Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Babylon - Jeremiah 51

Jeremiah 51:1 "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;"

At the end of the 70 years of captivity, Babylon will be judged. I missed a verse in the last chapter that is a good summary of why.

Chapter 50:38 "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."

There are still artifacts of the greatness of Babylon as well as legions. The picture of the place is quite different. It is dried up. I do not know but I am thinking that the river must have had a different course during the time of this great kingdom city.

v7 "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."

Babylon could be a long study, but I will highlight only a few verses. I suggest commentaries and books of history to further fill in the details.

v58 "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."

To form a mental of the city, we can see from this verse that the walls were great and perhaps the gates were of fine wood from some foreign land. Sometimes great heaps of dirt are the remains of something magnificent.

Also we can see that the people tried to save the city but were not able to do so. They became weary.

v64 "And thou shall 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."

Revelation 18:21 "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all."

The Bible Sscholar Scofield tells us that Babylon is used symbolically to represent world power in the last days (our days).

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