Who is Zerubbabel? Lampstands and Olive trees. (Zechariah 4)

 OUT OF THE CHAOS: A study in the book of Zechariah

Chapter 4: Lampstands and Olive trees. Who is Zerubbabel?

The video of this talk is on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/-HBMVBo7qlo

Shalom and welcome to our class today. We are continuing in this prophetic book written by a young Jewish man living in Jerusalem about 500 BCE as he writes to his people, those living there in Judah and also to those living in Babylon. To each of those groups, he has some clear words and I trust that those words he spoke 2500 years ago will speak to you and to me as we will consider what God meant as he used that young man. And we will try to learn what God has to say to us as 21st Century people. 

As per usual, my method will take us through a chapter each Friday morning, and then we will have plenty of time for discussion and questions in the final half-hour. If you are watching this teaching on YouTube after our class, please feel free to write me (bob@jewsforjesus.org.au) and I will try to answer queries if I’m able. 

If you don’t already receive the email invitations to join this class live, please enter your email address just now, type it into the chat box or write our office (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) and ask to be invited. Thanks. 

Also if you don’t mind, please read the chapter before you come to the class live, and if you are watching YouTube, pause your playback, read chapter 4 and then rejoin us. Thanks. Welcome back.

Let’s jump in. 

Again the new chapter has an unusual vision, Vision #5 in this series of 8 visions, all at the beginning of the prophecy of Zechariah. Last week we turned from the work of the rebuild of the Temple to a person and to sin and cleansing. Today we return to the theme of the Temple, but have two unusual changes to the setting. The vision may happen at night, but an angel actually awakens Zechariah as if from a deep sleep and secondly, again we zoom in on a person, the governor Zerubbabel. We learn about his person from 1 Chronicles and the book of Haggai. He was the grandson of king Jehoiachin, and son of Pedaiah; and for a while, the leader of the first returning exiles. So, along with the task of Temple reconstruction, we note the ministry and the character of Governor Zerubbabel. 

Since Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin of Judah (1 Chronicles 3:17) he was in the line of King David. That will be significant later as we consider messianic hope. Zerubbabel was born in Babylon during the exile (between 587 and 539 BC), and made his way over to Judah after King Cyrus II allowed the Judean captives to return to their homeland to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1–4; 6:3–5, 8–10). The prophet Haggai identifies Zerubbabel as the governor of Judah after the exile (Haggai 1:1; 2:2, 21). 

A little more about this man, a reflection of the times, and history of the building. His name, Zerubbabel is a Babylonian name meaning “offspring of Babylon.” That helps me remember the prophecy of Jeremiah who encouraged Judeans to make a new life in Babylon and thus Pedaiah (or Shealtiel, whichever was his biological father) gave him a Babylonian name. Think about the changes in Jewish culture from Eastern European shtetl life for hundreds of years with men’s names being Menachem or Irving, Louie or Harold to the 20th century when men were given names like Robert, William or Charles. Trying to fit in, to acculturate, and to be less noticeable. And in the world of Babylon in those days, it was a way of being ‘normal’ as well. 

Then after Zerubbabel and the other exiles left Babylon, about a year later, they got settled, and those Jewish people began to rebuild, but it wasn’t long before opposition arose from local adversaries, and you have to wonder why the Judeans chose to build alone, and the work was brought to a standstill by order of King Artaxerxes (Ezra 4:1–24). Only the foundation of the temple had been finished. The locals had sent that letter of defamation and Artaxerxes believed that the Jews would not pay taxes to the king and would stay apart from the locals.

The foundation was lesser, that is, it showed that this new temple was going to be much smaller than the First Temple built by Solomon.  This brought significant disappointment to some of the older people who remembered the former temple: “Many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid” (Ezra 3:12).  Rashi said “although the foundation was a disappointing experience for those who remembered the magnificence of the First Temple, eventually the building would be 7 times more imposing that it is now”

The prophet Haggai addressed their disappointment: “‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. . . . ‘Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord of Hosts” (Haggai 2:3–4). Zechariah, too in today’s passage, told the people not to despise “the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10), because God had great plans for this new temple.

Finally after a seventeen-year work stoppage, under the next king of Persia, Darius, the Jewish people were granted permission to get back to rebuilding. Within three and a half years after the second effort began, the 2nd Temple was completed in 516 BCE.

In this vision today, Zechariah receives words that should have encouraged Zerubbabel: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts. What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘Grace! Grace!’ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you’” (Zechariah 4:6–9).

As a descendant of King David, Zerubbabel was identified with the coming Messiah by his contemporary prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. The Jewish people began to see Zerubbabel as their great hope for reviving the Davidic kingship and for liberation from the Persians. Rashi said God had chosen Zerubbabel from all people of the world as the one fit to execute this task. 

The prophet Haggai declared that God would use Zerubbabel to overthrow and destroy kingdoms: “The word of the LORD came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: ‘Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms.’ . . . ‘On that day,’ declares the LORD of Hosts, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the LORD of Hosts” (Haggai 2:20–23).

With that as background and a shadow of foreground, let’s unpack the few verses that are chapter four of Zechariah. 

Verse one. The angel almost shakes Zechariah, which makes sense in light of Haggai chapter 2 and the shaking that God intended through him. 

Verse two. The angel asks “What do you see?” And Zechariah mentions the menorah, but it has 7 feeder tubes into each of the 7 branches. That’s 49 tubes altogether. And a bowl atop. That’s not how the original was built (Read Exodus 25)

Then verse 3, we read of two olive trees, one on either side. OK< that’s not too far fetched. You need the olive trees to produce the olives that are then squeezed and create the oil that lights the menorah. 

Verse 4, a simple question. “What are these?” And you would expect the angel to explain. But he doesn’t. 

Verse 5. Don’t you know? It’s a mocking question. Obviously Zechariah didn’t know, or why would he have asked. I’m so glad God doesn’t treat us in this way. When we lack wisdom, James says, we should ask of God who gives to all men liberally, without upbraiding us!

Verse 6. The first explanation in this chapter. This is God’s word to Zerubbabel. Your work will not be by human strength or enterprise. It’s God’s work and he will ensure it’s done in his power. That’s comforting. 

Look tonight we have a soft launch and tomorrow evening the actual Opening Night for our Art Exhibition in Taylor Square. It has been a huge undertaking, costing us 10s of thousands of dollars and we have high hopes for it. I’ll tell you more in the question time. But for my staff on this call today and for you who are listening and watching, know this, we are not doing this in our own human cleverness or wisdom. Not by human might or power, but by God’s Spirit. That’s how Zerubbabel was to build the Temple. Not trusting in his own capacity or the military might of the Jewish people, but trusting the Lord to make things happen in his timing and in his strength. 

Verse 7: What can withstand us? A mountain gadol?    הַֽר־הַגָּד֛וֹל   Ha…that’s nothing. Sounds like Yeshua talking about a grain of mustard seed faith. You can move mountains of troubles, even of leftover fallen ruins of the first Temple.  All that leftover stuff will be like a plain.  And God will make the capstone, the keystone, the top stone

אֶת־הָאֶ֣בֶן הָרֹאשָׁ֔ה

To come out, and to fulfil its mission. A capstone is the final stone of a building project. Think of the keystone in a bridge. You build from one side and the other, both at the same time. Then the final piece, the top stone, is the culmination of all that hard work. God says he will bring it out and there will be shouts of CHEN, grace, grace. Double grace. All the grace a man needs. All the grace a people need. All the grace you will ever need is found in doing what God says and he will bring the supply.

Verse 8. More interpretation follows. The angel says further words. 

Verse 9. Zerubbabel started this; he will be the one to finish it. It’s not a relay race with baton to baton to baton. It will happen in a season, not over many lifetimes. 

Verse 10. Don’t knock the beginnings. Small things are not to be despised. We have to start somewhere. You will get it done.  These 7. Must be the facets or eyes of chapter 3. They will be glad when they see the ‘plumb line.’ But the Hebrew is not plumb. Rather Bedil

 אֶת־הָאֶ֧בֶן הַבְּדִ֛יל

Like hamavdil or even Havdalah. That’s the dividing line. The line that separates. God wants his people to have his Temple to honour him. 

The eyes range to and fro? That sounds like “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those bwhose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” (2 Chronicles 16.9) And in the Proverbs we read, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good.” (15.3)

God’s eyes are on duty all the day long. All the month. All your lifetime. 

Verses 11-14. Two olive trees. What are they? It’s not a what; it’s a who. They are the two anointed ones (not Meshach, rather tsahar) standing and awaiting words to fulfil. They are loyal attendants ready to serve. They are Joshua and Zerubbabel.  (Revelation 11.3) Don’t expect two particular folks, in fact, it’s not even the real number at the last, but rather a symbol of the same history. And it’s a call to you and to me to stand at the ready to serve our great God. 

And to be called “Lord of all the earth.” 

עַל־אֲד֥וֹן כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

We will see that going forward in this book even next week, but get that in your head and in your heart. He will be using two witnesses to bring his love and grace to the whole earth. (Isa. 54.5) 

Remember the quote from Haggai said something about the signet ring? (2.20-23)

As a seal of royal authority, the “signet ring” is a messianic metaphor. In Jeremiah 22:24–25, God said if Jehoiachin (Zerubbabel’s grandfather) were his signet ring, God would cast him off. Thus, Haggai was saying that through Zerubbabel God would reverse the curse He had personally pronounced on Jehoiachin. God would place the wicked king’s grandson like a signet ring on his own finger. Likewise, the words “on that day” point to a future messianic fulfillment of Haggai’s message.

Although Zerubbabel’s temple was smaller than the one Solomon built, God promised a greater glory: “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,” said the Lord (Haggai 2:9). The glory bestowed on Zerubbabel’s temple came centuries later when Yeshua, our Messiah, came into the temple courts. The Messiah never visited Solomon’s temple, but Zerubbabel’s Temple did.

I find it strange then, that before the 2nd temple was completed and dedicated, Zerubbabel’s name disappears from the biblical record. It’s possible that Zerubbabel may have returned to Babylon soon after finishing his work on the temple, or it could be that the Persians feared a Jewish uprising and had Zerubbabel removed or executed. Regardless, Zerubbabel is revered as one of the Bible’s great heroes, working to reconstruct the Lord’s house of worship and he is even listed in the genealogy of Yeshua.

“After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of 1Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim,” (Matt. 1.12-13)

While the temple Zerubbabel helped rebuild was nothing compared to the size and grandeur of Solomon’s, it far outlasted it. In fact, Zerubbabel’s temple was still standing 500 years later when the promised Messiah filled it full.

            And now we live in an age when Messiah, the despised and rejected one, is trying to be known in the whole earth yet again. Our role as believers is to carry that message and lift him up so that all people will be drawn to himself.  Amen?

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Remember, you who are watching today, if you are not yet a follower of Yeshua, and see his love for you, his kindness extended, his offer of forgiveness available, right where you are, submit to him, to his lordship, to his care, and your life will take on new meaning, new substance, and you will have mates on this call, and in your neighbourhood and wherever you travel… the Kingdom is advancing under the King. Chaos is subjugated, life is available.

Would you like that? Pray with me just now. (prayer)

Shabbat shalom!

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Resource on video

To see a fun video overview of the book of Zechariah see this from Bible Project:

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/zechariah/

 

Bibliography:

Smith, Ralph, Micah to Malachi: Word Biblical Commentary (Volume 32), Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1984.

Stead, Michael, Zechariah: The Lord Returns, Aquila Press, Sydney, 2015.

Webb, Barry, The Message of Zechariah: Your Kingdom Come, Intervarsity Press, Nottingham, 2003.

Wiersbe, Warren, Be Heroic: Demonstrating Bravery by your Walk, David C. Cook Press, Colorado Springs, 1997.

This website was especially significant today and I quote from it and edit its words, but the essence is there. https://www.gotquestions.org/Zerubbabel-in-the-Bible.html

 

ACTUAL TEXT



 

Zech. 4:1   Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; 3 also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.” 4 Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, my lord?” 5 So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. 7 ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

 

Zech. 4:8   Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10 “For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel — these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.”

 

Zech. 4:11   Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?” 12 And I answered the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?” 13 So he answered me, saying, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.”

 

It was the best of times: Two towns (Zechariah chapter 2)

 OUT OF THE CHAOS: A study in the book of Zechariah 

Chapter 2: It was the best of times: Two towns 

 

Given 28 April 2023

By Bob Mendelsohn

Sydney, Australia

This talk is on YouTube on:

https://youtu.be/DaDqaXKIjhs

 

We are continuing in this prophetic book written by a young Jewish man living in Jerusalem about 500 BCE as he writes to his people, those living there in Judah and also to those living in Babylon. To each of those groups, he has some clear words and I trust that those words he spoke 2500 years ago will speak to you and to me as we will consider what God meant as he used that young man. And we will try to learn what God has to say to us as 21^st Century people. 

As per usual, my usual method will take us through a chapter each Friday morning, and then we will have plenty of time for discussion and questions in the final half-hour. If you are watching this teaching on YouTube after our class, please feel free to write me (bob@jewsforjesus.org.au) and I will try to answer queries if I’m able. 

If you don’t already receive the email invitations to join this class live, please enter your email address just now, type it into the chat box or write our office (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) and ask to be invited. Thanks. 

Also if you don’t mind, please read the chapter before you come to the class live, and if you are watching YouTube, pause your playback, read chapter 2 and then rejoin us. Thanks.

Let’s jump in. Today’s lesson begins with a young man and a measuring line. He’s a surveyor. And this is Vision #3 in this quick listing of night visions that Zechariah sees. Oh, by the way, for those using a Masoretic text or any number of Hebrew versions of the Bible, the 2^nd chapter actually begins with the first two visions from last week, the horns and the tradies. But as of today, we are all reading from the same text. 

Vision 3 is about a surveyor who is to measure the length and width of Jerusalem. And you have to ask yourself, why is that included here? Chapter 1.16 indicated that the point of Zechariah’s talks, his clear message was to get the Jewish people focused on the rebuilding of the Temple. And as a spoiler alert, you should know that the Temple was rebuilt, even in his day, and that it saw a significant increase in the times of the Romans. That Temple is the one where Yeshua visited and from which he spoke many times. That Temple took 46 years to build, and Yeshua prophesied that if people destroyed “The Temple”, he would rebuild it in three days. (John 2.19) The people mocked him at that, but he was insistent and of course, he was speaking about his own body. 

Back to Zechariah. The man in the vision says he is off to measure Jerusalem. That’s it. That’s the end of the encounter. 

Verse 3. One angel exits and another one enters. Nothing of these visions seems elaborate to me. In fact, they are highlighting one thing, over and over. That is, that the Jewish people have hope, and it’s wrapped up in being in Jerusalem at that time, and getting down to work on the building project at hand. 

You have to remember that 70 years before, or so, under the guidance of the then prophet Jeremiah, God had instructed the Jewish people something very different. Chpater 29 read as follows:

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,  ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their ¹produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’ For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.” (29.4-9)

Back in Jeremiah’s day, the way to ‘salvation’ was clear and very different to the words in Zechariah’s day. For the Jewish people to survive and to succeed in 587 BCE we had to move to Babylon, to build cities and seek the welfare of that city. We had to settle down and get married. We had to build gardens and cities and listen to few prophets. We had to pray for the welfare of Babylon!

But the vision and the accompanying oracles are now telling Zechariah and thus the people of God that our hope is now moving back to Jerusalem. Get out of Dodge; get out of Babylon. Stop seeking the welfare of that city. Move, in fact, the angel says, “Run!” in verse 4 and in verse 6, “Flee” from the land of the North (Now that used to be a reference to Assyrian, but since Babylon captured it, Northland implies Babylon. Again in verse 6, the ‘four winds’ speak of whirlwind and thus quick motion. And in verse 7, ‘escape’ says the same to me. It’s about getting out of town quickly. 

Does that remind you of the Exodus? We’d been there 400 years and in a few days we are told to spoil the Egyptians and get out of Goshen and out of Egypt. 

So back to the vision. Angel #2 comes out and tells retiring angel #1 to go back to the “young man.” That’s a reference to Zechariah. 

The message? Go and tell him that Jerusalem will be inhabited. Significantly. Massive numbers of animals and people will be in town. Not only for a festival or a pilgrimage. They will move in. Don’t delay. Don’t require the fences to be established first. Get with the housing industry, let ‘er rip!

You know when a construction site is established here in Australia, around a new metro station or when a bit of demolishing is going to take place, someone sets up a perimeter. They establish the limitations as a wall. Then the signage goes on indicating ‘no handbills or else there will be consequences.’ We really don’t know what is being built or demolished, but we know there will be action. 

Zechariah is being told to get on with the work, without the required fencing. Don’t build a wall. You don’t need to spend energy protecting what is not yours. You need to get the housing contracts and the main site to be the Temple. Walls will be rebuilt by Nehemiah some 75 to 80 years later. Your job? Get that Temple built again!

God will take care of protection. He will be a ‘wall of fire’. 

ח֥וֹמַת אֵ֖שׁ

Personally, he will see to us. Our role: build that Temple. That will lodge him as significant inside the walls. It will be a daily reminder of God’s grandeur and significance. He is not yet so to the people of God. He wants to be to you and to me.

More in verse 5. I will be the glory in her midst. This promise of God’s majesty is the centrepoint of this message to me. All the stuff, the walls, the fire, the angels …they all help me see that God wants to be all in all. He is NOT YET all in all. He wants the relationship with Israel and Judah to be complete. Yes, get the Temple built, but it’s not about the Temple. Yes, get back to the Land, but it’s not about the land. It’s about God himself!

Now in verses 6 and following, God speaks to those exiles still living in Babylon. Get out. Yes, in verse 6, I dispersed you. Some will argue, the Babylonians did it. Some will say the Assyrians before them caused the removal of the Jewish people. God says, “I did it.” Judgment begins with the house of God. We had sinned and the warnings were clear. Stop and if you don’t stop, I will judge you. And so we as Jewish people were judged significantly. 

But now the 70 years are up, like the 400 years were up in Egypt, and God says ‘get out.’ 

Think about it, though. Jerusalem was not in repair. It was not flourishing. There were no gardens. It did not look the land of milk and honey. It was destitute. No Temple. No gardens. Where were the gardens? Babylon. Where was there money and comfort? Babylon. Where were most of the Jewish people living? Babylon. God is calling his people to exit comfort and walk with him in discomfort. That’s a stretch. That’s a tough call. God is calling us out of comfort to chaos, but it’s ordered chaos, under his lordship!

Verse 8 has a tough phrase to translate. Very few agree on this one. It’s three words

אַחַ֣ר כָּב֔וֹד שְׁלָחַ֕נִי

Smith in his commentary says, “is the most puzzling clause in the book. Is it to be taken as a purpose clause to mean that Yahweh sent Zechariah to get glory; or as a temporal clause “after the glory i.e. the vision, Yahweh sent me. . .”? Does “glory” refer to Yahweh as the RSV indicates; or to the vision (KJV); or to heaviness or insistence, as Chary and Baldwin believe? כּבוֹד basically means “to be heavy.” Baldwin suggests “with insistence he sent me” (p. 109). Others emend or transpose the text in order to get a clear reading.”

I agree with Michael Stead, bishop of South Sydney, who translated it as, “For this is what the Lord Almighty says, who for the sake of his honour sent me against the nations that have plundered you,”

That makes sense. It’s the purpose. God is sending Zechariah for his own sake. But the Hebrew is a bit tough; I’ll give everyone that. 

Listen to the rest of verse 8. “Touches the apple of God’s eye.” This is the soft spot in God’s vision. It’s the Jewish people. Don’t mess. Like Genesis 12 taught from the beginning. Bless Israel, you will get a blessing. Curse them, you will be cursed. Babylon? You are going down for what you did to Judah 100 years ago. 

Verse 9. God is about to act for his name’s sake. I almost see a magician waving his hand over a scene. Or maybe I should stay with the Egypt motif and see the hand of God’s judgment falling on the Egyptians. 

Verse 10. Sing and rejoice. Hey, Jewish people, it’s not yet done, but it will be. It’s as good as done. Yes, you are right, it’s incomplete, but the eyes of faith see the end from the beginning. God is about to act on your behalf and for his name’s sake. Now it will happen, then it will be done. Now and not yet. What is our job today? Sing and rejoice. Why? God is coming and will dwell with us. 

Where will that take place? Jerusalem. Where? In the Temple.

Verse 11 is shocking. Who will be there in the Temple? Who will be there with God? Many nations!

גוֹיִ֨ם רַבִּ֤ים

It won’t only be the Jewish nation. This is shocking. In verse 8, God’s judgement is coming against ‘the nations’ (el hagoyim), but now only moments later, the word of the Lord will make clear that Gentiles will be welcomed in God’s Big Tent. There is room for all peoples. The measuring rod and line at the beginning hearkens to Ezekiel chapter 40 and the immense measurement of the City and the Temple. It’s not only for Jews; it’s for all nations. Whoever will! And we will see that in Zechariah 14 at the end of this prophecy as well. 

Who is included in that? There might be Babylonians. There might be Assyrians. It’s not the entire populace of Mesopotamia or Shinar. But there will be people from every kindred, tribe and tongue in the Family of God in the largesse of God, in God’s glory. Wow, what a vision!

Verse 11 says when those nations join, you will know that God is who he claimed to be. And those nations will be joined to us in such a way that together we are ‘My people.’ Wow, if only Peter had known that verse when the vision of the heavenly sheet dropped in Joppa. If only the disciples had understood that when Yeshua spoke to a Canaanite woman and healed her or others who were not properly Jewish. God’s people includes all who name the name of the Lord. Jews and non-Jews. Men, women, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free. Whoever names Yeshua as Lord… they are God’s people.

Verse 12. God again highlights the geography about which he’s speaking. The English phrase ‘holy land’ is only used here, but it’s not ‘eretz’, but rather ‘adamah.’ Holy ground. Holy dirt. Same phrase as when Moses met God at the burning bush. Take off your shoes. Holy ground. 

No wonder the chapter ends with the silence required in verse 13. Habakkuk ends chapter 2 of his prophecy with that same thought.  “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” (2.20)

We who encounter the Lord, in Sydney, on Zoom, in our local church, in our neighbourhood, in a paddock, or wherever, when we do, let all the earth be silent before him. 

Before you rush into a prayer meeting. Before you share your prayer list with the Almighty, be silent. Consider his purposes. Consider his love. His mercy. His intention to all people, even to you… consider and be grateful. Be and then speak. 

God’s plans will be accomplished. Listen and learn. And then sing and rejoice. And welcome others. So be it. Amen.

Remember, you who are watching today, if you are not yet a follower of Yeshua, and see his love for you, his kindness extended, his offer of forgiveness available, right where you are, submit to him, to his lordship, to his care, and your life will take on new meaning, new substance, and you will have mates on this call, and in your neighbourhood and wherever you travel… the Kingdom is advancing under the King. Chaos is subjugated, life is available.

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Resource on video

To see a fun video overview of the book of Zechariah see this from Bible Project:

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/zechariah/

 

Bibliography:

Smith, Ralph, Micah to Malachi: Word Biblical Commentary (Volume 32), Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1984.

Stead, Michael, Zechariah: The Lord Returns, Aquila Press, Sydney, 2015.

Webb, Barry, The Message of Zechariah: Your Kingdom Come, Intervarsity Press, Nottingham, 2003.

Wiersbe, Warren, Be Heroic: Demonstrating Bravery by your Walk, David C. Cook Press, Colorado Springs, 1997.

 

Babylon is going down (Part 2 of 2): Jeremiah chapter 51

  Truth and Consequences: 

A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah

Chapter 51

By Bob Mendelsohn

Given 8 December 2022

 

Lesson Fifty:   Babylon is going down (part 2 of 2)

 

INTRODUCTION

 Some weeks ago, when I was readying to teach chapter 46, I stayed up late and watched a sports contest. Today, I cannot remember who were the contestants. Sometime during that contest, I fell asleep and to this day have no recall of who won or lost. What I do remember is awakening to the sound of the television, “But wait, there’s more.” Yes, it was a late-night infomercial with all kinds of special products that would help my life be more improved. I remember that infomercial more than the sport I was watching. I also remember that as an introduction to the recent Bible class on chapter 46 in Jeremiah, I used that phrase to describe what I was hearing as I read the text. 

I tell you that episode in my life to highlight the last verse in chapter 51 and that same impression I got as I read today’s chapter one more time. “But wait, there’s more.” What does the final verse say? “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.”

Thus far.  עַד־הֵ֖נָּה   What? 51 chapters, 1,364 verses, 33,000 words in English (not even the Amplified version!) and ‘thus far’? You mean there are more words? Or is this only the words of Jeremiah to Babylon? I’m not privy to know, but what I do know is that what God spoke through Jeremiah, to the people of his day, was still available due to the careful maintenance of the scroll(s) for the people of the Return, 70 years later, and it was available to the people of Malachi’s day, of Daniel’s day, of Jesus’ day, and even our day. What we are reading and learning in this sacred scroll, now placed alongside 65 other books and letters and poems and histories, can speak to us, can minister life to us, and can keep us headed in the right direction. When I read the Bible, that’s what I’m hoping to learn. I hope that’s true for you as well.

Today’s chapter breaks down into three sections, with each intensifying the declarations against Babylon. The first through verse 33 is bad. 34 to 44 is worse. 45 to the end is worst! “But wait, there’s more!”

Section One: BAD news for Babylon continues (.1-33)

Chapter 50 began this final announcement about the woes of and the causes of the woe on Babylon.  I want to read to you from the Word Commentary on chapter 50 verse 25, 

Here’s the verse first: “The LORD has opened His armory and has brought forth the weapons of His indignation,  For it is a work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.” (Jer. 50.25)

 

Now the commentary.

“The idea of the LORD’s armory containing the weapons of divine wrath (foreign nations to accomplish the LORD’s purpose) is known from Isa 13:5. Babylon had been the LORD’s hammer (50:23; 51:20–23) but now will suffer the fate of those whom she had pounded into submission. Included in the LORD’s armory on occasion had been Assyria as the flooding river sweeping all before it (Isa 8:7–8), as the rod of the LORD’s anger (Isa 10:5), and as the LORD’s axe. And much earlier the poet had waxed eloquent in declaring that from heaven the stars in their circuits had fought against Sisera (Judg 5:20). Jer 51:1 mentions the destroying wind aroused by the LORD to winnow Babylon.”

I will let the comments stand without my own comment. 

Now on to chapter 51. Verse one, the “destroying wind” could be translated as mine, “spirit of a destroyer.” Whether this is a metaphor or the actual breeze that your weather app would highlight to me is irrelevant. What is clear is that God is done with the Chaldeans of Babylon. Something had to give and it’s going to happen, through the nations around her. We know that Cyrus of the Medes and the Persians will conquer her in 539 BCE, according to Cyrus “without a fight.”

Who is responsible for the ending of the kingdom of Babylon? Verse one. God says, “I am.” No matter what else is happening in the 6^th century BCE, and who rules the roost, at the end of the day, God says he is the One.  And his rules and manners are to be followed. And if not, he will seek vengeance and reparations. 

Verse two. A play on words is in view. The word for ‘winnow’ is Zara. For foreigner is ‘zur.’ God says he will send

זָרִים֙ וְזֵר֔וּהָ

That is, zarim, foreigners who will winnow. Or winnowers who will winnow. This winnowing is a method of agricultural separation, and will leave the good grain to be collected from among the chaff. In THIS case however, there will be nothing left. God will blow it all away. Comprehensive judgment to fall on Babylon. 

Verse 3, the bow won’t keep bending and the scale-armor (remember that we read in chapter 46) wouldn’t protect the warrior. The swords and the weaponry of the opponents will succeed. “Pierced through” (verse 4) in their (own) streets.” No protection anywhere.

Remember, and this is not only in Jeremiah, the nations mock the people of God, saying they deserve their punishment. We’ve heard this in every supersessionist argument about the Jewish people in the time of the Crusades and even in the Holocaust era. What those arguments wrongly allege is that God saw the Jewish people in their sin and (here’s the wrong) he will punish and be done with them. He is NEVER done with us. We have said this regularly in our study. Judgment is the penultimate action of God towards the Jewish people. Verse 5 here says that God has not forsaken his people. Yes, he has judged us, but now, when judgment begins to fall on Babylon, run for your life. Verse 6, ‘flee…and save your life!’

Yes, when we were in Judah, living wrongly and before 586 BCE when our destiny was judgment, Jeremiah sent word to the kings and priests, to the prophets and the people, to submit to the Babylonians and go with them as conquered people. But now, decades later, at the reading of this letter, long after Jeremiah has died in Egypt, the word to the people of Judah is “RUN.” Friends, this is why so many seem confused at God, and about God. Sometimes he says ‘submit’ and sometimes he says ‘get out!’ There is a time for everything, you have heard. To an outsider this could be confusing, but to us who know the Lord, this is why we listen to him daily, why we study his word, why we sit and soak in his love and why we don’t go on yesterday’s manna. Give us THIS DAY our daily bread. 

Verse 9 and 10. The judgment on Babylon has reached heaven. There’s no escape for her. To the Jewish people, we are told, “The LORD has brought about our vindication; Come and let us recount in Zion the work of the LORD our God!”

 

Don’t you want to shout ‘hallelujah!’? On Zoom you are muted, but long after this session, go ahead and let your voice be heard. Let us recount in Zion God’s works! And yes, the word for recount is literal. SAFAR, to count. Name and list what God has done. Many of you watching in the USA have just done that on the holiday of Thanksgiving. Why am I thankful? List it. Name it. Count it! Because if you count and recount it, you will keep counting on the One who does all things well, amen?

Verse 13, the ‘many waters’ could represent the actual liquid near them, but the judgment to come as well. Even the chaos of the original waters (verses 15-16), but we don’t have time to unravel that. It also is a repeat of chapter 10, verses 12 to 16.

Verses 17 and 18, not only are those people stupid, yes, it says that, but it’s depicted in their idols who are without breath. Idolatry, he says, is stupidity. And you and I may think of the story of Abraham and his father in the idol shop. 

Verses 20-23 are the rhythmic sounds of a hammer, tap, tap, tapping. 

וְנִפַּצְתִּ֣י בְךָ֔

God’s word was like a hammer in chapter 23. And the Babylonians were the hammer against all the nations, until now. 

Verses 24 and following, God will destroy the destroyers. The mountains are the governments of Nebuchadnezzar and all the rest. 

Verse 27, blow the shofar!

Verse 28, consecrate the nations. Kadshu! Separate them, make them as holy, particular, useful, set apart. 

Verses 29-33. All hope is lost. Gates broken down. Harvest is coming… the grim reaper if you will. Couriers pass on the message, emails forwarded, twitter feeds lit up. The world will know.

Section 2:  Babylon like lambs to slaughter (.34-44)

Judah was crushed and ruined, so, now, Babylon, though they think they are lions, but ruined. There is no hope for them continues. They will be like lambs led to slaughter. Verse 36, God will be the lawyer in the courtroom, pleading for Judah. That’s more than a ‘got your back’ lawyer. This is a “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” thing.  Verse 38, little cubs in the den, ravaged. 

Verse 41, object of horror. Verse 42, the sea, again the waters, floods, eradication. We in Australia remember the floods of 2021, and so many other years, and know that nothing grows, nothing survives, it rewrites the rivers’ paths. Nothing is the same after the floods. Think of Noah and the aftermath of the Great Flood. The world changed. Here, Babylonia is going down and the world will be different. 

Verse 44. Regurgitating the nations. This is not only will there be nothing but even what you gained will be lost. Emptiness. Wall down. Total ruin. More streaming, more loss.

Section 3: Warning and worst yet for Babylon (.45-64)

The Jewish people now hear clearly, in case ‘flee’ and run for your life wasn’t clear enough. Verse 45: “come out!” It’s the sound of the Exodus. Each man for himself, away from God’s judgment. Don’t look back, Mrs Lot. Go forward. 

Verse 47; Justice on the idols. Sounds like Ex. 12. ‘against the gods of Egypt I will execute my judgment’

Verse 50: Get out and let Jerusalem come to your heart. “Think on these things.” Get a brainwash… some of you adopted Babylonian customs and idolatry. Get that out of your mind right now!

Verses 51-58 God executing judgment on Babylon. No wall. No protection from him. No wise men. No leadership. Perpetual sleep. Good night, Elizabeth Ann. 

Verse 59. The only time Jeremiah commands anything. I’m guessing Baruch has died and his brother is now charged by Jeremiah to take the scroll which apparently Jeremiah himself wrote (chapters 50-51), and to read the words on arrival in the Jewish community in Babylon. He did then he tied a rock to the scroll and tossed it into the Euphrates, thus signalling the beginning of the fall of Babylon. Even though it was decades in the future. 

Why did Babylon fall? Keown says this, “Babylon is condemned for pride (50:31–32, 51:25–26), for idolatry (50:38, 51:17–18), and for sinning against the LORD (50:14, 24, 29; 51:5). The full extent of Babylon’s sin against the LORD, other than pride and idolatry, is not clear, although it may be that Babylon’s action against Judah, even though sanctioned by the LORD, may have exceeded in severity anything that the LORD had intended (cf 50:33). In any case, for the first time in the collection of these chapters in Jeremiah is a nation judged for its treatment of the people of God.”

Judgment is the penultimate action of God towards a people. Babylon didn’t learn their lesson and lived wrong. Judah did learn from judgment and was brought in again. 

Peter wrote to the believers in his first letter, which some say was read at baptismal services for new believers, about judgment and behaviour which should characterize us. As I summarize the last two chapters we have studied, and the major reasons God was so upset at the Babylonians, it was their behaviour which is in view. Listen to Peter sum up the life we should represent in our behaviour no matter what the opinions of the world say of us, 

^“Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.  For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4.15-17)

Live right, dear friends. When judgment comes from God, we are still his. And he wants us to receive his grace, even then. Verse 19 finishes that section of Peter 

“Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

And with that, I finish this chapter’s reading. 

CONCLUSION

God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life. 

 

PRAYER

Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up. 

We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 50. Until then, Shabbat shalom!

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnes, Albert, Commentary on the Old Testament. (Published by many, from 1880 on)

Henry, Matthew, Commentary.

Keown, Gerald, Scalise, Pamela, Smothers, Thomas, Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah (Part 2).  1995. 

McConnville, Gordon, Jeremiah, New Bible Commentary. 

Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.

 

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ACTUAL TEXT

Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel

 

Jer. 51:1        Thus says the LORD: 

            “Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon 

            And against the inhabitants of ¹Leb-kamai 

            ²The ^aspirit of a destroyer.

²          “I will dispatch ¹foreigners to Babylon that they may ^awinnow her 

            And may devastate her land; 

            For on every side they will be opposed to her 

            In the day of her calamity.

³          “¹Let not ²him who ^3abends his bow ³bend it, 

            ¹Nor let him rise up in his ^bscale-armor; 

            So do not spare her young men; 

            Devote all her army to destruction.

⁴          “They will fall down ¹slain in the land of the Chaldeans, 

            And ^apierced through in their streets.”

 

Jer. 51:5        For ^aneither Israel nor Judah has been ¹forsaken 

            By his God, the LORD of hosts, 

            Although their land is ^bfull of guilt 

            ²Before the Holy One of Israel.

^{6          a}Flee from the midst of Babylon, 

            And each of you save his life! 

            Do not be ^1bdestroyed in her ²punishment, 

            For this is the ^cLORD’S time of vengeance; 

            He is going to ^drender recompense to her.

⁷          Babylon has been a golden ^acup in the hand of the LORD, 

            Intoxicating all the earth. 

            The ^bnations have drunk of her wine; 

            Therefore the nations are ^cgoing mad.

⁸          Suddenly ^aBabylon has fallen and been broken; 

            ^bWail over her! 

            ^cBring ¹balm for her pain; 

            Perhaps she may be healed.

⁹          We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; 

            Forsake her and ^alet us each go to his own country, 

            For her judgment has ^breached to heaven 

            And ¹towers up to the very skies.

¹⁰         The LORD has ^abrought ¹about our vindication; 

            Come and let us ^brecount in Zion 

            The work of the LORD our God!

 

Jer. 51:11    ^aSharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! 

            The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, 

            Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; 

            For it is the ^bvengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.

^{12         a}Lift up a ¹signal against the walls of Babylon; 

            Post a strong guard, 

            Station ²sentries, 

            Place men in ambush! 

            For the LORD has both ^bpurposed and performed 

            What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

¹³         O you who ^adwell by many waters, 

            Abundant in ^btreasures, 

            Your end has come, 

            The ¹measure of your ^2cend.

¹⁴         The ^aLORD of hosts has sworn by Himself: 

            “Surely I will fill you with a ¹population like ^blocusts, 

            And they will cry out with ²shouts of victory over you.”

 

Jer. 51:15    It is ^aHe who made the earth by His power, 

            Who established the world by His wisdom, 

            And by His understanding He ^bstretched out the heavens.

¹⁶         When He utters His ^avoice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, 

            And He causes the ^bclouds to ascend from the end of the earth; 

            He makes lightning for the rain 

            And brings forth the ^cwind from His storehouses.

^{17         a}All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge; 

            Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ¹idols, 

            For his molten images are ^bdeceitful, 

            And there is no breath in them.

¹⁸         They are ^aworthless, a work of mockery; 

            In the time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁹         The ^aportion of Jacob is not like these; 

            For the ¹Maker of all is He, 

            And of the ²tribe of His inheritance; 

            The ^bLORD of hosts is His name.

²⁰         He says, “You are My ^1awar-club, My weapon of war; 

            And with you I ^bshatter nations, 

            And with you I destroy kingdoms.

²¹         “With you I ^ashatter the horse and his rider, 

            And with you I shatter the ^bchariot and its rider,

²²         And with you I shatter ^aman and woman, 

            And with you I shatter old man and ^byouth, 

            And with you I shatter young man and virgin,

²³         And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, 

            And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, 

            And with you I shatter governors and prefects.

 

Jer. 51:24   “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of ^aChaldea for ^ball their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the LORD.

²⁵         “Behold, ^aI am against you, ^bO destroying mountain, 

            Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the LORD, 

            “And I will stretch out My hand against you, 

            And roll you down from the crags, 

            And I will make you a ^cburnt out mountain.

²⁶         “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner 

            Nor a stone for foundations, 

            But you will be ^adesolate forever,” declares the LORD.

 

Jer. 51:27    ^aLift up a ¹signal in the land, 

            Blow a trumpet among the nations! 

            Consecrate the nations against her, 

            Summon against her the ^bkingdoms of ^cArarat, Minni and ^dAshkenaz; 

            Appoint a marshal against her, 

            Bring up the ^ehorses like bristly locusts.

²⁸         Consecrate the nations against her, 

            The kings of the Medes, 

            ¹Their governors and all ¹their ²prefects, 

            And every land of ³their dominion.

²⁹         So the ^aland quakes and writhes, 

            For the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand, 

            To make the land of Babylon 

            ¹A ^bdesolation without inhabitants.

³⁰         The ^amighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, 

            They stay in the strongholds; 

            ^bTheir strength is ¹exhausted, 

            They are becoming ^blike women; 

            Their dwelling places are set on fire, 

            The ^cbars of her gates are broken.

³¹         One ^1acourier runs to meet ¹another, 

            And one ^2bmessenger to meet ²another, 

            To tell the king of Babylon 

            That his city has been captured from end to end;

³²         The fords also have been seized, 

            And they have burned the marshes with fire, 

            And the men of war are terrified.

 

Jer. 51:33    For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 

            “The daughter of Babylon is like a ^athreshing floor 

            At the time ¹it is stamped firm; 

            Yet in a little while the time of ^bharvest will come for her.”

 

Jer. 51:34    “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has ^adevoured me and crushed me, 

            He has set me down like an ^bempty vessel; 

            He has ^cswallowed me like a monster, 

            He has filled his stomach with my delicacies; 

            He has washed me away.

³⁵         “May the ^aviolence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” 

            The ¹inhabitant of Zion will say; 

            And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” 

            Jerusalem will say.

³⁶         Therefore thus says the LORD, 

            “Behold, I am going to ^aplead your case 

            And ^bexact full vengeance for you; 

            And ^cI will dry up her ¹sea 

            And make her fountain dry.

³⁷         “^aBabylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, 

            An ^bobject of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.

³⁸         “They will roar together like ^ayoung lions, 

            They will growl like lions’ cubs.

³⁹         “When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet 

            And ^amake them drunk, that they may become jubilant 

            And may ^bsleep a perpetual sleep 

            And not wake up,” declares the LORD.

⁴⁰         “I will bring them down like ¹lambs ^ato the slaughter, 

            Like rams together with male goats.

 

Jer. 51:41    “How ^1aSheshak has been captured, 

            And ^bthe praise of the whole earth been seized! 

            How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!

⁴²         “The ^1asea has come up over Babylon; 

            She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves.

⁴³         “Her cities have become an ^aobject of horror, 

            A parched land and a desert, 

            A land in which ^bno man lives 

            And through which no son of man passes.

⁴⁴         “^aI will punish Bel in Babylon, 

            And I will make what he has swallowed ^bcome out of his mouth; 

            And the nations will no longer ^cstream to him. 

            Even the ^dwall of Babylon has fallen down!

 

Jer. 51:45    “^aCome forth from her midst, My people, 

            And each of you ^bsave yourselves 

            From the fierce anger of the LORD.

⁴⁶         “Now ^aso that your heart does not grow faint, 

            And you are not afraid at the ^breport that will be heard in the land — 

            For the report will come ¹one year, 

            And after that ²another report in ²another year, 

            And violence will be in the land 

            With ^cruler against ruler —

⁴⁷         Therefore behold, days are coming 

            When I will punish the ^aidols of Babylon; 

            And her whole land will be ^bput to shame 

            And all her slain will fall in her midst.

⁴⁸         “Then ^aheaven and earth and all that is in them 

            Will shout for joy over Babylon, 

            For ^bthe destroyers will come to her from the north,” 

            Declares the LORD.

 

Jer. 51:49    ^aIndeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, 

            As also for Babylon ^bthe slain of all the earth have fallen.

⁵⁰         You ^awho have escaped the sword, 

            Depart! Do not stay! 

            ^bRemember the LORD from afar, 

            And let Jerusalem ¹come to your mind.

^{51         a}We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; 

            Disgrace has covered our faces, 

            For ^baliens have entered 

            The holy places of the LORD’S house.

 

Jer. 51:52    “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, 

            “When I will punish her ^aidols, 

            And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.

⁵³         “Though Babylon should ^aascend to the heavens, 

            And though she should fortify ¹her lofty stronghold, 

            From ^bMe destroyers will come to her,” declares the LORD.

 

Jer. 51:54    The ^asound 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 ¹noise vanish from her. 

            And their ^awaves will roar like many waters; 

            The tumult of their voices ²sounds forth.

⁵⁶         For the ^adestroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, 

            And her mighty men will be captured, 

            Their ^bbows are shattered; 

            For the LORD is a God of ^crecompense, 

            He will fully repay.

⁵⁷         “I will ^amake 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.

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.”

 

Jer. 51:59   The 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 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 promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ ⁶³ “And as soon as you finish reading this 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.