Jeremiah 51:2, commentary and pictures

God gave through Jeremiah a detailed burden against Babylon many years before its fall, foretelling the downfall of the head of gold to make way for the next empire. He would send fanners as His agents and forces of judgment to fan her, scatter her people, empty her land, and surround her on every side in the day of trouble in vengeance for her sin, pride, and persecution of His people. The warning came when she had filled the cup of her iniquity, with mercy and healing graciously offered, but she slighted and refused it, so foretold wrath fell upon her to rise no more. It was fulfilled when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus humbled the city while Belshazzar felt secure, taking it by night and slaying the king, yet the overthrow was not complete then but came gradually until the city became desolate, even to the ruins by the Euphrates. Primarily and typically the prophecy concerns ancient Babylon, and emphatically and antitypically it concerns modern mystical Babylon, the great apostate religious system of the last days, whose complete stripping in the day of trouble leaves its lovers destitute and mourning, standing as a warning to every God-defying city and people.

Doom Foretold and Fulfilled

The verse belongs to the detailed burden of prophecy against Babylon given by God through Jeremiah many years before its fall, concerning the downfall of Babylon and the fall of the head of gold to make way for the next empire. The fanners are agents and forces of judgment sent by God to fan Babylon, scatter and remove its people, empty her land, and surround her round about with hostile forces in the day of trouble. That emptying and surrounding unto utter desolation is God's vengeance for Babylon's sin, pride, and God-opposed character as a power that persecuted His people, and after her sins mounted up to heaven she is repaid according to what she has done, while God defends His people.

The message was sent when Babylon had filled the cup of its iniquity as impending judgment with gracious warning and proffered mercy and healing, which she slighted, refused, and left unheeded, so that foretold wrath was visited upon her and she fell to rise no more. In its historical application the verse concerns the capture of Babylon and the circumstances of its fall, when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus humbled the ancient city and empire while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, the city being taken by night and Belshazzar killed. The destruction was not complete when the Persians overthrew Babylon but came ultimately as the city gradually fell into decay and became desolate and ruined.

Foretold in detail, including the identity of its conqueror before his birth, the doom was literally fulfilled, and its ruins by the Euphrates stand as evidence of the fulfillment of God's predictions against the city. The verse does not foretell a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River followed by sudden destruction.

Type of End-Time Babylon

Babylon in this prophecy is not only the ancient empire but also a type of mystical Babylon, and its defeat foreshadows the fate of the great mystical Babylon described in Revelation. The prophecy has a double fulfillment through a sudden transition from type to antitype. Primarily and typically it concerns ancient Babylon humbled by the Medes and Persians, with fanners sent to fan her and empty her land in the day of trouble, while emphatically and antitypically it concerns modern Babylon and all sinners punished just before the day of the Lord. It does not foretell a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates followed by sudden destruction, but foretells the sudden fall of the ancient city and empire while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, and doubly foretells the fall of antitypical Babylon, the great apostate harlot-system ruling over the nations which alone is the Babylon of Revelation prophecy.

Ancient Babylon as a great world kingdom is in a peculiar way the type of the religious world of the last days. The prophecies of Jeremiah 50 and 51 setting forth her destruction after she refused to be healed, when her sins had mounted up to heaven and invited the foretold stroke of wrath so that she fell to rise no more, are a vivid portrayal of the destruction to be visited upon modern Babylon in the day when God shall finally and forever close up all earthly accounts. In this double sense the prophecy typically concerns ancient Babylon and antitypically typifies the final punishment of the ungodly and of formal professors and of modern Babylon and all sinners just before the day of the Lord. The final destruction of ancient Babylon described in Jeremiah 51:1-28 is compared to the final destruction of end-time Babylon. The sending of fanners to fan her and empty her land means her complete stripping in the day of trouble, when those who sold their souls for earthly riches and enjoyments are left destitute and defenseless, their grand houses destroyed and their gold and silver scattered, the gain of a lifetime swept away in a moment with pleasures turned to gall and treasures to corruption, leaving them mourning in terror over the destruction of the idols they preferred before their Maker and in fear that they themselves will perish with their idols.

The chapter's judgment applies to churches marked by doctrinal confusion, division, and love of the world. The first angel's Advent message was the remedy offered to heal them, but they rejected it. The second angel then announced Babylon's fall, and people who had received the message left the churches.

Warning to God-Defying Places

The fanning of Babylon is the surrounding of the city by enemies in its day of trouble to scatter its people and empty its land. It belongs to the warning of her coming destruction. That warning went unheeded before her doom came, and her fall stands as a lesson for cities and people who forget and defy God. God-defying places face judgment under the same warning.

Proud Babylon received preliminary punishments that laid her waste from all sides because of open, flaunting, God-defying wickedness. The same fate meets a modern proud and beautiful Babylon like San Francisco when awful open wickedness invites judgment. Its earthquake catastrophe was the fruit of that wickedness met by God's mercy rather than mere vengeance, and stands as a warning lesson for New York, Chicago, and every other place forgetting and defying God.