Jeremiah 50:4
In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
Jeremiah's words belong to the announcement of Babylon's overthrow and utter desolation among the prophecies against foreign nations. In the time of that judgment the exiled tribes of both northern Israel and southern Judah are shown coming back together, weeping as they go to seek their God. Their weeping is sorrow for the sins that brought exile, so the homeward journey is a return to God as much as to the land. That return began when remnants from every tribe came back after Babylon fell and continued over many years, though not all returned. The same prophecy reaches beyond ancient Babylon to mystical Babylon, the great apostate system ruling the nations, whose fall calls God's people to leave her and be healed before final destruction.
Prophecy Against Babylon
Jeremiah 50:4 stands within Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the overthrow of Babylon. That larger setting belongs to the prophecies against foreign nations, with special emphasis on Babylon. The prophecy foretold Babylon's utter desolation.
The prophecy against Babylon concerns the ancient empire and at the same time presents that empire as a type of mystical Babylon. It also applies to modern Babylon and to the punishment of sinners in the day of the Lord.
The prophecy of the taking of Babylon foretells the people who would accomplish it and the particular circumstances attending it. Its fulfillment was the sudden fall of the whole empire while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, not merely the fall of the city. That destruction was not completed when the Persians overthrew Babylon, but came ultimately as the city gradually fell into decay and became desolate. There will be no rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River followed by a sudden destruction. The divine message concerning Babylon announced impending judgment while offering gracious warning and mercy, which Babylon's people slighted. It foretells the fall of antitypical Babylon, the great apostate harlot-system that rules over the nations of the earth.
Israel's Weeping Return Together
The verse describes the return from Babylon as the reunion of Israel and Judah, when the children of Israel and the children of Judah come together in the time of their restoration and of Babylon's judgment. Together they go back weeping and seek the LORD their God. Their return is a movement toward God as well as toward their homeland. Their weeping marks sorrow as they turn back to Him, recalling the sins that led to their exile.
The foretold return was fulfilled after the fall of Babylon when remnants from every tribe returned to the land. The return continued over many years, and not all Israelites returned. The people's covenant with the Lord is recorded after they came back.
The verse belongs to the prophecies of restoration under Christ, and the return of faithful Israelites from exile serves as a type of the gathering of God's people under the new covenant. In the chapter's prophecy of Babylon's fall, this return to God stands alongside the call to leave Babylon and the offer of healing. The same call is applied to the religious world before its final destruction.