Jeremiah · chapter 50 of 52
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Jeremiah 50 is the first of the two chapters against Babylon. The Lord announces that Babylon will fall to a nation from the north, and that its idols, such as Bel and Merodach, will be put to shame. At the same time, Israel and Judah, lost sheep, will return weeping to seek the Lord and make an everlasting covenant with him. Israel's Redeemer is strong and will plead his people's cause.
Babylon, which the Lord used as an instrument of judgment on Judah, is now judged for its pride and cruelty. Chapters 50 and 51 form the longest oracle of the book against a single nation. For the exiles in Babylon, and for readers of every age, it was a promise: the empire that seemed invincible would have its own end.
The chapter begins with the word the Lord spoke against Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans through Jeremiah. It is to be proclaimed among the nations that Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame and Merodach is dismayed. Her idols are shattered. A nation from the north comes up against her and will make her desolate, and both man and beast will flee.
In those days, says the Lord, the people of Israel and of Judah will come together, weeping, seeking the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and will join themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep, says the Lord: their shepherds led them astray and their enemies devoured them. He tells them to flee from the midst of Babylon.
Babylon is called to be plundered, because she rejoiced and mocked at the heritage of the Lord. Israel is a scattered sheep driven away by lions: first the king of Assyria devoured him, and then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gnawed his bones. The Lord will punish the king of Babylon as he punished the king of Assyria, and will bring Israel back to his pasture. In those days the iniquity of Israel will be sought and not found, for the Lord will pardon those he leaves as a remnant.
The sword falls on the Chaldeans, on her inhabitants, her officials, her wise men, her horses and her treasures. Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, desolate forever. Israel's Redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is his name, and he will thoroughly plead their cause. A nation comes from the north and many kings are stirred up; the king of Babylon hears the report and his hands fall helpless. Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan, the Lord will drive Babylon from her land, and the earth will tremble at the cry of her capture.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The people of Israel and of Judah will come together, weeping, seeking the Lord and asking the way to Zion. Their return is not only a journey: it is repentance and the renewal of an everlasting covenant with God.
The Lord calls his people lost sheep, whom their shepherds led astray. The image shares responsibility: the people got lost, but their leaders also misled them, and God promises to be the shepherd who gathers them.
In those days the iniquity of Israel will be sought and not found, because the Lord will pardon the remnant. It is a promise of total forgiveness, close to that of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31:34.
Israel's Redeemer is strong, and his name is the Lord of hosts. He will plead his people's cause and give rest to the land: the one who seemed abandoned has a defender stronger than his oppressor.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Bel and Merodach. — Jeremiah 50:2
Answer: From the north. — Jeremiah 50:3
Answer: They will come together, weeping, to seek the Lord and join him in an everlasting covenant. — Jeremiah 50:4-5
Answer: To lost sheep whom their shepherds led astray. — Jeremiah 50:6
Answer: It will be sought and not found, because the Lord will pardon the remnant. — Jeremiah 50:20
Answer: As strong; his name is the Lord of hosts, and he will plead their cause. — Jeremiah 50:34
Jeremiah 50 shows that no empire, however powerful it seems, has the last word. The very Babylon God used to discipline Judah will be judged for its pride. In a small group you can talk about how to look at the world's powers with realism and hope: neither fearing them as if they were eternal nor idolizing them.
The image of the shepherd also encourages. The people were lost and devoured, but the Lord promises to gather them, forgive them and plead their cause. Anyone who feels lost, guilty or abandoned can return to him with tears, as in verse 4, knowing that the Redeemer is strong.
The oracle against Babylon continues in the last chapter of Jeremiah's prophecies. In chapter 51 the fall of the empire is described in more detail, and the book of the nations closes with a symbolic act: a scroll sunk in the Euphrates.
History records that Babylon fell to the Persians, led by Cyrus, in 539 BC. Jeremiah speaks of a nation from the north and a company of kings, and chapter 51 mentions the Medes. Christian readers see a historical fulfillment and a symbol of judgment on imperial pride.
Gods of Babylon. Bel means lord and was a title applied to Marduk, the city's chief god, also called Merodach. Jeremiah announces that the gods Babylon revered will be put to shame, because they cannot defend her.