What is the word that the Lord gave Jeremiah concerning Babylon?

The final oracle in Jeremiah’s oracles against the nations is reserved for Babylon, in Jeremiah 50:1–46 and Jeremiah 51:1–64. It is by far the longest of the oracles, which is not surprising considering the large role that Babylon has played in the Lord’s purposes in Jeremiah. There are two main, intertwined themes that run throughout the oracle: The judgment of Babylon and the gracious rescue of the Lord’s people.¹ The close relationship between these two themes helps to explain what many may see as a stark contradiction in the message of Jeremiah. In many parts of the book, Jeremiah calls on the people of Judah to submit to Babylon. He tells them that Jerusalem will fall to Nebuchadnezzar and those who survive will be taken into exile in Babylon for 70 years. He even tells the exiles that they must build a life for themselves in Babylon (Jeremiah 27:7; Jeremiah 29:1–32). On many occasions, Jeremiah describes Nebuchadnezzar as the Lord’s servant. The Lord is using the king of Babylon to bring his judgment on Judah and on all the other nations as well. It becomes abundantly clear in the oracles against the nations in Jeremiah 46:1–49:39 that the Lord is using the might of the Babylonian army to reveal his sovereign rule over the whole of creation. To rebel against Babylon is to rebel against the Lord. However, in this final and longest oracle, Babylon faces destruction as the Lord brings his judgment against the super-power. Some may see this drastic change from Jeremiah being pro-Babylon to anti-Babylon as a contradiction in his message. But this ignores the fact that Jeremiah is serving the sovereign Lord. The Lord is the great King of his world and he is able to use any nation or king, even Nebuchadnezzar, to carry out his plans for his people and his world. It should come as no surprise that Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are also subject to the Lord and his judgment. Even as the Lord uses them, they too are answerable to him for their behaviour. Jeremiah was neither pro- nor anti-Babylon. He was the Lord’s servant, sent to say what the Lord told him to say, to whomever the Lord told him to say it (Jeremiah 1:7). He understood that the Lord intended to bring judgment on Judah, and others, through Babylon, but that ultimately the Lord would restore his people by bringing Babylon down and returning his people to the land. In that context, this oracle against Babylon in Jeremiah 50:1–46 and Jeremiah 51:1–64 would have been a source of great encouragement to the exiles in Babylon, waiting for the Lord’s promised restoration.

It is also worth noting the significance Babylon takes on, in the New Testament. In the book of Revelation, Babylon represents a world that is ruled by Satan and set up in arrogant rebellion against the Lord and his people. It represents a world of self-indulgent sin and idolatry, and a world that persecutes and kills the Lord’s people. Ultimately, it represents a world that will be destroyed by the Lord as he avenges the blood of his people and redeems the whole of creation (Revelation 14:8; Revelation 16:19; Revelation 17:1–5; Revelation 18:1–24). The symbolism of Babylon in Revelation is rooted in what prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah said about Babylon. The fact that Babylon destroyed the temple and took the Lord’s people into exile meant that Babylon came to represent evil in the New Testament. What was revealed to Jeremiah regarding its future often anticipates this eschatological world view, so that what the prophet is seeing is a vision not imply of the end of Babylon, but through that, or against that background, of the total destruction of all that opposes God and his people.²

The oracle against Babylon is made up of a collection of different visions and messages that Jeremiah received from the Lord. The prophet has brought them together in a well-structured oracle. The most likely setting for the final form of the oracle is after the first Babylonian invasion of Judah in 597 BC, but before the final destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC .³ This is affirmed by the fact that the oracle ends with Jeremiah instructing Seraiah to take a book containing all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, and he was to read the book in Babylon and then throw it into the Euphrates River (Jeremiah 51:59–64). This happened in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s rule which was the year 594 BC.

Historically, the prophecy against Babylon was fulfilled when the Medes and Persians, under Cyrus, defeated Babylon in 539 BC. Nebuchadnezzar had died in 562 BC and Nabonidus was the king of Babylon at the time of the Persian invasion. The defeat at the hands of the Medes and Persians marked the decline and eventual destruction of the Babylonian empire. The Medes are mentioned, but neither Persia nor Cyrus are mentioned in Jeremiah’s oracle.⁴

The oracle is introduced as the word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. Babylon was a major city on the Euphrates River from which the king of Babylon ruled over surrounding cities and regions as the empires influence fluctuated. The reference to the Chaldeans probably stems from the fact that Nebuchadnezzar’s father, Nabopolassar, was a Chaldean .⁵

The oracle itself begins with a declaration among the nations that Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. The fall of Babylon is presented as very important news that must be announced. The word banner refers to a place where people gather to hear very important news. All the commands to declare the fall of Babylon are plural. It appears as though, through Jeremiah, the Lord is telling either the exiles in Babylon, or the other nations that they must announce the internationally important news of Babylon’s demise.⁶

From the very beginning, it is clear that one of the major reasons the Lord’s judgment comes to Babylon is because of her idolatry. Bel means lord and is the title of the storm-god, Enlil who was the chief god of Nippur, another major city southeast of Babylon. Marduk was the chief god of Babylon and the head of the Babylonian pantheon. Bel became another name for Marduk. So, this is referring to the same god. Marduk was the creator-god of Babylonian creation myths and became the king of gods in Babylon. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed. The word images comes from the Hebrew word gillulim which means balls of excrement and is used often in Scripture to speak of pagan gods (see Leviticus 26:30; Deuteronomy 29:17; 1 Kings 15:12; 1 Kings 21:25). It may be related to the word lilim which means nothing which itself is a pun on elim or lohim which means gods. The use of the word gillulim may therefore be another example of a rather rude wordplay that is dismissive of Babylon’s god.⁷