28 There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,
Vengeance for His temple.29 “Summon [y]many against Babylon,
All those who [z]bend the bow:
Encamp against her on every side,
Let there be no escape[aa].
Repay her according to her work;
According to all that she has done, so do to her;
For she has become arrogant against the Lord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 “Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
And all her men of war will be [ab]silenced in that day,” declares the Lord.
31 “Behold, I am against you, O [ac]arrogant one,”
Declares the Lord [ad]God of hosts,
“For your day has come,
The time [ae]when I will punish you.
32 “The [af]arrogant one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will set fire to his cities
And it will devour all his environs.”33 Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“The sons of Israel are oppressed,
And the sons of Judah as well;
And all who took them captive have held them fast,
They have refused to let them go.
34 “Their Redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is His name;
He will vigorously plead their case
So that He may bring rest to [ag]the earth,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 “A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the Lord,
“And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her officials and her wise men!
36 “A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools!
A sword against her mighty men, and they will be [ah]shattered!
37 “A sword against [ai]their horses and against [aj]their chariots
And against all the [ak]foreigners who are in the midst of her,
And they will become women!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!
38 “A [al]drought on her waters, and they will be dried up!
For it is a land of idols,
And they are mad over fearsome idols.
In these verses, we see two things emphasizes especially. That is, the arrogance of Babylon, here repeated three times as, once as “arrogant against the Lord” and twice as “the arrogant one”. The result of Babylon exalting herself, not just above other nations, but against God Himself, is the sword. This also is repeated multiple times in vv. 35-37 until God mixes it up a bit and proclaims a drought on her waters.
Interestingly, as mentioned previously, it was by diverting their river that their enemies invaded Babylon. Verse 29 is also an echo of a previous chapter, with enemies surrounding Babylon on every side with the bow and arrow. But the root of all of this again is the arrogant spirit of Babylon. What had they to be so puffed up about?
In that day, pretty much anyone and everyone worshipped some deity. Therein, they thought, lay a strength to elevate them above other nations as they fought and conquered. The Chaldeans seem to have really taken this to heart (v. 38) to the extent that they were mad or crazy about their fearsome and terrible idols.
And, therein, lies the challenge for us also: what are we crazy about, what drives us to fanaticism? Do we get that excited about our great and mighty God? When He is the object of our adoration, there is a natural humility that comes. On the other hand, with many other things, we have a tendency to get puffed up in our knowledge and trying to be the best “fan”.
There are a lot of things that can stoke our pride and stroke our ego, but none of them ought to. Some of those things are fine and even good, but when it becomes an obsession it is unhealthy and we need a refocus. In truth, we need to refocus daily on what really matters, on God and His kingdom. Take the time today to hit pause, and fix your eyes on Jesus and ask Him to keep you humble and to serve others as He would serve them today.