The Days are Coming

Jeremiah 51:52-64

52 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I will bring judgment on her carved images,
And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.

53 Though Babylon were to mount up to heaven,
And though she were to fortify the height of her strength,
Yet from Me plunderers would come to her," says the LORD.

54 The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
55 Because the LORD is plundering Babylon
And silencing her loud voice,
Though her waves roar like great waters,
And the noise of their voice is uttered,

56 Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men are taken.
Every one of their bows is broken;
For the LORD is the God of recompense,
He will surely repay.

57 "And I will make drunk
Her princes and wise men,
Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men.
And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake," says the King,
Whose name is the LORD of hosts.

58 Thus says the LORD of hosts:
"The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken,
And her high gates shall be burned with fire;
The people will labor in vain,
And the nations, because of the fire;
And they shall be weary."

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, 62 then you shall say, 'O LORD, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.' 63 Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. 64 Then you shall say, 'Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.'"

Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

The words of Jeremiah against Babylon are finished and delivered to that doomed city and empire.  He wrote that the days are coming.  Days judging her idols of false and lifeless gods placed before the living LORD of all creatures and the universe in totality.  No nation is above Him or His righteous requirements.  He alone is worthy of all honor and glory and praise.  Therefore, Babylon was judged and sentenced to destruction and all would lament the loss of such a great civilization (Revelation 18:9-10) according to the standards of power, pleasure, and the fading glory of men.  No assembling of great armies or weapons or tactics could save her from the sentence passed upon her.  God had judged as we see similarly in Daniel 5:26-28 on God’s word given against the pride of man unwilling to repent and worship the LORD alone.  Yes, the forces God assembled against Babylon would surely come from the north to decimate the once lofty empire which neglected to serve God as they made their own dead gods instead.  The loud and proud voice would be stopped no matter how loudly it roared as if crashing waves beating the shore in futility.  God recompenses evil to repay the sins against Him and His people.  He is the LORD who does not change.  Those of Babylon would become as disoriented as drunkards and not awake in their eternal sleep outside of God’s presence and grace forever.  That is their punishment, just as it is for all who reject His word, both heard and living (John 1:1, 14).  People labor vainly and wear themselves out as they kick against the goads (Ecclesiastes 12:11, Acts 26:14) of God’s word.  In the end of this chapter Jeremiah finished writing the message entrusted to him for warning the people of Babylon of their determined fate pronounced by the LORD against their sins.  They would sink as surely as those words tied to a stone and thrown in the river.  The catastrophic end would make them faint of heart at their demise as it unfolded before them.  This is a warning as a picture of the final judgment and the Babylon of the world system set against the LORD and His Christ in the end.  May this bad news awaken some to turn from their own sin to Him before the great and terrible day of the Lord!  The days of accountability are coming.  Are you ready?