From the Most Powerful to the Most Pitiful - Jeremiah 47-52

 Jeremiah 50:43-46 (ESV)

“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,

and his hands fell helpless;

anguish seized him,

pain as of a woman in labor.

“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Babylon, and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

The end of the book of Jeremiah is filled with the judgments of God on the surrounding nations who haunted and hunted Israel and Judah all their days.  The main judgment is agains Babylon, who, at the time, was the greatest country on earth.  They were ruthless people who, upon arrival, crushed the wicked nation of Assyria.   So, the Babylonians were a cruel and wicked, but powerful and prominent nation.   Jeremiah has been telling the nation to allow itself to go into captivity to the Babylonians. This puts him in great pleasure and honor with Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.  However, now, at the end of the book, Jeremiah unleashes the prophecies against Babylon.   The result?  The above verses tell us what happened to the king and what is about to happen to the entire Babylonian nation.   This nation was a nation that God used to take His people into captivity for their disobedience to Him.  However, God would now use another nation (the Medes and the Persians) to correct and discipline the Babylonians for their sin.  Nebuchadnezzar is not able to bear the news, as we read above.    The entire earth will “tremble” as a result of God’s judgment on this group of peoples.   This is something all nations, tribes and tongues must learn.  God may promote a nation for His purpose, but those nations who turn away from God, He will bring to nothing.   God does not close His eyes toward evilness of leaders.  He will bring them into account.  We may not see it and it may not be by our time frame, but God will bring into account all those He once used for His plans and, if they continue to disobey, He will bring them to naught.   They may be the most powerful but in God’s hands they will become the most pitiful.