58 Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed
And her high gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will toil for nothing,
And the nations become exhausted only for fire.”59 The [ay]message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a single [az]scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and say, ‘You, O Lord, have [ba]promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing dwelling in it, [bb]whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this [bc]scroll, you will tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become exhausted.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Poor Seraiah, to be a foreigner in the city of Babylon and be asked to read aloud all these words of destruction! Yet to finish it off, God asks (via Jeremiah) that he throw the scroll in the Euphrates after he is done. Of course, the obvious application was that Babylon would “sink down and not rise again”, but it’s interesting that he uses the Euphrates.
Perhaps it was also near one of the major city gates, but it was also the very place where the Medes would invade in about 80 years (give or take). As I’ve mentioned before, it is reported that Cyrus had the river diverted and thus his army entered the city without breaching the walls. Wonder if they found the scroll? That would have been interesting, but it probably didn’t last that long in the water.
At any rate, all of this points to one thing, whether the river was a foreshadowing or not; God declares plenty of things here that were fulfilled nearly eighty years later. A lot of stuff happened in between this prophecy and the downfall of Babylon, including Nebuchadnezzar’s ousting and then return to the throne at the hand of God. Who would think, that the empire of a king who finally praised and worshipped God, would fail and be destroyed?
God was, and is, sovereign, and what He declares will come true. We sometimes have a hard time putting our trust in someone we cannot see, but if God can make nations rise and fall, can He not also care for our own future? Indeed, He has done more than that, by securing it with the life of His own Son.
Whenever you are feeling like there is no hope and no answers, remember Babylon. That may seem silly, but it reminds us that God is still in control, and still on His throne. There is no One greater, and no One who cares for you and I more. Put your hope in Him today, and always, and walk in His steps.