Jeremiah 51:10–17 reveals the majesty and justice of God as He brings Babylon’s pride to nothing. In this passage, the Lord declares that His righteousness has been made manifest and idols are shown to be worthless. Pastor Glenn calls believers to stand firm in the truth, trust in God’s eternal power, and recognize that all human glory fades before the Creator of heaven and earth.
Justice of God
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Jeremiah chapter . We’ve come to the last few pages of Jeremiah. Jeremiah, as I was telling someone today, I was telling them that we’ve been studying through the book of Jeremiah, and Jeremiah was given a task that no preacher would want to have God give him, that I’m going to give you a tremendous message to share, a truthful message, a message that people need to hear, that you call him to repentance, but nobody’s going to repent, and nobody will listen.
There were some that were impacted by the message directly, whether it was directly by Jeremiah or not. We know that he lived during the time of Josiah, and knew Josiah, and Josiah walked with the Lord, and that had to have been encouragement to Jeremiah. We also know that Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were four young men that trusted in God totally, even when their circumstances were such that it would have been very easy not to, and that they would have been at one spirit with Jeremiah in their love for the Lord.
But the vast majority of the nation of Judah did not listen to his message, didn’t even want to listen. Remember, as we’ve gone through the study, we’ve seen at various times they even plotted to kill him. They put him in a pit when he was put in the king’s dungeons, and tried to leave him there to starve, and he was rescued.
And then we saw at the end, when he told them not to go to Egypt, they went to Egypt anyway and took him with them. And so they not only didn’t listen to his word, but when they violated God’s word, they tried to silence him and prevent him from walking in obedience to the Lord. Well, one of the last great messages that Jeremiah is giving is that God hasn’t forgotten Judah, and he also will deal with Babylon.
There’s a lot of times where we see all the evil in the world, and sometimes even as in this case, God uses an evil nation like Babylon to chastise his chosen people, Israel, because of their lack of faith and trust in him. But the spirit that is behind Babylon is a worldly wicked spirit that’s motivated and driven by Satan, and God’s going to deal with it. And Jeremiah in chapter , basically most of the last portion of this whole chapter from verse on, deals with how God’s going to take care of Babylon, and that the nation of Judah shouldn’t worry about the fact that they’re going to get away with their evil acts.
Well, let’s pick it up where we kind of left off last time in verse , just reading verses and . This would be probably the people that have been taken into captivity speaking, or they’d at least be those that had seen what the Lord was doing, and it says,
The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness:
come, and let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God. Jeremiah 51:10
And one of the things that the people did request, and you can see that as you look at the psalm, where they’re requested by the Babylonians to sing songs in Zion, the songs that they sang in Zion, because they were known as being joyful songs. I mentioned before, when we were in Israel one time, it was during the time of Sukkot, and the people were celebrating, and they were singing all these joyous songs, and they were in a big circle singing and dancing on to the Lord. And it was a bunch of Chinese Christians that were actually, the majority of them that were doing it.
But they had joyous hearts, and their music was usually joyous because it was founded in God. Tonight on the way here, Roberta had found a tape by Steve Green, and he’s a soloist. We used to go and hear his concerts a number of years ago.
He’s about our age, and she found it, and she said it was so refreshing for her to hear him. And it is. I enjoy listening to him too, because his songs are filled with powerful messages.
They have wonderful melodies, and he’s got a great voice. And when you sing, it just encourages you. And the people in Babylon, when the Jews got there, they said, well, sing some of your songs for us.
And it says that they hung their harps by the river and wept, because they didn’t have any joyful songs to sing in Babylon, and they remembered Zion. And so the thing that they’re saying is, God has called us to be a voice that speaks of Him in Zion. And that’s exactly what the Lord had called the nation of Israel out of Egypt when He made them a nation.
They were to be the light to the world. The Jewish people are still supposed to be a light to the world. Unfortunately, today the majority of the Jews do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
But many more every year are coming to accept Christ as their Messiah. I just shared on Sunday, one of the ministries that we support, gave us a report that they have tremendous response to their ministry right now, of Jewish people wanting to understand about Jesus the Messiah. And so as Jeremiah is hearing these Jewish people, they’re saying this.
And they’re remembering that this is what they were supposed to be called to. And when Nehemiah and Ezra, a number of years later, years later, bring the people back out of Babylon and rebuild the temple and rebuild the walls in Jerusalem, the nation of Israel once again becomes a light to the world through those men. Verse ,
Make bright the arrows;
gather the shields:
the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes:
for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it;
because it is the vengeance of the Lord,
the vengeance of his temple. Jeremiah 51:11
Now I want you to see a couple things in that verse. Number one, who is the one that’s raising up an army against Babylon? Well, you could probably say, well, the Medes were going to do it, because they wanted to control the territory. Remember on Sunday morning when we’ve been going through the book of Daniel, I’ve been talking about the fact that there were major powers in the Middle East.
Last Sunday we talked about, as Daniel saw the four beasts, they came out of the great sea. And the great sea is the Mediterranean Sea. And that’s where all the action in the world has always centered, because it’s always centered around this little city in this little mountain called Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem in this little tiny country of Israel.
And all the nations around there are the ones that have been impacted. And what Satan uses to try to destroy what God loves, that God’s will will not be done. And we see that God is the one that will raise up, and it’s His vengeance that will come.
Now, as you read this verse, one of the things that we should learn from it is that oftentimes when we see an injustice done, or when we see wickedness prevailing, we can become discouraged. And sometimes you can get very angry and mad. And sometimes people can want to do something, anything.
But you know, the New Testament tells us that vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. And we aren’t supposed to harbor those attitudes. We’re not supposed to like evil.
It says we’re to abhor evil, and to cling to that which is good. But the thing is, we hate evil, but we are not to seek vengeance, but we are to seek the Lord to bring His vengeance in His time, in His way that He may judge things. And when He judges them, He will judge them completely.
Now, the nation of Judah had no ability to come against Babylon. And they, remember during the time of Jeremiah I mentioned earlier, what they were trying to do was unite with Egypt, figuring Egypt would be able to defeat Babylon. And they were putting their trust in Egypt, not in God.
Well, God had His own purposes and His own plans on how to deal with Babylon. And He dealt with Babylon in a couple of different ways. He showed them His power and His might.
And the greatest king Babylon ever had, Nebuchadnezzar, was humbled before the Lord. And when he was humbled, he came out of that state of humility and acknowledged that God was the God of heaven. And I truly believe as you read his testimony in the book of Daniel, the man became converted and came to trust in the Lord.
The greatest king, the most vicious king that Babylon ever had was converted to following God. But his grandson was more wicked than wicked. And God’s judgment came.
Now, at the time of Jeremiah, the Medes were not the power they would be years later. Babylon didn’t fear the Medes. And they didn’t fear the Persians.
But there would come a time where God would use the Medes and the Persians to destroy Babylon, the country that was there at the time of Belteshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson. And we see here that it’s prophetic words given by Jeremiah that he says that he’s stirring up the spirit in the kings of the Medes and he will use them for his device against Babylon. It’s not going to be Judah that he’s going to use against Babylon.
It’s not going to be Egypt, but it’s going to be the Medes. And it’s going to be to destroy it. And this will be destruction of Babylon during the time of the captivity so that the people will be set free by the Medes and the Persians under Darius and Cyrus.
And so we see that God’s purposes will be done. We can go to Revelation chapter . We won’t go there tonight.
We went there earlier in another message. But if you can read it at home and you can read that the spirit of Babylon still is prevalent in the world. And the spirit of Babylon will be raised again in the last days when this last power comes to power.
And God will then once and for all deal with the spirit of Babylon that deceives and destroys men. But this is the physical kingdom of Babylon that he’s speaking of here. And he’s going to use the Medes to come and destroy it even though the Medes, this is speaking prophetically by Jeremiah.
Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon,
make the watch strong, set up the watchmen,
prepare the ambushes:
for the Lord hath both devised and done
that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. Jeremiah 51:12
He’s saying, OK Babylon, you think you’re so powerful.
You think you’re so great. Try and get all your defenses against God. Try and say, God can’t defeat me.
We are the ones that will defeat the God of the Jews. And remember when Nebuchadnezzar came in his three invasions of Judah and he came against Jerusalem three times, every time he took more things back with him. And finally he destroyed the temple and took all the instruments back.
He took some of the instruments back of the temple. And the reason that they did that is in doing so they were saying, our gods are stronger than your gods. And that was the mentality of Nebuchadnezzar when he first attended.
At the end of his life, he understood the God of heaven is the one who created all things and he is the one that needs to be bowed down to and only he has strength. But what Jeremiah is saying is he’s telling the Babylonians, you think you’re so strong. Go set your watchmen up on the walls.
And the watchmen on the wall, what was he supposed to do? He was supposed to be looking out for when the attackers would come and warn the city, they’re on their way, it looks like they’re coming, so the people could be prepared. So Jeremiah says, the Lord is telling Babylon, set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambitions for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants. So it doesn’t matter what Babylon’s going to do.
They can think they’ve got this all figured out, but God’s going to be victorious. Because God’s got His devices. And if you remember from Daniel, the way that they were defeated, they could have had all the watchmen on the wall they wanted, and they wouldn’t see what the Medes and the Persians were doing to enter into the city.
Because they had diverted the Euphrates River, they were coming in under the walls of the city, they didn’t attack from the plains, and they didn’t attack the walls, but rather they came in underneath where the river would normally run. And that was God’s device, and how He instilled in the Medes and the Persians how they would defeat the city of Babylon. And it didn’t matter what defenses they had, because God’s devices would work.
Now one of the things that’s important to remember here, in looking at the day in which we live, the second Babylon, Satan’s going to think he’s got all his devices in place. In this recent election, which was yesterday, New York City for the first time has a Communist Socialist Muslim mayor. And people are going, New York is the Bellwether City of America.
Everybody looks to New York, right? And now it’s led by a Communist Socialist Muslim who hates Israel, who hates Jews, and who hates America. And that’s who’s their mayor. And people could say, well how is God going to deal with this? Well you know something, maybe God’s plan isn’t necessarily that America will be America as we know it, in the whole scheme of how he is going to defeat the ultimate Babylon.
Because we see that all nations of the world are going to come against Israel, and that includes America. Nobody’s going to come to their defense. We can see right now that our President is backtracking on some of his promises that he has made to Israel.
Initially he had said that they should have every right to declare Samaria and Judea to be part of Israel, because it is Israel, it’s the heart of Israel. And now he’s saying, well for peace, we need to maybe have a two-state solution, we need to investigate this. Every time somebody’s part of the land, the people that try to part the land suffer.
And that’s exactly what it says is going to happen in the last days, is the great thing the world’s going to do is try and part and parcel God’s land. And that’ll bring about the events of the last judgment. So we see that we can look at what’s happening, just as Babylon thought they were so powerful and unable to be conquered.
A lot of people think, well America’s so powerful, it can never fall. If God wants America to fall because of our lack of faith, and that’s a whole other message for another time, is the people are saying there’s all kinds of revival going on, and yet what kind of revival is it? What do the people really believe in, and what God do they believe in? Do they believe in the God of the Bible? And the gospel message that’s found in the Bible, or do they believe a different message and just say they’re Christians? And one of the things that was very disturbing today, is I was listening and they said there was this huge movement amongst young men to become conservative and Christian, but now they’re rethinking their position. Well, that was a real strong conviction.
If all of a sudden, two months after you’re beginning you have this strong movement, and now all of a sudden many of the young men are rethinking their position. Well, God’s got his devices, and he will defeat Satan. Satan thinks he’s going to win, but it’s not going to happen.
O thou that dwellest upon many waters,
abundant in treasures,
thine end is come,
and the measure of thy covetousness.
The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying,
Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers;
and they shall lift up a shout against thee. Jeremiah 51:13-14
And we don’t want to put trust in him to know that he’s got a way of dealing with wickedness and evil. And also, the evil and wickedness of this world thinks that somehow they are smarter and greater and more powerful than God. And what Jeremiah is telling the people is, Remember who’s your creator? Who created everything? He stretched out the heavens.
He created the earth. He is the one who rules over all. And he says, when he comes and says, I’m going to destroy Babylon, I will destroy Babylon.
It doesn’t matter what Babylon thinks or what men think. He says, when he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with rain and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
That’s interesting. We saw evidence of this in the Caribbean last week. There was one of the most powerful earthquakes, I think it’s the most powerful earthquake on record that’s ever hit Jamaica.
We saw pictures of Jamaica today, and the whole island just about flattened by the power of this hurricane. Right now, they said there’s a storm that’s beginning in the Atlantic, and they usually begin over by Africa, and they work their way across the Atlantic, and they don’t know exactly what the track is, but they said it could be more powerful than the one that just hit us. At the same time, you’ve got Jared Kushner, and over in the Middle East, leading our envoy, trying to cut deals with the Arabs against Israel, and cut Israel out of the process.
You can go back and look at different times where different presidents have done that, and the catastrophes that hit. You remember the hurricane Katrina that hit during George Bush’s years? It was shortly after George Bush had turned his back on Israel, and Katrina hit the next day. God can do the winds the way God wants to do the winds, and God can cause the waters to come up, and people forget that.
Who’s in control? God’s in control, and God can raise nations up, and tear nations down for His purposes, for His glory, and to protect that which are His covenant people. It says in verse ,
16 When he uttereth his voice,
there is a multitude of waters in the heavens;
and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth:
he maketh lightnings with rain,
and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
It used to be that preachers would talk about that, but is weather a judgment from God? And do people need to look to the Lord, and do they need to understand what are we doing when things happen, when things like these catastrophes happen? Today we say, if you listen to the news people, they always talk about Mother Nature.
You hear that just about every newscast you listen to. Mother Nature was mad today. No, it wasn’t Mother Nature, it was the Lord.
And maybe we need to examine our hearts as a people in America, and say, Lord, do we really repent of our sins? Do we really turn to you and call on your name? Or, just because you appear to be increasing my bank account, and increasing this, and things are appearing to turn around, then I say, well, God’s favor is on us, but I can continue to live the way I want to live. And that’s not the case. And that’s what Jeremiah was reminding Judah of.
It may appear that Babylon is winning. It may appear that Babylon is getting away with destroying that which God loves. But God hasn’t forgotten.
And God’s day of vengeance will come, and God controls all kinds of things to bring it about. If you look at the last great battle that’s going to come, you’re going to see that the nations of the world will come against Israel, and yet, by his word, they shall be destroyed. It talks about the battle that’s in Ezekiel , and you see there that Russia, an alliance that’s led by Russia, consisting of Iran, and Turkey, and Sudan, and Libya, is going to come against Israel, and no one will come to their aid, except a few of the ones, and it looks like some of those nations could be some that are going to be signers of the Abraham Accords, and they’re going to go, you guys shouldn’t probably do that.
Maybe you should just go home. But they’re not going to come to their aid. They’re not going to fight for them.
The United States isn’t going to be there to fight for them. As a matter of fact, it says nobody will fight for them, but God will come, and it’s interesting if you read the account in Ezekiel, how he comes against them. He uses hail, and thunder, and lightning, and rain, and powerful things that he controls, and only he can control.
And so we need to remember who’s in control, and who’s worthy of our praise. Verse , Every man is brutish by his knowledge, every founder is confounded by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in it. And the thing is, men look to their possessions, they look to the gods they have created, and it says that every man is brutish when he doesn’t turn to the Lord.
And you can appear to be as refined as anybody, and drive the fanciest car, wear the fanciest clothes, live in the fanciest house, but you’re still a brute if you’re having your own gods, and trusting in them, and believing they’re going to deliver you. That’s what Babylon believed, their gods could deliver them. That’s what Egypt believed, their gods could deliver them.
That’s what the Canaanites believed, that their gods could deliver them. In the last days, when the resurrected spirit of Babylon comes through the resurrected Roman Empire, being led by the Antichrist, the world will believe that he can deliver them, and Satan can deliver them. But God is telling us, they’re just brutes, and they’ll be accountable, because I’m the one that’s in control.
Let’s just close in prayer. Lord, I pray that you just help us to understand these things. May our trust and hope constantly rest in you.
Lord, may we realize that you are in control. And Father, may we seek to honor and glorify your name. May we realize that our prayers make a difference, because you’ve told us to pray.
You’ve told us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and that is, we are to pray with great anticipation of your return. And Lord, before that begins, you have to come for your bride to church, and yet Lord, your church needs to prepare for your coming. Lord, I pray that you would all help us all to just have a longing for that day.
Jeremiah 1 The Call of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 2 Israel Forsakes the Living God
Jeremiah 8 & 9, Refusing to Repent
Jeremiah 10, The Folly of Idols
Jeremiah 11, The Broken Covenant
Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah Complaint and God’s Answer
Jeremiah 13 The Linen Belt and Pride of Judah
Jeremiah 14 , Doujght, Famine, and False Prophets
Jeremiah 18, The Potter’s Clay
Jeremiah 23:31-40 — Jeremiah 24:1-10
Babylon; Jeremiah 51 and the Last Days, Part 1
Babylon, Jeremiah 51 and the Last Days, Part 2
Jeremiah 51:10-17, The Righteousness of the Lord Revealed