49 Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.
50 You who have escaped the sword,
Depart! Do not stay!
Remember the Lord from afar,
And let Jerusalem [au]come to your mind.
51 We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
For aliens have entered
The holy places of the Lord’s house.52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will punish her idols,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
53 “Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens,
And though she should fortify [av]her lofty stronghold,
From Me destroyers will come to her,” declares the Lord.54 The sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud [aw]noise vanish from her.
And their waves will roar like many waters;
The tumult of their voices [ax]sounds forth.
56 For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured,
Their bows are shattered;
For the Lord is a God of recompense,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
As we see more description of Babylon’s coming judgment, it made me think of how much we like to focus on God’s “nicer” attributes: love, joy, grace, etc. But He reminds us in v. 56 that He is also a God of justice who will repay those who rebel against His commands. Increasingly, we’d like to believe we can just do whatever we like and that there will be no consequences.
Were we mere animals, like some suggest, that might be fine. We would only be acting on instinct after all, and who could blame us for that? But we aren’t and we don’t, God gave us a gift in making us rational beings, made in His likeness. We have the flesh and blood that would tempt us to think otherwise, but our mind and soul tell a different story. God made us different, and He made us for more than simply following our base passions.
With that comes both greater privilege and responsibility. To be clear, the privilege is incredible, and in contrast to what is said in v. 51 where they bemoaned the fact that “aliens” had entered the temple of God. Now, part of the dismay might have been the fact that they were likely to bring their idol worship along with them. That did in fact happen after the Judah was taken captive, and the foreigners paid a heavy price for daring to enter God’s temple.
Yet God was not content with this arrangement and through the sacrifice of His Son, a new way was made for us. Not only were we cleansed, our sins forgiven by Jesus taking our place, but we were no longer outcasts. Rather, God made us heirs with Christ, “if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:17) As a result, the writer of Hebrews tells us that we may “boldly approach” the throne of God. (4:16)
But in that, we are also reminded that it is not of our own doing, for we approach “so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Because boy do we need it! No less than the Chaldeans of Jeremiah’s day, and our flesh fights to bend us towards instinct and rebellion. Instead, heed the words of v. 50, “You who have escaped the sword, depart! Do not stay!”
In that same chapter of Romans, Paul commends the church, “for if you are living according to the flesh, you [a]must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” God will indeed have justice if we live according to the flesh. However, when we submit to Him by the Spirit, our story changes. No longer slaves and criminals bound for death, but children of the Most High King. Take it not for granted and do not stay in the place of sin. Take His hand, die to your flesh daily, and walk with the Prince of Peace–He loves you more than life itself, do you?