Jeremiah 51

To the Hebrew mind, the sea was associated with evil. In Isaiah 57, Isaiah wrote that the wicked were like the sea. In Psalm 89, the psalmist wrote that the raging sea was akin to the opponents of the Lord. In Revelation, the sea is pictured as the birthplace of the Satanic beast (Rev 13) and the place of the dead (Rev 20). No wonder, when John pictured the earth made new, he wrote that the sea had disappeared (Rev 21).

In this chapter, Jeremiah combines the imagery of the sea with the demise of Babylon, that great and powerful empire built on a sinful foundation. He warns God’s people to escape from the city while there’s still time: “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves. Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad.” (vs 6-7)

If you have ever read Revelation, you might be thinking that I have just mistakenly quoted from that book instead. But, no. That’s Jeremiah.

Bible commentator James Coffman explains, “The analogy between the literal Babylon here and the spiritual Babylon of Revelation is amazing. Note the following: (1) Both shall be utterly destroyed (2) God’s people are commanded to ‘come out of her.’ (3) She has a golden cup in her hand. (4) The nations have become drunk with her wine. (5) Her judgment reaches all the way to heaven. (6) Her doom is like a stone cast into the river. (7) She is responsible for all the slain in the land.”

So, where does the sea fit in? I think this chapter of Jeremiah gives us an important clue as to how that figures into the destruction of Babylon:

Verse 9: “We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed.”

Verse 42: “The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.”

When you put both of these verses together in the context of the rest of the chapter, it says (to me) that God wants to heal Babylon, but He cannot. There is no cure for her, as she has completely given herself over to the sea (evil) that is going to overtake and destroy her.

Of course, this is all couched in the terms of God’s “vengeance” and “wrath,” because, as Romans 1 reminds us, God’s wrath is His giving us up to the ultimate consequences of choosing evil. And, in the imagery of Jeremiah and Revelation, evil is like a sea that will swallow us up if we don’t take hold of the Life Preserver. If we who are drowning stubbornly refuse to grasp the life preserver, what more can God do for us? He will eventually be forced to let us drown.

The bad news is, all of this must tear God’s heart apart! He doesn’t want us to be “lost at sea.” It’s so unnecessary! There is a free and ready rescue, and He wants everyone to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).

But, while the Bible indicates that everyone will not choose to be saved, the good news is, one day there will be no more sea. One day, there will be no more evil. Though it now appears to dominate our existence so thoroughly that we sometimes think there could never be an end to it, there will be: “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.’” (vs 36)

Hopefully, each of us will decide to be among those who are rescued from the sea!