As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
As Babylon caused the slain of Israel to fall, she herself must fall in divine vengeance and recompense for the slaughter, violence, persecution and oppression she brought upon God's people. The retribution reaches beyond Israel alone, for at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth, with multitudes from many nations slain in her destruction. That sentence was executed when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus entered suddenly in the night while Belshazzar felt secure, the kingdom numbered and finished and divided to the Medes and Persians, Belshazzar slain and the cry raised that Babylon is fallen. Beyond literal Babylon the verse points to mystical Babylon, making a sudden transition from type to antitype to describe the final and complete overthrow of Babylon the Great and all that God calls Babylon, punished in the day of the Lord as described in Revelation 18. That unheeded warning and doom stands as a lesson to proud, God-defying cities such as New York and Chicago, for no human might, scheme, power or wealth can save a city or nation whose perverted principles sow error, confusion and death within herself.
Babylon's Retributive Fall Foretold
The verse stands in the burden against Babylon in Jeremiah 50 and 51, a divine message of impending judgment carrying gracious warning and proffered mercy sent when Babylon had filled the cup of its iniquity, slighted and unheeded. It is part of predictions uttered many years before Babylon fell, amid the nations Nebuchadnezzar would conquer, concerning Babylon and its downfall as the head of gold before silver Persia succeeds it. Its details of capture, destruction and doom were foretold before the city reached its height, and the ruins by the Euphrates bear witness to the truth of that foretelling. That fulfillment is proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy and had no design to show it fulfilled.
The destruction is God's vengeance and recompense answering for the slaughter and harm, violence and pride, persecution and oppression Babylon brought upon Israel. Babylon is charged with the blood of God's people because Israel's slain fell through Babylon, and its record of causing Israel to be slain stands as evidence that paganism persecuted those loyal to God. That vengeance falls upon the Babylonian religious system for its violence toward God's people. The retribution is wider than Israel alone, for as Babylon caused Israel's slain to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. Babylon itself becomes the place where multitudes from many nations are slain, associating its destruction with the death of many peoples and not Israel alone.
The fall concerns not only Babylon's city but its empire, coming suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. In the night the Medes and Persians under Cyrus entered and took the city on every quarter, fulfilling the cry Babylon is fallen, is fallen. Then was God's sentence that the kingdom was numbered and finished, weighed in the balances and found wanting, divided and given to the Medes and Persians. There followed massacre in the darkness and the slaying of Belshazzar, shown in Cyrus's conquest of the city. The Medo-Persian power that overthrew Babylon was itself cruel and bloodthirsty, emphatically called the spoiler.
The fall was not completed when the Persians overthrew it, for the prophecy points to eventual utter desolation without inhabitant. After Alexander died there the city gradually declined until desolate, literally fulfilling the prophecy. Seraiah read the prophecy on site on the banks of the Euphrates, then tied a stone to the roll and cast it into the river as a sign that Babylon shall sink and shall not rise from the evil God will bring upon her. The buried cities by the Euphrates now lie as heaps wandered over and dug for sculptured slabs, stones, bricks, pottery and ornaments carried to London and Philadelphia, showing that desolation fulfilled.
Type of Mystical Babylon
Beyond literal Babylon the verse points to antitypical Babylon, serving as a type of mystical Babylon. That mystical Babylon is the apostate religious system that rules the nations of the earth. Its fate is described in Revelation.
In its emphatic antitypical sense the verse makes a sudden transition from type to antitype. In its primary typical sense it treats the fall of literal Babylon of the Chaldees, but in its emphatic sense it describes not merely that Babylon but the final and complete overthrow of all that God calls Babylon in the earth. That is the downfall of the whole world and the ruin of the nations. In particular it is the ruin of Babylon the Great, the power that opposes and exalts itself above God. It portrays the day of the Lord in which modern Babylon and all sinners shall be punished with the final punishment of the ungodly, as described in Revelation 18.
The bloodguilt for causing Israel to be slain is also charged against modern Babylon and contributes to her destruction. Babylon is charged with the blood of God's people because Israel's slain fell through Babylon, and Babylon itself would be the place where the slain of all the earth fell. That destruction is God's vengeance against the Babylonian religious system and its violence toward God's people, rooted in Babylon's persecution of those loyal to God and of God's children. In this application Babylon represents churches that rejected the first angel's message and remained in confusion and worldliness. As ancient Babylon refused the remedy meant to heal her and fell to rise no more, so modern mystical Babylon at the end of the world faces judgment and a fall from which it will not rise.
Warning to Forgetful Cities
Jeremiah 51:49 stands within the burden against Babylon in Jeremiah 50 and 51, a divine message of impending judgment joined with gracious warning and proffered mercy sent when Babylon had filled the cup of its iniquity. That warning was slighted and went unheeded until doom was announced, for Babylon refused the remedy meant to heal her and then fell. In that falling she represents churches that rejected the first angel's message and remained in confusion and worldliness.
Her unheeded warning and doom is a lesson and warning for cities and people who forget and defy God, showing that Babylon's fall for the slain of Israel warns of judgment on such cities. The same lesson applies to New York, Chicago, and other cities, connecting ancient Babylon's fate with warnings given to modern cities. Proud, God-defying cities may face judgment for their wickedness, since her destruction answers the slaughter Israel suffered through her.
God was proved true and Babylon false when Belshazzar's Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians, under the sentence that the kingdom was numbered and finished, weighed in the balances and found wanting, divided and given to the Medes and Persians. That sentence was fulfilled the same night Babylon was taken on every quarter and the cry went out Babylon is fallen, is fallen. No human might, scheme, power, or wealth can save a city or nation that sows error, confusion, destruction, and death within herself. Her perverted principles of right cannot stand, God's truth abides, and her destruction is the fruitage of her own sowing.
As Babylon caused the slain of Israel to fall, she herself must fall in divine vengeance and recompense for the slaughter, violence, persecution and oppression she brought upon God's people. The retribution reaches beyond Israel alone, for at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth, with multitudes from many nations slain in her destruction. That sentence was executed when the Medes and Persians under Cyrus entered suddenly in the night while Belshazzar felt secure, the kingdom numbered and finished and divided to the Medes and Persians, Belshazzar slain and the cry raised that Babylon is fallen. Beyond literal Babylon the verse points to mystical Babylon, making a sudden transition from type to antitype to describe the final and complete overthrow of Babylon the Great and all that God calls Babylon, punished in the day of the Lord as described in Revelation 18. That unheeded warning and doom stands as a lesson to proud, God-defying cities such as New York and Chicago, for no human might, scheme, power or wealth can save a city or nation whose perverted principles sow error, confusion and death within herself.
Babylon's Retributive Fall Foretold
The verse stands in the burden against Babylon in Jeremiah 50 and 51, a divine message of impending judgment carrying gracious warning and proffered mercy sent when Babylon had filled the cup of its iniquity, slighted and unheeded. It is part of predictions uttered many years before Babylon fell, amid the nations Nebuchadnezzar would conquer, concerning Babylon and its downfall as the head of gold before silver Persia succeeds it. Its details of capture, destruction and doom were foretold before the city reached its height, and the ruins by the Euphrates bear witness to the truth of that foretelling. That fulfillment is proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy and had no design to show it fulfilled.
The destruction is God's vengeance and recompense answering for the slaughter and harm, violence and pride, persecution and oppression Babylon brought upon Israel. Babylon is charged with the blood of God's people because Israel's slain fell through Babylon, and its record of causing Israel to be slain stands as evidence that paganism persecuted those loyal to God. That vengeance falls upon the Babylonian religious system for its violence toward God's people. The retribution is wider than Israel alone, for as Babylon caused Israel's slain to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. Babylon itself becomes the place where multitudes from many nations are slain, associating its destruction with the death of many peoples and not Israel alone.
The fall concerns not only Babylon's city but its empire, coming suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure. In the night the Medes and Persians under Cyrus entered and took the city on every quarter, fulfilling the cry Babylon is fallen, is fallen. Then was God's sentence that the kingdom was numbered and finished, weighed in the balances and found wanting, divided and given to the Medes and Persians. There followed massacre in the darkness and the slaying of Belshazzar, shown in Cyrus's conquest of the city. The Medo-Persian power that overthrew Babylon was itself cruel and bloodthirsty, emphatically called the spoiler.
The fall was not completed when the Persians overthrew it, for the prophecy points to eventual utter desolation without inhabitant. After Alexander died there the city gradually declined until desolate, literally fulfilling the prophecy. Seraiah read the prophecy on site on the banks of the Euphrates, then tied a stone to the roll and cast it into the river as a sign that Babylon shall sink and shall not rise from the evil God will bring upon her. The buried cities by the Euphrates now lie as heaps wandered over and dug for sculptured slabs, stones, bricks, pottery and ornaments carried to London and Philadelphia, showing that desolation fulfilled.
Type of Mystical Babylon
Beyond literal Babylon the verse points to antitypical Babylon, serving as a type of mystical Babylon. That mystical Babylon is the apostate religious system that rules the nations of the earth. Its fate is described in Revelation.
In its emphatic antitypical sense the verse makes a sudden transition from type to antitype. In its primary typical sense it treats the fall of literal Babylon of the Chaldees, but in its emphatic sense it describes not merely that Babylon but the final and complete overthrow of all that God calls Babylon in the earth. That is the downfall of the whole world and the ruin of the nations. In particular it is the ruin of Babylon the Great, the power that opposes and exalts itself above God. It portrays the day of the Lord in which modern Babylon and all sinners shall be punished with the final punishment of the ungodly, as described in Revelation 18.
The bloodguilt for causing Israel to be slain is also charged against modern Babylon and contributes to her destruction. Babylon is charged with the blood of God's people because Israel's slain fell through Babylon, and Babylon itself would be the place where the slain of all the earth fell. That destruction is God's vengeance against the Babylonian religious system and its violence toward God's people, rooted in Babylon's persecution of those loyal to God and of God's children. In this application Babylon represents churches that rejected the first angel's message and remained in confusion and worldliness. As ancient Babylon refused the remedy meant to heal her and fell to rise no more, so modern mystical Babylon at the end of the world faces judgment and a fall from which it will not rise.
Warning to Forgetful Cities
Jeremiah 51:49 stands within the burden against Babylon in Jeremiah 50 and 51, a divine message of impending judgment joined with gracious warning and proffered mercy sent when Babylon had filled the cup of its iniquity. That warning was slighted and went unheeded until doom was announced, for Babylon refused the remedy meant to heal her and then fell. In that falling she represents churches that rejected the first angel's message and remained in confusion and worldliness.
Her unheeded warning and doom is a lesson and warning for cities and people who forget and defy God, showing that Babylon's fall for the slain of Israel warns of judgment on such cities. The same lesson applies to New York, Chicago, and other cities, connecting ancient Babylon's fate with warnings given to modern cities. Proud, God-defying cities may face judgment for their wickedness, since her destruction answers the slaughter Israel suffered through her.
God was proved true and Babylon false when Belshazzar's Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians, under the sentence that the kingdom was numbered and finished, weighed in the balances and found wanting, divided and given to the Medes and Persians. That sentence was fulfilled the same night Babylon was taken on every quarter and the cry went out Babylon is fallen, is fallen. No human might, scheme, power, or wealth can save a city or nation that sows error, confusion, destruction, and death within herself. Her perverted principles of right cannot stand, God's truth abides, and her destruction is the fruitage of her own sowing.