The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
The verse belongs to the message of impending judgment against Babylon, using striking symbols to picture her complete overthrow and utter desolation. The rising sea with its multitude of waves is the multitude of peoples and nations overwhelming and covering Babylon as an invading force. It is also the literal water in Babylon, the great lake and divided rivers of the Euphrates inside the city, describing the calamities to come upon her by Cyrus. The prediction was spoken many years before the fall of the head of gold before the silver empire, and was fulfilled when Belshazzar felt secure in his idolatrous feast and in that night his kingdom was numbered and finished and given to the Medes and Persians who entered by the river gates. That overthrow did not end in one night but continued until the city declined, became deserted and uninhabited, and the great heap of ruins beside the Euphrates bears witness to the truth of prophecy. Literal Babylon is a type of great mystical Babylon, the apostate system ruling over the nations, so the verse portrays the sudden final destruction of modern spiritual Babylon at the end of the world and warns proud cities and people that forget and defy God that no might or wealth can save them.
Imagery and Ancient Fulfillment
Jeremiah 51:42 stands within the message of impending judgment sent through Jeremiah to Babylon, foretelling its overthrow and capture and fall. It belongs to the prophecies against foreign nations, especially Babylon, where striking symbols and figures of speech picture overwhelming ruin. The sea rising over Babylon and covering her with the multitude of its waves portrays complete overthrow, judgment, destruction and utter desolation.
The sea covering the city is literal water in Babylon, a considerable lake or reservoir in the interior of the city fed by the Euphrates and called a sea after the Eastern use of that name for large receptacles of water. Babylon was built on a watery place once called the sea, and its one river the Euphrates was divided by art into several branches or canals called rivers. These, with the lake, watered gardens inside the city accessible even to captives, describing the calamities to come upon Babylon by Cyrus.
The sea or waters are also a prophetic symbol for peoples and nations, whose multitude overwhelms and covers Babylon as an invading force. The verse foretells sudden collapse while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, with Babylon taken on every quarter and fallen in the night of Belshazzar's idolatrous feast. Then God numbered his kingdom and finished it, weighed him and found him wanting, and divided the kingdom and gave it to the Medes and Persians, connected with the Persians' capture of the city through the Euphrates river gates.
The prediction was uttered many years before the fall concerning the fall of the head of gold before the silver empire takes its place in succession. Its fulfillment is proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy. The prophecy of ultimate destruction did not end with overthrow by the Persians but was fulfilled over time as the city declined, became deserted and uninhabited, and became desolate. The great heap of ruins beside the Euphrates bears witness to the truth of prophecy.
Type of End-Time Babylon
The prophecy stands among those from Jeremiah 46 onward against the kingdoms surrounding Israel — Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Syria, and Babylon — pronouncing the doom of Babylon. It concerns the ancient city and empire of Babylon, and at the same time presents literal Babylon as a type of great, mystical Babylon. So read, the rising sea covering Babylon with the multitude of its waves shows the fate of Babylon the great prophesied in Revelation.
The foretold fall embraces both the city and the empire in sudden collapse while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. That same overthrow applies to antitypical Babylon, the apostate system that rules over the nations. It is judgment on the religious system associated with Babylon and God's defense of His people.
The prophecy makes a sudden transition from type to antitype, so what applied primarily and typically to ancient Babylon applies emphatically to modern Babylon and to all sinners punished in the day of the Lord in the last days. The ancient judgment is thus a vivid picture of the destruction of modern spiritual Babylon at the end of the world. The sea rising over her and covering her with waves portrays complete overthrow and desolation, with the land left deserted and uninhabited. That desolation reaches beyond ancient Babylon to modern Babylon and the whole earth, expressing the failure and final destruction of the rival kingdom opposed to God's kingdom.
In this end-time application Babylon is the churches marked by doctrinal confusion, division, and love of the world. The first angel's message was the remedy, but the churches rejected it. The second angel therefore announced their fall, and the chapter describes that fall and failed healing.
Warning Against Prideful Defiance
The sea rising and covering Babylon with the multitude of its waves shows the proud city overwhelmed because of its pride and self-exaltation. The same covering marks the night of Belshazzar's idolatrous feast, when the city was taken on every quarter and fell, when God numbered the kingdom and finished it, weighed the king and found him wanting, and divided the kingdom and gave it to the Medes and Persians. Against Babylon's perverted principles of right stood God's truth, and her own confusion of error became her destruction. No human might or scheme or power or wealth can save a city or nation that sows within herself the seeds of error, confusion, destruction, and death.
The doom pictured by the waves covering Babylon is a warning to cities and people that forget and defy God. The punishment of Babylon teaches that proud cities openly defying God may meet the fate their wickedness invites. Tyre stands beside Babylon as another example, a city that received preliminary punishments. Calamity therefore brings a call to repent and do right.
San Francisco is set beside Babylon as a modern proud city facing catastrophe. As the queen of the West laid low and in sackcloth and ashes, she shares the lesson of Babylon overwhelmed and covered by the multitude of waves. Her disaster repeats the warning that forgetting and defying God invites judgment, and that the only right response is repentance and doing right.
The verse belongs to the message of impending judgment against Babylon, using striking symbols to picture her complete overthrow and utter desolation. The rising sea with its multitude of waves is the multitude of peoples and nations overwhelming and covering Babylon as an invading force. It is also the literal water in Babylon, the great lake and divided rivers of the Euphrates inside the city, describing the calamities to come upon her by Cyrus. The prediction was spoken many years before the fall of the head of gold before the silver empire, and was fulfilled when Belshazzar felt secure in his idolatrous feast and in that night his kingdom was numbered and finished and given to the Medes and Persians who entered by the river gates. That overthrow did not end in one night but continued until the city declined, became deserted and uninhabited, and the great heap of ruins beside the Euphrates bears witness to the truth of prophecy. Literal Babylon is a type of great mystical Babylon, the apostate system ruling over the nations, so the verse portrays the sudden final destruction of modern spiritual Babylon at the end of the world and warns proud cities and people that forget and defy God that no might or wealth can save them.
Imagery and Ancient Fulfillment
Jeremiah 51:42 stands within the message of impending judgment sent through Jeremiah to Babylon, foretelling its overthrow and capture and fall. It belongs to the prophecies against foreign nations, especially Babylon, where striking symbols and figures of speech picture overwhelming ruin. The sea rising over Babylon and covering her with the multitude of its waves portrays complete overthrow, judgment, destruction and utter desolation.
The sea covering the city is literal water in Babylon, a considerable lake or reservoir in the interior of the city fed by the Euphrates and called a sea after the Eastern use of that name for large receptacles of water. Babylon was built on a watery place once called the sea, and its one river the Euphrates was divided by art into several branches or canals called rivers. These, with the lake, watered gardens inside the city accessible even to captives, describing the calamities to come upon Babylon by Cyrus.
The sea or waters are also a prophetic symbol for peoples and nations, whose multitude overwhelms and covers Babylon as an invading force. The verse foretells sudden collapse while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, with Babylon taken on every quarter and fallen in the night of Belshazzar's idolatrous feast. Then God numbered his kingdom and finished it, weighed him and found him wanting, and divided the kingdom and gave it to the Medes and Persians, connected with the Persians' capture of the city through the Euphrates river gates.
The prediction was uttered many years before the fall concerning the fall of the head of gold before the silver empire takes its place in succession. Its fulfillment is proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy. The prophecy of ultimate destruction did not end with overthrow by the Persians but was fulfilled over time as the city declined, became deserted and uninhabited, and became desolate. The great heap of ruins beside the Euphrates bears witness to the truth of prophecy.
Type of End-Time Babylon
The prophecy stands among those from Jeremiah 46 onward against the kingdoms surrounding Israel — Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Syria, and Babylon — pronouncing the doom of Babylon. It concerns the ancient city and empire of Babylon, and at the same time presents literal Babylon as a type of great, mystical Babylon. So read, the rising sea covering Babylon with the multitude of its waves shows the fate of Babylon the great prophesied in Revelation.
The foretold fall embraces both the city and the empire in sudden collapse while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. That same overthrow applies to antitypical Babylon, the apostate system that rules over the nations. It is judgment on the religious system associated with Babylon and God's defense of His people.
The prophecy makes a sudden transition from type to antitype, so what applied primarily and typically to ancient Babylon applies emphatically to modern Babylon and to all sinners punished in the day of the Lord in the last days. The ancient judgment is thus a vivid picture of the destruction of modern spiritual Babylon at the end of the world. The sea rising over her and covering her with waves portrays complete overthrow and desolation, with the land left deserted and uninhabited. That desolation reaches beyond ancient Babylon to modern Babylon and the whole earth, expressing the failure and final destruction of the rival kingdom opposed to God's kingdom.
In this end-time application Babylon is the churches marked by doctrinal confusion, division, and love of the world. The first angel's message was the remedy, but the churches rejected it. The second angel therefore announced their fall, and the chapter describes that fall and failed healing.
Warning Against Prideful Defiance
The sea rising and covering Babylon with the multitude of its waves shows the proud city overwhelmed because of its pride and self-exaltation. The same covering marks the night of Belshazzar's idolatrous feast, when the city was taken on every quarter and fell, when God numbered the kingdom and finished it, weighed the king and found him wanting, and divided the kingdom and gave it to the Medes and Persians. Against Babylon's perverted principles of right stood God's truth, and her own confusion of error became her destruction. No human might or scheme or power or wealth can save a city or nation that sows within herself the seeds of error, confusion, destruction, and death.
The doom pictured by the waves covering Babylon is a warning to cities and people that forget and defy God. The punishment of Babylon teaches that proud cities openly defying God may meet the fate their wickedness invites. Tyre stands beside Babylon as another example, a city that received preliminary punishments. Calamity therefore brings a call to repent and do right.
San Francisco is set beside Babylon as a modern proud city facing catastrophe. As the queen of the West laid low and in sackcloth and ashes, she shares the lesson of Babylon overwhelmed and covered by the multitude of waves. Her disaster repeats the warning that forgetting and defying God invites judgment, and that the only right response is repentance and doing right.