Jesus said, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.” John 15:5
The Heavenly Father blesses us as we abide in His Son and glorify His Name. Jesus Christ is the One whom He chosen to inherit all things. When we are in Him and to Him, blessings flow.
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2
Praise God that we need not be distant from Him and under His wrath any longer. Jesus took the chastisement that our sins deserved to bring us to God. He purged our sin record when He became our atoning sacrifice. All we do now is acknowledge our sin and guilt and ask Him to be apply His soul cleansing blood to our sin, and He does.
“No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.” “The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace.” Isaiah 59:4, 8
It is great to have our sins forgiven by God, but He doesn’t stop there. He places within us His precious Holy Spirit who calls out for justice and pleads for truth. The Holy Spirit takes peace from us when we engage in empty (meaningless) words, lies, evil deeds, iniquity (unfairness), injustice, and crookedness. He guides and helps us to be more like Jesus Christ.
“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.” Isaiah 59:14-15
Justice and righteousness flows where the Holy Spirit flows. He guides us into all truth. Yes, those who enjoy evil seek to punish those who depart from them to the Lord’s side, but the Lord says in 1 John 4:8, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” He says in 2 Kings 6:16, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” He says in 2 Chronicles 32:8, “With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battle.” God is a majority of one.
“He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore, His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; the coastlands He will fully repay. So shall they fear the Name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, says the Lord.” Isaiah 59:16-20
When the Lord sees us failing to stem the tide of injustice in our societies, He intercedes. After praying, He puts on His breastplate of righteousness, His helmet of salvation and His garments of vengeance and zeal, and He goes after the enemies of righteousness with a fiery vengeance that they might fear His Name. Yes, when the enemy comes into a nation like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord is the standard that God raises up against him. “Come, Holy Spirit, come! Reveal to the nations our Redeemer Jesus Christ!” Christ does this work through His body the Church.
“As for Me, says the Lord, this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My Words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants, says the Lord, from this time and forevermore.” Isaiah 59:21
Our victory stems from the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God in us, and in the lives of our descendants after us.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Isaiah 60:1-3
The glory of the Lord is our light. As He radiates from us, nations come to Him.
“Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.” “...I will glorify the house of My glory.” Isaiah 60:4-5, 7
According to Hebrews 1:2, God the Father has appointed Jesus Christ as heir of all things. All good things are coming to Him, so as we side with Him and glorify Him, He shares His blessings with us which we do not deserve, but as His friends, He graciously grants them to us.
In 2 Samuel 9:1-10, King David showed kindness to a descendant of his deceased friend Jonathan. Jonathan’s grandson Mephibosheth was crippled. King David invited Mephibosheth to eat at his table all his days. Mephibosheth received an inheritance due to someone else’s relationship with the king. IWe believers in Christ receive kingly blessings from God our Heavenly Father due to the relationship that His Son Jesus has with Him.
“For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined.” Isaiah 60:12
The nation and kingdom that will not serve Jesus Christ shall perish. Christ is the answer Human rulers are like a vapor that appears for a brief moment and then vanish. Christ is forever. Blessed are those who glorify Jesus Christ. He is Lord!
“I will make the place of My feet glorious. Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations. You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles, and milk the breast of kings; you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” Isaiah 60:13-16
In due season, the Lord will flip the script on those who seem to be powerful and wealthy now. In eternity, they will languish in pain and poverty unless they repent and give glory to Christ. All the wealth of the world and even better than that will be to Christ and to those of us who glorify Him. Jesus Christ is the only Savior and Redeemer!
“Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver, instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will also make your officers peace, and your magistrates righteousness. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.” Isaiah 60:17-18
The rewards of Christ surpass underhanded deals. He shares with us His kingdom of peace and righteousness. He saves from oppression. He gives us praise within His gates.
“...The Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.” Isaiah 60:19-22
The Lord has planned an everlasting and glorious future for us who trust in Him. No more darkness. No more tears. No more corruption. No more transientness. He will firmly establish us and make us strong. When He does this, it will happen quickly, even in the blink of an eye.
Proverbs 19:16 says, “He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of his ways will die.” Therefore, we must take the Lord seriously. Psalm 124:8 says, “Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” The Lord helps us. We are not alone. Psalm 125:1 says, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” The victories and progress happen as we rely on the Lord for salvation.
Please pray that God will use 21st Century Jeremiah publications to help prophetic speakers to accurately align their messages with the Scriptures even as the prophet Jeremiah sought to do in his day.
Sunday, October 19, 2025
Saturday, October 18, 2025
The Satisfied Soul - Isaiah 55-58
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.” Isaiah 55:1-2
How is your appetite leading you? Apart from the Lord, I have spent money on that which is unhealthy for me and on that which did not satisfy my soul. But when I abide in Jesus, He satisfies my appetite. He satisfies my soul so much so that I want to avoid sumptuous cuisine, luxurious living, and entertainment that tends to lessen my appetite for Him.
“Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you—the sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given Him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.” Isaiah 55:3-5
The Lord asks for our ears. If we listen to what He says, our soul thrives. In Acts 13:34, Paul refers to “the sure mercies of David” reference from Isaiah as being Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the witness and leader of people. As we our yield ourselves to honor and serve Him, nations run to us, because the Lord’s glory in us. I bear witness to this is a miracle, because I once a boy from a small, isolated town, but now enjoy fellowship with people from around the world.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7
Every morning and throughout the day, the Lord reminds me that His door is always open. This is true because He took my sins upon Himself on the cross and became an atoning sacrifice for me. He abundantly pardoned me. His Holy Spirit helps me to enjoy my relationship with Him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:8-11
It makes sense, right? The thoughts and ways of God are higher than ours! His Word is not empty. It contains life! As a seed produces a plant, His Word produces better thoughts in us and prospers our ways.
“For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a Name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 55:12-13
I like to go out with joy and be led by peace. I enjoy singing and clapping. I prefer beautiful trees to thorns and briers. So, I will listen to the Lord and share what He teaches me.
“Also, the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the Name of the Lord, to be His servants—everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant—even them I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:6-7
I am glad that the Lord includes us Gentiles in His promises to Israel. I was foreigner to God, but He opened His heart to me. He invited me to join Him, serve Him and to love His Name. Glory! He has extended to me and to all who believe in Him, His covenant of salvation. He brings us to holy place of prayer where we meet with Him and He fills our hearts with loving prayers for people, even as He prays for them.
“The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” Isaiah 57:1-2
I have been a places where the people are hostile toward Jesus Christ and toward His merciful servants. I prayed a reversal, that they too would come to love Jesus and serve Him, but it didn’t happen. In this passage, the Lord gives us a sign of a society in decline. The sign is no concern for the loss of faithful people of God among them. They want to go “all in” with the devil.
“And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, that you have lied and not remembered Me, nor taken it to your heart? ...But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land and shall inherit My holy mountain.” Isaiah 57:11, 13
So often, there are people who hear the Lord’s voice and want to draw near to Him, but when they think of their “friends” who reject the Lord, they shrink back from following Jesus. The Lord promises a better inheritance to one who follows Him than those “friends” do.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose Name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15
In Isaiah 55:1, the Lord offered water, food, wine and milk to us who have no money. He only requires from us contrition and humility. We need to repent of thinking so poorly about God and so highly of ourselves. When we acknowledge and give Him the honor that He is due, He revives our hearts and spirit.
“I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.” Isaiah 57:19-21
Here we have another miracle. Peace coming from our lips due to the inner healing that God has done in our hearts. To live without a relationship with God is not like that. Apart from God, a soul is troubled, restless, unpeaceful, and produces mire... defilement.
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to release bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” Isaiah 58:6-12
Jesus referred to this kind of lifestyle in the parable of the sheep and goats which is recorded in Matthew 25:31-46. The sheep were doing the kind of services described above while the goats were too busy lavishing all their blessings upon themselves. The sheep were gathered to the Lord, but the goats were cast into eternal punishment. The root of the blessing was the sheep reflected the life of Jesus because they abided in Him. The root of the curse was the goats wanted to be far from the Lord and serve only selfish interests.
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14
May it be so! That each of us will delight in honoring the Lord during a Sabbath (a rest day) each week. Not doing our own ways! Not gratifying the selfish nature! But speaking God’s Word one with another! Delighting in Jesus! He abundantly satisfies our soul with an open heaven.
How is your appetite leading you? Apart from the Lord, I have spent money on that which is unhealthy for me and on that which did not satisfy my soul. But when I abide in Jesus, He satisfies my appetite. He satisfies my soul so much so that I want to avoid sumptuous cuisine, luxurious living, and entertainment that tends to lessen my appetite for Him.
“Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you—the sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given Him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.” Isaiah 55:3-5
The Lord asks for our ears. If we listen to what He says, our soul thrives. In Acts 13:34, Paul refers to “the sure mercies of David” reference from Isaiah as being Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the witness and leader of people. As we our yield ourselves to honor and serve Him, nations run to us, because the Lord’s glory in us. I bear witness to this is a miracle, because I once a boy from a small, isolated town, but now enjoy fellowship with people from around the world.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7
Every morning and throughout the day, the Lord reminds me that His door is always open. This is true because He took my sins upon Himself on the cross and became an atoning sacrifice for me. He abundantly pardoned me. His Holy Spirit helps me to enjoy my relationship with Him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:8-11
It makes sense, right? The thoughts and ways of God are higher than ours! His Word is not empty. It contains life! As a seed produces a plant, His Word produces better thoughts in us and prospers our ways.
“For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a Name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 55:12-13
I like to go out with joy and be led by peace. I enjoy singing and clapping. I prefer beautiful trees to thorns and briers. So, I will listen to the Lord and share what He teaches me.
“Also, the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the Name of the Lord, to be His servants—everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant—even them I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:6-7
I am glad that the Lord includes us Gentiles in His promises to Israel. I was foreigner to God, but He opened His heart to me. He invited me to join Him, serve Him and to love His Name. Glory! He has extended to me and to all who believe in Him, His covenant of salvation. He brings us to holy place of prayer where we meet with Him and He fills our hearts with loving prayers for people, even as He prays for them.
“The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” Isaiah 57:1-2
I have been a places where the people are hostile toward Jesus Christ and toward His merciful servants. I prayed a reversal, that they too would come to love Jesus and serve Him, but it didn’t happen. In this passage, the Lord gives us a sign of a society in decline. The sign is no concern for the loss of faithful people of God among them. They want to go “all in” with the devil.
“And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, that you have lied and not remembered Me, nor taken it to your heart? ...But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land and shall inherit My holy mountain.” Isaiah 57:11, 13
So often, there are people who hear the Lord’s voice and want to draw near to Him, but when they think of their “friends” who reject the Lord, they shrink back from following Jesus. The Lord promises a better inheritance to one who follows Him than those “friends” do.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose Name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15
In Isaiah 55:1, the Lord offered water, food, wine and milk to us who have no money. He only requires from us contrition and humility. We need to repent of thinking so poorly about God and so highly of ourselves. When we acknowledge and give Him the honor that He is due, He revives our hearts and spirit.
“I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.” Isaiah 57:19-21
Here we have another miracle. Peace coming from our lips due to the inner healing that God has done in our hearts. To live without a relationship with God is not like that. Apart from God, a soul is troubled, restless, unpeaceful, and produces mire... defilement.
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to release bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” Isaiah 58:6-12
Jesus referred to this kind of lifestyle in the parable of the sheep and goats which is recorded in Matthew 25:31-46. The sheep were doing the kind of services described above while the goats were too busy lavishing all their blessings upon themselves. The sheep were gathered to the Lord, but the goats were cast into eternal punishment. The root of the blessing was the sheep reflected the life of Jesus because they abided in Him. The root of the curse was the goats wanted to be far from the Lord and serve only selfish interests.
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14
May it be so! That each of us will delight in honoring the Lord during a Sabbath (a rest day) each week. Not doing our own ways! Not gratifying the selfish nature! But speaking God’s Word one with another! Delighting in Jesus! He abundantly satisfies our soul with an open heaven.
Friday, October 17, 2025
Redemption - Isaiah 51-54
The people of God had departed from Him and became captive to a lifestyle that they no longer wanted to live, but what could they do? They sinned against the only One who could help them. Their Redeemer came to them at their lowest moment when they had nothing to offer Him but sin and degradation, and He redeemed them.
“He made a road in the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over.” Isaiah 51:10
This verse harkens back to the time when they were slaves fleeing from the Pharoah’s army. Their backs were up against in impassable sea, and their murderers were closing in on them. Then, suddenly, the Lord made the sea open before them, and He made a dry path for them to cross it. When their enemies pursued them, the Lord let the very water that parted in two before them, to fall upon their enemies and destroy them.
“So the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 51:11
This verse harkens back to the time when God’s people were captives to a political power that demanded their allegiance and service with only giving them abusive treatment in return. The Lord redeemed them from that strange land and brought them back into their own land. He didn’t just free them from their captors, He filled their minds with joy and their mouths with songs. He replaced their sorrow and sighing with joy and gladness.
“Thus says the Lord: You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” Isaiah 52:3
“You sold yourselves for nothing” refers to their headlong pursuit of self-gratification. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:10, “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure.” No one had to pay them to do evil. They did it willingly, but the Lord also promised to redeem them without payment. As Romans 6:20 says, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” The Lord had more grace than they had sin.
“Your Maker is your husband. The Lord of hosts is His Name. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused, says your God. For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.” Isaiah 54:5-8
God compares Israel to a young married woman who messed up so badly that her husband left her. She is forsaken. She is grieving her losses. But the Lord, her Maker, has not forsaken her. He forgives her. With mercy He gathers her to Himself. With everlasting love He embraces her. In His arms. She need not fear being alone again.
“The Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Isaiah 51:3
One of the themes throughout the Bible is death and resurrection. When Adam and Eve sinned, it brought death to them and to their offspring. They were exiled from the garden of Eden, but when their offspring return to fellowship with the Lord and abide in Him, they return in a spiritual sense to the garden of the Lord where He nurtures, waters and cultivates them. As we experience the Lord’s care and cultivation in our lives, we experience joy and gladness. We feel grateful and happy again even to the point of breaking out into songs of joy unto the Lord.
“My salvation will be forever.” Isaiah 51:6
The Lord’s salvation is not a temporary offer, it is forever.
“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, you people in whose heart is My Law: do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults.” “...My righteousness will be forever and My salvation from generation to generation.” Isaiah 51:7-8
No matter how people contradict our faith in God, they cannot change the outcomes of our faith in Him. The Lord will save us and bless us.
“I have put My Words in your mouth. I have covered you with the shadow of My hand.” Isaiah 51:16
His Word preserves us our faith. The hand of His Holy Spirit guides us.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” Isaiah 52:7
The Lord brought good news to our souls. We should keep this good news ever on our minds, and compelled by His love, be willing to share it with others.
“The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Isaiah 52:10
The Lord is already at work in the nations. Let us look for and magnify it!
“The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 51:12
We are never alone when we encounter others. The Lord is right there with us.
“He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Isaiah 53:2-3
The Lord knows what it is like to be freshly starting out. He came into the world as an infant. Born to poor parents. No one wanted to be His friend.
“Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5
Jesus experienced sorrows, insults and injuries. He experienced punishment for sin, but did not sin. He did this for us. To identify with us and to become a sacrifice for our sins.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
The guilt and condemnation that we deserved was placed on Jesus.
“He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so, He opened not His mouth.” “...for the transgressions of My people, He was stricken.” Isaiah 53:7-8
He went through the suffering willing because He and the Father loved us.
“...No deceit was in His mouth.” Isaiah 53:9
Jesus always spoke the truth.
“He made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12
He still prays for us on high.
“You shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.” Isaiah 54:3
As we keep our eyes on Jesus and seek to glorify His Name, He blesses us and expands the footprint our influence among the nations.
“The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has mercy on you.” Isaiah 54:10
This world’s priests and politicians disappoint those who count on them, but the Lord has a covenant of peace, mercy and kindness with us who serve Him. His covenant with us is based on what He did for us in giving His body and blood for us.
“I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal and all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established. You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.” “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:12-15, 17
The Lord’s plan for us is to bring us to paradise. Oppression and terror will be gone. Our heritage from the Lord is exceedingly greatly infinitely better than we experience here on earth. Praise the Lord!
“He made a road in the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over.” Isaiah 51:10
This verse harkens back to the time when they were slaves fleeing from the Pharoah’s army. Their backs were up against in impassable sea, and their murderers were closing in on them. Then, suddenly, the Lord made the sea open before them, and He made a dry path for them to cross it. When their enemies pursued them, the Lord let the very water that parted in two before them, to fall upon their enemies and destroy them.
“So the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 51:11
This verse harkens back to the time when God’s people were captives to a political power that demanded their allegiance and service with only giving them abusive treatment in return. The Lord redeemed them from that strange land and brought them back into their own land. He didn’t just free them from their captors, He filled their minds with joy and their mouths with songs. He replaced their sorrow and sighing with joy and gladness.
“Thus says the Lord: You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” Isaiah 52:3
“You sold yourselves for nothing” refers to their headlong pursuit of self-gratification. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:10, “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure.” No one had to pay them to do evil. They did it willingly, but the Lord also promised to redeem them without payment. As Romans 6:20 says, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” The Lord had more grace than they had sin.
“Your Maker is your husband. The Lord of hosts is His Name. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused, says your God. For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.” Isaiah 54:5-8
God compares Israel to a young married woman who messed up so badly that her husband left her. She is forsaken. She is grieving her losses. But the Lord, her Maker, has not forsaken her. He forgives her. With mercy He gathers her to Himself. With everlasting love He embraces her. In His arms. She need not fear being alone again.
“The Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Isaiah 51:3
One of the themes throughout the Bible is death and resurrection. When Adam and Eve sinned, it brought death to them and to their offspring. They were exiled from the garden of Eden, but when their offspring return to fellowship with the Lord and abide in Him, they return in a spiritual sense to the garden of the Lord where He nurtures, waters and cultivates them. As we experience the Lord’s care and cultivation in our lives, we experience joy and gladness. We feel grateful and happy again even to the point of breaking out into songs of joy unto the Lord.
“My salvation will be forever.” Isaiah 51:6
The Lord’s salvation is not a temporary offer, it is forever.
“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, you people in whose heart is My Law: do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults.” “...My righteousness will be forever and My salvation from generation to generation.” Isaiah 51:7-8
No matter how people contradict our faith in God, they cannot change the outcomes of our faith in Him. The Lord will save us and bless us.
“I have put My Words in your mouth. I have covered you with the shadow of My hand.” Isaiah 51:16
His Word preserves us our faith. The hand of His Holy Spirit guides us.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” Isaiah 52:7
The Lord brought good news to our souls. We should keep this good news ever on our minds, and compelled by His love, be willing to share it with others.
“The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Isaiah 52:10
The Lord is already at work in the nations. Let us look for and magnify it!
“The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 51:12
We are never alone when we encounter others. The Lord is right there with us.
“He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Isaiah 53:2-3
The Lord knows what it is like to be freshly starting out. He came into the world as an infant. Born to poor parents. No one wanted to be His friend.
“Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5
Jesus experienced sorrows, insults and injuries. He experienced punishment for sin, but did not sin. He did this for us. To identify with us and to become a sacrifice for our sins.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
The guilt and condemnation that we deserved was placed on Jesus.
“He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so, He opened not His mouth.” “...for the transgressions of My people, He was stricken.” Isaiah 53:7-8
He went through the suffering willing because He and the Father loved us.
“...No deceit was in His mouth.” Isaiah 53:9
Jesus always spoke the truth.
“He made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12
He still prays for us on high.
“You shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.” Isaiah 54:3
As we keep our eyes on Jesus and seek to glorify His Name, He blesses us and expands the footprint our influence among the nations.
“The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has mercy on you.” Isaiah 54:10
This world’s priests and politicians disappoint those who count on them, but the Lord has a covenant of peace, mercy and kindness with us who serve Him. His covenant with us is based on what He did for us in giving His body and blood for us.
“I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal and all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established. You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.” “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:12-15, 17
The Lord’s plan for us is to bring us to paradise. Oppression and terror will be gone. Our heritage from the Lord is exceedingly greatly infinitely better than we experience here on earth. Praise the Lord!
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Jesus Our Glorious Messiah - Isaiah 46-50
“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry and will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:3-4
The Lord chose Israel to be His special treasure. He chose Israel’s branch of the human race to be the race through whom Messiah would be born. It is Messiah abiding in them and being revealed through them that makes them a light to the nations. It is because Messiah is the seed in them that brings salvation to the world that He watches over them and preserves them. Messiah’s presence in them is affirmed by the Word of God that was written by their writers. The Word and Messiah are inseparable.
Glory to God that Messiah in us Gentiles also preserves, prospers and makes us to shine in the world!
“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ ...Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.” Isaiah 46:9-11
The prophecies spoken long ago and fulfilled affirm the trustworthiness of God’s Word.
The authority and reliability of people’s words often fail with time because we do not know the end from the beginning. Someone will make a belief statement that appeals to people, and it becomes popular, and it reigns like a king. Scientific data is rolled out to coronate it. Then, a new belief statement comes out that people like better, and it dethrones the previous one.
Acts 10:43 says, “All the prophets testify about Him [Jesus Christ] that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.” Luke 24:27 says, “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” The whole Bible points people to believe in Jesus for salvation. The Holy Spirit helps people to see and know this truth.
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go. O, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants also would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your body like the grains of sand; his name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me.” Isaiah 46:17-19
The One who created us is reliable and helpful. His commandments are guard rails to protect us from scammers. The Lord gives peace. He gives what is right. He gives abundant life.
“They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.” Isaiah 48:21
The Lord provides for us as we trust in Him. When we were missionaries in China, and even now, we see the Lord providing for us in places that should not produce! Like from deserts and from rocks! The Lord gets the glory because otherwise, we could not do what we do.
“The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother, He has made mention of My Name. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand, He has hidden Me and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me. And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength), Indeed, He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You. Thus says the Lord, “In an acceptable time, I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; that You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.” Isaiah 49:1-2, 5-10
The passage above speaks of Messiah. He was formed by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary’s womb to make God’s Name known among us. He is the sword – the Word of God. He is the arrow from God’s quiver that hits the bullseye in revealing God to us. He has raised up from the tribes of Israel prophets and apostles to write His Word for us. He is the light of Israel. His light shines on us Gentiles. Jesus is the new covenant. He sets us free by declaring us “not guilty” and giving us His Holy Spirit to live a new life.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands...” Isaiah 49:15-16
This passage speaks of the nail scarred hands of our Savior. This passage speaks of His uplifted hands interceding for us on high. This passage speaks of His guiding hands. His Spirit leads us.
“He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. Surely the Lord God will help Me; who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed, they will all grow old like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and rely upon his God.” Isaiah 50:8-10
With Jesus Christ at our side, we need not fear what adversaries might do against us. We may experience setbacks when the enemy attacks, but Jesus transforms the enemy’s setbacks into setups to advance His mission in and through us. As we patiently and confidently continue trusting in Jesus, miracles happen. All things are possible with Him! Praise the Lord!
The Lord chose Israel to be His special treasure. He chose Israel’s branch of the human race to be the race through whom Messiah would be born. It is Messiah abiding in them and being revealed through them that makes them a light to the nations. It is because Messiah is the seed in them that brings salvation to the world that He watches over them and preserves them. Messiah’s presence in them is affirmed by the Word of God that was written by their writers. The Word and Messiah are inseparable.
Glory to God that Messiah in us Gentiles also preserves, prospers and makes us to shine in the world!
“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ ...Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.” Isaiah 46:9-11
The prophecies spoken long ago and fulfilled affirm the trustworthiness of God’s Word.
The authority and reliability of people’s words often fail with time because we do not know the end from the beginning. Someone will make a belief statement that appeals to people, and it becomes popular, and it reigns like a king. Scientific data is rolled out to coronate it. Then, a new belief statement comes out that people like better, and it dethrones the previous one.
Acts 10:43 says, “All the prophets testify about Him [Jesus Christ] that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.” Luke 24:27 says, “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” The whole Bible points people to believe in Jesus for salvation. The Holy Spirit helps people to see and know this truth.
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go. O, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants also would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your body like the grains of sand; his name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me.” Isaiah 46:17-19
The One who created us is reliable and helpful. His commandments are guard rails to protect us from scammers. The Lord gives peace. He gives what is right. He gives abundant life.
“They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.” Isaiah 48:21
The Lord provides for us as we trust in Him. When we were missionaries in China, and even now, we see the Lord providing for us in places that should not produce! Like from deserts and from rocks! The Lord gets the glory because otherwise, we could not do what we do.
“The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother, He has made mention of My Name. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand, He has hidden Me and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me. And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength), Indeed, He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You. Thus says the Lord, “In an acceptable time, I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; that You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.” Isaiah 49:1-2, 5-10
The passage above speaks of Messiah. He was formed by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary’s womb to make God’s Name known among us. He is the sword – the Word of God. He is the arrow from God’s quiver that hits the bullseye in revealing God to us. He has raised up from the tribes of Israel prophets and apostles to write His Word for us. He is the light of Israel. His light shines on us Gentiles. Jesus is the new covenant. He sets us free by declaring us “not guilty” and giving us His Holy Spirit to live a new life.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands...” Isaiah 49:15-16
This passage speaks of the nail scarred hands of our Savior. This passage speaks of His uplifted hands interceding for us on high. This passage speaks of His guiding hands. His Spirit leads us.
“He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. Surely the Lord God will help Me; who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed, they will all grow old like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and rely upon his God.” Isaiah 50:8-10
With Jesus Christ at our side, we need not fear what adversaries might do against us. We may experience setbacks when the enemy attacks, but Jesus transforms the enemy’s setbacks into setups to advance His mission in and through us. As we patiently and confidently continue trusting in Jesus, miracles happen. All things are possible with Him! Praise the Lord!
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
With God Nothing Is Impossible - Isaiah 41-45
The Lord has revealed to us that He is greater than images created by people. Human images are useless. God is a real. He is tangible. He is touchable. He creates out of nothing. He tells us things to come before they happen. For example, in the passages that follow, the Lord gives the name of a pagan king to the captives of Babylon. This pagan king has not yet come to power. He tells them that his name will be Cyrus. The Lord also declares to them that though their sins are as thick as a dark cloud, He blots them out. Praise the Lord!
“Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow? ...I, the Lord, am the first; and with the last I am He.” Isaiah 41:2, 4
The one from the east is King Cyrus. The Lord will mention him by name at the end of chapter 44. He is a pagan king, but just as the Lord raised up Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to chastise Israel, He also raises up Cyrus of Persia to liberate them. This miracle confirms what Proverbs 21:1 says, “In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that He channels toward all who please Him.” And Psalm 22:28 says that the Lord “is the governor of the nations.”
“You, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, you are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:8-10
When the Lord remembers His friend Abraham, He wants to bless Abraham’s offspring. Israel has been scattered to the farthest ends of the earth by the Assyrians and Babylonians who invaded their nation and threw up into the wind like a winnower throws grain into the wind to blow out the chaff from among them while the wheat falls back into his winnowing tray. They were like chaff because they were no longer abiding in Him. They lost that which made them Abraham His friend... relationship. God wanted a personal relationship with them, but they preferred to make gods that they could stick on shelves or hang on walls so they did not have to work at quality interpersonal relationships with God and with one another.
The Lord challenges their false gods...
“Present your case, says the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.” “Indeed they are all worthless. Their works are nothing. Their molded images are wind and confusion.” Isaiah 41:21, 23-24, 29
Their idols cannot show them the things to come. Their images are nothing, and they do nothing. They are an abomination to God.
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.” Isaiah 42:1-4
In Matthew 12:18-21, Matthew quotes the above passage as being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is God’s elect Messiah. In Matthew 3:17, a voice from heaven said of Jesus, “This is My Son, whom I love. With Him I am well pleased.” Jesus will not come as ruler who barks out orders, nor seeks to be popular for popularity’s sake, He comes for the bruised reed and the for one who is about to flame out. He comes to brings justice where there is none. No amount of confrontation will dissuade Him from His mission because HE IS LOVE. Love for people leads Him to teach them right from wrong according to the Word of God.
“I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that, is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:6-8
Jesus made a new covenant with God’s people. The new covenant is that He will be their Passover Lamb. His flesh and blood will be the perfect sacrifice that takes away their sin forever. He opens eyes that could not see God before to see Him. He sets captives free from being Satan’s unhappy servants to serve the Living God. He does a new thing. He gives people new hearts to love a personal God and to loathe lifeless idols.
“Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth...” Isaiah 42:10
The Lord by His Spirit puts a song in our hearts. Songs of His redemption and blessings!
“Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you; therefore, I will give men for you, and people for your life.” Isaiah 43:4
The Lord affirms to us our worth to Him. He loves us. He gives people to aid us on our journey towards Him. He wants us to be with Him in His Father’s house.
“I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.” “Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” Isaiah 43:11, 13
I am so glad that there is only one Savior and that He has made Himself known to us in the Bible. And when He delivers us from our sin, no one can reverse it. The devil might falsely accuse us, but his accusations are lies. God tells us the truth. God saves us.
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: for your sake I will send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives—the Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” Isaiah 43:14-15
So here, the Lord makes clear the context of these promises. The people are captives in exile. They are in Babylon. But the Lord is about to turn the tables so that the Babylonians are treated as criminals and they, His people, are redeemed by His hand... His nailed pierced hand.
“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ...I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.” Isaiah 43:19-21
Our circumstances can be dry like a desert, but then He brings the rain. At one point, there is no road to travel, but then, a road appears. He reminds us through these miracles that He formed us and created us to worship Him!
Before the Lord intervened, His people became weary of serving Him and began to backslide into sin, but even though they failed Him, He did not fail them...
“You have not called upon Me, O Jacob; and you have been weary of Me... nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. ...You have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities.” Isaiah 43:22-24
What did God do after such treatment? He showed them mercy and grace...
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25
He gave them His Holy Spirit...
“I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses. One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s;’ another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” Isaiah 44:3-5
When the Holy Spirit comes, He helps us to know that our identity is with God. It is in Him that we survive and thrive. We have an identity. It is the Name of the Lord. We are His and He is ours. His banner over us is LOVE!
“Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!” Isaiah 44:21-23
When the Lord blots out our sin and we no longer carry the burden of its guilt, it is a wonderful! The dark clouds depart from us. It is a new day. It is time to sing songs of joy!
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: I am the Lord, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself... who says of Cyrus, he is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the temple, your foundation shall be laid.” Isaiah 44:24, 28
The Lord loves us. He formed us in our mother’s womb. For Israel He raised up the Persian King Cyrus who wanted the foundation of the Lord’s house laid in Jerusalem. He wanted the Lord’s house to be rebuilt.
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings... I will go before you and make the crooked places straight... I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” Isaiah 45:1-7
The Lord empowered Cyrus to subdue nations and to inherit riches so that he could help His people Israel. With God nothing is impossible!
“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city and let My exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah 45:13
The Lord raised up Cyrus. To the Lord belongs the glory!
“In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.’” Isaiah 45:25
The ultimate victory for Israel was that God forgave their sins against Him and He declared them righteous based on His redemptive work on their behalf. This victory is not Israel’s alone because now by faith in Christ Jesus, we Gentiles, have become joint-heirs with Israel. When we trust in the merits of Christ His sacrifice on the cross is applied to us. He blots out our sin and we share in His resurrection from the dead. In John 11:25, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live!”
“Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow? ...I, the Lord, am the first; and with the last I am He.” Isaiah 41:2, 4
The one from the east is King Cyrus. The Lord will mention him by name at the end of chapter 44. He is a pagan king, but just as the Lord raised up Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to chastise Israel, He also raises up Cyrus of Persia to liberate them. This miracle confirms what Proverbs 21:1 says, “In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that He channels toward all who please Him.” And Psalm 22:28 says that the Lord “is the governor of the nations.”
“You, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, you are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:8-10
When the Lord remembers His friend Abraham, He wants to bless Abraham’s offspring. Israel has been scattered to the farthest ends of the earth by the Assyrians and Babylonians who invaded their nation and threw up into the wind like a winnower throws grain into the wind to blow out the chaff from among them while the wheat falls back into his winnowing tray. They were like chaff because they were no longer abiding in Him. They lost that which made them Abraham His friend... relationship. God wanted a personal relationship with them, but they preferred to make gods that they could stick on shelves or hang on walls so they did not have to work at quality interpersonal relationships with God and with one another.
The Lord challenges their false gods...
“Present your case, says the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.” “Indeed they are all worthless. Their works are nothing. Their molded images are wind and confusion.” Isaiah 41:21, 23-24, 29
Their idols cannot show them the things to come. Their images are nothing, and they do nothing. They are an abomination to God.
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.” Isaiah 42:1-4
In Matthew 12:18-21, Matthew quotes the above passage as being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is God’s elect Messiah. In Matthew 3:17, a voice from heaven said of Jesus, “This is My Son, whom I love. With Him I am well pleased.” Jesus will not come as ruler who barks out orders, nor seeks to be popular for popularity’s sake, He comes for the bruised reed and the for one who is about to flame out. He comes to brings justice where there is none. No amount of confrontation will dissuade Him from His mission because HE IS LOVE. Love for people leads Him to teach them right from wrong according to the Word of God.
“I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that, is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:6-8
Jesus made a new covenant with God’s people. The new covenant is that He will be their Passover Lamb. His flesh and blood will be the perfect sacrifice that takes away their sin forever. He opens eyes that could not see God before to see Him. He sets captives free from being Satan’s unhappy servants to serve the Living God. He does a new thing. He gives people new hearts to love a personal God and to loathe lifeless idols.
“Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth...” Isaiah 42:10
The Lord by His Spirit puts a song in our hearts. Songs of His redemption and blessings!
“Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you; therefore, I will give men for you, and people for your life.” Isaiah 43:4
The Lord affirms to us our worth to Him. He loves us. He gives people to aid us on our journey towards Him. He wants us to be with Him in His Father’s house.
“I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.” “Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” Isaiah 43:11, 13
I am so glad that there is only one Savior and that He has made Himself known to us in the Bible. And when He delivers us from our sin, no one can reverse it. The devil might falsely accuse us, but his accusations are lies. God tells us the truth. God saves us.
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: for your sake I will send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives—the Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” Isaiah 43:14-15
So here, the Lord makes clear the context of these promises. The people are captives in exile. They are in Babylon. But the Lord is about to turn the tables so that the Babylonians are treated as criminals and they, His people, are redeemed by His hand... His nailed pierced hand.
“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ...I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.” Isaiah 43:19-21
Our circumstances can be dry like a desert, but then He brings the rain. At one point, there is no road to travel, but then, a road appears. He reminds us through these miracles that He formed us and created us to worship Him!
Before the Lord intervened, His people became weary of serving Him and began to backslide into sin, but even though they failed Him, He did not fail them...
“You have not called upon Me, O Jacob; and you have been weary of Me... nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. ...You have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities.” Isaiah 43:22-24
What did God do after such treatment? He showed them mercy and grace...
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25
He gave them His Holy Spirit...
“I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses. One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s;’ another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” Isaiah 44:3-5
When the Holy Spirit comes, He helps us to know that our identity is with God. It is in Him that we survive and thrive. We have an identity. It is the Name of the Lord. We are His and He is ours. His banner over us is LOVE!
“Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!” Isaiah 44:21-23
When the Lord blots out our sin and we no longer carry the burden of its guilt, it is a wonderful! The dark clouds depart from us. It is a new day. It is time to sing songs of joy!
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: I am the Lord, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself... who says of Cyrus, he is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the temple, your foundation shall be laid.” Isaiah 44:24, 28
The Lord loves us. He formed us in our mother’s womb. For Israel He raised up the Persian King Cyrus who wanted the foundation of the Lord’s house laid in Jerusalem. He wanted the Lord’s house to be rebuilt.
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings... I will go before you and make the crooked places straight... I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” Isaiah 45:1-7
The Lord empowered Cyrus to subdue nations and to inherit riches so that he could help His people Israel. With God nothing is impossible!
“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city and let My exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah 45:13
The Lord raised up Cyrus. To the Lord belongs the glory!
“In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.’” Isaiah 45:25
The ultimate victory for Israel was that God forgave their sins against Him and He declared them righteous based on His redemptive work on their behalf. This victory is not Israel’s alone because now by faith in Christ Jesus, we Gentiles, have become joint-heirs with Israel. When we trust in the merits of Christ His sacrifice on the cross is applied to us. He blots out our sin and we share in His resurrection from the dead. In John 11:25, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live!”
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Entering The Promised Land - Jeremiah 52
With the exception of a few changes Jeremiah 52 is the same as 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. Only verses 28-30 of Jeremiah are added to the 2 Kings account. 2 Kings 25:22-26 is omitted from Jeremiah 52. Religious authorities in both the Judaic and Christian traditions continue to recognize Jeremiah as the author of the Books of Kings. The duplication of text in both books lends credibility to that position. Thus, Jeremiah is the second most prolific writer of the Bible, while Moses is the first.
Jeremiah 51:64 states, “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah” to formally conclude his prophetic words against Babylon, signaling the finality and completeness of the prophet’s message. This phrase distinguishes the preceding prophetic material from the last chapter. Chapter 52 is mostly repeated material from 2 Kings 24:18-25:30 which serves as a recap of events.
“According to a Jewish tradition, Nebuchadnezzar, after his conquest of Egypt, transported Jeremiah and Baruch to Babylon, where Jeremiah died peacefully.” [1]
“Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” Jeremiah 52:1-3
Zedekiah was evil and rebellious. He was blessed to have one of the most prolific writers of the Bible speak to him, but to no avail. He let the words of others be louder in his ears than God’s.
How about us? We have access to all God’s words in the Bible. Are God’s words larger in our lives than the words of others?
In 1979, when I first read the books of Kings, God made the kings who brought their kingdoms into alignment with His Word stand out to me. I made a choice after these readings to purge things from my life that did not line up with God’s Word. I wanted the “kingdom” of my heart liberated from idols. I wanted to be a man after God’s heart. Looking back, I have no regrets. The Lord satisfies my soul with His love, joy, peace and grace.
King Zedekiah’s and Jerusalem’s story would have been so much better if they had loved God. They made very bad choices. God helps people to make good choices.
“Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.” Jeremiah 52:4-6
The siege of Jerusalem lasted 30 months (2.5 years) according to the time frame given above. Can you imagine being in a walled city surrounded by the mightiest army on earth? You could hear the noise of battle from time to time. You could see wounded and dead soldiers being transported from the wall. At first, food supplies would be enough, but certain types of foods would be unavailable. But at the end of two and a half years, there was no food. Apart from a miracle you would not survive.
“Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah. He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.” Jeremiah 52:7-11
In John 10:12, Jesus said, “A hireling, who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.”
The king, his generals and his sons enjoyed the perks of their positions but not the responsibility to protect the sheep. They fled from the Babylonian wolves under the cover of darkness but were soon captured. They were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar.
Zedekiah's sons and officials were executed before his eyes. Then, his eyes were removed. The Babylonians bound him with bronze chains and imprisoned him until the day he died.
What a tragedy! King Zedekiah should have listened to the Lord. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Zedekiah feared to stand with God so he stood with those who opposed God. Now, both they and his sons were no more. Zedekiah would now spend the rest of his earthly life in a prison without eyes to see.
“Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.” Jeremiah 52:12-16
The temple, the palace and the mansions of the “great” people are burning. The air is hot and difficult to breathe due to the smoke. There’s the sound of the city’s walls being demolished. Babylonian soldiers are organizing some poor people and skilled workers for transfer to Babylon while preparing others to be transferred to vineyards and farms to work the fields.
“The excavations along the Kidron Valley confirm that the Babylonians systematically tore down the walls of Jerusalem. This was in fulfillment of Jeremiah’s calling to uproot and tear down nations and kingdoms.” “This, too, [the burning of Jerusalem] is in the archaeological record, for Babylonian arrowheads have been found among the ashes of Jeremiah’s Jerusalem.” [2]
“The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The basins, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups, whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, one sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under it, and the carts, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. Now concerning the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, a measuring line of twelve cubits could measure its circumference, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow. A capital of bronze was on it. The height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar, with pomegranates, was the same. There were 96 pomegranates on the sides. All the pomegranates, all around on the network, were 100.” Jeremiah 52:17-23
Babylon confiscated the treasures of Jerusalem. World conquering empires tend to treat their prey this way. The original temple that Solomon built involved 3,750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver worth about US$56 billion in today’s currency. How much was still there when Babylon confiscated it is unknown. The amount of bronze that Babylon took away could have exceeded 100 tons. In Ezra 1:5-10, the Jews brought back to Jerusalem a total of 5,469 items of gold and silver that had been stolen from the temple. It was a tremendous amount of treasure.
God’s prophets had tried to keep this from coming to pass, but no one would listen to them.
“The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus, Judah was carried away captive from its own land.” Jeremiah 52:24-27
“Brain drain” was another huge loss for Judea. The Babylonians executed many of the highly educated and skillful leaders of Judah. Others, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they took away to serve their purposes in Babylon.
“These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews 745 persons. All the persons were 4,600.” Jeremiah 52:28-30
The good side of this “brain drain” was that some of these captives received world-class educations. They got to mingle with some of the best and brightest minds of the world. They also learned how to communicate in other languages. This was a great opportunity to be witnesses for the Lord.
In Daniel 3:29, after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, he made a decree that no one should speak against their God. “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
In Daniel 4:34, after Daniel interpreted one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams and that dream came to pass just as he predicted, Nebuchadnezzar praised the Lord. He said, “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High. I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation.” Sadly, this change in Nebuchadnezzar’s heart towards God did not change the heart and soul of his empire.
“Now it came to pass in the 37th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the 12th month, on the 25th day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.” Jeremiah 52:31-34
Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king of Judah. He rebelled against Babylon’s rule. So, after reigning three short months, Babylon dethroned and imprisoned him. 37 years into the Babylonian captivity, a little over halfway before it ended, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon set King Jehoiachin of Judah free from prison. He spoke kindly to him. He gave him a seat of honor above other kings.
Thus, Jeremiah’s book ends on a note of God’s grace. God’s grace moved a Babylonian king to treat a Judean king kindly. This blessing of grace reminds me of the last verse of the Bible, which is Revelation 22:21, it says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”
It is by the grace of God that anyone enters the heavenly Promised Land. In Acts 10:43, Peter preached, “All the prophets testify about Him [Jesus Christ] that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.” In Ephesians 2:8, Paul preached, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” God’s grace levels the playing field. Everyone must enter by faith in Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:11-12 says, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, page 368. See also “Seder Olam Rabba 26.”
[2] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 724
Jeremiah 51:64 states, “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah” to formally conclude his prophetic words against Babylon, signaling the finality and completeness of the prophet’s message. This phrase distinguishes the preceding prophetic material from the last chapter. Chapter 52 is mostly repeated material from 2 Kings 24:18-25:30 which serves as a recap of events.
“According to a Jewish tradition, Nebuchadnezzar, after his conquest of Egypt, transported Jeremiah and Baruch to Babylon, where Jeremiah died peacefully.” [1]
“Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” Jeremiah 52:1-3
Zedekiah was evil and rebellious. He was blessed to have one of the most prolific writers of the Bible speak to him, but to no avail. He let the words of others be louder in his ears than God’s.
How about us? We have access to all God’s words in the Bible. Are God’s words larger in our lives than the words of others?
In 1979, when I first read the books of Kings, God made the kings who brought their kingdoms into alignment with His Word stand out to me. I made a choice after these readings to purge things from my life that did not line up with God’s Word. I wanted the “kingdom” of my heart liberated from idols. I wanted to be a man after God’s heart. Looking back, I have no regrets. The Lord satisfies my soul with His love, joy, peace and grace.
King Zedekiah’s and Jerusalem’s story would have been so much better if they had loved God. They made very bad choices. God helps people to make good choices.
“Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.” Jeremiah 52:4-6
The siege of Jerusalem lasted 30 months (2.5 years) according to the time frame given above. Can you imagine being in a walled city surrounded by the mightiest army on earth? You could hear the noise of battle from time to time. You could see wounded and dead soldiers being transported from the wall. At first, food supplies would be enough, but certain types of foods would be unavailable. But at the end of two and a half years, there was no food. Apart from a miracle you would not survive.
“Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah. He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.” Jeremiah 52:7-11
In John 10:12, Jesus said, “A hireling, who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.”
The king, his generals and his sons enjoyed the perks of their positions but not the responsibility to protect the sheep. They fled from the Babylonian wolves under the cover of darkness but were soon captured. They were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar.
Zedekiah's sons and officials were executed before his eyes. Then, his eyes were removed. The Babylonians bound him with bronze chains and imprisoned him until the day he died.
What a tragedy! King Zedekiah should have listened to the Lord. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Zedekiah feared to stand with God so he stood with those who opposed God. Now, both they and his sons were no more. Zedekiah would now spend the rest of his earthly life in a prison without eyes to see.
“Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.” Jeremiah 52:12-16
The temple, the palace and the mansions of the “great” people are burning. The air is hot and difficult to breathe due to the smoke. There’s the sound of the city’s walls being demolished. Babylonian soldiers are organizing some poor people and skilled workers for transfer to Babylon while preparing others to be transferred to vineyards and farms to work the fields.
“The excavations along the Kidron Valley confirm that the Babylonians systematically tore down the walls of Jerusalem. This was in fulfillment of Jeremiah’s calling to uproot and tear down nations and kingdoms.” “This, too, [the burning of Jerusalem] is in the archaeological record, for Babylonian arrowheads have been found among the ashes of Jeremiah’s Jerusalem.” [2]
“The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The basins, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups, whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, one sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under it, and the carts, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. Now concerning the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, a measuring line of twelve cubits could measure its circumference, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow. A capital of bronze was on it. The height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar, with pomegranates, was the same. There were 96 pomegranates on the sides. All the pomegranates, all around on the network, were 100.” Jeremiah 52:17-23
Babylon confiscated the treasures of Jerusalem. World conquering empires tend to treat their prey this way. The original temple that Solomon built involved 3,750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver worth about US$56 billion in today’s currency. How much was still there when Babylon confiscated it is unknown. The amount of bronze that Babylon took away could have exceeded 100 tons. In Ezra 1:5-10, the Jews brought back to Jerusalem a total of 5,469 items of gold and silver that had been stolen from the temple. It was a tremendous amount of treasure.
God’s prophets had tried to keep this from coming to pass, but no one would listen to them.
“The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus, Judah was carried away captive from its own land.” Jeremiah 52:24-27
“Brain drain” was another huge loss for Judea. The Babylonians executed many of the highly educated and skillful leaders of Judah. Others, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they took away to serve their purposes in Babylon.
“These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews 745 persons. All the persons were 4,600.” Jeremiah 52:28-30
The good side of this “brain drain” was that some of these captives received world-class educations. They got to mingle with some of the best and brightest minds of the world. They also learned how to communicate in other languages. This was a great opportunity to be witnesses for the Lord.
In Daniel 3:29, after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, he made a decree that no one should speak against their God. “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
In Daniel 4:34, after Daniel interpreted one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams and that dream came to pass just as he predicted, Nebuchadnezzar praised the Lord. He said, “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High. I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation.” Sadly, this change in Nebuchadnezzar’s heart towards God did not change the heart and soul of his empire.
“Now it came to pass in the 37th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the 12th month, on the 25th day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.” Jeremiah 52:31-34
Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king of Judah. He rebelled against Babylon’s rule. So, after reigning three short months, Babylon dethroned and imprisoned him. 37 years into the Babylonian captivity, a little over halfway before it ended, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon set King Jehoiachin of Judah free from prison. He spoke kindly to him. He gave him a seat of honor above other kings.
Thus, Jeremiah’s book ends on a note of God’s grace. God’s grace moved a Babylonian king to treat a Judean king kindly. This blessing of grace reminds me of the last verse of the Bible, which is Revelation 22:21, it says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”
It is by the grace of God that anyone enters the heavenly Promised Land. In Acts 10:43, Peter preached, “All the prophets testify about Him [Jesus Christ] that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.” In Ephesians 2:8, Paul preached, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” God’s grace levels the playing field. Everyone must enter by faith in Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:11-12 says, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Attached is a link to a power point version of this article
which I have recorded on my YouTube channel:
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, page 368. See also “Seder Olam Rabba 26.”
[2] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 724
Monday, October 13, 2025
Saved By God’s Grace - Jeremiah 51
“Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel” God’s grace makes the difference. May the Lord help us all to open our hearts to the truth that only by God’s grace are we saved through faith in Him.
“Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, a destroying wind. And I will send winnowers to Babylon, who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom they shall be against her all around. Against her let the archer bend his bow and lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men. Utterly destroy all her army. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and those thrust through in her streets. For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel” Jeremiah 51:1-5
“Raise up a destroying wind” this Hebrew phrase is better translated a “arouse the spirit of a destroyer.” These words designate Babylon as the very heart, the life seat, of opposition against the Lord, the antichrist of the Old Testament, and a type of the New Testament antichrist.” [1]
Babylon resisted the wind of God’s Spirit which Daniel, a top official in their midst, had revealed to them. In Daniel 4:18, 5:11-14, two kings and one queen of Babylon acknowledged that the spirit of the holy God was in Daniel, but they did not convert to faith in Him. They rejected the life-giving wind of God and reaped the life-taking wind of Satan. In Job 1:19, the devil sent a wind against a home where Job’s sons and daughters were gathered. His wind took their lives.
On September 18, 2004, the winds of hurricane Ivan drove waves as high as 15 feet over the land of Destin, Florida. The wind and waves ravaged houses and property. In the days that followed, homeless survivors had blank looks on their faces. Their shoulders were sagging. When we empathized with their losses, they broke down and cried. We hugged. They wept.
To winnow wheat is to throw wheat into the air so that the wind catches the chaff and blows it away. The heavier wheat falls back down into the tray from which it was tossed upward. Babylon was useless chaff. Those who called upon the Name of the Lord were the wheat.
In Matthew 3:12, John the Baptist spoke of the Messiah as a winnower of wheat and a burner of chaff. In Luke 13:5, Jesus warned people to repent or perish. The people of Jerusalem, for the most part did not repent. They crucified Him. Nearly, 40 years later about one million perished.
In 70 AD, the Roman army, led by Titus, besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. Starvation and plagues ensued. The fall of Jerusalem resulted in the deaths of approximately one million Jews and the enslavement of tens of thousands more.
On the Day of Pentecost, about 40 years prior the Roman siege by Titus, the Holy Spirit filled the disciples of Jesus. They began preaching boldly about Jesus in Jerusalem. Then, persecution broke out against them so they departed and took the Gospel to other regions. Thus, most of those who repented and believed in Jesus were not in Jerusalem when it was destroyed. They avoided the winds of war because they were moved along by the wind of the Holy Spirit.
“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance. He shall recompense her.” Jeremiah 51:6
When God pronounces judgments against your nation and your nation refuses to repent, pray! The Lord helped Noah to avoid a flood. He helped Lot to avoid a fire. He helped Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to avoid a sword. In Psalm 32:7, King David wrote, “You [God] are my hiding place.”
Whether pagans or apostates, the Lord advises His faithful ones to come away from those who are about to incur His wrath. In Exodus 32, the people began to worship a golden calf while Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. When he saw the mayhem, he said in Exodus 32:26, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered to him. 3,000 men fell that day. The Lord gave a similar word to the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 6:17, Paul wrote, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
3,000 men died during the rebellion against God in the days of Moses, but 3,000 people were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. This events illustrate what the Lord said in 2 Corinthians 3:6, “The letter [of the Law] kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Or as Martin Luther put it, “The Law discovers the disease. The Gospel gives the remedy.”
“Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, which made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore, the nations are deranged.” Jeremiah 51:7
“Babylon’s influence was like strong wine to the nations which idolized Babylon in spite of her cruel arrogance, her avarice, her selfish exploitation.” [2]
Babylon looked good on the outside – gold, but her wine caused derangement. People began to see good as evil and evil as good. Inside Babylon’s beautiful cup was a bad brew... a spirit of lawlessness like Paul mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. As people drank Babylon’s wine, they became proud, dark-hearted, debased, evil-minded, and violent. (Romans 1:21-32)
“Urban missiologist Ray Bakke observes, ‘Throughout the Bible, Babylon is a symbol of the city which is anti-God.’” “As Augustine studied the Bible, he discovered that Babylon represented the City of Man standing against the City of God. Then, as he examined his own culture, he realized that Rome had become the capital City of Man.”
“The most popular idol in Babylon was mammon. The idol makers were chiefly goldsmiths. They plundered gold and jewels from all their enemies and carried them back to their fabulous palaces. Robert Linthicum issues this stinging indictment: ‘In essence, all the rest of the world has become the third world to Babylon. Babylon was enriched but the price was the destitution of the other countries and peoples of the world. Babylon’s greed and lust for wealth and economic security raped the rest of the world, leaving it helpless and destitute, unable to cope either nationally or individually with the exigencies of life. The radical impoverishment of the world, both of its peoples and its natural resources, meant nothing to Babylon, as long as she could have her little niceties and obscene luxuries.” [3]
“Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us go everyone to his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.” Jeremiah 51:8-9
The Lord called for lamentation. He called for a healing balm. God loves even His enemies. His messengers would have stayed behind to heal her, but she refused to be healed. So, the Lord advised them to return to their own countries. When a nation’s criminal record is so long that it reaches to heaven, and she refuses to repent, her sentence will be devastating.
“The Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 51:10
The Lord revealed that His avenging hand was vindicating His chosen people. He urges His people to return to Zion in order to proclaim, “the work of the Lord, our God.” [4]
The cure for Babylon’s disease cannot be purchased at a pharmacy or be discovered at a lab. Her disease was sin. No human can remove sin. Only God can! Amidst the pain and trials of exile, God revealed to His people that righteousness originates with Him. It is God’s work. When anyone turns to the Lord, He accounts their faith in Him as righteousness. As Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The just [righteous] shall live by faith [in God].” Babylon refused to believe in the Lord.
“Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for His temple. Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon. Make the guard strong. Set up the watchmen. Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.” Jeremiah 51:11-12
The Babylonians destroyed God’s temple in Jerusalem with a sinister delight. The Lord was after them to repent, but since they refused to do so, their nation declined. Arrows, shields, and kings came against them to destroy them!
“O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you. He has made the earth by His power. He has established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heaven by His understanding. When He utters His voice—there is a multitude of waters in the heavens. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain. He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” Jeremiah 51:13-16
At the moment of this prophesy, all was well with Babylon. They were rich. Their thirst for pleasure was abundantly quenched. But the armies of foreign nations were approaching like a swarm of locusts ready to consume all that Babylon held dear. The Maker of heaven and earth guaranteed it! God was going to channel the winds of change toward Babylon. By the way, the end times Babylon also experiences an army that is compared to locusts in Revelation 9:7.
“Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge. Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; for his molded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are futile, a work of errors. In the time of their punishment, they shall perish. The Portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the Maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His Name.” Jeremiah 51:17-19
Idols are lifeless and worthless. Manmade idols cannot save anyone. The descendants of Jacob had a better portion than their wealthy captors. They had the true and living God. Babylon had built their house on sand. Jacob’s descendants had the Word of God. When Israel returned to the Lord, they were back on a solid foundation. It was only a manner of time until Babylon’s foundation crumbled. Israel’s house would not only stand the test of time it would expand.
“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: for with you I will break the nation in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms; with you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; with you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider; with you also I will break in pieces man and woman; with you I will break in pieces old and young; with you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden; with you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; with you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.” Jeremiah 51:20-23
The Medes became God’s battle-axe to chop down Babylon’s military defenses and to kill her food producers (shepherds and farmers). This word harkens back to the potter who shattered his clay pot and reformed it, as well as to Jeremiah’s calling to uproot and plant.
“And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight, says the Lord. Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth, says the Lord. And I will stretch out My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain. They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 51:24-26
What is happening? God is repaying those who have treated His people cruelly. The Lord is against the mountain (the evil empire) that destroys all the earth. He is crumbling her into dust and not leaving one rock upon another.
In Mark 11:22-23, Jesus told His disciples, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Jesus was not referring to “the name it claim it” doctrine of money-minded evangelists here. He had previously cursed a fruitless fig tree, and it died. His disciples were amazed. The context of this passage is that instead of finding fruit in Jerusalem, Jesus found a mountain of corruption. The sky-high religious hypocrisy in Jerusalem required faith in God to bring it down.
Revelation 8:8 reveals something like a great mountain burning with fire thrown into the sea. This event illustrates the prophecy that evil will be uprooted before holiness is planted.
“Set up a banner in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. Prepare against her the nations, with the kings of the Medes, its governors and all its rulers, all the land of his dominion. And the land will tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.” Jeremiah 51:27-29
“Jeremiah mentioned the invaders by name. Babylon would be attacked by the Medes and the Ashkenazi, the peoples of Armenia and Kurdistan who were conquered by Cyrus and his Persian army in 550 BC. Their attack would be carefully coordinated.” [5]
“The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting. They have remained in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They became like women. They have burned her dwelling places. The bars of her gate are broken. One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides. The passages are blocked. The reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are terrified. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is time to thresh her; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.” Jeremiah 51:30-33
Cowardice is common trait among the armies of nations that God judges. Previously, Babylon’s army conquered the world. Now, they are afraid to come out of their bunkers. They are being threshed like wheat. “They are taking a thrashing.”
“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has swallowed me up like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies. He has spit me out. ‘Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,’ the inhabitant of Zion will say; ‘and my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!’ Jerusalem will say.” Jeremiah 51:34-35
King Nebuchadnezzar is compared to a monster that swallowed and spit God’s people out. This imagery is used in the Book of Daniel and in Revelation to describe the antichrist who enjoys hurting and destroying people. Daniel 7:7 says, “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.” In Revelation 13, John “saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.” Those who worshiped it, said, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” These beasts demand absolute loyalty to their ungodly agendas.
“Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions they shall growl like lions’ whelps. In their excitement I will prepare their feasts. I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake, says the Lord. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.’” Jeremiah 51:36-40
I am glad that the Lord pleads the case of His people and takes vengeance on those who hurt us. Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge. I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
To plead the cause of another is to be their advocate. There’s no better advocate than God. I like to say, “God plus one is a majority.” In 1 John 1:1-2, Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” When the devil reminds me of my sins, I remind him that Jesus is my Advocate. According to Jeremiah 31:34, “God remembers my sin no more.”
The Holy Spirit is our Advocate. Jesus said in John 14:16, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever.” And in John 14:26, He said, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
God promised to dry up Babylon’s waters and turn her city into ruins. A no man’s land! Instead of God’s people being slaughtered, the Babylonians would be the victims of the slaughter.
“O, how Sheshach is taken! O, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! The sea has come up over Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land where no one dwells, through which no son of man passes.” Jeremiah 51:41-43
Sheshach is a code word for Babylon. Surprise is expressed that such a great empire could end so abruptly. It was as though a wave washed a sandcastle away. There is a similar cry in the last days when the end times Babylon empire is destroyed. The merchants cry, “Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!”
“I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; and the nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.” Jeremiah 51:44
God makes Bel spew out the people he swallowed. As I read this, the book of Jonah came to my mind. Jonah had disobeyed the Lord. He was taken captive in the belly of a great fish, but then, Jonah repented. He prayed. And then, the Lord caused the fish to spew him out on dry land.
The wall of Babylon was about to fall. Her inmates would be free.
“My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the Lord. And lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land (a rumor will come one year, and after that, in another year a rumor will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler). Therefore behold, the days are coming that I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon. Her whole land shall be ashamed. All her slain shall fall in her midst. Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing joyously over Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 51:45-48
God warned His people a second time to leave Babylon. “Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.” There’s a similar word in Revelation 18:4-5, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.”
“As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. You who have escaped the sword, get away! Do not stand still! Remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come to your mind.” Jeremiah 51:49-50
The above passage parallels Revelation 18:6, “Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup.” Give back to her as she has given! “Let Jerusalem come to your mind!” “People of God, you are going home!”
“We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house. 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. 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.” Jeremiah 51:51-53
“Babylon would meet the same fate as Babel, for ‘man’s attempt to build himself up to the skies ends only in building up his judgment.’” [6]
“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, 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, 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. 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.” Jeremiah 51:54-57
The Lord assures His people that Babylon will not arise again. She shall sleep. Israel and Judah are going home. Anyone who has experienced years of abuse may find it hard to believe that it is over when it is over. So, the Lord assures them that it is over. A new day has arrived!
“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.” Jeremiah 51:58
“The first news seems to refer to the collapse of the defenses outside the city. These were vast. In addition to the two massive walls surrounding the heart of Babylon, an inner one some 21 feet thick and an outer one over 12 feet thick, there were great walls thrown up at intervals beyond the city together with a chain of fortresses north and south of the city.” “According to Herodotus, the outer walls of Babylon were 300 feet high and seventy-five feet wide, wide enough to drive several chariots abreast. Yet they would all fall down, furnishing more fuel for the flames of divine judgment.” [7]
“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. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these Words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, ‘When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, 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.’ 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. 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.” Jeremiah 51:59-64
Jeremiah instructed his cousin Seraiah to take the scroll to Babylon, read it, and afterwards remind the Lord of His promise to destroy the city. Then, tie a stone to the scroll and throw it into the Euphrates River. After throwing the scroll into the river, he was to declare that Babylon would sink to never rise again. Jeremiah’s prophecy began with words of Babylon’s climb to superpower status and ended it with the promise of Babylon’s demise.
In the last days, an empire like unto Babylon will arise and afterwards be destroyed. Then, New Jerusalem will down from heaven as a bride prepared for the Lord.
“The similarities between Jeremiah and Revelation are numerous. One might almost say that Revelation 17–19 is based on Jeremiah 50–51. Like Jeremiah, John saw a golden cup in the hand of Babylon. He exposed her idolatry, especially her love for excessive luxuries. He accused her of violence against God’s people. He warned God’s people to flee from her on the Day of Judgment.” “Most striking of all, John’s vision included a stone cast into the watery depths: ‘Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea and said: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.’” “John’s vision was as heavy as Jeremiah’s prophecy. When Jeremiah caused a stone to be thrown into the Euphrates, he was prophesying about the end of history, when the City of Satan will sink to the bottom of the sea. Jeremiah was among the first to celebrate the victory of Jesus Christ over sin, death, the devil, and all the enemies of God.” [8]
Romans 11:32 says, “God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.” So, whether a descendant of Israel or a Gentile, God’s mercy saves us. Paul wrote to the competitive Christians in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Salvation is received as a gift from God. Romans 3:22-24 says, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
If we are not careful, our greatest strength will become our greatest weakness. Babylon enjoyed superpower status, but did not turn to the Lord. They lost everything. Israel incurred captivity, but DID turn to Lord. God saved them and restored them to the Promised Land.
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 360. See also Revelation 17:5.
[2] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 361. See also Habakkuk 2:6-17
[3] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 712-714
[4] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 362.
[5] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 703-705
[6] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 709-710
[7] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 707-708
[8] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 715-718. See also Revelation 17:4, 18:3-5, 7, 11-21
“Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, a destroying wind. And I will send winnowers to Babylon, who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom they shall be against her all around. Against her let the archer bend his bow and lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men. Utterly destroy all her army. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and those thrust through in her streets. For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel” Jeremiah 51:1-5
“Raise up a destroying wind” this Hebrew phrase is better translated a “arouse the spirit of a destroyer.” These words designate Babylon as the very heart, the life seat, of opposition against the Lord, the antichrist of the Old Testament, and a type of the New Testament antichrist.” [1]
Babylon resisted the wind of God’s Spirit which Daniel, a top official in their midst, had revealed to them. In Daniel 4:18, 5:11-14, two kings and one queen of Babylon acknowledged that the spirit of the holy God was in Daniel, but they did not convert to faith in Him. They rejected the life-giving wind of God and reaped the life-taking wind of Satan. In Job 1:19, the devil sent a wind against a home where Job’s sons and daughters were gathered. His wind took their lives.
On September 18, 2004, the winds of hurricane Ivan drove waves as high as 15 feet over the land of Destin, Florida. The wind and waves ravaged houses and property. In the days that followed, homeless survivors had blank looks on their faces. Their shoulders were sagging. When we empathized with their losses, they broke down and cried. We hugged. They wept.
To winnow wheat is to throw wheat into the air so that the wind catches the chaff and blows it away. The heavier wheat falls back down into the tray from which it was tossed upward. Babylon was useless chaff. Those who called upon the Name of the Lord were the wheat.
In Matthew 3:12, John the Baptist spoke of the Messiah as a winnower of wheat and a burner of chaff. In Luke 13:5, Jesus warned people to repent or perish. The people of Jerusalem, for the most part did not repent. They crucified Him. Nearly, 40 years later about one million perished.
In 70 AD, the Roman army, led by Titus, besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. Starvation and plagues ensued. The fall of Jerusalem resulted in the deaths of approximately one million Jews and the enslavement of tens of thousands more.
On the Day of Pentecost, about 40 years prior the Roman siege by Titus, the Holy Spirit filled the disciples of Jesus. They began preaching boldly about Jesus in Jerusalem. Then, persecution broke out against them so they departed and took the Gospel to other regions. Thus, most of those who repented and believed in Jesus were not in Jerusalem when it was destroyed. They avoided the winds of war because they were moved along by the wind of the Holy Spirit.
“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance. He shall recompense her.” Jeremiah 51:6
When God pronounces judgments against your nation and your nation refuses to repent, pray! The Lord helped Noah to avoid a flood. He helped Lot to avoid a fire. He helped Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to avoid a sword. In Psalm 32:7, King David wrote, “You [God] are my hiding place.”
Whether pagans or apostates, the Lord advises His faithful ones to come away from those who are about to incur His wrath. In Exodus 32, the people began to worship a golden calf while Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. When he saw the mayhem, he said in Exodus 32:26, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered to him. 3,000 men fell that day. The Lord gave a similar word to the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 6:17, Paul wrote, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
3,000 men died during the rebellion against God in the days of Moses, but 3,000 people were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. This events illustrate what the Lord said in 2 Corinthians 3:6, “The letter [of the Law] kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Or as Martin Luther put it, “The Law discovers the disease. The Gospel gives the remedy.”
“Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, which made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore, the nations are deranged.” Jeremiah 51:7
“Babylon’s influence was like strong wine to the nations which idolized Babylon in spite of her cruel arrogance, her avarice, her selfish exploitation.” [2]
Babylon looked good on the outside – gold, but her wine caused derangement. People began to see good as evil and evil as good. Inside Babylon’s beautiful cup was a bad brew... a spirit of lawlessness like Paul mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. As people drank Babylon’s wine, they became proud, dark-hearted, debased, evil-minded, and violent. (Romans 1:21-32)
“Urban missiologist Ray Bakke observes, ‘Throughout the Bible, Babylon is a symbol of the city which is anti-God.’” “As Augustine studied the Bible, he discovered that Babylon represented the City of Man standing against the City of God. Then, as he examined his own culture, he realized that Rome had become the capital City of Man.”
“The most popular idol in Babylon was mammon. The idol makers were chiefly goldsmiths. They plundered gold and jewels from all their enemies and carried them back to their fabulous palaces. Robert Linthicum issues this stinging indictment: ‘In essence, all the rest of the world has become the third world to Babylon. Babylon was enriched but the price was the destitution of the other countries and peoples of the world. Babylon’s greed and lust for wealth and economic security raped the rest of the world, leaving it helpless and destitute, unable to cope either nationally or individually with the exigencies of life. The radical impoverishment of the world, both of its peoples and its natural resources, meant nothing to Babylon, as long as she could have her little niceties and obscene luxuries.” [3]
“Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us go everyone to his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.” Jeremiah 51:8-9
The Lord called for lamentation. He called for a healing balm. God loves even His enemies. His messengers would have stayed behind to heal her, but she refused to be healed. So, the Lord advised them to return to their own countries. When a nation’s criminal record is so long that it reaches to heaven, and she refuses to repent, her sentence will be devastating.
“The Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 51:10
The Lord revealed that His avenging hand was vindicating His chosen people. He urges His people to return to Zion in order to proclaim, “the work of the Lord, our God.” [4]
The cure for Babylon’s disease cannot be purchased at a pharmacy or be discovered at a lab. Her disease was sin. No human can remove sin. Only God can! Amidst the pain and trials of exile, God revealed to His people that righteousness originates with Him. It is God’s work. When anyone turns to the Lord, He accounts their faith in Him as righteousness. As Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The just [righteous] shall live by faith [in God].” Babylon refused to believe in the Lord.
“Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for His temple. Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon. Make the guard strong. Set up the watchmen. Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.” Jeremiah 51:11-12
The Babylonians destroyed God’s temple in Jerusalem with a sinister delight. The Lord was after them to repent, but since they refused to do so, their nation declined. Arrows, shields, and kings came against them to destroy them!
“O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you. He has made the earth by His power. He has established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heaven by His understanding. When He utters His voice—there is a multitude of waters in the heavens. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain. He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” Jeremiah 51:13-16
At the moment of this prophesy, all was well with Babylon. They were rich. Their thirst for pleasure was abundantly quenched. But the armies of foreign nations were approaching like a swarm of locusts ready to consume all that Babylon held dear. The Maker of heaven and earth guaranteed it! God was going to channel the winds of change toward Babylon. By the way, the end times Babylon also experiences an army that is compared to locusts in Revelation 9:7.
“Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge. Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; for his molded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are futile, a work of errors. In the time of their punishment, they shall perish. The Portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the Maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His Name.” Jeremiah 51:17-19
Idols are lifeless and worthless. Manmade idols cannot save anyone. The descendants of Jacob had a better portion than their wealthy captors. They had the true and living God. Babylon had built their house on sand. Jacob’s descendants had the Word of God. When Israel returned to the Lord, they were back on a solid foundation. It was only a manner of time until Babylon’s foundation crumbled. Israel’s house would not only stand the test of time it would expand.
“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: for with you I will break the nation in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms; with you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; with you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider; with you also I will break in pieces man and woman; with you I will break in pieces old and young; with you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden; with you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; with you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.” Jeremiah 51:20-23
The Medes became God’s battle-axe to chop down Babylon’s military defenses and to kill her food producers (shepherds and farmers). This word harkens back to the potter who shattered his clay pot and reformed it, as well as to Jeremiah’s calling to uproot and plant.
“And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight, says the Lord. Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth, says the Lord. And I will stretch out My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain. They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 51:24-26
What is happening? God is repaying those who have treated His people cruelly. The Lord is against the mountain (the evil empire) that destroys all the earth. He is crumbling her into dust and not leaving one rock upon another.
In Mark 11:22-23, Jesus told His disciples, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Jesus was not referring to “the name it claim it” doctrine of money-minded evangelists here. He had previously cursed a fruitless fig tree, and it died. His disciples were amazed. The context of this passage is that instead of finding fruit in Jerusalem, Jesus found a mountain of corruption. The sky-high religious hypocrisy in Jerusalem required faith in God to bring it down.
Revelation 8:8 reveals something like a great mountain burning with fire thrown into the sea. This event illustrates the prophecy that evil will be uprooted before holiness is planted.
“Set up a banner in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. Prepare against her the nations, with the kings of the Medes, its governors and all its rulers, all the land of his dominion. And the land will tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.” Jeremiah 51:27-29
“Jeremiah mentioned the invaders by name. Babylon would be attacked by the Medes and the Ashkenazi, the peoples of Armenia and Kurdistan who were conquered by Cyrus and his Persian army in 550 BC. Their attack would be carefully coordinated.” [5]
“The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting. They have remained in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They became like women. They have burned her dwelling places. The bars of her gate are broken. One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides. The passages are blocked. The reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are terrified. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is time to thresh her; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.” Jeremiah 51:30-33
Cowardice is common trait among the armies of nations that God judges. Previously, Babylon’s army conquered the world. Now, they are afraid to come out of their bunkers. They are being threshed like wheat. “They are taking a thrashing.”
“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has swallowed me up like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies. He has spit me out. ‘Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,’ the inhabitant of Zion will say; ‘and my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!’ Jerusalem will say.” Jeremiah 51:34-35
King Nebuchadnezzar is compared to a monster that swallowed and spit God’s people out. This imagery is used in the Book of Daniel and in Revelation to describe the antichrist who enjoys hurting and destroying people. Daniel 7:7 says, “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.” In Revelation 13, John “saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.” Those who worshiped it, said, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” These beasts demand absolute loyalty to their ungodly agendas.
“Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions they shall growl like lions’ whelps. In their excitement I will prepare their feasts. I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake, says the Lord. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.’” Jeremiah 51:36-40
I am glad that the Lord pleads the case of His people and takes vengeance on those who hurt us. Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge. I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
To plead the cause of another is to be their advocate. There’s no better advocate than God. I like to say, “God plus one is a majority.” In 1 John 1:1-2, Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” When the devil reminds me of my sins, I remind him that Jesus is my Advocate. According to Jeremiah 31:34, “God remembers my sin no more.”
The Holy Spirit is our Advocate. Jesus said in John 14:16, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever.” And in John 14:26, He said, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
God promised to dry up Babylon’s waters and turn her city into ruins. A no man’s land! Instead of God’s people being slaughtered, the Babylonians would be the victims of the slaughter.
“O, how Sheshach is taken! O, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! The sea has come up over Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land where no one dwells, through which no son of man passes.” Jeremiah 51:41-43
Sheshach is a code word for Babylon. Surprise is expressed that such a great empire could end so abruptly. It was as though a wave washed a sandcastle away. There is a similar cry in the last days when the end times Babylon empire is destroyed. The merchants cry, “Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!”
“I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; and the nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.” Jeremiah 51:44
God makes Bel spew out the people he swallowed. As I read this, the book of Jonah came to my mind. Jonah had disobeyed the Lord. He was taken captive in the belly of a great fish, but then, Jonah repented. He prayed. And then, the Lord caused the fish to spew him out on dry land.
The wall of Babylon was about to fall. Her inmates would be free.
“My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the Lord. And lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land (a rumor will come one year, and after that, in another year a rumor will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler). Therefore behold, the days are coming that I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon. Her whole land shall be ashamed. All her slain shall fall in her midst. Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing joyously over Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 51:45-48
God warned His people a second time to leave Babylon. “Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.” There’s a similar word in Revelation 18:4-5, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.”
“As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. You who have escaped the sword, get away! Do not stand still! Remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come to your mind.” Jeremiah 51:49-50
The above passage parallels Revelation 18:6, “Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup.” Give back to her as she has given! “Let Jerusalem come to your mind!” “People of God, you are going home!”
“We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house. 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. 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.” Jeremiah 51:51-53
“Babylon would meet the same fate as Babel, for ‘man’s attempt to build himself up to the skies ends only in building up his judgment.’” [6]
“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, 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, 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. 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.” Jeremiah 51:54-57
The Lord assures His people that Babylon will not arise again. She shall sleep. Israel and Judah are going home. Anyone who has experienced years of abuse may find it hard to believe that it is over when it is over. So, the Lord assures them that it is over. A new day has arrived!
“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.” Jeremiah 51:58
“The first news seems to refer to the collapse of the defenses outside the city. These were vast. In addition to the two massive walls surrounding the heart of Babylon, an inner one some 21 feet thick and an outer one over 12 feet thick, there were great walls thrown up at intervals beyond the city together with a chain of fortresses north and south of the city.” “According to Herodotus, the outer walls of Babylon were 300 feet high and seventy-five feet wide, wide enough to drive several chariots abreast. Yet they would all fall down, furnishing more fuel for the flames of divine judgment.” [7]
“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. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these Words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, ‘When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, 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.’ 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. 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.” Jeremiah 51:59-64
Jeremiah instructed his cousin Seraiah to take the scroll to Babylon, read it, and afterwards remind the Lord of His promise to destroy the city. Then, tie a stone to the scroll and throw it into the Euphrates River. After throwing the scroll into the river, he was to declare that Babylon would sink to never rise again. Jeremiah’s prophecy began with words of Babylon’s climb to superpower status and ended it with the promise of Babylon’s demise.
In the last days, an empire like unto Babylon will arise and afterwards be destroyed. Then, New Jerusalem will down from heaven as a bride prepared for the Lord.
“The similarities between Jeremiah and Revelation are numerous. One might almost say that Revelation 17–19 is based on Jeremiah 50–51. Like Jeremiah, John saw a golden cup in the hand of Babylon. He exposed her idolatry, especially her love for excessive luxuries. He accused her of violence against God’s people. He warned God’s people to flee from her on the Day of Judgment.” “Most striking of all, John’s vision included a stone cast into the watery depths: ‘Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea and said: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.’” “John’s vision was as heavy as Jeremiah’s prophecy. When Jeremiah caused a stone to be thrown into the Euphrates, he was prophesying about the end of history, when the City of Satan will sink to the bottom of the sea. Jeremiah was among the first to celebrate the victory of Jesus Christ over sin, death, the devil, and all the enemies of God.” [8]
Romans 11:32 says, “God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.” So, whether a descendant of Israel or a Gentile, God’s mercy saves us. Paul wrote to the competitive Christians in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Salvation is received as a gift from God. Romans 3:22-24 says, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
If we are not careful, our greatest strength will become our greatest weakness. Babylon enjoyed superpower status, but did not turn to the Lord. They lost everything. Israel incurred captivity, but DID turn to Lord. God saved them and restored them to the Promised Land.
Attached is a link to a power point version of this article
which I have recorded on my YouTube channel:
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 360. See also Revelation 17:5.
[2] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 361. See also Habakkuk 2:6-17
[3] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 712-714
[4] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 362.
[5] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 703-705
[6] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 709-710
[7] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 707-708
[8] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 715-718. See also Revelation 17:4, 18:3-5, 7, 11-21
Sunday, October 12, 2025
Restoration - Jeremiah 50
The Lord gave Jeremiah a prophetic word for Babylon and for His people in exile there. Jeremiah 51:60 says, “Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon.” Jeremiah 51:59 says that he commanded Seraiah his cousin to take this prophecy to Babylon. Seriah brought the prophecy to Babylon during the fourth year of King Zedekiah’s reign. Seriah is the brother of Baruch who also helped Jeremiah.
“The Word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. ‘Declare among the nations, proclaim, and set up a standard. Proclaim —do not conceal it—say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces. Her idols are humiliated. Her images are broken in pieces.’” Jeremiah 50:1-2
“Declare among the nations, proclaim... proclaim... do not conceal it... BABYLON IS TAKEN. Bel and Merodach are two names for the same Babylonian god. “Bel” means “lord.” God connects the news of Babylon’s fall with the breaking of her idols.
In Jeremiah 18:1-10, the Lord spoke of Himself as a potter who has the right to reform marred pots into new pots. Babylon is broken. God shall do a new work in the earth without her.
“For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, both man and beast. In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; with continual weeping they shall come, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.’” Jeremiah 50:3-5
The Medes were north of Babylon. King Cyrus brought the first wave of devastation. King Darius brought the second. Darius mercilessly slaughtered the Babylonians. He hung 4,000 nobles.
As this devastation began to take place, Israel’s and Judah’s exiles wept and sought the Lord. They wanted to enter a perpetual covenant with the Lord. This was what the Lord longed for way back in Jeremiah 2:2-3. He had said, “I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal... Israel was holiness to the Lord.”
Holiness means separated unto Him for a special purpose... set apart to be in a committed relationship with God.
In Acts 11:23, Barnabas exhorted the new believers in Antioch to cleave to the Lord. Cleaving to someone is marriage language. In 2 Corinthians 8:5, Paul wrote of those who gave themselves to the Lord. The first commandment is to love the Lord with all our being. This is what God wants. He wants to love us and be loved by us.
“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, ‘We have not offended, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’” Jeremiah 50:6-7
Their previous shepherds did not guide the flock to love and trust God. Going from the mountain to the hill may refer to going from His commandments that He gave them on Mount Sinai to the hillside groves where they worshiped idols. The shepherds failed to model how to rest in the Lord. They did not protect the sheep from false teaching. Those who hurt them felt just to do so because they sinned against God.
“Move from the midst of Babylon, go out of the land of the Chaldeans; and be like the rams before the flocks. For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall become plunder. All who plunder her shall be satisfied, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:8-10
The Lord told His people to move from Babylon. A similar word appears in Revelation 18:4, “I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.’”
In the Book of Revelation, Babylon refers to an evil empire that enforces its agenda on the world. God promised to end that empire as well. In Jeremiah and Revelation, the downfall of Babylon precedes restoration to the Promised Land.
“Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, you destroyers of My heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and you bellow like bulls, your mother shall be deeply ashamed. She who bore you shall be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert.” Jeremiah 50:11-12
The Lord is speaking to Babylon here. He is destroying her because she had a sinister joy in destroying His people. He appointed Babylon to humble His people, but she went too far. She grew fat by exploiting them. Even the mothers of Babylon were ashamed of their behavior. The Lord prophesied that this great nation would become the least. She will dry up.
After the Lord chastised His wayward people, He rescued them. “While the enemies of Israel had been instruments of God, yet they had pursued their own selfish interests in self-aggrandizement, and now the Covenant God is ready to punish Babylon as He had punished Nineveh. Koldewey reports that the ruins of Babylon in many places were covered with forty to eighty feet of sand and rubble.” [1]
“Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues.” Jeremiah 50:13
One planted seed doesn’t just yield one seed in return but a plant that produces many more seeds. Babylon was going to reap a great harvest of plagues. In Revelation 18:6, God speaks a similar word of the end times Babylon, saying, “Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.”
“Put yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow. Shoot at her. Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Shout against her all around. She has given her hand. Her foundations have fallen. Her walls are thrown down for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and he who handles the sickle at harvest time. For fear of the oppressing sword everyone shall turn to his own people, and everyone shall flee to his own land.” Jeremiah 50:14-16
Shouters were to shout at Babylon. God’s instructions to Babylon’s attackers was, “Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her.” Sin must be atoned for to avoid reaping sin’s bad consequences. Babylon did not bring her sin to God for forgiveness.
“Israel is like scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him. Now, at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. 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. 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. 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.” Jeremiah 50:17-20
Despite Israel’s short-comings, the Lord saw His people as a flock that had been scattered by a lion. It was time for God to punish those who mistreated them and bring the tribes back to their homeland. He prophesies of pardoning Israel’s and Judah’s sin. No sin would be found in them.
“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.” Jeremiah 50:21
“Merathaim and Pekod were real locations in Babylon. Ironically, the names of those places sounded like the Hebrew words for ‘double rebellion’ and ‘punishment.’” [2]
“A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! 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.” Jeremiah 50:22-24
“Babylon was used to doing the hammering, but the hammer itself would be pounded into submission. Babylon was also used to doing the trapping. But God said: “I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you opposed the Lord.” [3]
“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. 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. Slay all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.” Jeremiah 50:25-27
Babylon ruled the world, so the Lord speaks of opening His armory and grabbing His weapons. Leveling evil global empires is God’s work. The Lord slays her bulls meaning her mighty men who used to bully the nations.
“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. 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. 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.” Jeremiah 50:28-30
Now, they are fleeing and describing what happened to them. God surrounds Babylon with archers. He orders them to shoot. She has been proud against the Lord, but she will be proud against Him no more.
“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. The proudest 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.” Jeremiah 50:31-32
The Lord appoints an expiration date for Babylon’s use. In that day, even her most mighty men stumble and fall. Her capital city is burned to the ground.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: the children of Israel were oppressed, along with the children of Judah; all who took them captive have held them fast; they have refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His Name. He will thoroughly plead their case, that He may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.” Jeremiah 50:33-34
The Lord compared Babylon with a trapper who captured His people and held them captive. Negotiations would not convince her to let them go. But she underestimated the Redeemer’s love for Israel. She saw no worth in them, but they were the apple of God’s eye. The Lord took on the role of being Israel’s defense lawyer. He pled their case. The Lord reversed their roles. Israel would enjoy freedom. Babylon would be ruled by others.
“A sword is against the Chaldeans, says the Lord, against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her princes and her wise men. A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. A sword is against their horses, against their chariots, and against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.” Jeremiah 50:35-37
Who shall the sword of the Lord pursue? Pursue Babylon’s ruling class (the Chaldeans)! Pursue her common people. Pursue her politicians (princes and counselors). Pursue her soothsayers (cult leaders). Pursue her mighty men. Pursue her mobile military units (horses and chariots). Pursue her hired soldiers from other countries (mixed people). Pursue her financial reserves. The Lord’s sword would hit Babylon from every angle until she became very small.
“A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, and they are insane with their idols. Therefore, the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, and the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says the Lord, so no one shall reside there, nor a son of man dwell in it.” Jeremiah 50:38-40
Babylon was dried up by the flames of God’s judgment. She needed the living waters of God’s Spirit. In John 7:38, Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” In John 7:39, Jesus explained that the living waters was a reference to the Holy Spirit. The Babylonians trusted in idols that had no Spirit in them.
Psalm 106:36-37 associates idol worship with demon worship. “They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:20 is a second witness to this, “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”
Babylon’s worship of idols yielded curses. They lost their minds. Their land was taken over by wild animals. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, He was about to overthrow them.
“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the ends of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance; they are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; they shall ride on horses, set in array, like a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands grow feeble; anguish has taken hold of him, pangs as of a woman in childbirth.” Jeremiah 50:41-43
The Lord raised up a coalition of kings from the north of Babylon to execute His judgment on her. They had ample weapons. They were bloodthirsty. They were coming with a mighty roar of a wave to crush them. Even before they arrived, Babylon had become weak and fearful.
“Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan against the dwelling place of the strong; but I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For whom is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd who will withstand Me?” Jeremiah 50:44
The king’s coalition that comes against Babylon is as mighty as a lion, but the Lord will protect His people in the midst of Babylon. No one, not even a lion, can stand against the Lord.
“Therefore, hear the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Babylon, and His purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; surely, He will make their dwelling place desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.” Jeremiah 50:45-46
The Lord brings down cruel empires. In Genesis 6:5, God destroyed the people whose thoughts were evil continually in the day of Noah. In Genesis 10:8-11, 11:1-9, God reduced Nimrod’s tower of Babel to rubble. In Revelation 18:8-10, God ends the last evil empire.
“The story of the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C. is a remarkable one. The attack, which came from the northern side of the city, was made by a coalition of armies led by Cyrus the Persian.”
According to one account: “Cyrus made his successful assault on a night when the whole city, relying on the strength of the walls, had given themselves up to the riot and debauchery of a grand public festival, and the king and his nobles were reveling at a splendid entertainment.” Cyrus redirected the waters of a canal that flowed under Babylon’s wall to another direction. That canal became a road for his troops to enter the city and conquer it.
The contrast between Babylon’s ancient magnificence and its future desolation is great. This was quite a reversal. At the beginning of Jeremiah’s book, God brought charges against His people in Judea. By the end of the book, He has become their legal defender or advocate. He has gone from prosecuting attorney to defense attorney.” [4]
Who made the difference between Babylon and Israel? The Lord did! The Lord forgave Israel’s sins and gave Israel a new heart for Him. They professed that they wanted to be in a covenant relationship with Him once again. So, He brought them back to the Promised Land. All praise, glory and honor be to the Lord!
“The Word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. ‘Declare among the nations, proclaim, and set up a standard. Proclaim —do not conceal it—say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces. Her idols are humiliated. Her images are broken in pieces.’” Jeremiah 50:1-2
“Declare among the nations, proclaim... proclaim... do not conceal it... BABYLON IS TAKEN. Bel and Merodach are two names for the same Babylonian god. “Bel” means “lord.” God connects the news of Babylon’s fall with the breaking of her idols.
In Jeremiah 18:1-10, the Lord spoke of Himself as a potter who has the right to reform marred pots into new pots. Babylon is broken. God shall do a new work in the earth without her.
“For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, both man and beast. In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; with continual weeping they shall come, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.’” Jeremiah 50:3-5
The Medes were north of Babylon. King Cyrus brought the first wave of devastation. King Darius brought the second. Darius mercilessly slaughtered the Babylonians. He hung 4,000 nobles.
As this devastation began to take place, Israel’s and Judah’s exiles wept and sought the Lord. They wanted to enter a perpetual covenant with the Lord. This was what the Lord longed for way back in Jeremiah 2:2-3. He had said, “I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal... Israel was holiness to the Lord.”
Holiness means separated unto Him for a special purpose... set apart to be in a committed relationship with God.
In Acts 11:23, Barnabas exhorted the new believers in Antioch to cleave to the Lord. Cleaving to someone is marriage language. In 2 Corinthians 8:5, Paul wrote of those who gave themselves to the Lord. The first commandment is to love the Lord with all our being. This is what God wants. He wants to love us and be loved by us.
“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, ‘We have not offended, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’” Jeremiah 50:6-7
Their previous shepherds did not guide the flock to love and trust God. Going from the mountain to the hill may refer to going from His commandments that He gave them on Mount Sinai to the hillside groves where they worshiped idols. The shepherds failed to model how to rest in the Lord. They did not protect the sheep from false teaching. Those who hurt them felt just to do so because they sinned against God.
“Move from the midst of Babylon, go out of the land of the Chaldeans; and be like the rams before the flocks. For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall become plunder. All who plunder her shall be satisfied, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:8-10
The Lord told His people to move from Babylon. A similar word appears in Revelation 18:4, “I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.’”
In the Book of Revelation, Babylon refers to an evil empire that enforces its agenda on the world. God promised to end that empire as well. In Jeremiah and Revelation, the downfall of Babylon precedes restoration to the Promised Land.
“Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, you destroyers of My heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and you bellow like bulls, your mother shall be deeply ashamed. She who bore you shall be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert.” Jeremiah 50:11-12
The Lord is speaking to Babylon here. He is destroying her because she had a sinister joy in destroying His people. He appointed Babylon to humble His people, but she went too far. She grew fat by exploiting them. Even the mothers of Babylon were ashamed of their behavior. The Lord prophesied that this great nation would become the least. She will dry up.
After the Lord chastised His wayward people, He rescued them. “While the enemies of Israel had been instruments of God, yet they had pursued their own selfish interests in self-aggrandizement, and now the Covenant God is ready to punish Babylon as He had punished Nineveh. Koldewey reports that the ruins of Babylon in many places were covered with forty to eighty feet of sand and rubble.” [1]
“Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues.” Jeremiah 50:13
One planted seed doesn’t just yield one seed in return but a plant that produces many more seeds. Babylon was going to reap a great harvest of plagues. In Revelation 18:6, God speaks a similar word of the end times Babylon, saying, “Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.”
“Put yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow. Shoot at her. Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Shout against her all around. She has given her hand. Her foundations have fallen. Her walls are thrown down for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and he who handles the sickle at harvest time. For fear of the oppressing sword everyone shall turn to his own people, and everyone shall flee to his own land.” Jeremiah 50:14-16
Shouters were to shout at Babylon. God’s instructions to Babylon’s attackers was, “Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her.” Sin must be atoned for to avoid reaping sin’s bad consequences. Babylon did not bring her sin to God for forgiveness.
“Israel is like scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him. Now, at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. 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. 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. 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.” Jeremiah 50:17-20
Despite Israel’s short-comings, the Lord saw His people as a flock that had been scattered by a lion. It was time for God to punish those who mistreated them and bring the tribes back to their homeland. He prophesies of pardoning Israel’s and Judah’s sin. No sin would be found in them.
“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.” Jeremiah 50:21
“Merathaim and Pekod were real locations in Babylon. Ironically, the names of those places sounded like the Hebrew words for ‘double rebellion’ and ‘punishment.’” [2]
“A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! 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.” Jeremiah 50:22-24
“Babylon was used to doing the hammering, but the hammer itself would be pounded into submission. Babylon was also used to doing the trapping. But God said: “I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you opposed the Lord.” [3]
“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. 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. Slay all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.” Jeremiah 50:25-27
Babylon ruled the world, so the Lord speaks of opening His armory and grabbing His weapons. Leveling evil global empires is God’s work. The Lord slays her bulls meaning her mighty men who used to bully the nations.
“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. 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. 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.” Jeremiah 50:28-30
Now, they are fleeing and describing what happened to them. God surrounds Babylon with archers. He orders them to shoot. She has been proud against the Lord, but she will be proud against Him no more.
“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. The proudest 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.” Jeremiah 50:31-32
The Lord appoints an expiration date for Babylon’s use. In that day, even her most mighty men stumble and fall. Her capital city is burned to the ground.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: the children of Israel were oppressed, along with the children of Judah; all who took them captive have held them fast; they have refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His Name. He will thoroughly plead their case, that He may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.” Jeremiah 50:33-34
The Lord compared Babylon with a trapper who captured His people and held them captive. Negotiations would not convince her to let them go. But she underestimated the Redeemer’s love for Israel. She saw no worth in them, but they were the apple of God’s eye. The Lord took on the role of being Israel’s defense lawyer. He pled their case. The Lord reversed their roles. Israel would enjoy freedom. Babylon would be ruled by others.
“A sword is against the Chaldeans, says the Lord, against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her princes and her wise men. A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. A sword is against their horses, against their chariots, and against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.” Jeremiah 50:35-37
Who shall the sword of the Lord pursue? Pursue Babylon’s ruling class (the Chaldeans)! Pursue her common people. Pursue her politicians (princes and counselors). Pursue her soothsayers (cult leaders). Pursue her mighty men. Pursue her mobile military units (horses and chariots). Pursue her hired soldiers from other countries (mixed people). Pursue her financial reserves. The Lord’s sword would hit Babylon from every angle until she became very small.
“A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, and they are insane with their idols. Therefore, the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, and the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says the Lord, so no one shall reside there, nor a son of man dwell in it.” Jeremiah 50:38-40
Babylon was dried up by the flames of God’s judgment. She needed the living waters of God’s Spirit. In John 7:38, Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” In John 7:39, Jesus explained that the living waters was a reference to the Holy Spirit. The Babylonians trusted in idols that had no Spirit in them.
Psalm 106:36-37 associates idol worship with demon worship. “They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:20 is a second witness to this, “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”
Babylon’s worship of idols yielded curses. They lost their minds. Their land was taken over by wild animals. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, He was about to overthrow them.
“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the ends of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance; they are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; they shall ride on horses, set in array, like a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands grow feeble; anguish has taken hold of him, pangs as of a woman in childbirth.” Jeremiah 50:41-43
The Lord raised up a coalition of kings from the north of Babylon to execute His judgment on her. They had ample weapons. They were bloodthirsty. They were coming with a mighty roar of a wave to crush them. Even before they arrived, Babylon had become weak and fearful.
“Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan against the dwelling place of the strong; but I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For whom is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd who will withstand Me?” Jeremiah 50:44
The king’s coalition that comes against Babylon is as mighty as a lion, but the Lord will protect His people in the midst of Babylon. No one, not even a lion, can stand against the Lord.
“Therefore, hear the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Babylon, and His purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; surely, He will make their dwelling place desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.” Jeremiah 50:45-46
The Lord brings down cruel empires. In Genesis 6:5, God destroyed the people whose thoughts were evil continually in the day of Noah. In Genesis 10:8-11, 11:1-9, God reduced Nimrod’s tower of Babel to rubble. In Revelation 18:8-10, God ends the last evil empire.
“The story of the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C. is a remarkable one. The attack, which came from the northern side of the city, was made by a coalition of armies led by Cyrus the Persian.”
According to one account: “Cyrus made his successful assault on a night when the whole city, relying on the strength of the walls, had given themselves up to the riot and debauchery of a grand public festival, and the king and his nobles were reveling at a splendid entertainment.” Cyrus redirected the waters of a canal that flowed under Babylon’s wall to another direction. That canal became a road for his troops to enter the city and conquer it.
The contrast between Babylon’s ancient magnificence and its future desolation is great. This was quite a reversal. At the beginning of Jeremiah’s book, God brought charges against His people in Judea. By the end of the book, He has become their legal defender or advocate. He has gone from prosecuting attorney to defense attorney.” [4]
Who made the difference between Babylon and Israel? The Lord did! The Lord forgave Israel’s sins and gave Israel a new heart for Him. They professed that they wanted to be in a covenant relationship with Him once again. So, He brought them back to the Promised Land. All praise, glory and honor be to the Lord!
Attached is a link to a power point version of this article
which I have recorded on my YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/yS7J6wQwp5I
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 354-355
[2] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 688
[3] Ibid
[4] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 696-697
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Edition, 1965, ©, pages 354-355
[2] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 688
[3] Ibid
[4] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 696-697
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