We have come to the final prophecy from Jeremiah. Sort of. Going by a strict chronology we know that even after the fall of Jerusalem, the Lord gave messages to Jeremiah. To read Jeremiah in a strict chronological order would require a lot of jumping around.

Chapters 50-51 are the final prophecy in the book. We’ve already covered chapter 52; the Epilogue. These are rather long chapters but they form a single prophecy about the destruction of Babylon. It’s important to realize when this message was given, and we get that information at the end of 51.

“The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here. He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. Then say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’ When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. Then say, ‘In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.’” This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭59‬-‭64‬ ‭NLT‬‬

😯 Wait- Zedekiah took a trip to Babylon?

Apparently. I don’t recall it being mentioned before. My guess is that he was ordered to go by Nebuchadnezzar- probably to see firsthand the superior glories of Babylon so he would understand how lucky he was to be working for them.

My point is, at the height of its dominance, God says Babylon will be destroyed. And not just a little. Total obliteration.

If you looked at the situation from a human perspective, that would’ve seemed impossible. Babylon had already “been a thing” for many centuries. Culturally, it rivals the great civilization of Egypt. Their armies are sweeping the world and conquering nation after nation. They have advanced scholarship, writing, astronomy, and political structure. And they have incredible wealth.

But none of that is part of God’s divine calculus. It wouldn’t matter one speck if Babylon had a soldier on every square foot of planet earth. Would that be a problem to the One Who made THIS?

Remember…

God does not require favorable circumstances.

So… He announces through Jeremiah something that surely sounded bonkers to those who heard it.

Babylon will fall.

Babylon is so powerful that not even Egypt and Assyria could stand up against them. All sensible assessments say that no one can beat Babylon. But God is not bound by what we think is “sensible.”

We would do well to remember this when facing our own challenges or watching international geo-political events unfold. Just because it feels HUGE to you does not make it huge to God.

The LORD is telling them this in advance so that when it happens, everyone will know that HE, Yahweh, directs the rise and fall of nations. Yahweh. Not any other god. This is all part of the process of purging the idolatry out of His people.

Baal, Ashtoreth, Marduk, Chemosh… all those idols and their prophets… they can’t do this. They can’t predict the absolutely impossible and then make it so.

But Yahweh can. And Israel is going to finally learn this. REALLY learn it.

“In those coming days,” says the Lord, “the people of Israel will return home together with the people of Judah. They will come weeping and seeking the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Jerusalem and will start back home again. They will bind themselves to the Lord with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭50‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In this prophecy, the exiles from Israel and Judah are compared to lost sheep with no shepherd. The exiles are also basically “The Prodigal Son.” At some point they “come to themselves” and realize how stupid it was to leave their Father’s House thinking life would be better on their own terms. They will get up from the pig sty and return home.

The fall of Babylon isn’t the only impossible situation addressed here. The restoration of Israel is just as impossible. They are down to a few thousand people scattered across 3 empires (Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt). It would be like retrieving a pinch of sugar sprinkled across three bowls of salt. For all practical purposes, their national identity is dead. Ezekiel famously sees this as a valley of dry, disconnected bones. Jeremiah also saw them as bones; bones being gnawed by a lion.

“Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭50‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Let’s be really clear. THIS is the imagery:

Nobody seeing this would think, “Yup, I think there’s a chance that critter might still be alive.”

It’s graveyard D-E-A-D dead. Not coming back.

But… if God says it’s coming back, then it wouldn’t matter if that carcass was dead, buried, eulogized, and fossilized… 🪦

It’s coming back!

This prophecy not only hints at resurrection, it also repeats the idea of the forgiveness of sin from the New Covenant that Jeremiah introduced back in chapter 31.

“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭50‬:‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I invite you to trust afresh in God’s heavenly pardon.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Have you heard of someone who is so “clean” in their business dealings and conduct that no reporter or investigator could “dig up any dirt” on him? That’s what happens for all who commit themselves to Christ and receive in His cleansing.

If God can do that for people who had murder and slavery and even occult human sacrifice as part of the norm, I’m quite confident He can cleanse anyone.

His perfect love displaces fear. You can stand confidently even under a “white glove” inspection- looking for iniquity, “and none shall be found.”

Tomorrow, we will pick back up with Babylon and note some parallels between past and future.