Jeremiah 50:40, commentary and pictures

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah with their neighboring cities, so Babylon is to be completely overthrown and left desolate without any man abiding or dwelling there. It is a divine warning of the judgment that falls on a nation whose iniquity is full and whose warning is despised. The doom belongs to the great burden of prophecy spoken by God against Babylon and its empire many years before its fall, testifying to His disfavor toward the city, the nation, and its system. Its overthrow began suddenly when Cyrus took Babylon while Belshazzar felt secure, yet its desolation came gradually over many centuries until it was literally fulfilled in the ruined heaps by the Euphrates. By sudden transition from type to antitype the same utter destruction portrays the fall of modern, mystic Babylon embracing all corrupt Christianity, mother and daughters together, with all nations and sinners in the day of the Lord at the end of the world.

Babylon's Overthrow Foretold

The verse foretells Babylon's complete destruction and lasting desolation, that as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, so Babylon would be overthrown and left without anyone remaining, abiding, or dwelling there. The land itself would be left completely uninhabited, so desolate that no man would abide there and no son of man would dwell therein. It belongs to the great burden of prophecy against Babylon and its doom, spoken by God many years before its fall. That burden marks the fall of the head of gold before the silver empire takes its place, to be proved by comparison with the testimony of history.

It is part of the divine warning of judgment against Babylon, illustrating the destruction awaiting a nation whose iniquity is full and whose warning is ignored. The prophecy encompasses both the ancient city and its empire, and its overthrow affected both the city and the nation. It belongs to the testimony of God's disfavor toward Babylon and its system.

It shows that Babylon has daughters and that those daughters are part of Babylon itself, just as the daughters of Jerusalem are part of Jerusalem and the daughters of Rabbah are part of Rabbah. In chapters 50 and 51 Jeremiah's testimony is evidence that paganism persecuted God's people.

Fulfilled in Ancient History

The overthrow did not reach its completion when the Persians took the city, for the desolation came on gradually through many centuries until no one lived there, and in that gradual emptying the prediction was literally fulfilled. The fall itself came suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, when Cyrus captured Babylon. That capture was the work of the Medes and Persians as instruments to humble the proud nation. It marked the fall of the head of gold before the silver empire took its place, a fact to be proved by comparison with the testimony of history.

The roll containing chapters 50 and 51 was carried to the Euphrates by Seraiah, who read it there and tied a stone to it and cast it into the river. That act was a sign that Babylon would sink and not rise from the evil brought upon her. Its fulfillment is seen in the ruined site of ancient Babylon as a striking visible object-lesson of fulfilled prophecy. The desolation stands fulfilled in the heaps of the buried cities by the Euphrates, where after more than twenty centuries men from England and the United States with the Bible as a guide-book wander over the mounds. There they dig up stones, sculptured slabs, bricks, pottery, sarcophagi and ornaments and carry them to London and Philadelphia.

The prophecy has been fulfilled concerning Israel and Judah, and is not a prediction of a future return to Canaan. A remnant of every tribe returned, though not all returned at once.

Type of Final Judgment

The overthrow foretold is not confined to the ancient city and its empire, for by sudden transition from type to antitype the same final destruction portrays the destruction of modern, antitypical Babylon at the end of the world. That antitypical Babylon is the apostate system that rules the nations, and the same desolation that fell on ancient Babylon applies emphatically to it and to all sinners punished in the day of the Lord in the last days. The ancient fall came suddenly while Belshazzar and his lords felt secure, accomplished by the Medes and Persians as instruments to humble that proud nation. As Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, the completeness and lasting character of the ruin is that no one would abide or live there.

In its historical setting the verse describes Babylon's overthrow and lasting ruin without human inhabitants, left as completely desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities. Considered together with the other prophecies about Babylon, that overthrow and lasting ruin without human inhabitants also points to the complete destruction of Satan and his kingdom. It is applied to the final overthrow of all nations. Its utter desolation does not require that every animal and bird be destroyed, for creatures may survive and multiply among the earth's ruins during the thousand years.

Great mystic Babylon embraces all corrupt Christianity, mother and daughters together, for Babylon has daughters and those daughters are part of Babylon itself, just as the daughters of Jerusalem are part of Jerusalem and the daughters of Rabbah are part of Rabbah. When she rejects the announcement that the hour of God's judgment is come, God leaves her by His Spirit and calls His people to come out of her. Her destruction immediately follows.