Seeing the End from the Beginning

Jeremiah 51 is a long chapter describing the reason and manner by which the Lord will execute Judgment on ancient Babylon. It is a fierce declaration of total destruction. Their proud rulers will fall, their idols will be smashed, and the people who listen to the Lord will escape her and return home, for God will not abandon Israel. 

Jeremiah 51:4–5 (ESV) They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and wounded in her streets. 5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD of hosts, but the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

The Lord recounts through Jeremiah the fact that Babylon was His tool in His hand all along.

Jeremiah 51:7 (ESV) Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations went mad.

But now the Lord will fill this proud nation with foreigners who will destroy them from within, and He will surround them with the Medes who will destroy them from without.

Jeremiah 51:11 (ESV) “Sharpen the arrows! Take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance for his temple.

Jeremiah 51:14 (ESV) The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself: Surely I will fill you with men, as many as locusts, and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

The Lord will destroy the false worship in Babylon, exposing their idols for the empty works of men's hands that they are.

Jeremiah 51:17–18 (ESV) Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. 18 They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

Jeremiah reminds the people of Israel that even before they enter into exile, the Lord will please their cause and bring vengeance upon those who persecute them.

Jeremiah 51:35–37 (ESV) Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry, 37 and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, the haunt of jackals, a horror and a hissing, without inhabitant.

And while this international uproar happens, the people are to stay calm amid every report. Wars and turmoil would be part of the historical record, but these reports of geopolitical intrigue were not their worry. God was at work through it all.

Jeremiah 51:45–46 (ESV) “Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let every one save his life from the fierce anger of the LORD! 46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful at the report heard in the land, when a report comes in one year and afterward a report in another year, and violence is in the land, and ruler is against ruler.

How did this happen to a once impervious empire? The Lord turned her over to drunken leaders who fell asleep when they should have been alert and watching over their people. Many times in scripture. God judges a nation by giving them terrible leaders.

Jeremiah 51:57 (ESV) I will make drunk her officials and her wise men, her governors, her commanders, and her warriors; they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

Important to note is the fact that this message was delivered just after the Babylonian exile began:

Jeremiah 51:59 (ESV) The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster.

Zedekiah was the vassal king installed by Nebuchadnezzar when this message was delivered. Many of the elite families of Judah were already captive in Babylon. The nation was trapped in a waiting game. How long would this last? What would come of it all? Where was God? 

Well, God was in charge. He gave these words to Jeremiah to confirm that though they may face trouble, it was over even before it began. That's what He has done for us in the New Covenant. We see the end from the beginning. Revelation and the writings of the Apostles warn us of the tribulation to come but we can face whatever may happen because we know deliverance is ours and God is in charge.