Jeremiah 50:12, commentary and pictures

The verse foretells the shame and utter ruin of Babylon as a disgraced mother brought low from first to last among the nations into a barren, uninhabited wilderness left desolate and astonishing. Her desolation is the Lord's wrath upon her pride, pagan worship and persecution of His people, for though He commissioned her to chastise backsliding Israel she refused to release her captives and dreamed of holding them forever. That word was fulfilled when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, named long beforehand, entered through the dried Euphrates on a night of feasting and broke her pride as the seventy years closed, opening the way for Israel's return. Her site then declined gradually into literal desolation, yet the prophecy concerns both the ancient empire and as a type the certain fall of mystical Babylon, the great apostate system with all corrupt Christianity her daughters embraced in her, in the final destruction portrayed in Revelation 18. It does not foretell a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates or a future return to Canaan, but was given to show the exact accomplishment of God's word that He rules in the kingdoms of men, casting down and setting up as His purposes for His people require.

Babylon's Shame and Ruin

Jeremiah 50:12 pictures Babylon as a mother who shall be sore confounded and ashamed, and her shame comes through the defeat of her children. She that bore her is the nation that gave rise to her, itself disgraced and put to shame. Though once powerful and foremost among the nations, Babylon becomes the hindermost, the last and least among the nations. She is reduced to a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert that is barren, uninhabited, left desolate and an object of astonishment. The prophecy is fulfilled in the buried ruins of Babylon.

This is a warning of impending judgment against ancient Babylon. The desolation is the result of the Lord's wrath against Babylon for its sin and pride. It reflects her character as a persecuting power in its pagan worship and treatment of God's people. It came after refusing the healing God offered, leaving her the last and least among nations, a wilderness, dry land, and desert.

God had commissioned Babylon as an instrument to inflict sore judgments on Israel when Israel sinned and departed from the Lord. Babylon was not Heaven's favorite, but after serving that design it would not loose its captives, thinking its own sword had won its victories and proudly dreaming of holding Israel forever. Therefore as the seventy years of captivity drew to a close God summoned the Medes and Persians, who fell like an avalanche on the haughty kingdom, broke its pride, and took its glory. Cyrus in obedience to the divine purpose proclaimed Israel's return to their native land.

The fulfillment came when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, called by name and appointed to the work over two hundred and sixty years before though he knew it not, took Babylon. It was after a siege of nearly two years in the beginning of the sixteenth year of Belshazzar, entering through the dried channel of the Euphrates and the river gates left open on a night of feasting, drunkenness and revelry. Destruction came suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure and ere they were aware. Its sign included one rumor followed a year later by another, fulfilled as Cyrus, after losing a sacred horse in the Gyndes River, spent time diverting the river and delayed his march until the next spring when the second rumor and Babylon's destruction followed.

Its complete ruin did not occur when the Persians overthrew it but Babylon declined gradually after its conquest until its site became utterly desolate, fulfilling the prophecy literally. In that overthrown setting the earth's ruins become wilderness where beasts and birds remain and multiply.

Type of Final Babylon

The prophecy against Babylon concerns both the ancient empire and mystical Babylon as its type, portraying also the fallen condition and certain destruction of the mystical power. The mother — the nation that gave rise to Babylon — shall be disgraced and put to shame, while Babylon itself, though once foremost among the nations, shall become desolate as a wilderness and desert. That desolation after refusal of the healing God offered leaves her last and least among the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

It has a double fulfillment from type to antitype, applying primarily and typically to the humbling of literal ancient Babylon and emphatically and antitypically to modern Babylon in the day of the Lord. Modern Babylon is the great apostate harlot-system ruling over the nations of the earth, portrayed in Revelation 18, in which modern Babylon and all sinners shall be punished. The ancient judgment thus portrays the final destruction of modern religious Babylon at the end of the world, and the desolation of the whole earth in the final overthrow of the nations. In that overthrown setting the ruins of the earth become wilderness where beasts and birds remain and multiply, rather than all being destroyed at Christ's second coming.

The daughters of Babylon form a part of Babylon itself, because the daughters of a city are included in the city, so great mystic Babylon embraces all corrupt Christianity with its daughters. The verse does not foretell a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River followed by a future sudden destruction, but foretells the fall of the Babylonian empire as well as the city, fulfilled in its sudden overthrow while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. Antitypical Babylon alone is the subject of the Revelation prophecy of Babylon, nor is the passage a prediction of a future return of Israel and Judah to Canaan, but it is regarded as fulfilled.

The predictions of who should take Babylon and the particular circumstances attending it were given to show the exact accomplishment of God's word. Babylon was not Heaven's favorite but an instrument God commissioned to inflict sore judgments on Israel when Israel sinned and departed from the Lord, and Babylon was then punished for its own sins. When God's design through Babylon was accomplished, Babylon would not loose its captives, thinking its own sword had achieved its victories and proudly dreaming of holding Israel forever. Therefore as the seventy years of captivity drew to a close God summoned the Medes and Persians, who fell like an avalanche upon the haughty kingdom, broke the pride of its power and took away the crown of its glory. The fulfillment came when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, called by name and appointed to the work over two hundred and sixty years before though he knew it not, took Babylon after a siege of nearly two years in the beginning of the sixteenth year of Belshazzar, entering through the dried channel of the Euphrates and the river gates left open on a night of feasting, drunkenness and revelry, with destruction coming suddenly ere they were aware, and Cyrus in obedience to the divine purpose issued a proclamation for Israel's return to their native land. This illustrates that God rules in the kingdoms of men, uses whomever His purposes require, and casts down and sets up kingdoms to open the way for His people.