Much like in the previous passage (Jeremiah 50:41–43), Jeremiah uses an image in Jeremiah 50:44-46 that he has used before. The Lord spoke of himself as a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture
when he brought judgment on Edom (Jeremiah 49:19–21). Now he is the lion rising up against the flock of Babylon. Before the Lord, Babylon the super-power is no different from a much smaller and less powerful nation, Edom. Nebuchadnezzar had been the lion the Lord used against Edom, but now he is the Lord’s prey. What Babylon had done to other nations will be done to them. The Lord himself is the terrifying lion who destroys the little ones of Babylon’s flock and places new rulers over them. Once again, no one can stand up to the Lord. The Lord’s actions against Babylon will be earthshaking. Nations will take note that the unthinkable has happened; Babylon has been captured.
This was of course an important message to the people of Judah who were exiled in Babylon. “In the historical context, of course, the people in exile had little hope of deliverance when these words were uttered. Only those who believed the Lord’s word about a future restoration had hope. Yet such a word as this was designed to give hope to a people that has lost hope.1
44 “Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?