Jeremiah 51:63-64

Jeremiah 51:63-64

[63] And it shall be, when thou hast made an end  of reading  this book,  that thou shalt bind  a stone  to it, and cast  it into the midst  of Euphrates:  [64] And thou shalt say,  Thus shall Babylon  sink,  and shall not rise  from  the evil  that I will bring  upon her: and they shall be weary.  Thus far are the words  of Jeremiah. 

What does Jeremiah 51:63-64 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Then Seraiah was to tie a stone to the scroll and throw it into the Euphrates River. He was to announce that as the scroll had sunk in the river, so Babylon would sink and not rise again as a nation, because of God"s judgment on her (cf. Revelation 18:21). Babylon"s saviors would only exhaust themselves, trying to preserve her, and utterly failing to frustrate Yahweh"s purpose to destroy her (cf. Jeremiah 51:58).
"It is remarkable that at the very time Jeremiah was advising submission to that city, he was also foretelling her final overthrow. This answers the objections of those expositors who feel that chapters50-51could not have been written by Jeremiah in view of his attitude toward Babylon expressed earlier in the book." [1]
Jeremiah 51:64 is the last verse in the book that Jeremiah wrote. The remaining chapter was evidently the writing of someone else, perhaps Jeremiah"s secretary, Baruch.
"Babylon is condemned for pride ( Jeremiah 50:13-32, Jeremiah 51:25-26), for idolatry ( Jeremiah 50:38, Jeremiah 51:17-18), and for sinning against the LORD ( Jeremiah 50:14; Jeremiah 50:24; Jeremiah 50:29; Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 50:33). In any case, for the first time in the collection of OAN [2] in Jeremiah is a nation judged for its treatment of the people of God." [3]
"None of the material [4] shows any awareness of the fact that Cyrus finally captured Babylon without destroying the city, but rather these chapters speak in terms of the devastation of Babylon by its enemies. No reference whatever is made to the Persians [5]." [6]
Clearly some of the prophecies in these chapters were fulfilled in the overthrow of Babylon by a northern confederation of enemies in539 B.C. But the method and extent of overthrow was quite different from what Jeremiah predicted (cf. Jeremiah 50:3-10; Jeremiah 50:14-16; Jeremiah 50:19-20; Jeremiah 50:26; Jeremiah 50:39-46; Jeremiah 51:6; Jeremiah 51:45). Why did God not completely obliterate Babylon in539 B.C. or at some later date?
"It is at least possible that the humbling of Nebuchadrezzar, culminating in his testimony in Daniel 4:34-37, opened the door to the mercy of539-for it is obvious from God"s generous response to even an Ahab, a Prayer of Manasseh , or the city of Nineveh, that he meets a change of attitude more than halfway." [7]
Most expositors who take these prophecies literally, namely, premillennialists, look for a future fulfillment in an even more violent and permanent destruction of Babylon-sometime in the future. Many of these expositors believe that Revelation 17-18 gives further revelation about that fall. Some look for a rebuilding of the ancient city and its subsequent destruction. Some amillennialists also believe in both a near and a far distant fulfillment. [8]
"The city of Babylon will be rebuilt only to be destroyed at the end of the Tribulation period before Christ returns to establish His millennial reign." [9]
Many premillennial scholars believe that a fall of some modern form-of what Babylon represented in ancient times-is in view. Others believe that Revelation does not describe the fall of a literal, historical Babylon, but the fall of what "mystery" Babylon has represented throughout biblical history. [10] I believe there will be an eschatological judgment of Babylon ( Revelation 17-18), though not necessarily one that requires the rebuilding of the city. Destruction terminology, such as appears in this passage, is common in the annals of ancient Near Eastern nations. It speaks generally and hyperbolically of devastating defeat and destruction, but it did not always involve exact or detailed fulfillment. [11]
Many amillennialists view these prophecies as having been fulfilled in the Medo-Persian overthrow, and in the final spiritual destruction of the proud enemies of God"s people, through the salvation that Jesus Christ provided at Calvary.