Babylon is Coming

I. The invasion from the North (5-18).

A. A call to action (5-6).

Notice in verses 1-2 there are nine verbs. You can sense the anxiousness in the text. The people of God need to prepare themselves:

Declare in Judah

Proclaim in Jerusalem

Blow the trumpet through the land- a call to attention

Cry aloud

Assemble

Let us go

Raise a standard toward Zion

Flee for safety

Stay not

The people of God need to flee into areas such as Jerusalem that have walls of protection.

B. The reason for the call to action (7-9).

1. The enemy described (7).

The enemy is like a lion coming from the forest to destroy the nation.

Lion- A powerful predator. One to be feared, untamed.

2. The end revealed (7).

“Your cities will be ruins without inhabitants”

Note the land and the people would be affected. Here the destruction of Jerusalem as well as the deportation to Jerusalem is prophesied.

3. The response God desired (9).

God desired humility and repentance. That’s how they should respond to the coming invasion.

4. The terror of the day (9-10).

“for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us.”

They would not repent and therefore the ager of the Lord would result in the destruction of the Southern kingdom.

Everyone will be afraid. Notice all the people mentioned in verse 9.

Kings

Officials

Priests

Prophets

For the most part all of these people were wicked. They were bold in their sin. But now they are terrified.

This prophesy foretells Babylon ruled by Nebuchadnezzar coming to destroy the people of God. But we should not miss the fact that God is the one who is disciplining His people. He is simply using Babylon as His tool.

C. The people will suffer (10-12).

Verse ten has been difficult for many to understand. Is Jeremiah saying the LORD deceived the people?

Jeremiah says “You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem saying, “It shall be well with you, whereas the sword has reached their life.”

As we read the book, we will see there are false prophets who are telling the people of God Jeremiah is a liar. They will tell the people everything is going to be ok. There are two possible solutions as to why Jeremiah says the Lord deceived the people:

1) The Lord allowed the false prophets to prophecy falsely.

2) Jeremiah is quoting the false prophets.

There is no reason to believe God would purposely mislead His people. In fact He is calling them to repentance.

Jeremiah is certainly not preaching peace. He says the message of a coming invasion will continue to be preached. In fact, he says the army coming will be a like a hot wind blowing across the land.

The wind will be so hard it will not be profitable. Wind could be used for winnowing. Wheat would be tossed into the air and a gentle wind would separate the wheat from the chaff. This wind would be so great if blew everything, both good and bad, away.

When the invasion comes everyone will suffer. Even faithful Jews will be killed, scattered or deported. A nation that forsakes God can expect this type of treatment. Godly people who live in an ungodly nation may suffer the physical effects of the discipline of God.

D. Judah, the Lord and Jeremiah speak (13-18).

1. Judah (13)- They see the invading army coming. The dust behind their chariots looks like clouds. They come on war horses that travel as swift as an eagle. Judah recognizes that judgment is indeed coming upon them.

2. Jeremiah (14-16)- He calls the people to cleanse themselves from evil so that the Lord will stop the invading army. Notice that he identifies the heart and the mind as the problem. Repentance is a change of mind about sin that leads to a change of direction from the heart.

The warning Jeremiah gives extends from Dan to Mount Ephraim. Dan was the Northern most part of Israel. Mount Ephraim was near Jerusalem. The invaders would come from the North and make their way all they way to Jerusalem. The people in these areas would be warned. Yet they would not listen.

Once the invasion began the people who lived in these regions could do nothing to stop Babylon. All they could do was confirm that the enemy had arrived and was moving from one side of Israel to the other.

3. God speaks (16b-18).

He says the enemies would be like “keepers of a field”. This refers to the practice of shepherds camping around their herd. This enabled them to keep the herd penned in. Babylon would trap Judah. There would be nowhere for them to go. There would be no escaping this ungodly nation.

Notice verses 17-18. The Lord is sure to say that it is not His fault. Their deeds have brought this on. The consequences of their sin would reach to their heart. Life would be bitter. Sorrow would engulf them.

God has warned them. They would not repent and He is honest with them. Life is going to become very difficult.

II. The broken heart of Jeremiah (19-22).

A. He is in anguish (19).

Look at verse 19.

“My anguish! My anguish! I writhe in pain!”

He’s very detailed about his emotional state.

His heart is beating wildly.

He cannot keep silent.

He says he hears the sound of the trumpets, the alarm of war. This had not actually occurred yet, but Jeremiah is writing as if it had. As a prophet the Lord has shown him what is going to happen. The very thought of the coming invasion has stirred the emotions of Jeremiah.

Those who preach for the glory of God should have their heart stirred with emotion because of the Word of God. A preacher should believe the Word of the Lord to such an extent that it affects Him emotionally. The emotion of a text should be revealed in the preaching of a text.

B. He describes the attack (20-21).

I believe he saw this in the same way that Joh saw many of the things he wrote in Revelation. He hears crashing. He sees homes destroyed. He sees buildings laid waste. He hears war trumpets being blown.

He wonders how long the attack will last. He sees the standard of the enemy raised and hears their trumpets being blown. It seems to him that the attack continues far longer than it should. He is ready for it to be over.

C. God speaks (22).

He describes His people.

They are foolish.

They don’t know their own God.

They are stupid children.

They have no understanding.

They are wise (skilled) in doing evil but have idea how to do what is good.

Why is the Lord speaking like this about His children?

First, it’s true. Second, He is speaking as a a disappointed father speaks. He knows the Jewish people know better. They have been given so much revelation and blessings throughout their history. The language He uses reflects a broken-hearted parent.

The broken heart of Jeremiah in verse 19 reflects the broken heart of God in verse 22. We need the heart of God. It will enable us to have compassion on the lost and to be honest with them as well.

III. The Destruction of Jerusalem (23-31).

A. It would be as if it were before creation (23-26).

Jeremiah uses poetic language to describe how awful the destruction of Jerusalem would be. He quotes Genesis 1:2. That verse describes the earth before the Lord created all the things such as oceans, trees, animals, humans or even stars and planets. He is saying Jerusalem will look as if it has been uncreated.

The mountains and the hills would be moving.

The land would be empty. Humans and birds would be missing. The land that once brought forth crops would be like a desert. The cities would be destroyed. Essentially there would be no sign of life.

It seems clear to me that these are visions the Lord gave Jeremiah. Notice how many times he says “I looked” in verses 23-26. Four times he says it. It is similar to John in Revelation. As he was giving his prophecies ho often prefaced them with “I looked” or “I saw” (Rev. 4:1, 5:1, 6:1, 7:1, 7:9).

God shows Jeremiah in a vision how horrible the destruction of Jerusalem will be, and he uses poetic language to describe what he saw.

B. It will be frightening (28-31).

Darkness will fill the land. The earth will mourn. People will weep and cry out for help. However, prayer will not stop the invasion. Look at the end of verse 28. The Lord says He will not turn back.

There is nothing we can do to keep judgment from coming to this earth. The Lord will judge the earth.

In verse 29 he says people will flee to the woods and to the mountains. They will leave the cities because the cities are the places that are being attacked.

Judah’s last attempt to escape the judgment of these nations is to try and appease them. Jeremiah likens Judah to a prostitute who dresses up and paints her eyes in a seductive way to try and satisfy her enemies.

Jeremiah says this will not help. She will not find any allies to help her in this war. Her lovers despise her. They want her dead. This is a reminder to the church. It is vain for us to tray and appease the world. Some people think if we make the world like us, we will accomplish more. That isn’t the case. The world will always hate Christ and those who follow Him. We should not be trying to gain the world’s favor.

The last verse is the most frightening. He likens Judah to a woman who is having her first child. The woman is crying out in labor pains. It’s a difficult pregnancy and she is struggling to breathe. She is stretching out her hands for help. Finally, she realizes that her midwives want to kill her. She is at her most vulnerable state and the only ones who could her are those who want to kill her.

Egypt will not help. Assyria will not help. They have forsaken God, their only help.

C. There will be hope (27).

Look at the end of verse 27 “yet I will not make a full end”.

Thank God for that. If it were not for those few words, it would appear there was no hope for the people of God. A remnant will survive. Jerusalem will be rebuilt in the future. The people of God will return. God’s grace is evident.

God’s grace is greater than our sin. Even when we find ourselves under the discipline of God, we have hope of a future blessing. Christ has made that possible. Christ will pardon the greatest sinner and remove our sin.