The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
The verse introduces the Lord's word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans. It declares judgment upon Babylon for its sins, pride, violence and idolatry, foretelling its destruction and utter desolation until it would lie in heaps with no inhabitant. That judgment fell suddenly while Babylon felt secure, when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, appointed as an instrument of Providence, overthrew the city and the empire. The prophecy is double, referring not only to the fall of the ancient city and empire but also to antitypical Babylon, the great apostate religious system, whose destruction at the end of the world it portrays. Its fulfillment will not come by a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates, but by the fall of mystic Babylon embracing all corrupt Christianity, out of which God calls His people before her destruction.
Judgment Against Ancient Babylon
The word spoken by the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet is directed against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans, introducing the prophecy contained in the chapters that follow. That message warned of impending judgment while at the same time offering mercy and healing, but ancient Babylon had filled its measure of sin and was not healed because it ignored the warning. The oracle declares that Babylon will be judged and laid waste for its sins, pride, violence, and idolatry, foretelling its destruction and utter desolation, that it would become heaps and have no inhabitant.
Its complete desolation did not occur when the Persians overthrew it, but Babylon instead gradually fell into decay and eventually became utterly desolate, fulfilling the prophecy literally. The prophecy embraces not merely the fall of the city but the fall of the empire, coming suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. The predicted conquerors were the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, appointed to the work over two hundred and sixty years before, moving as an instrument of Providence though he knew it not, and the connection of the oracle with Babylon's divinely foretold fall to the Medes and Persians shows that Babylon's power and wealth could not save it from judgment.
The fulfillment came after a siege of nearly two years, in the sixteenth year of Belshazzar when Babylon alone held out in the East, despite its sixty-mile circuit, walls eighty-seven feet thick and three hundred and fifty feet high, great troops, and twenty years of provisions. Cyrus diverted the Euphrates through a trench and canal to a lake west of the city and made its channel through the city fordable, entering with soldiers stationed at its entrance and exit on a night of annual feasting, drunkenness, and revelry. The brazen river gates were left open, so destruction came suddenly ere they were aware. Two rumors serve as a sign of Babylon's fallen condition and coming destruction, the second coming a year after the first, followed by the city's destruction. This was fulfilled as Cyrus delayed his march after losing a sacred horse at the Gyndes and spent the intervening time diverting the river, then resumed the march the next spring, when the second rumor and Babylon's destruction followed.
The judgment is vengeance for the Lord and his temple and a defense of his people, calling the Medes to destroy Babylon, and the lament testifies that Babylon persecuted God's people. The prophecy also concerns the return of Israel and Judah to Canaan, and its prophecies about them have been fulfilled. A remnant from each tribe returned from Babylon, though not all returned at once, for some continued to return for years, while those who remained in Babylon were absorbed into the local population.
Type of End-Time Babylon
Jeremiah 50 stands as part of a series of prophecies against foreign nations, specifically against the kingdoms surrounding Israel, with Babylon receiving particular attention and its doom announced. The word against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans concerns both the ancient Babylonian empire and Babylon as a type of mystical Babylon, pointing beyond ancient Babylon to modern Babylon and the final punishment of sinners.
The prophecy is double, referring not only to the fall of the ancient city and empire but also to antitypical Babylon, the great apostate harlot-system that rules over the nations of the earth. In that second sense it portrays the destruction of modern, religious Babylon at the end of the world. It will not be fulfilled by a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates followed by sudden destruction, and those looking for that will be disappointed.
A city embraces its daughters, so literal Babylon embraces its daughters and mystic Babylon embraces its daughters. Therefore great Babylon embraces all corrupt Christianity, the second angel's message of Revelation 14 is addressed to the present generation, and after rejection of the hour of his judgment is come God leaves her and calls his people out before her destruction. Babylon's religious system is hostile to Christ and is a pattern later perpetuated through kingdoms that used state power to enforce religion, while its judgment is vengeance for the Lord and his temple and a defense of his people, including calling the Medes to destroy Babylon. The oracle is included among Scriptures whose application reaches the final overthrow of all nations, and in that application it points to beasts and birds surviving Christ's second coming and living among the earth's ruins.
The verse introduces the Lord's word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans. It declares judgment upon Babylon for its sins, pride, violence and idolatry, foretelling its destruction and utter desolation until it would lie in heaps with no inhabitant. That judgment fell suddenly while Babylon felt secure, when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, appointed as an instrument of Providence, overthrew the city and the empire. The prophecy is double, referring not only to the fall of the ancient city and empire but also to antitypical Babylon, the great apostate religious system, whose destruction at the end of the world it portrays. Its fulfillment will not come by a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates, but by the fall of mystic Babylon embracing all corrupt Christianity, out of which God calls His people before her destruction.
Judgment Against Ancient Babylon
The word spoken by the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet is directed against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans, introducing the prophecy contained in the chapters that follow. That message warned of impending judgment while at the same time offering mercy and healing, but ancient Babylon had filled its measure of sin and was not healed because it ignored the warning. The oracle declares that Babylon will be judged and laid waste for its sins, pride, violence, and idolatry, foretelling its destruction and utter desolation, that it would become heaps and have no inhabitant.
Its complete desolation did not occur when the Persians overthrew it, but Babylon instead gradually fell into decay and eventually became utterly desolate, fulfilling the prophecy literally. The prophecy embraces not merely the fall of the city but the fall of the empire, coming suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. The predicted conquerors were the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, appointed to the work over two hundred and sixty years before, moving as an instrument of Providence though he knew it not, and the connection of the oracle with Babylon's divinely foretold fall to the Medes and Persians shows that Babylon's power and wealth could not save it from judgment.
The fulfillment came after a siege of nearly two years, in the sixteenth year of Belshazzar when Babylon alone held out in the East, despite its sixty-mile circuit, walls eighty-seven feet thick and three hundred and fifty feet high, great troops, and twenty years of provisions. Cyrus diverted the Euphrates through a trench and canal to a lake west of the city and made its channel through the city fordable, entering with soldiers stationed at its entrance and exit on a night of annual feasting, drunkenness, and revelry. The brazen river gates were left open, so destruction came suddenly ere they were aware. Two rumors serve as a sign of Babylon's fallen condition and coming destruction, the second coming a year after the first, followed by the city's destruction. This was fulfilled as Cyrus delayed his march after losing a sacred horse at the Gyndes and spent the intervening time diverting the river, then resumed the march the next spring, when the second rumor and Babylon's destruction followed.
The judgment is vengeance for the Lord and his temple and a defense of his people, calling the Medes to destroy Babylon, and the lament testifies that Babylon persecuted God's people. The prophecy also concerns the return of Israel and Judah to Canaan, and its prophecies about them have been fulfilled. A remnant from each tribe returned from Babylon, though not all returned at once, for some continued to return for years, while those who remained in Babylon were absorbed into the local population.
Type of End-Time Babylon
Jeremiah 50 stands as part of a series of prophecies against foreign nations, specifically against the kingdoms surrounding Israel, with Babylon receiving particular attention and its doom announced. The word against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans concerns both the ancient Babylonian empire and Babylon as a type of mystical Babylon, pointing beyond ancient Babylon to modern Babylon and the final punishment of sinners.
The prophecy is double, referring not only to the fall of the ancient city and empire but also to antitypical Babylon, the great apostate harlot-system that rules over the nations of the earth. In that second sense it portrays the destruction of modern, religious Babylon at the end of the world. It will not be fulfilled by a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates followed by sudden destruction, and those looking for that will be disappointed.
A city embraces its daughters, so literal Babylon embraces its daughters and mystic Babylon embraces its daughters. Therefore great Babylon embraces all corrupt Christianity, the second angel's message of Revelation 14 is addressed to the present generation, and after rejection of the hour of his judgment is come God leaves her and calls his people out before her destruction. Babylon's religious system is hostile to Christ and is a pattern later perpetuated through kingdoms that used state power to enforce religion, while its judgment is vengeance for the Lord and his temple and a defense of his people, including calling the Medes to destroy Babylon. The oracle is included among Scriptures whose application reaches the final overthrow of all nations, and in that application it points to beasts and birds surviving Christ's second coming and living among the earth's ruins.