Jeremiah 50:17, commentary and pictures

Israel is pictured as a scattered sheep driven away by lion-like conquering kings, first devoured by the king of Assyria and last crushed with broken bones and restrained power by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who perpetuated and completed Assyria's domination.
The verse belongs to Jeremiah's prophecy of Babylon's doom, fulfilled when its numbered kingdom was finished and the city was suddenly taken on every quarter by Cyrus and the Medes and Persians, then gradually decayed into desolation.
That prophecy is double, passing suddenly from type to antitype, so that it points both to the fall of the ancient city and empire on the Euphrates and to the fall of antitypical mystical modern religious Babylon set forth in Revelation 18, with no rebuilding of old Babylon to be looked for.
Its promise of restoration was fulfilled when a remnant from every tribe returned to be fed on Carmel and Bashan and satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead, where iniquity would be sought and not found because God pardoned those He reserved, and it is misapplied when made wholly future.
Pagan Babylon's scattering and devouring of God's flock reveals the cruel compulsory worship and persecuting oppression of spiritual Babylon, whose great harlot-system embraces with her daughters all corrupt Christianity that rejected the hour of judgment.

Words and Historical Setting

Israel is a scattered sheep driven away by lion-like conquering kings, first devoured by the king of Assyria and last having his bones broken and crushed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The scattering is exile under Assyria and Babylon by successive conquering powers driving away the flock. The lions are oppressive kings and powers. Breaking his bones means bringing the nation's power under restraint.

Babylon perpetuated and completed Assyria's destructive imperial domination of peoples, finishing their crushing subjugation after Assyria first devoured them. The Assyrian empire was founded by Nimrod, rose in strength and grandeur and heaped treasure in Nineveh until its insulting impiety provoked God and its power was broken forever. Last Babylon came raging like a mighty lion, scattering and devouring God's flock while ruling over all the earth from its court on the Euphrates.

Prophecy Against Babylon

Jeremiah 50:17 belongs to Jeremiah's prophecy against Babylon and its doom, concerning the ancient empire and city and the kingdoms surrounding Israel. It stands within the prophecies concerning Babylon's capture by Cyrus and its overthrow by the Medes, fulfilled when Cyrus advanced against the city. In that setting it depicts Israel as a scattered sheep driven away by lion-like conquerors, first devoured by the king of Assyria and last having his bones broken by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

The fall foretold came as a sudden overthrow of not merely the city but the empire, while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. God's sentence upon Babylon declared the fruitage of her sowing: her numbered kingdom was finished, weighed in the balances and found wanting, divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Babylon was taken on every quarter amid the cry that Babylon is fallen, proving that no might or scheme or power or wealth of man can save a city or nation that sows within herself the seeds of error, confusion, destruction and death.

Its fulfillment was not exhausted by Babylon's overthrow by the Persians, for Babylon was ultimately destroyed, gradually fell into decay and became desolate. That desolation is shown in the ruins where lions and other wild creatures dwell.

The prophecy is double, making a sudden transition from type to antitype. It points both to the fall of the ancient city and empire and to the fall of antitypical, mystical, modern religious Babylon, the great apostate harlot-system ruling over the nations. In that wider scope the destruction of ancient Babylon in Jeremiah 50-51 also portrays the final destruction of modern religious Babylon, including the punishment of all sinners in the day of the Lord set forth in Revelation 18. There will be no rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River followed by a sudden destruction, and the Revelation prophecy of Babylon applies to apostate Babylon alone.

Restoration and Spiritual Babylon

The scattering under Assyria and Babylon was followed by restoration, for a remnant from every tribe returned, though not all returned at once, and those who remained in Babylon became part of the local population. The prophecy belongs to the time of the overthrow of the kingdom of Babylon by the Medes, matching the gathering from Assyria and from fortified cities and from fortress to river and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. God punished the king of Babylon and his land as He punished the king of Assyria and would bring Israel again to his habitation to feed on Carmel and Bashan with his soul satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days the iniquity of Israel would be sought and there would be none and the sins of Judah would not be found because God would pardon those He reserved.

The promise is fulfilled and is misapplied when made future, and the remnant saved under it represented the twelve tribes as believers in Christ represent them in the present dispensation. Pagan Babylon's scattering and devastating persecution of Israel shows the cruel oppression of the nations under the Babylonian system, which is apostasy from a religion of love. Its violence is part of the evidence that paganism was a persecuting division of spiritual Babylon. The custom of that persecuting system is compulsory worship of false gods and the laying of laws to entrap worshipers of the true God.

The daughters of Babylon form a part of Babylon itself, proving that the daughters of a city are included in the city. Therefore the daughters of mystic Babylon form a part of great Babylon, so that great Babylon embraces all corrupt Christianity that rejected the announcement that the hour of judgment has come.