Jeremiah 51:9

The Bible says in Jeremiah 51:9, “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.” Healing symbolizes forgiveness of sin. Sin sickness is very common. On the one hand how wonderful it is that the Lord has provided salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. But on the other hand how sad it is that so few find healing. Why do so few find it? The reason is because so few want it. God wants to forgive everyone. That is why it says at the beginning of Jeremiah 51:9, “We would have healed Babylon.” God loves everyone, Jesus died for everyone, and salvation is offered to everyone. But people seal their own future and bring upon themselves their impending judgment because they choose to reject God’s offer. That is exactly what happened to Babylon. Babylon was a nation that rejected God, and so they suffered the same consequence that all nations have and will suffer: judgment from a holy God. It says in Psalms 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

If the Babylonians had repented and turned to the Lord, they would have enjoyed the blessing that is mentioned in Jeremiah 51:10 that says, “The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.” Because we are sinners, we need righteousness in order to be able to stand in the presence of a holy God. We do not have that kind of righteousness that qualifies us to stand before God. But Jesus does. Jesus is the Holy One of God. Jesus lived a perfect life. And the righteousness of Christ is credited to the account of everyone who believes in Jesus. That is why the Bible says in several places, “The just shall live by faith.” That is why it says about Abraham in the book of Genesis, “The just shall live by faith.” It also says about Jesus in Second Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 51:11-14, “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.[12] 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.[13] O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.[14] 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.” It is important to notice that when the Lord gave these prophesies concerning the destruction of Babylon, that He was very specific. Many years before the event even happened, God gave the name of the country that would conquer Babylon in verse 11: “the Medes.” There are many other prophetic events in which God was also very specific, including the coming of the Messiah. Many specific details were given about the Messiah so that He would be recognized when He arrived on the scene. The fact that Jesus was born of a virgin, the fact that He was born in the town of Bethlehem, that fact that Jesus came in the linage of David, the fact that He was crucified and sacrificed for our sins, the fact that He rose from the dead, the fact that He was the divine Son of God, and many more details were prophesied hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus was even born on this earth. When we speak of God’s prophecy, we are primarily speaking of the fact that God’s truth has gone forth and been revealed and publicly declared; but once in a while God also reveals details about future events. Some of these details are so specific that they are a tremendous testimony to the fact that God knows all things even the future. It is also a testimony to the fact that the Bible is God’s Word and is true.

There is at least one other important detail to discuss concerning future events. God not only said that the Medes would conquer Babylon, but God also said that He Himself would cause this event to take place. The Lord said in Jeremiah 51:11, “the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.” What determines future events? Obviously God determines at least some future events. Some future events are determined based upon what God decides to do. Other events are determined based upon what man decides to do. Because we have been made in the image of God, one of the attributes given to each person is a will: the power of choice. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 18:18, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 51:15-18, “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.[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.[17] 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 them.[18] They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.” One of the purposes of these verses is to show the contrast between God and man. Two of God’s attributes are mentioned: His power and His wisdom. Of course, these are attributes that Jesus demonstrated: His power by healing the sick, raising the dead, and calming the storm; and His wisdom by His matchless teachings. Here in Jeremiah chapter 51 God’s power is illustrated by His control over the weather. Man certainly cannot control the weather, and man cannot predict the weather either. That is one of the reasons that the global warming claims are to be held suspect. If man does not even know if it will rain this afternoon or not, man certainly does not know what the weather might or might not be decades from now based on any measurement. “Every man is brutish by his knowledge,” and “every founder is confounded.” Man’s knowledge is his undoing. He knows something, and therefore he thinks he knows all he needs to know, when in reality man knows much less than he needs. Man needs to know Jesus Christ as Savior. And that is why any unsaved person ends up just as it says in Jeremiah 51:18, “They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.” Their lives accomplish nothing except the making of mistakes (errors), and then ultimately they “shall perish.” Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 51:19-24, “The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.[20] Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;[21] And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;[22] With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;[23] I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.[24] And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.” These verses emphasize the difference between Israel and the other nations of the world. Any nation in this world can be totally destroyed just like Babylon was or just like Sodom and Gomorrah; but Israel will never be totally destroyed. God has an eternal plan for Israel and nothing can foil that plan or cause it to be set aside, not even Israel’s own failures. God made a promise to Abraham, and He is going to keep that promise. It says in Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:[3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

The fact that God will never allow Israel to utterly disappear due to their own sins also has spiritual applications to Christians. Just as Israel will not be judged all the way to its own destruction, no individual Christian will either. Our salvation in Christ is tied to many promises including that same promise that God made to Abraham. The truth about eternal security is based upon the fact that God keeps His promises. If you have been born again through faith in Christ, you will go to heaven. You may suffer many judgments because of your failures, but you will never be utterly destroyed. You will go to heaven. You might lose your rewards, but you will go to heaven. It says in Galatians 3:14, “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 51:25-36, “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.[26] And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.[27] Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.[28] Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.[29] And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.[30] The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.[31] One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,[32] And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.[33] For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.[34] Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.[35] The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.[36] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.” The Lord goes into great detail telling us how widespread and complete will be the judgment and destruction upon Babylon. And then in verse 36 the Lord tells us one of the reasons that Babylon is judged. God judges Babylon because God is taking vengeance upon Babylon for what they did to Jerusalem. This is one more reminder of why Christians need to make sure that they do not take vengeance on anyone. Jesus is Judge. Jesus will decide what to do to them and when to do it. Just serve the Lord, perform your responsibilities, and be assured that every single person reports to Christ. God knows. We know God. All is well.

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