The Fall of Babylon

Seminary Commons

The fall of the ancient Babylon speaks a lot of God’s special care and control over the affairs of earth and its inhabitants. God had a special care for Babylon as much as He did for his people the Jews. The length of the Babylonian empire first of all mirrors the length of the exile years of Judah. How much did God care and to what extent did He show His love to the wayward instrument? Jeremiah 51:9 talks about how God could have healed Babylon through His people, but she would not. The chapter places Yahweh as the subject and Babylon as the object. Yahweh calls upon Babylon to be the rod of discipline for Israel and Judah, but she took the privilege for granted and oppressed God’s people. According to Jer 50:7, 18, the Babylonians were seizing the fact that the Jews had sinned, which led them to be exiled, and rubbing it in their faces. So God warned the Babylonians of their imminent demise. When God knew that Babylon was not heeding the warnings, He called His people out (Jer 51:6). God had appointed fanners to fan away the golden empire with a silver platter. It was at the time when the iniquity of Babylon had risen to heaven that God showed that He had forgiven Israel and Judah (Jer 51:5; 50:20) by allowing them to return to the way. The ancient Babylon foreshadows the spiritual Babylon in her warnings and judgments. The truth of the matter is that Babylon had fallen long before her destruction because she would have been healed from her fall (Jer 51:8).