Jeremiah 50:18-32
18 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
"Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
As I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will bring back Israel to his home,
And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;
His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and in that time," says the LORD,
"The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none;
And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found;
For I will pardon those whom I preserve.
21 "Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,
And against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Waste and utterly destroy them," says the LORD,
"And do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 A sound of battle is in the land,
And of great destruction.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!
How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for you;
You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon,
And you were not aware;
You have been found and also caught,
Because you have contended against the LORD.
25 The LORD has opened His armory,
And has brought out the weapons of His indignation;
For this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the farthest border;
Open her storehouses;
Cast her up as heaps of ruins,
And destroy her utterly;
Let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her bulls,
Let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them!
For their day has come, the time of their punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon
Declares in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God,
The vengeance of His temple.
29 "Call together the archers against Babylon.
All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around;
Let none of them escape.
Repay her according to her work;
According to all she has done, do to her;
For she has been proud against the LORD,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets,
And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day," says the LORD.
31 "Behold, I am against you,
O most haughty one!" says the Lord GOD of hosts;
"For your day has come,
The time that I will punish you.
32 The most proud shall stumble and fall,
And no one will raise him up;
I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it will devour all around him."
We see how the contentious pride of Babylonia led to their judgment and a great fall for fighting against the people of the LORD and Himself with their false gods. They captured Israel and influenced her with those idols and did so in defiance and indifference to worship of the living God of hosts. In defeating Babylon, God would also bring back the captives out of their bondage to their land and His temple which the invaders destroyed. As Micah 7:19 and Isaiah 1:9 remind, God not only saves a remnant of His people from the captivity of bondage to sin, but applies His forgiveness eternally in grace as iniquity is removed and His pardon preserves. This is a picture and type of the eternal salvation to be revealed for all His people in Christ to come, not for Israel alone. We can learn much of God’s character and plan of salvation for His chosen from all of scripture in each picture. Destruction and desolation was cast for the enemies of God’s chosen people as described in the example of Babylon. They had fought against the LORD and of course had failed completely as told by Jeremiah even before troops entered their land and fought against them. The armory supporting this war effort was God’s own indignation of His wrath (Romans 1:18, Hebrews 10:27, Revelation 14:10) which supplied the forever fighting against the enemy, much like the invaders of Ukraine in our present day who find a defensive force armored to repel them, only God’s armory is infinitely greater. His wrath defeated the enemy then and will win out in the end of time as those opposed to Him and His people are subdued by the God-given weapons of His warfare and ours as His forces (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). God’s vengeance against Babylon was also for the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem as a symbol of His worship and meeting place with His people as verse 28 and Psalm 137:7-8 tell us. God defends His honor, worship, and praise. Babylon as representative of all sinners rejecting God had felt that vengeance through being repaid in like manner for her works of evil and destruction. She was proudly set against the Holy One and His works and suffered the inevitable consequences of such haughtiness. Punishment brought the fall of pride from which there was no recovery. Likewise, in the day of final judgment those brought down for their unrepentant hearts will find no more opportunity for deliverance (Revelation 9:6, Hebrews 9:27-28). There is only deliverance for God’s chosen in Christ Jesus. Resisting Him is only contentious pride leading to a great fall. Do not fight against God, but be found in Him in repentance and trust in Him and His work before that day and not with those in Babylon who are sentenced forever to destruction!
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