Jeremiah 51:52

 Jeremiah 51:52 says, Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.  God warned the Babylonians that the day was coming when He would bring judgment on all the graven images, just as He will with all graven images one day when Jesus Christ returns.  God also said the wounded people, those who had not put their faith in Him, would groan.  Verse fifty-three declares, Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.  God told the Babylonians that no matter how much they fortified themselves militarily that they were still going to be defeated.  No matter how powerful a country may become today it will never stand against God's coming judgment.   Verse fifty-four adds, A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:   God said there would come a cry from Babylon at the coming destruction, just as we are told there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth by the lost when Jesus Christ returns in judgment.   Verse fifty-five continues, Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:  God said that He was the one responsible for their destruction, no matter who might be 5he ones to defeat them.  Verse fifty-six says,Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.  The people of Babylon were told that all their bows would be broken and her mighty men taken, and that it was because of God's judgment.  When God's judgment comes, all the weapons used against God will be useless and all those who think of themselves as powerful people who stand against Him shall bee defeated.   Verse fifty-seven adds, And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.  God said that all those who were in power in Babylon were going to die like drunken men.  No matter how wise or powerful someone may feel that he or she is today, he or she is like a drunk person when denying the authority of God.  Veree fifty-eight declares, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.   God said there was to be a total destruction of Babylon, which would include their cities and the people.   Nothing nor anyone can stand against God's judgment.   Verse fifty-nine states, The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.  Verse sixty adds, So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.  We are told of one particular time frame when Jeremiah prophesied the word of God against Babylon and that he wrote the prophesy in a book.  We today have God's word written for us in the Bible, and we should read and learn from it.  The Bible contains the truth of God's word to all people, but it is up to each individual to either accept or reject it.  Verse sixty-one states, And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;  Verse sixty-two adds, Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.  Jeremiah was sending Seraiah to read the words he had written to the people of Babylon and he was to make sure that they knew that it was God's word that was being read.  For the Bible to have any real impact in our lives today, we must acknowledge that it is God's word.  Verse sixty-three says,  And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:  Then verse sixty-four adds, And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah told Seraiah that after he read the book that he was to tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates, and that its sinking would symbolize the sinking of Babylon. 

Jeremiah 51:29

 Jeremiah 51:29 says, And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.  The destruction of Babylon would be a total destruction.  Verse thirty states, The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.  Verse thirty-one adds, One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,  God said the brave men would lose their bravery and that those on post, or wa5ch, would run to the next post sending messengers to the king telling him that his cities were being taken.  Verse thirty two continues, And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.  The king was to be told that everything was being destroyed and that the men of war were frightened.  I am not sure that I would want to be the one to deliver this message to a king, but we as Christians have a message about the coming destruction of all who defy God today and we must be willing to deliver it to everyone that we can.  Verse thirty-three declares, For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.  The God of Israel,  the only true God,  said that soon Babylon would be like a threshing floor.  Verse thirty-four adds, Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.  God said that Nebuchadrezzar had defeated His people.   Though this says that Nebuchadrezzar had defeated and crushed God, it could only be that he had defeated God's people.  Verse thirty-five continues, The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.  God said that the Babylonians would be held responsible for what they had done to His people.   God will likewise one day hold everyone who attempts to harm or destroy His people today responsible.   Verse thirty-six says, Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.   God said that He would plead the cause of His people, just as He does for Christians today.  We stand by the fact that God has made salvation possible, and we will stand with Him forever no matter what happens in this world if we truly put our faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty-seven adds, And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.  Verse thirty-eight continues, They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.  God continues to tell Jeremiah how the people of Babylon would fall.  Verse thirty-nine states, In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.  God said that the men of Babylon would be drinking and fall asleep, but they would never wake from that sleep, because the coming army would destroy them.   Verse forty declares, I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.  God said that they might see themselves as lions,but to Him they were like sheep led to the slaughter.  No matter how powerful those who defy God may believe they are today, they are like helpless sheep before God.  Verse forty-one asks, How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!  God said other people around Babylon would ask how they had fallen.  Verse forty-two says,The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.  God said that Babylon would look as if it had been swallowed up by the sea.  Verse forty-three adds, Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.  God then said Babylon would be a land where no one lived.  No one can survive the coming judgment of God unless he or she accepted Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior and Lord.   Verse forty-four declares, And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.  God said that the nations would no longer look to Babylon for help or as a source of concern.  Verse forty-five continues, My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.  God called on His people to get out of Babylon, just as we must get out of the world today spiritually.   We can no longer look to the world for protection or deliverance, but must trust in God alone.  Verse forty-six states, And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.  God said that His people should not fear the rumors that were coming.  We likewise as Christians hear rumors of destruction today,  but we are not to fear them.  One day, the end is coming to this old world, but as followers of Christ we have nothing to fear.  Verse forty-seven declares, Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.  God said there could be a certainty that His judgment was coming on Babylon, just as we can be certain that His judgment is coming on the whole world when He decides the time is right.  Verse forty-eight adds Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.  God said the heaven and the earth would sing for Babylon, because the spoiler had come.  The fall of Babylon would be noted everywhere.   Verse forty-nine says, As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.  God said that just as Babylon had caused the slain of Israel to fall, so would Babylon fall.  God may have allowed Babylon to defeat the people of Judah and Israel because of their idolatry, but that did not mean that they had somehow become His chosen people.   The world may defeat and destroy Christians today, but if they do, it will be a hollow victory.  God's judgment will come one day.   Verse fifty states, Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.  God calls on the people of Israel who had survived the sword, or in other words who were still alive, to remember their land.  If we find the world today to be almost overpowering, we need to simply remember that we serve the all-powerful God.  Verse fifty-one adds, We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.  God said that when the people of Israel remembered their land that it should cause them shame because they had caused it to fall due to their idolatry.  If we fail in our relationship to God today and then  return to Him for forgiveness, it should bring us shame that we allowed the things of this world to come between God and us.

Jeremiah 52:1

Jeremiah 52:1 says, Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.  This is back to the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah.  His was a very bad reign.  Verse two adds, And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.  We are told that during his reign, Zedekiah did all that was evil in the sight of God.  He was compared to Jehoiakim, during whose reign the people of Judah and Jerusalem had already suffered defeat.  Verse three continues, For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.  God said that because of His anger against Zedekiah and the people of Judah and Jerusalem that He cast them out.  They were God's chosen people,  but they were not choosing to be obedient to Him.   We cannot be God's people in name alone if we are to be successful in our Christian journey.  Verse four states, And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.  During the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah,  Nebuchadrezzar came to seize Jerusalem and the rest of Judah.  Matthew Henry says that Zedekiah's greatest sin was to rebel against Nebuchadrezzar,  whom God had told him through the prophesy of Jeremiah not to do.  Verse five adds, So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.  Jerusalem was under siege for about seven years.  Zedekiah resisted surrendering to Nebuchadrezzar for as long as he could,  even though God had told him not to.   We need to make sure that we do not attempt to hold on to things that God tells us to let go of.  Verse six adds, And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.  The people of Jerusalem were basically without enough food for several months that year.  We should be careful that we never allow ourselves to starve spiritually by not feasting on God's word.   Verse seven continues, Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain. We are told that at the end of those months that the men of war fled Jerusalem, attempting to slip away safely.   There is no way that we can slip away from God's punishment, except through accepting God's word, which calls us to salvation through Jesus Christ.  We cannot make our own way.  Verse eight says, But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.  As was already stated in a previous chapter, Zedekiah and his army were overtaken by Nebuchadrezzar.  Of our own ability, we will never escape the judgment of God when He sends it, and the people of Judah and Jerusalem had already been told that God was going to allow them to be defeated by the Babylonians.   Verse nine adds, Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.  Zedekiah was captured and carried before Nebuchadrezzar, who sat in judgment over him.  Verse ten continues, And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.  Once again we are told that Zedekiah's sons were slain as he watched.  Verse eleven concludes, Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.  Zedekiah was then blinded, chained and thrown into prison until he died.  He had refused to listen to Jeremiah when he told him to surrender to Nebuchadrezzar, and he paid a terrible price because of his refusal.   Those who fail to listen to God's call to salvation today will pay an even greater price, which is everlasting punishment separated from God and His mercy.

Jeremiah 51:14

 Jeremiah 51:14 adds, The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.  God is still speaking about Babylon.  Verse fifteen adds, He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.  God said that He was the Creator of everything, and we either believe that or we don't.  Whether we believe it or not does not change that fact.  Verse sixteen continues, When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.  This is a further statement of the power of God.  Verse seventeen states, Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.  God said that men were brutish, or stubborn, in their worship of idols, or false gods, because these idols have no life in them.  Verse eighteen adds, They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.  God said that these idols were a vanity, or nothing, and that when they were needed that they would vanish.  Idols, which are all things we put our faith in instead God, will always fail to save us spiritually.   Verse nineteen declares, The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.  God said the people of Jacob, those who had entered into a covenant relationship with Him, were not like the Babylonians, who hadn't.   What separates Christians from the rest of the world is their relationship with God.   Verse twenty adds, Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;  God said the descendants of Jacob, His covenant people, were the ones that He was going to use to defeat the powers of the world that stood against Him, and this would be done by His power and plan.  Verse twenty-one continues, And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;  When we stand by faith in God today, there is no power that can defeat us in the end.  No matter how bad things may look in the eyes of the world, through faith in Christ we have an everlasting victory.  Verse twenty-two says, With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;  Verse twenty-three adds, I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and hiss flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. God said that He would defeat all who stood against Him, and He did this by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  God does not bring us victory by military might, but by faith in Jesus Christ alone.   Verse twenty-four declares, And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.  God said that the Babylonians were going to be punished for their war against His people.   Though the Babylonians may have been allowed to defeat the people of Judah because they had turned away from God, it was not to be an everlasting victory.  Those people of Judah and Israel who either remained true to God or returned to Him by faith were still the people that God had chosen to work through.   We as followers of Christ today are the people that God will work through to reach the world with the gospel.   Verse twenty-five adds, Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt  mountain.  God said that even though the Babylonians might think of themselves as a mighty mountain He would break them down like simple stones.  Verse twenty-six continues, And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.  God said when He broke the Babylonians down that there would be no way for them to be built up again.  When God one day comes in judgment, those people and things that He tears down will be torn down forever.   Verse twenty-seven states, Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.  Verse twenty-eight adds, Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.  God told the Babylonians to get ready for the coming war.

Jeremiah 51:1

 Jeremiah 51:1 says, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;  God may have allowed Babylon to defeat Judah, but that did not mean that He was going to allow them to stand against Him unpunished forever.  Verse two adds, And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.  God said that there would be enemies on every side of Babylon like a great wind blowing against them.  Those that stand 8n opposition to God may be successful for awhile, but ultimately they will face His judgment.  Verse three states, Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.  God said that although Babylon had thought of themselves as powerful because of their military might that those coming against them would defeat them.  Verse four adds, Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.  God said that instead of being viewed as a powerful nation that Babylon would be viewed as a stain in the word after  its defeat.  When powerful countries fall, the rest of the world usually looks down on them, even if they themselves are really no better.  Verse five declares, For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.  God said that He had not completely forsaken Isreal and Judah, even though they had been filled with sin against Him.  God had allowed Babylon to defeat Isreal and Judah, but that did not mean that they were not still His chosen people.  They were the ones that God had chosen to work through to reveal Himself to the world, just as we are as followers of Christ today.  Verse five says, Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.  The people of Babylon were told to flee from there, because God was going to give them their recompense.  If we find ourselves in a place full of sin today,  we need to get away from it spiritually even if we cannot physically.  Verse seven states, Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.  God had worked through Babylon to accomplish His will, just as He may work through what is being done by the lost people today to accomplish His purpose, but that does not free them from the penalty of their sins.  Verse eight adds, Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.  God said the fall of Babylon would be sudden.  Verse nine declares, We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.  God said that He would have healed Babylon, I believe if they had turned to Him in faith.   God will likewise heal anyone from the sin in his or her life today if he or she will only reach out to Jesus Christ by faith.  Verse ten adds, The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.  The people of Israel and Judah were called on to give praise to God for delivering them, just as we as Christians should give praise to God for delivering us today.  Verse eleven states, Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.  God said that He had raised up the Medes to punish the Babylonians.   The people of Babylon might have seemed powerful to the world,  but they were powerless when standing against God.  Verse twelve adds, Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.  God said that no matter what the people of Babylon did to stand and fight against His coming judgment that it would be of no use.  Verse thirteen continues,O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.  Babylon may have been rich and powerful,  but God said that was coming to an end.  No matter how rich and powerful a person or nation may view themselves to be today, when God's judgment comes on them they will find out just how powerless they really are. 

Jeremiah 50:29

 Jeremiah 50:29 says, Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.   God said that all those from Babylon that had stood against Him were to be called together.   Verse thirty adds, Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.  They weren't being called together for victory, but for defeat.  One day, all those who oppose God will face the same fate.  Verse thirty-one declares,  Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.  God said He was against the people of Babylon who He called the most proud.   Countries today that stand against God often take great pride in their military might, but on judgment day they will find out how little it is really worth.  Verse thirty-two adds, And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.  God said that those who were most proud and stood against Him would fall and their cities would be burned.   Verse  thirty-three states, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.  God said that His chosen people had been taken and held captive.  We as Christians today are not exempt from being imprisoned for our faith, but even if it we are, the victory is still ours.  Verse thirty-four declares, Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.  God said that the Redeemer of the people of Israel and Judah, all of God's chosen people, was strong and would plead their case.  This Redeemer is Jesus Christ and He pleads the case of all who put their faith in Him before God today.  Verse thirty-five adds, A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.  Verse thirty-six continues, A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.  Verse thirty-seven concludes, A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.  God pronounced judgment on all the forces of Babylon that thought themselves to be so smart and powerful.   No matter how smart and powerful people may think they are today, if they stand against God and oppress His people, one day they will face His judgment and punishment.   Verse thirty-eight states, A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.  Not only was the army of the Babylonians going to be destroyed,  but the land itself was going to suffer a drought because of their idolatry.  Verse thirty-nine adds, Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.  God said the land of the Babylonians was to be completely devoid of people.  Verse forty says, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.  God said the destruction of Babylon was going to be as great as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Verse forty-one declares, Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. Verse forty-two adds, They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.  God said that just as Babylon had been mighty against its enemies, so was the army coming against it going to be even stronger.  No person or country is strong enough to stand against God when He sends His judgment against them, and one day all will stand before Him in judgment.   Verse forty-three states, The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.  God said that when the king of Babylon heard of the coming army that he become  very weak before them.  When those who oppose God and refuse to accept the salvation that He has made available to them one day stand before Him in judgment, they will discover how powerless they really are.   Verse forty-four states, Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation 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 who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me   God asked who could stand before Him, and the answer is no one.  Verse forty-five adds, Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.  Verse forty-six concludes, At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.  God said that the destruction of Babylon would be so complete that other nations would cry at how great the destruction was.

Jeremiah 50:17

 Jeremiah 50:17 says, Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.   God said the people of Israel were like sheep that had been scattered. They had stopped listening to His voice and following His leadership when this happened.  When we, as followers of Christ who are called the sheep of God's pasture, cease to follow His voice, we too can be scattered and defeated by the powers of this world.  Verse eighteen adds, Therefore thus saith 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.  God said the king of Babylon would be punished as the king of Assyria had been,  God may have allowed these countries to defeat Israel,  but that did not mean that He held them harmless.   Verse nineteen continues, And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.  God said that He was going to restore the people of Israel to the land He had given them and I believe this was because they were now listening to His voice once more.   Verse twenty states, In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.  God said that He would forgive their iniquity and remember it no more.  Again, I believe this was after the people of Israel came to God in repentance and faith.  Through faith in Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven and forgotten, but they can never be just ignored without that faith.  Verse twenty-one says, Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.  God said that they could go up against the people who had taken their land and be successful if they followed His command.  If we are to be successful in our fight against sin and evil today, we must put our faith in Christ and obey God's word to us.   Verse twenty-two adds, A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.  God said the sound of battle was already in the land.   Verse twenty-three asks, How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!  I believe that God was saying that people would ask how Babylon could have been destroyed.  Verse twenty-four declares, I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.  God said that He had defeated them and they weren't even aware that it was happening.  The countries today that stand against God have already been defeated when God's judgment comes and they don't even know it.  Verse twenty-five adds, The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.  God said that they were defeated by His power, and if we are going to defeat the power of sin in the world today, it will be through the power of God.  We cannot do it by our own ability.  Verse twenty-six state, Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.  Verse twenty-seven adds, Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.  God told the people of Israel to completely destroy the people of Babylon, just as we must completely destroy sin in our life today if we are to successfully follow Christ.   Verse twenty-eight says, The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.  God said that those who escaped would proclaim His power and not the power of the people of Israel.   When we overcome sin and the forces of evil today, we must make sure that we give God the credit.