “Sabbath” year for centuries as they lived in the land (Sabbath is Hebrew for seventh). Because of this neglect God chose to exile the people in Babylon for seventy years, the number of Sabbath years they had not observed (See 2 Chronicles 36:21).

In verses 1-4 of today’s reading we see that the LORD (Yahweh) is going to bring a destroyer (or destroyers) against the Babylonians. As we saw in yesterday’s post (well the one before this one anyway) Cyrus, a king under Babylonian control, was getting out of control or taking control and conquering the Babylonian kingdom. In verse 1 we see a parallel name for Babylon, Leb-kamai. Leb-kamai is an athbash for Chaldea (a synonym for Babylon). An athbash is a word formed by reversing the alphabet and then substituting letters into a word. Z-Y-X for A-B-C. Hebrew manuscripts do not contain vowels, only consonants. The consonants in Leb-kamai (in Hebrew) substitute for the consonants in Chaldea. What is interesting about this substitution or athbash is that the meaning of Leb-kamai is “
the heart of those who rise against me”. So we see God bring a destroyer against those whose heart has risen against the one true God, Yahweh.

In verse 3 the army of Babylon is told not to bend their bows or put on their armor. Some Bible experts say this is because it would be useless for them to fight against the army that God had chose to defeat them, and that is certainly true, they would lose this time and the army would be destroyed. But there may be a hint of mercy here too. If the army was going to be destroyed but some abandon it before the destruction maybe they would be spared.   Remember that God is a God of many chances and a God of mercy to those who will respond to him.

In verses 5-6 the focus turns to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. In verse 5 we see that Judah (the southern half of the former nation of Israel, the people actually in exile in Babylon) and Israel (the northern half of the former nation of Israel, these people were scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire about 200 years earlier) had not been forgotten by Yahweh. He is the God of Armies (hosts). I think this implies that the coming destruction of Babylon is an opportunity from God for the Jewish people to be restored to their land. What is totally amazing is the second half or verse 5 tells us that God is coming to get his people in spite of the fact that their land (representing their lives back home before the exile) was full of guilt.

In spite of the guilt of the Jewish people God was going to restore them to the land. The exile had been a specific punishment for a specific violation of God’s rules and the time had been served. It is interesting that God is called the Holy One of Israel in this verse. The word holy means “separate, special, dedicated”. Sometimes I use the idea of special dishes that families have that they only use for Thanksgiving or Christmas. These dishes are special or dedicate, the word holy might apply here. Another example is a wedding dress it is special or dedicated. Can you imagine how horrified your grand-mothers would be if she found you playing in the yard with mud pies and leaves on her special dishes, having a tea part for frogs. Or what would you think if you were at a wedding and suddenly some one threw black paint on the Bride’s dress. God is that way too he is pure or holy and some things just don’t fit with him; when we show him disrespect or we disobey him that is offensive to him (the Bible calls those kinds of things “sin”). It is wrong and he won’t allow. The idea of death in the Bible is the idea of separation and the Bible tells us that the consequence of sin (disobedience and disrespect toward God) is death or separation from God. Just last night I saw a show on TV where one of the characters thought she was being punished by God for something that happened. She asked another character if she believed in God and the other character said “not really”. The second girl then went on to explain that she didn’t like the concept of a “god” out there punishing and hurting people. The second girl then told the first that, “she had heard somewhere, maybe the Bible, that God is love and that she liked that idea.” We need to remember that God is loving but that he is also pure, we are the ones who messed up and if we get a second chance from God it is only because of his great love for us (See Romans 5:8, John 3:16).

In verse 6 we see an example of God’s love when he tells the Jewish people to flee from Babylon and not be a part of her destruction. And remember that Bazbylon is Leb-kamai, “those whose heart was risen against” the one true God. The end of verse 6 uses language that tells us that Babylon was getting what she deserved.

In verse 7 we see that the nation of Babylon has had an influence on a lot of people but none of it has been good. Nebuchadnezzar, who had been used by God to punish the Jewish people for those 70 years, struggled with pride. God even showed him who was really in control and Nebuchadnezzar responded, but it seems like the lesson was lost, at least on Nebuchadnezzars son and grand-son. Human effort and pride were the legacy of Babylon from the very beginning (see Genesis 11:1-9) up until it’s conquest by Cyrus. In verse 6 we are told that the nations who believed Babylon’s lies about man being the greatest were crazy. It is crazy to deny God’s existence and that he is supreme.

In verse 8 we see the mercy of God when we are told to cry over the destruction of Babylon and to try to ease her pain and even heal her. God is a God of second chances, he loves people and want a good relationship with us. But remember he is holy and fair and sin needs to be dealt with.

In verse 9 we see that Babylon didn’t respond to the healing and the time has come to give up on her. Back in verse 6 the Jews were told to go home and avoid the destruction that was coming, now after one last chance, they are told to give up and leave. Verse 9 ends by hinting at the story in Genesis 11. There, in Babylon, man tried to climb up to God, that prideful attitude had lasted for centuries and was the real reason for the destruction of Babylon. God is very patient but eventually he will deal with those who consistently reject him. It took 490 years and he finally punished the Jewish people and made sure his rule about the Sabbath Year was honored. For Babylon it took over two thousand years before he dealt with their consistent worship of themselves. That’s a lot of patience.

Verse 10 ends with the Jewish people saying they were “vindicated”. That word means that they had been shown to be right. The destruction of Babylon and return of those Jews who were still trusting in God for their future to their old home land was proof that they had faith in the one true God. There response was to tell everyone what Yahweh had done for them.

I think it is interesting in our society how many people want God to be love but hate the idea of vengeance or payback. Lately there have been a lot of reports of police shootings or other tactics that have left people dead. When the investigators conclude that the officers were justified in their use of force there are protests and riot; everyone wants “justice”. They want the officers punished for what they think were wrong acts. There are all sorts of things going on in our world that have people crying for “justice”. Often these people have already made up their minds and don’t want to wait for the truth or facts; there is very little patience and even less forgiveness. God waits hundreds and thousands of years before acting and according to Peter he has waited all of mankind’s history for people to turn back to him, and we are guilty and deserve punishment. Still he waits hoping some will turn to him (2 Peter 3:9). God is awesome and we are pretty pathetic. There is a limit though both for our personal lives and for mankind as a whole and we don’t know the time of either of them. In Hebrews 4 the author wars us that God wants us to live in peace with him but many have missed the opportunity; they didn’t trust Got with their lives and eternity. In Hebrews 4:7 the author tells us that today is the day we need to respond to God. God wants you to be a part of his forever family. If you haven’t trusted Jesus to deal with your disobedience and disrespect toward God do it today. Let Jesus take the punishment, let Jesus pay for your guilt, actually he already has don’t let his sacrifice for you be wasted. Turn your life over to the one true God, Yahweh, and have a great forever.

God thank you for dying for my sins. Help me not trust in my own strength, goodness, character, wisdom or whatever all of them will leave me short of living for you, they already have. I am guilt and deserve to be banished forever. Thank you that Jesus paid that price for me. Thank you for giving me many, many chances. Help me honor you today. Let me share your love with other. And let me be forgiving too.