“I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down! Come forth from her midst, My people, and each of you save yourselves from the fierce anger of the LORD” (Jer 51:44-45).
Jeremiah 50–51 takes up the theme of God’s judgment upon Babylon and the return of His people to the promised land. Although Scripture warns us against taking vengeance into our own hands (Rom 12:19), the vengeance of the LORD is always just, and therefore sweet (Jer 50:15, 28; 51:6, 11, 36). While we must never cease praying for the repentance of our enemies (Matt 5:44), the anticipation of God’s just and righteous vengeance is meant to bring His people deep comfort and relief (Jer 51:59-64). God Himself will deal with every injustice against His people in His own time and in His own way.
And by reading Abram’s story as our own story (i.e., “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the sons”), we are emboldened to burn every bridge to Babylon’s empty promises of great cities and towers reaching to heaven.
In addition to offering the hope of vindication, these final chapters in Jeremiah also shape the way we read the opening chapters of Genesis, particularly Genesis 11–12. Through redemptive patterns, the story of God’s judgment upon Babylon (Gen 11:1-9), followed by the divine call for Abram to leave Babylon for the promised land, becomes a prefigurative prophecy. No wonder, then, the Bible ends with a call for God’s people to depart from Babylon (compare Rev 18:4 with Jer 51:45) just as the city is about to fall.
And by reading Abram’s story as our own story (i.e., “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the sons”), we are emboldened to burn every bridge to Babylon’s empty promises of great cities and towers reaching to heaven. Like Abram, we willingly set out on the long journey to the promised land, overcoming every obstacle by faith (Gen 15:6).
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:8-10).
