Jeremiah 51:50, commentary and pictures

Jeremiah's closing prophecies against foreign nations foretell the doom of Babylon, spoken as a great burden more than fifty years before the city fell. The fall came suddenly in the midst of Belshazzar's security at his idolatrous feast, when the kingdom was divided to the Medes and Persians and the Persian silver empire succeeded Babylon the head of gold. The prophecy is double, applying typically to literal Babylon humbled by the Medes and Persians and emphatically to modern spiritual Babylon, the great apostate system whose complete overthrow is portrayed with Revelation 18. Those who have escaped the sword are called to flee without delay and without standing still, to remember the LORD even from afar and to keep Jerusalem in mind, which is God's warning and invitation to come out of Babylon before judgment. Though the nation ignored the warning, individuals could still be led out and saved, showing that warnings of coming judgment must be heeded by other cities and peoples before their own doom.

Ancient Babylon's Doom Foretold

Jeremiah 51:50 stands in Jeremiah's closing prophecies against foreign nations, especially Babylon in chapters 50 and 51, concerning Babylon and its doom. It is part of the great burden of prophecy against Babylon spoken many years before its fall, more than fifty years before Babylon was captured. Those prophecies were read by Seraiah on the banks of the Euphrates, foretelling utter desolation that Babylon should become heaps without inhabitant and should sink and not rise from the evil to be brought upon her. This was enacted when he tied a stone to the written roll and cast it into the Euphrates.

The verse predicts the sudden fall of the ancient city and empire in the midst of the security felt by Belshazzar and his lords. That fall came on the night of his idolatrous feast when the writing on the wall numbered, weighed, and divided his kingdom to the Medes and Persians, and messengers cried that Babylon is taken and fallen. It includes the circumstances that allowed its conquerors to enter the city. It predicts the downfall of Babylon, the head of gold, before the Persian silver empire takes its place in succession, humbled by the Medes and Persians. Jeremiah 51:48-56 describes that Medo-Persian nation as a spoiler known for cruelty and thirst for blood.

The prophecy does not predict a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River and a later sudden destruction. Babylon was not utterly destroyed when the Persians overthrew it; its ultimate destruction came later as the city gradually fell into decay and became desolate. That gradual desolation literally fulfilled the prophecy, and its fulfillment is proved by the testimony of history. It is now seen fulfilled in its ruins and buried mounds by the Euphrates explored with the Bible as guide, which testify to the truth of the prophecy and give particulars about Babylon's doom.

The destruction was the final result of the city's pride and self-exaltation and its persecution of God's loyal people. It proves that no human might, scheme, power, or wealth can save a city or nation that sows within herself the seeds of error, confusion, destruction, and death.

End-Time Spiritual Babylon Foreshadowed

The Babylon of Jeremiah's day was both the ancient kingdom and a type of the great, mystical Babylon whose fate is foretold in Revelation. The prophecy is double, making a sudden transition from type to antitype. It applied primarily and typically to literal Babylon humbled by the Medes and Persians, and applies emphatically to modern Babylon and to all sinners punished in the day of the Lord, and is to be read with Revelation 18. It does not foretell a rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River followed by a later sudden destruction, but foretells at the same time the fall of antitypical Babylon. That antitypical Babylon is the great apostate harlot-system ruling over the nations of the earth.

The call to those who have escaped the sword to go away without standing still, to remember the Lord afar off, and to let Jerusalem come into mind means more than direction to Jewish captives after the fall of Babylon of the Chaldees. The details around it of the slain of all the earth, judgment on graven images, and perpetual sleep of princes and rulers could not possibly be fulfilled simply in the destruction of that city. It describes the final and complete overthrow of all which God calls Babylon in the earth. It is a prophecy of the downfall of the whole world and the ruin of the nations, and in particular of Babylon the Great. In this way the prophecy of ancient Babylon's final destruction portrays the destruction of modern spiritual Babylon at the end of the world.

Call to Flee and Remember

Those who have escaped the sword are told to go away and flee without delay and without standing still. Even from afar they are to remember the Lord afar off. They are to let Jerusalem come into mind and to keep it in mind and turn their thoughts to it.

The call belongs to a message about Babylon that warned of coming judgment while offering mercy. It forms God's warning and invitation to come out of Babylon before judgment. Though the warning was ignored by the nation, individuals could still be led out and saved when the nation would not listen.

The chapter's warning about Babylon serves as a lesson for cities and people who forget and defy God. Babylon's unheeded warnings ended in judgment and doom. Such warnings must be heeded, and other places should take warning before their own doom. Like Babylon they face judgment.