Jeremiah 51:34-44. A few more days and we will be done with the message/warning to or about Babylon. Remember that Babylon had been the main enemy of the people of Judah. Over a period of almost 20 years Babylon had oppressed the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Then the people of Judah were taken as captive for another 50 years (some of the captives had been in Babylon since the first invasion in 605 BC). We don’t know when Jeremiah wrote these particular words but Babylon had definitely been a problem for the Jewish people. In addition, as we saw yesterday, Babylon had been a bad influence on the world for centuries, so it is fitting that the condemnation and warnings are as long as they are.

One other little fact to remember is that Jeremiah was not one of the captives taken to Babylon, he was one of the people who remained in Jerusalem in 586 when Nebuchadnezzar invaded for the final time. After the governor that Nebuchadnezzar left in control was assassinated, the remaining Jews fled to Egypt, forcing Jeremiah to go with them. In Egypt he warned them that even there Nebuchadnezzar could reach them. In 568 BC Nebuchadnezzar did fight a successful campaign against Egypt. It is uncertain when Jeremiah died but it is pretty certain he didn’t live to see the overthrow of the Babylonian empire (Jeremiah first ministered in 627 BC putting his birth perhaps 16 years earlier around 643 BC. Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC. It seems pretty unlikely that Jeremiah lived to be over 100 years of age.)

Verses 34-35 are sort of a prayer for judgment on Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. At the time of the destruction Nebuchadnezzar was dead (562 BC). The king at the time was technically Nabonidus but his son Belshazzar was actually in charge in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had been married to a woman named Nitocris. Evidently after his death either Nabonidus’ father or Nabonidus himself married her. This connection may be why Belshazzar is called the son of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5. Of course he might have been a “son” in the sence that he followed in the prideful footsteps of Nebuchadnezzar (though not in in Nebuchadnezzar’s turn back to God). Although Jeremiah may have been using Nebuchadnezzar as a symbol of the evils of Babylon in this “prayer” it seems more likely that the words were written while Nebuchadnezzar was still alive. Some translations use plural pronouns in these two verses but the pronouns are actually singular. The reason they uses plurals in some translations is because Jeremiah is speaking for all the people of Judah in these verses.

In verses 36-40 the LORD (Yahweh, the one true God) answers Jeremiah’s prayer. God says he will stand up for the Jewish people and get vengeance for them. I think it is important that God is the one who presents the evidence because this isn’t some twisted personal revenge thing but a fair look at the actions of Babylon and a fair punishment handed out by God.

Verse 36 also contains what seems to be a prophetic hint at how God was going to overthrow Babylon. Part of the pride of Babylon involved the strength of the city itself. Babylon was surrounded by two walls the outside wall was twelve feet thick and the inner wall was twenty-one feet thick (evidently they used to race chariots next to each other on the top of the inner wall) with twenty-three feet between the walls. There was also a moat surrounding the city. Towers were build every sixty feet along the wall to protect the city from invasion. The city was basically impregnable. One concern for a city under siege was water. The Babylonians had that covered too, the Euphrates River flowed under the wall and through the city providing a consistent source of water. And of course the Babylonians also felt protected by their “gods”. In the end of verse 36 God says he will dry up the sea and the fountains in Babylon. Some Bible experts think the “sea” is a reference to a reservoir that Nitocris built. In Isaiah 18:2, 19:5 the Nile is called a “sea” and the reference here may be to the Euphrates River. That would be very interesting since Cyrus’ general diverted the flow of the Euphrates River in order to use the river bead to gain entrance to the city in 539 BC. According to verse 37 the ultimate end of Babylon would be total destruction and abandonment. Jeremiah wrote these words 20 to 30 years (at least) before the invasion by Cyrus and another 200 years before the total destruction that eventually came to pass. This points out two things. The accuracy of prophets of the one true God and the way prophecy in the Bible compresses time; sometimes events that span decades or centuries are brought together and sound like one event.

Verses 38-39 point out the prideful “we can do it” attitude that Babylon represented. In verse 38 the Babylonians growl and roar like Young lions, like cubs. I think the young and cub parts point out their powerlessness; “all bark and no bite”. Verse 39 takes me back to the conquest in 539 BC. If you read the history in Daniel 5 you will see that Belshazzar was having a part with his powerful buddies while the city and nation were under siege. In this party they even got out the sacred cups that they had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and used them for their drunken party. When God used a totally scary miracle to warn Belshazzar about the destruction coming his way Belshazzar seems to be totally out of it giving Daniel (the prophet who explained God’s message to him) a robe and place of power in his kingdom. Total pride right before a total defeat. In verse 39 we see a drunken party and then death (perpetual sleep). In Daniel 5:30 we are told that that very night Belshazzar was executed and the Medes became rules of the kingdom.

In verse 40 God tells us that he will bring them down like lambs, rams, and goats to be slaughtered. In the life of the Jewish people they were commanded to make certain animal offerings to God. The point of the offerings varied but generally they were there to remind the people of the consequences for sin. From the beginning death, both physical and spiritual, were the consequences for our disobedience and disrespect toward God (remember death in the Bible has the idea of separation). Here in verse 40 we see the Babylonians being their own sacrifices for their consistent rejection of the one true God, Yahweh.

Verses 41-44 get a little deeper into the reasons behind the destruction of Babylon. Jeremiah uses some contrasts from the destruction to make his point. In verse 41 we see that the kingdoms of the world basically worshipped Babylon. With the overthrow of Babylon the nations were horrified. In verses 42-43 God describes the destruction of Babylon using the idea of both a flood and a drought, sometimes authors use contrasting ideas to show how complete something is. A story might say they have everything you need from “A to Z”. In Psalm 103 we are told that God will remove our sins from us as far as the “east is from the west”. Here flood and drought may be used in a similar way to describe complete and total destruction.

Verses 41 and 44 bring home the reasons for this destruction. First in verse 41 we were told that the nations were horrified. We need to remember that God loves people and when people are misled about our broken relationship with him and his solution (Jesus) God takes it very seriously. For centuries Babylon had been a symbol and leader in making mankind think we could get back to God on our own (Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the original tower from Genesis 11 (but not all the way to heaven)). IN verse 44 God punishes Bel. Bel means “lord” and was a name applied to Marduk the “god” of the Babylonian Empire. Here we see the real lord of the universe making the false god throw up what he has eaten. The second half of the verse gives us a hint about shat that was; the nations that had run to Babylon. The verse ends with the ultimate insult to Bel. Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down. The end of a verse is often reserved for the most important ideas, by ending the verse with a mention of the fallen wall, the wall becomes the focus of the sentence and not Marduk; the god is eclipsed by a pile of rocks.

I like it that God predicted things before they happened that helps me believe in the word that these prophets spoke. I also like it that God uses ironic things in the messages. The city that was the focus of so many people had become a joke to them. God that had devoured was now forced to “throw up” what he had eaten. Even the idea of these massive protective walls destroyed is ironic. The details show me God cares and pays attention and the irony shows that God understands how we think and wants to communicate to us in meaningful ways. Finally I like it that God takes sin seriously, he hate it because it separates us from him.

God thank you for keeping an eye on the world. Thank you for keeping the bad influences in check. We do live in a messed up world, one that we messed up. And there are still plenty of chances to ignore you. Help me never ignore you. Don’t let me be distracted by anything that can come between you and me. Help many people turn to you from the distractions of the world.