Babylon will become an eternal ruin
Babylon will become an eternal ruin
Jeremiah 51:54~64
□ Praise and Sharing
[New Hymn] Chapter 550 The morning when Zion’s glory shines
How did you spend last week?
God foretells the destruction of Babylon through Jeremiah. However, the time of the prophecy was before Jerusalem was completely defeated. Before Judah was defeated and taken captive by Babylon, God had already foreseen the fall of Babylon. Before punishing Judah, God even planned Judah's recovery. In this way, God punishes the mistakes of his people, but sets a time limit for discipline. On the other hand, the fall of Babylon is an eternal destruction with no time limit.
□ Words and Sharing
1. Noisy Babylon must also be ruled by God, the ‘King of kings’ (verses 54-58)
1) How does Babylon’s ‘loud voice’ change into the ‘sound of destruction’? (verses 54-55)
(Jer 51:54) A voice of crying is heard from Babylon, a voice of great destruction is heard in the land of the Chaldeans.
(Jer 51:55) For the LORD hath made Babylon desolate, and hath cut off her loud noise; the enemy is like many waters, whose waves are violent, and whose waves make an uproar.
The ‘loud sound’ of Babylon (vital Babylon) is drowned out by the loud ‘sound of waves’ of the enemy (enemy forces attacking Babylon). In the end, the ‘loud voice’ of Babylon will change into the ‘sound of destruction.’
2) Who ultimately destroyed Babylon? (verse 56)
(Jer 51:56) The destroyer is come to Babylon; her warriors are taken captive, and their bows are broken. The LORD is a God of vengeance, and he will surely repay.
The one who used ‘the destroyer’ (Persia) of Babylon is ‘Jehovah God who avenges.’
3) What does God do to those in power in Babylon? (verse 57)
(Jer 51:57) Thus saith the King, who is called Jehovah of hosts: I will make drunken his princes, and his wise men, and his governors, and his satraps, and his mighty men; and they shall sleep forever, and shall not wake up.
He makes high officials, wise men, governors, provincial ministers, and warriors drunk, so that they fall asleep forever and cannot wake up.
<Sharing 1> The noisy chattering of showing off oneself before God becomes powerless when the righteous Word of God comes. Let’s talk about what sounds louder to my ears than the word of God. Let’s also talk about the experience of the ‘evil and arrogant voice’ being covered by the ‘sound of the word’.
There was a time when the voice saying, ‘If you send a text message of (God’s) word, we will report it to the police,’ sounded louder than the word of God in my ears. But The ‘voice of the God's Word’, ‘Do not be afraid, I am with you.’ covered that evil and arrogant voice and I was able to gain peace and confidence.
<Sharing 2> The only King of kings is God. Even those who hold the greatest authority and exercise the greatest power in the world are under the sovereignty of God. When is it necessary to have faith that ‘God is the supreme sovereign’? Have you ever experienced that God is sovereign over all things?
When we stand before soldiers, police, or judges, we need to have faith in God as the supreme sovereign.
When passing through the border checkpoint between Pakistan and India, I relied on God and preached the gospel to an Indian soldier, and when he expressed his gratitude, I experienced that God is the sovereign over all things who protects me.
2. Jeremiah writes an oracle about the destruction of Babylon and sends it to Babylon (verses 59-64)
1) When and to whom does Jeremiah deliver the word of God (verse 59)?
(Jer 51:59) In the fourth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, when Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maseiah, went with the king to Babylon, Jeremiah the prophet gave him a command: Seraiah was the quartermaster.
Jeremiah delivered it to Seraiah, the quartermaster, in the 4th year of King Zedekiah of Judah (594 B.C.).
2) What is the core content of the prophecy delivered by Jeremiah? (verses 60-62)
(Jer 51:60) All these words that Jeremiah had written against Babylon, all the disasters that were to come on Babylon, were written in one book.
(Jer 51:61) Say to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, be careful to read all these words.
(Jer 51:62) Say, “O LORD, you have spoken of this place, saying, ‘I will destroy this land, so that neither man nor beast will live in it, and it will become an everlasting desolation.’”
It is a judgment that will come to Babylon, and it means that Babylon will fall and no man or beast will live in the land, and it will remain in ruins forever.
3) What should Seraiah do with the book after reading the words of prophecy? (verses 63-64)
(Jer 51:63) When you have finished reading this book, tie a stone to it and throw it into the River Euphrates. Revelation 18:21
(Jeremiah 51:64) Say, ‘Babylon will fall like this because of my calamity, and will never rise again; she will be desolate.’” This ended Jeremiah’s words.
Seraiah tied a stone to a book and threw it into the Euphrates River, saying, “Babylon will fall like this because of the calamity and will never rise again, and she will be devastated.”
<Sharing 3> Jeremiah even predicted the fall of Babylon before the fall of Jerusalem. From the beginning, the ‘destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon’ that Jeremiah preached to the people of Judah was not an eternal judgment but a temporary punishment. Let’s talk about what God’s discipline I experienced and what I gained through that discipline.
Through my experience of failing to plan a short-term mission trip abroad during the COVID-19 period without my wife's permission, I learned a lesson that a good mission trip requires my wife's permission and that we must be of one mind to do the Lord's work.
□ Let's pray together
Our Heavenly Father, help us to trust in Your sovereignty over all things and help us not to submit to the wrong authority.
Let us endure this day in hope as we wait for God to restore this land!
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