Leave Babylon

April 10, 2017

 Jeremiah 51:1-10

The judgment message of Babylon ends in chapter 51 with a very long section, but Babylon reappears in the Revelation, chapter 18.  Many have tried to compare the USA and Babylon, and there is an area where one could do that.  It is this writer's opinion that Babylon was never good and did not have a history of prayer to the only true God, and it did not have roots in looking to the Creator for guidance.

But let us attempt to explore this very long chapter about God’s judgment of Babylon, and it begins with this statement: “Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon . . .” Media is north of Babylon, and around 549 B.C. it came under Persian rule and joined Cyrus in the defeat of the Babylonian Empire.  In the same manner that God had used King Nebuchadnezzar and called him His servant, so will He use Cyrus and the Medes and the Persians to bring judgment to Babylon.

The message to the Mede’s and the Persian’s army was to move fast and take no prisoners, and the message to the people of God, leave Babylon!  Now you recall it was about seventy years ago Jeremiah had instructed the people to build homes and settle in, to have families and give their daughters and sons in marriage.  But now it’s time to leave, go back and begin once more, and for many Babylon was the only home they had known.  It is so important for each of us to get the message, we find in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”   

When God tells us to move after a long time in a place, job, or church it often does not feel right.  In our case, after 23 years in a church where we taught the young couples whom we loved, on a trip to the Billy Graham Cove, Jan and I got a clear message from a person we are kin to and we were surprised they were there.  Yes, my cousins, Walt and Libby were at the same conference, and Walt asked how our ministry was going?  I shared with him and he walked away for about five minutes and came back and said, Bob, you need to leave that church.  Walt is a retired pastor and a man who walks close to the LORD, and it was clear that before giving me any word he talked with our Father.  It never felt right, but as we prayed, it became apparent that we were to leave and yet we did not know why.   It was weeks later that God arranged for us to attend Cross Roads in the Woodlands and we knew that was home.  What we learned once more is it matters not how one feels, but it does matter if you are willing to go when the LORD says go.

Babylon was referred to as the gold cup in the Lord’s hand, she was the tool God used to bring nations into judgment, and now her pride and arrogance and her lack of acknowledging the God of all creation has brought God's wrath to her door.  And now God’s chosen people are leaving to return home and they have this message; let us tell what the Lord our God has accomplished.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice