©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 50:21-44 (ESV) - “Go up against the land of Merathaim,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Kill, and devote them to destruction,
declares the LORD,
and do all that I have commanded you.
The noise of battle is in the land,
and great destruction!
How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
and you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
because you opposed the LORD.
The LORD has opened his armory
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the LORD God of hosts has a work to do
in the land of the Chaldeans.
Come against her from every quarter;
open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
let nothing be left of her.
Kill all her bulls;
let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
“A voice! They flee and escape from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for his temple.
“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the LORD.
“Behold, I am against you, O proud one,
declares the LORD God of hosts,
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
The proud one shall stumble and fall,
with none to raise him up,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour all that is around him.
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD,
and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials and her wise men!
A sword against the diviners,
that they may become fools!
A sword against her warriors,
that they may be destroyed!
A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
and against all the foreign troops in her midst,
that they may become women!
A sword against all her treasures,
that they may be plundered!
A drought against her waters,
that they may be dried up!
For it is a land of images,
and they are mad over idols.
“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the LORD, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.
“Behold, a people comes from the north;
a mighty nation and many kings
are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
They lay hold of bow and spear;
they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
against you, O daughter of Babylon!
“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.”
Question to consider: How should we view God’s judgment against Babylon in light of the New Covenant in Christ?
At the time in which the LORD delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, He entered into a covenant with Moses which would set them apart as His holy people to catechize the nations about the one true God who made heaven and earth. He also wielded Israel as His sword to cut out the cancer of sin among the nations and establish His holy land in which He would dwell among His people.
As Israel defeated these nations and prospered in the land, they turned their face against the LORD and started participating in the idols of the surrounding nations until the corruption made its way into the temple itself. At this point, the LORD left the temple and used Babylon as a sword to destroy Judah and city of Jerusalem. He further used them to bring His judgment against the world.
In today’s passage, we see the LORD raising up another nation to be a sword against Babylon. When the LORD first announced to Habakkuk that He would use Babylon against Judah, Habakkuk raised the question, “Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?” (Habakkuk 1:17) It would seem that Habakkuk’s question was legitimate considering that eventually the Greeks would be raised up against the Medes and Persians, and the Romans would be raised up against the Greeks. To Habakkuk, without the presence of the LORD’s holy people, this cycle would play out forever.
However, when the LORD would bring His remnant back into the land, it would start a course that culminated in the coming of the Righteous Branch of David who would usher in a new and everlasting covenant which could not be broken by men. In this covenant, nations would no longer be the sword of God. They would beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Essentially, they would go from being God’s warriors to His harvesters— planting gospel seeds and harvesting righteousness.
While Christians throughout the ages may have appealed to passages like this one to take up the sword in the name of Christ to bring nations into submission, it should have given them pause that the apostle Paul wrote, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) It should also have given them pause that Jesus told Peter, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)
Rome was not toppled by the sword but by the gospel. Rather than see their enemies die, the Holy Spirit turned them into brothers and sisters. We do well to remember this today. The world needs the grace and mercy of Christ, and this only comes by way of a church that rightly preaches our sin debt before God and offers Christ’s remedy for it.
Dear heavenly Father, help us to realize that the gates of hell cannot prevail against the gospel of Christ. May we boldly proclaim His mercy in a world that has turned away from You. Amen.