39 “Therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it,
And it will never again be inhabited
Or dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 “As when God overthrew Sodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares the Lord,
“No man will live there,
Nor will any son of man reside in it.41 “Behold, a people is coming from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.
42 “They seize their bow and javelin;
They are cruel and have no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea;
And they ride on horses,
Marshalled like a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands hang limp;
Distress has gripped him,
Agony like a woman in childbirth.44 “Behold, one will come up like a lion from the [am]thicket of the Jordan to [an]a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?” 45 Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their [ao]pasture desolate because of them. 46 At the [ap]shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth is shaken, and an outcry is heard among the nations.
At the end of the chapter here, we see reiterated the desolation of Babylon–that no one will live there, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Likewise, there is again the picture of the nation from the north with bow and javelin, riding on horses, coming against Babylon. Finally, God wraps it up with some rhetorical questions, “For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?”
Of course, the answer is “no one”, thus His plan and purposes will be accomplished (v. 45). That was a daunting and terrible thing for the Chaldeans, so much that the earth would be shaken and the nations would cry out (v. 47). In that is found also hope and security as well, at which one might ask, “What? Are you kidding?!”
For God also had a plan for His people, and He has a plan for you and I, a purpose that was birthed from the beginning of time. God said as much through Jeremiah earlier (chapter 29), that He had plans that included hope for the future. Even as mighty Babylon would fall, it was not doom and gloom for Israel, even though it was not (quite) the end of their captivity. Yet it signaled to them that God’s plan marched onwards, that what He had promised was sure to come true.
If we refuse to put our trust in God, it is vanity and futility, and the end is no less than what was decreed for Babylon–in fact, it may be the very same, as it is likely this chapter has a second fulfillment yet to come in the end times. But that is not what God desires for us, and when we put our trust, our very lives, into His hands? The future is bright, even when darkness closes in and threatens to snuff out the light.
As John wrote of Jesus many years later, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overpower it.” We see stories all the time of this duel between darkness and light, or evil fighting that which is good. We see evidence of that very battle all around. Yet I am reminded, even now, even when it gets worse, that God still sits on the throne and asks “For who is like Me?” No evil of this world can stand against God almighty.
God has plans for you and I, good plans, incredible plans, for hope and for the future. Nothing, no power on earth or anywhere else, can overcome Him, and His truth and light still marches on, stronger than ever.