Jeremiah 50:44
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
He shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan pictures a powerful invader emerging as from the flooded thickets of the Jordan against a secure dwelling, whom God will cause suddenly to flee while He appoints a ruler over her. The questions that follow declare that none is like God to resist His judgment, to appoint Him a time, or to stand before Him as a shepherd against Him. This was God's judgment on Babylon carried out by the Medes and Persians, fulfilled suddenly when they entered in the night of Belshazzar's feast while he and his lords felt secure, in the fall of its empire as well as its city. Spoken many years beforehand as God's burden against the head of gold, its full proof stands in history not only in that overthrow but in Babylon's later sinking into heaps without inhabitant, never to rise. Ancient Babylon is thus a type of great mystical Babylon, so that its doom moves by sudden transition to the punishment of antitypical Babylon, the apostate confused religious world, in the day of the Lord at the close of this dispensation, to be read with Revelation 18.
Wording and Ancient Fulfillment
The swelling of Jordan means its lower thickets, which served as retreats for wild beasts, and when the flood rose the beasts were driven out, so coming up like a lion from the swelling pictures a lion emerging as the river rose. That lion is a powerful invader and conqueror coming against a secure dwelling, the habitation of the strong. God makes Babylon's people suddenly run away from her, driving them away unexpectedly, and appoints a ruler over her. The questions declare that no one can resist his decision and authority to bring judgment, control its timing or appoint a time to him, or stand before him as a shepherd against him.
The verse belongs to the divine message of judgment, warning, and offered mercy sent to Babylon through Jeremiah, which was ignored, and to the prophecy concerning Babylon and its doom. The final part of the chapter sets out Babylon's character and God's defense of his people. The overthrow is God's judgment carried out by the Medes, in the fall not only of Babylon's city but of its empire. It was fulfilled suddenly when the Medes and Persians entered during the night of Belshazzar's feast while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure.
The prophecy gave a sign of first a rumor and then another rumor a year later followed by destruction. The first rumor came as Cyrus marched toward Babylon, and after losing a sacred horse in the Gyndes he diverted his army to channel the river, delaying his march until the following spring, when the second rumor and Babylon's destruction came. Spoken many years before its fall as God's great burden against Babylon, it foretold the downfall of the head of gold before the next empire takes its place, proved by impartial history. Its full fulfillment was not the city's overthrow by the Persians but its later decay into utter desolation, to become heaps without inhabitant and to sink under the evil brought upon her and not rise.
The roll of chapters 50 and 51 was read by Seraiah at the Euphrates, who tied a stone to it and cast it into the river as a sign of that sinking. The mounds of buried cities by the Euphrates, with dug-up stones, bricks, sculptures, and relics now carried to London and Philadelphia, show that desolation fulfilled. Its fulfillment concerning Israel and Judah was completed in the return from Babylon, when remnants of all the tribes returned to Canaan, though not everyone returned and those who remained in Babylon blended into the local population.
On one reading, the habitation of the strong is the United States, and the invader coming like a lion is Louis Napoleon, Emperor of France, as king of Babylon who will invade this country. On that reading, the chosen man to be appointed over her is the modern Cyrus with the appointment of the time for the invasion in his hands, the words who is like me mean Mi-cha-el, who is like God, and the shepherd that will stand before me is Cyrus. On another reading, the choosing of a man and appointing him over her shows God's call of Cyrus to be his shepherd or governor of Israel. That matches the crown given to the rider on the white horse at the opening of the first seal, who is Elijah-Cyrus-Zerubbabel-Michael going forth conquering and to conquer, the same one who has a name written that no man knew but he himself.
Type of Final Babylon
Babylon stands in this prophecy not only as an ancient empire but as a type of mystical Babylon. Ancient Babylon serves as a type of the great, mystical Babylon whose fate is foretold in Revelation. The doom announced against her therefore reaches beyond her own city and empire to its antitype.
The prophecy applies to antitypical Babylon, the apostate system that rules over the nations. Its fall came not only upon Babylon's city but upon its empire, suddenly, while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. The religious system associated with Babylon continued in later kingdoms, and the closing portion of the chapter sets out Babylon's character and God's defense of His people in her overthrow as God's judgment carried out by the Medes.
The fate of ancient Babylon has a double fulfillment, moving by sudden transition from type to antitype. Its fall is a vivid picture of the destruction of modern Babylon, the confused religious world, when God brings earthly history to its close. In that antitypical sense it portrays the punishment of modern Babylon and of all sinners in the day of the Lord at the close of this dispensation, and is to be read with Revelation 18. The verse belongs among the passages referring to Babylon and its daughters, supporting the inclusion of Babylon's daughters within the meaning of Babylon.
Applied to the final overthrow of the nations, the chapter depicts a world left in ruins. Beasts and birds remain and multiply there during the thousand years after Christ's return. This provides the basis for expecting these creatures to survive that destruction. Whether they provide food for the wicked raised after the thousand years is left uncertain, though provision of some kind is expected.