Jeremiah 50:1

Word that the Lord. See on ch. 46:1.

Many of the expressions of chs. 50; 51 descriptive of the desolation of literal Babylon appear again in Rev. 16 to 19 in John’s delineation of the fall of mystical Babylon (see on Isa. 47:1). A careful study of these expressions in their historical setting can prove of aid in clarifying the meaning of the same expressions in their setting in the book of Revelation. Note the following:

Jeremiah 50; 51 and Revelation 16 to 19 show parallels such as the coming up of a nation against Babylon, making her land desolate, the call for God’s people to come out of her, the vengeance of the Lord, and the utter destruction by fire.

Babylon. Jeremiah’s prophecy against Babylon is the longest (chs. 50:1-51:58) of his utterances against the foreign nations surrounding Israel. Babylon was at this time the dominant power in the Near East, and was the chief adversary of the people of Judah. The other nations had from time to time molested Judah, but Babylon conquered and destroyed her. This prophecy is evidently to be dated in the 4th year of Zedekiah (see ch. 51:59, 60), 594/593 B.C., autumn to autumn.

Some have wondered that Jeremiah, whose policy it was to urge cooperation with Babylon (ch. 27:12-18), should at such a crucial time as this deliver so strong a pronouncement against that country. The answer seems to lie in the fact that this prophecy was not given for the benefit of the Jews at Jerusalem, to whom Jeremiah directed his urgent messages of faithfulness to Babylon, but was intended, rather, for the Israelites who were exiles in Babylon (see chs. 50:4-8, 17-20; 51:60-64). If the message reached the Babylonians, it was to them a warning that Jehovah would still bring judgment and destruction upon them for their failure to cooperate fully with Heaven’s plan. To the Jewish exiles it was an assurance that God had not forgotten their plight, and that there would be a day of restoration for them.