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.