If someone treats other people badly, he or she will eventually be treated badly by someone else. As it’s sometimes expressed in our culture, “What goes around comes around.” This is one of the lessons of Jeremiah 50. One by one, all the kingdoms of the Middle East had been conquered by the cruel nation of Babylon (612-539 BC). Throughout his ministry, Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonians would defeat Judah, Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, and Elam. Resistance was futile, for Babylon was God’s instrument of judgment against nations who had provoked His wrath. But while the Babylonians were God’s helpers, they were not His friends. Like every other superpower, they had to answer for their own sins. Babylon had become the mightiest empire in the world, but the LORD will “take vengeance on her, (doing) to her as she has done to others” (v 15, NLT). Jeremiah foretells the fall of Babylon in graphic detail and with a tinge of sarcasm. Babylon was used to doing the hammering, but the hammer itself would be pounded into submission (v 21-23). Babylon was used to doing the trapping, but God is about to set a trap for Babylon (v 24). Babylon had once laid siege to Jerusalem, but they themselves will soon be surrounded (v 29). In 539 BC, King Cyrus of Persia led a coalition of armies against Babylon from the north, and the word of the LORD was fulfilled. When the Jewish exiles carried the good news back to Jerusalem, they clearly understood what had really happened: they had witnessed “the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for His temple” (v 28). God had the last word, as He always does. The story of Babylon is a story of defeat, one of the greatest defeats in the history of the world. But it is also a story of victory for the people of God. The destruction of Babylon meant salvation for God’s people. Though they had been oppressed and held captive, “their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is His name. He will surely plead their cause” (v 33-34). After seventy years of bondage, God told the Jews to “flee from the midst of Babylon” (v 8). As God accomplished Israel’s redemption, in Christ He has delivered us from an even greater bondage, setting us free from sin and guilt. Because of the cross, we can return to the LORD with tearful repentance (v 4), thankful that He has made a new covenant with us that will last forever (v 5; cf 31:31-34). Though we were as lost sheep, Jesus has become our Good Shepherd, laying down His own life to rescue us from hell. Do you know Him? (v 6-7, 17-20). For further meditation: