A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
Jeremiah's word announces the overthrow, destruction, desolation and ruin of ancient Babylon. The sound of battle and great destruction in the land is literal war in Babylon by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, when the city fell to them and the kingdom ended and the Persian empire took its place. The fall struck the city and the empire together, coming suddenly in the night while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, showing the suddenness and severity of its end. It is double prophecy with a double fulfillment from type to antitype, for Babylon is a type of mystical Babylon and its doom is a type of the fate of mystical Babylon prophesied in Revelation. Jeremiah 50-51 thus serve as a vivid picture of the destruction of modern Babylon when God brings earthly history to its close, portraying the day of the Lord in which modern Babylon and all sinners shall be punished, matching Revelation 18.
Ancient Babylon's Destruction Foretold
Jeremiah 50:22 belongs to Jeremiah's prophecy against Babylon foretelling its overthrow, destruction, desolation and ruin. It is numbered among the prophecies against Babylon that foretold its downfall before the Persian empire replaced it. The sound of battle and great destruction in the land is literal war in Babylon by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus as generalissimo of both armies. It was fulfilled when the city fell to them and the kingdom ended.
After uninterrupted success Babylon alone held out in all the East, and Cyrus laid regular siege to it for nearly two years. He then diverted the Euphrates through a trench and canal to the lake west of the city and entered the dried channel on the night of the annual festival of feasting and revelry. He passed through the brass river gates left open into the heart of the city. The verse is thus one of the predictions of the taking of Babylon, the people who should accomplish it, and the particular circumstances attending it.
The prophecy gave two warnings before destruction, a rumor followed a year later by another rumor. The first rumor came as Cyrus marched toward Babylon. After he delayed his advance for a year while diverting the Gyndes River he resumed his march, bringing the second rumor and Babylon's destruction. The fall was not of the city alone but of the city and the empire together, coming suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. The alarm and massacre in the night show the suddenness and severity of its fall.
The destruction was not complete when the Persians overthrew Babylon. It was ultimately fulfilled as the city gradually fell into decay, was laid waste, and became desolate and uninhabited. The judgment came when Babylon's iniquity was full and after a merciful warning that Babylon ignored and was not healed. God judged the Babylonian system for its persecution of His people and defended His people. Its fulfillment shows that the return of Israel and Judah from exile was not a future return to Canaan: a remnant from each tribe returned after Babylon's fall, though not all returned at once and some continued to return for years.
Mystic Babylon's Broader Identity
Jeremiah's prophecy against Babylon presents Babylon as a type of mystical Babylon. In that typical relation, the doom pronounced upon Babylon serves as a type of the fate of mystical Babylon prophesied in Revelation. The daughters of Babylon form a part of Babylon itself, just as the daughters of Jerusalem form a part of Jerusalem and the daughters of Rabbah form a part of Rabbah. Therefore great mystic Babylon embraces its daughters and includes all corrupt Christianity.
Antitypical Babylon is the great apostate harlot-system that rules over the nations of the earth. It is the confused religious world of modern Babylon, whose final destruction is vividly pictured when God brings earthly history to its close. Having rejected the announcement that the hour of judgment has come, corrupt Christianity is left without the Spirit. God's people are called out of her before her destruction follows.
Final Judgment Foreshadowed
The sound of battle and great destruction is double prophecy with a double fulfillment from type to antitype, pointing not only to ancient Babylon but to antitypical Babylon, the great apostate harlot-system that rules over the nations of the earth. It first applied to the humbling of proud ancient Babylon by the Medes and Persians, but by sudden transition it also portrays the day of the Lord in which modern Babylon and all sinners shall be punished. It does not foretell a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River followed by a sudden destruction.
The prophecies of Jeremiah 50-51 depict Babylon's final destruction and serve as a vivid picture of the destruction of modern Babylon — the confused religious world — when God brings earthly history to its close. Matching Revelation 18, the same sound of battle and destruction typifies the final punishment of the ungodly and formal professors. Jeremiah 50 is applied to the final overthrow of the nations at Christ's second coming, when not all beasts and birds are destroyed. They survive among the earth's ruins and multiply during the thousand years.
Jeremiah's word announces the overthrow, destruction, desolation and ruin of ancient Babylon. The sound of battle and great destruction in the land is literal war in Babylon by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, when the city fell to them and the kingdom ended and the Persian empire took its place. The fall struck the city and the empire together, coming suddenly in the night while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, showing the suddenness and severity of its end. It is double prophecy with a double fulfillment from type to antitype, for Babylon is a type of mystical Babylon and its doom is a type of the fate of mystical Babylon prophesied in Revelation. Jeremiah 50-51 thus serve as a vivid picture of the destruction of modern Babylon when God brings earthly history to its close, portraying the day of the Lord in which modern Babylon and all sinners shall be punished, matching Revelation 18.
Ancient Babylon's Destruction Foretold
Jeremiah 50:22 belongs to Jeremiah's prophecy against Babylon foretelling its overthrow, destruction, desolation and ruin. It is numbered among the prophecies against Babylon that foretold its downfall before the Persian empire replaced it. The sound of battle and great destruction in the land is literal war in Babylon by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus as generalissimo of both armies. It was fulfilled when the city fell to them and the kingdom ended.
After uninterrupted success Babylon alone held out in all the East, and Cyrus laid regular siege to it for nearly two years. He then diverted the Euphrates through a trench and canal to the lake west of the city and entered the dried channel on the night of the annual festival of feasting and revelry. He passed through the brass river gates left open into the heart of the city. The verse is thus one of the predictions of the taking of Babylon, the people who should accomplish it, and the particular circumstances attending it.
The prophecy gave two warnings before destruction, a rumor followed a year later by another rumor. The first rumor came as Cyrus marched toward Babylon. After he delayed his advance for a year while diverting the Gyndes River he resumed his march, bringing the second rumor and Babylon's destruction. The fall was not of the city alone but of the city and the empire together, coming suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. The alarm and massacre in the night show the suddenness and severity of its fall.
The destruction was not complete when the Persians overthrew Babylon. It was ultimately fulfilled as the city gradually fell into decay, was laid waste, and became desolate and uninhabited. The judgment came when Babylon's iniquity was full and after a merciful warning that Babylon ignored and was not healed. God judged the Babylonian system for its persecution of His people and defended His people. Its fulfillment shows that the return of Israel and Judah from exile was not a future return to Canaan: a remnant from each tribe returned after Babylon's fall, though not all returned at once and some continued to return for years.
Mystic Babylon's Broader Identity
Jeremiah's prophecy against Babylon presents Babylon as a type of mystical Babylon. In that typical relation, the doom pronounced upon Babylon serves as a type of the fate of mystical Babylon prophesied in Revelation. The daughters of Babylon form a part of Babylon itself, just as the daughters of Jerusalem form a part of Jerusalem and the daughters of Rabbah form a part of Rabbah. Therefore great mystic Babylon embraces its daughters and includes all corrupt Christianity.
Antitypical Babylon is the great apostate harlot-system that rules over the nations of the earth. It is the confused religious world of modern Babylon, whose final destruction is vividly pictured when God brings earthly history to its close. Having rejected the announcement that the hour of judgment has come, corrupt Christianity is left without the Spirit. God's people are called out of her before her destruction follows.
Final Judgment Foreshadowed
The sound of battle and great destruction is double prophecy with a double fulfillment from type to antitype, pointing not only to ancient Babylon but to antitypical Babylon, the great apostate harlot-system that rules over the nations of the earth. It first applied to the humbling of proud ancient Babylon by the Medes and Persians, but by sudden transition it also portrays the day of the Lord in which modern Babylon and all sinners shall be punished. It does not foretell a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River followed by a sudden destruction.
The prophecies of Jeremiah 50-51 depict Babylon's final destruction and serve as a vivid picture of the destruction of modern Babylon — the confused religious world — when God brings earthly history to its close. Matching Revelation 18, the same sound of battle and destruction typifies the final punishment of the ungodly and formal professors. Jeremiah 50 is applied to the final overthrow of the nations at Christ's second coming, when not all beasts and birds are destroyed. They survive among the earth's ruins and multiply during the thousand years.