Jer 50:8-9 | KingComments | STEP | After the conquest “in those days and at that time”, Israelites from the twelve tribes, “the sons of Israel … they and the sons of Judah as well”, will set out to seek the LORD their God ( ). This happens as soon as the Medes and Persians are in power. Then in the first year of his reign, Cyrus gives the command that anyone who wants to go back to Jerusalem may go ( ). All who take advantage of that opportunity will go to Zion ( ). That is where their heart is, that is their destination, that is where they set their faces, for there is the temple. They will come there and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be broken again or forgotten. There will be no new covenant breaking because this covenant depends only on the faithfulness of the LORD. And He is the everlasting faithful One. The LORD sees His people as “lost sheep” (cf. ) who have fallen victim to false shepherds ( ). These shepherds have fed themselves and left the sheep to their fate. They have not given them a place to rest, but have hounded them to keep their self-made commandments. These erring sheep have become easy prey for their adversaries ( ). Added to that, those opponents also boast that they are innocent of this exploitation because God’s people have sinned and they are executing God’s judgment. They even manage to use beautiful and telling names for the LORD. He is “the habitation of righteousness”. Because the Israelites have sinned against it, they devour them. He is also “the hope of their fathers”. In that hope they did not follow their fathers, but sinned. That devouring by adversaries has come to an end. God’s people are now called to flee from Babylon, back to Israel, to Jerusalem, to the LORD ( ). Those who go are a first ‘batch’; the rest of “the flock” will follow at another time.

‏ Jeremiah 50:8-9

Return of Israel

After the conquest “in those days and at that time”, Israelites from the twelve tribes, “the sons of Israel … they and the sons of Judah as well”, will set out to seek the LORD their God (Jer 50:4). This happens as soon as the Medes and Persians are in power. Then in the first year of his reign, Cyrus gives the command that anyone who wants to go back to Jerusalem may go (Ezra 1:2-3).

All who take advantage of that opportunity will go to Zion (Jer 50:5). That is where their heart is, that is their destination, that is where they set their faces, for there is the temple. They will come there and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be broken again or forgotten. There will be no new covenant breaking because this covenant depends only on the faithfulness of the LORD. And He is the everlasting faithful One.

The LORD sees His people as “lost sheep” (cf. Mt 9:36) who have fallen victim to false shepherds (Jer 50:6). These shepherds have fed themselves and left the sheep to their fate. They have not given them a place to rest, but have hounded them to keep their self-made commandments. These erring sheep have become easy prey for their adversaries (Jer 50:7).

Added to that, those opponents also boast that they are innocent of this exploitation because God’s people have sinned and they are executing God’s judgment. They even manage to use beautiful and telling names for the LORD. He is “the habitation of righteousness”. Because the Israelites have sinned against it, they devour them. He is also “the hope of their fathers”. In that hope they did not follow their fathers, but sinned.

That devouring by adversaries has come to an end. God’s people are now called to flee from Babylon, back to Israel, to Jerusalem, to the LORD (Jer 50:8). Those who go are a first ‘batch’; the rest of “the flock” will follow at another time.

Sin of and Judgment on Babylon

For the execution of judgment on Babylon, the LORD raises up a horde of great nations (Jer 50:9). These are the nations of the Medes and Persians. They come from the north to Babylon and take it captive. They do so with ruthless precision. The use of their weapons is not a battle in the air. Chaldea becomes their booty and it is not inconsiderable (Jer 50:10).

Judgment comes upon Babylon because the Babylonians have plundered the sanctuary of the LORD with great joy and without restraint (Jer 50:11). They have acted in God’s land like an elated calf in freshly mown grass and have raged against God’s people like stallions. Therefore, there is now shame for Babylon toward her mother (Jer 50:12). A mother usually likes to see her child’s success. That is not the case here. On the contrary. Babylon has gone from being the foremost of all nations to being the least. Of all its former glory, nothing remains. It is “a wilderness, a parched land and a desert”.

The indignation of the LORD is so great that she will not be inhabited again (Jer 50:13). Instead of admiration, it will provoke consternation in everyone who passes by Babylon (cf. Jer 19:8). This will be fully fulfilled in the end time (Rev 18:1-19).

The LORD calls His instruments to make themselves ready to fight against Babylon (Jer 50:14). They need not hold back when it comes to using their arrows. The supply will not run out. The LORD will give enough to execute His judgment on Babylon, for she has sinned against Him. What they have done against His people has been done against Him. Whoever touches His people touches the apple of His eye.

The LORD also foretells victory here already (Jer 50:15). Babylon will surrender and the Medes and Persians can rejoice. All her defenses have fallen and been broken down. The people the LORD uses are carrying out His vengeance. He is doing it. They may avenge themselves and treat Babylon as she has acted herself. Babylon reaps what she has sown (Gal 6:7b). There will be no more literal harvest for Babylon (Jer 50:16). The sowers will be exterminated, and for what still grows, there will be no reapers, for they too will be exterminated. All who have been conquered by Babylon will flee, each to his land of origin.