Jeremiah 51:54-58 – Be responsible in every action

By now we are left with no doubt of God’s intention to finish off  Babylon. She had committed far too many atrocities to be spared the judgment. So here in Jeremiah 51:54-58, we see the prophet making one final declaration of her fall.  

Jeremiah envisaged the cry for the commencement of the destruction of Babylon, the great land of the Chaldeans. God was about to silence her, and the city was about to be invaded by a mighty military force. An army would sweep through the country like a mighty wave with its tumultuous roar to devastate her. Babylon’s mighty men would be captured, and her military might be shattered and dismantled.  Being the God of recompense, the Lord required Babylon to pay in full for the atrocities that she had committed.

God would make all her leaders drink the cup of His wrath. They would be rendered helpless in their “drunken stupor.”  They would fall into a perpetual sleep and never wake up again. This is by way of saying that they would all be dead.  In verse 58, God’s declaration was Babylon’s colossal walls would collapse and her gates be razed. All their past conquest would be meaningless labor. It would all be an exercise in futility.     

Here again, we sense the call to be responsible for every action in life. There is nothing that we do that is outside of God’s notice. He is a God of recompense and will require us to give an account for every action we have committed. Thankfully, at Calvary, Christ took what was due for our sinful past. Now we are required to collaborate with God in our regenerated lives. Let us then work out our salvation with fear and trembling while God, through His Spirit , is working within to bring about His likeness in us.