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Texts -- Jeremiah 51:1-52 (NET)

Context
51:1 The Lord says , “I will cause a destructive wind to blow against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia. 51:2 I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff . They will winnow her and strip her land bare . This will happen when they come against her from every direction , when it is time to destroy her. 51:3 Do not give her archers time to string their bows or to put on their coats of armor . Do not spare any of her young men . Completely destroy her whole army . 51:4 Let them fall slain in the land of Babylonia , mortally wounded in the streets of her cities. 51:5 “For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken by their God , the Lord who rules over all . For the land of Babylonia is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel . 51:6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people . Flee to save your lives . Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins . For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge . He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done . 51:7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand . She had made the whole world drunk . The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad . 51:8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed . Cry out in mourning over it! Get medicine for her wounds ! Perhaps she can be healed ! 51:9 Foreigners living there will say, ‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed . Let’s leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country . For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven , stacked up into the clouds .’ 51:10 The exiles from Judah will say, ‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us! Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion what the Lord our God has done !’ 51:11 “Sharpen your arrows ! Fill your quivers ! The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media . For he intends to destroy Babylonia . For that is how the Lord will get his revenge – how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple . 51:12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall ! Bring more guards ! Post them all around the city! Put men in ambush ! For the Lord will do what he has planned . He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon . 51:13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, the time of your end has come . You who are rich in plundered treasure , it is time for your lives to be cut off . 51:14 The Lord who rules over all has solemnly sworn , ‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers . They will swarm over it like locusts . They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’ 51:15 He is the one who by his power made the earth . He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place, by his understanding he spread out the heavens . 51:16 When his voice thunders , the waters in the heavens roar . He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons . He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain . He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. 51:17 All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant . Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham . There is no breath in any of those idols. 51:18 They are worthless , objects to be ridiculed . When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed . 51:19 The Lord, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob , is not like them . For he is the one who created everything , including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own . He is known as the Lord who rules over all . 51:20 “Babylon, you are my war club , my weapon for battle . I used you to smash nations . I used you to destroy kingdoms . 51:21 I used you to smash horses and their riders . I used you to smash chariots and their drivers . 51:22 I used you to smash men and women . I used you to smash old men and young men . I used you to smash young men and young women . 51:23 I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks . I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen . I used you to smash governors and leaders .” 51:24 “But I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wicked things they did in Zion right before the eyes of you Judeans,” says the Lord . 51:25 The Lord says , “Beware ! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth . I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain . 51:26 No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone . No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house. For you will lie desolate forever ,” says the Lord . 51:27 “Raise up battle flags throughout the lands . Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle. Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia. Call for these kingdoms to attack her: Ararat , Minni , and Ashkenaz . Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Send horses against her like a swarm of locusts . 51:28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her. Prepare the kings of the Medes . Prepare their governors and all their leaders . Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her. 51:29 The earth will tremble and writhe in agony. For the Lord will carry out his plan. He plans to make the land of Babylonia a wasteland where no one lives . 51:30 The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting . They will remain in their fortified cities . They will lose their strength to do battle. They will be as frightened as women . The houses in her cities will be set on fire . The gates of her cities will be broken down . 51:31 One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon. One messenger after another will come bringing news. They will bring news to the king of Babylon that his whole city has been captured . 51:32 They will report that the fords have been captured , the reed marshes have been burned , the soldiers are terrified . 51:33 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says , ‘Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest . The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.’ 51:34 “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out . Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches . He made me an empty dish . He completely cleaned me out .” 51:35 The person who lives in Zion says , “May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives .” Jerusalem says , “May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.” 51:36 Therefore the Lord says , “I will stand up for your cause . I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. I will dry up their sea . I will make their springs run dry . 51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, a place where no one lives . 51:38 The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey. They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat. 51:39 When their appetites are all stirred up, I will set out a banquet for them. I will make them drunk so that they will pass out , they will fall asleep forever , they will never wake up ,” says the Lord . 51:40 “I will lead them off to be slaughtered like lambs , rams , and male goats .” 51:41 “See how Babylon has been captured ! See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations ! 51:42 The sea has swept over Babylon . She has been covered by a multitude of its waves . 51:43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins . She has become a dry and barren desert . No one lives in those towns any more. No one even passes through them . 51:44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon . I will make him spit out what he has swallowed . The nations will not come streaming to him any longer . Indeed , the walls of Babylon will fall .” 51:45 “Get out of Babylon, my people ! Flee to save your lives from the fierce anger of the Lord ! 51:46 Do not lose your courage or become afraid because of the reports that are heard in the land . For a report will come in one year . Another report will follow it in the next . There will be violence in the land with ruler fighting against ruler .” 51:47 “So the time will certainly come when I will punish the idols of Babylon . Her whole land will be put to shame . All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst . 51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will sing for joy over Babylon . For destroyers from the north will attack it,” says the Lord . 51:49 “Babylon must fall because of the Israelites she has killed , just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell because of Babylon . 51:50 You who have escaped the sword , go , do not delay . Remember the Lord in a faraway land. Think about Jerusalem . 51:51 ‘We are ashamed because we have been insulted . Our faces show our disgrace . For foreigners have invaded the holy rooms in the Lord’s temple .’ 51:52 Yes , but the time will certainly come ,” says the Lord , “when I will punish her idols . Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Babylon

    [smith] in the Apocalypse, is the symbolical name by which Rome is denoted. (Revelation 14:8; 17:18) The power of Rome was regarded by the later Jews as was that of Babylon by their forefathers. Comp. (Jeremiah 51:7) with Reve 14:8 T...
    [nave] BABYLON City of Built by Nimrod, Gen. 10:10. In the land of Shinar, Gen. 10:10; 11:2. Tower of, Gen. 11:1-9. Capital of the kingdom of Babylon, Dan. 4:30; 2 Kin. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:6, 7, 10, 18, 20. Gates of, Isa. 45:1, 2...

  • Sin

    [nave] SIN. Index of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to, Defining, and Illustrating; Confession of; Consequences of, Entailed Upon Children; Conviction of; Forgiveness of; Fruits of; Kn...

  • Persia

    [nave] PERSIA An empire which extended from India to Ethiopia, comprising one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Esth. 1:1; Dan. 6:1. Government of, restricted by constitutional limitations, Esth. 8:8; Dan. 6:8-12. Municipal gov...

  • War

    [nave] WAR Divine approval of, 2 Sam. 22:35. Civil, Judg. 12:1-6; 20; 2 Sam. 2:12-31; 3:1; 20; 1 Kin. 14:30; 16:21; Isa. 19:2; forbidden, 2 Chr. 11:4; averted, Josh. 22:11-34. Enemy harangued by general of opposing side, 2 Kin. 1...

  • God

    [nave] GOD. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Access to; Compassion of; Creator; Creator of Mankind; Eternity of; Faithfulness of; Fatherhood of; Favor of; Foreknowledge of; Glory of; Goodness of...

  • GOVERNOR

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of the Aaronites (1 Chr. 12:27...
    [isbe] GOVERNOR - guv'-er-ner: The word "governor" is employed in English Versions of the Bible in rendering a great variety of Hebrew and Greek words. In certain cases strict consistency is neither observed nor possible. 1. In the...
    [smith] In the Authorized Version this one English word is the representative of no less than ten Hebrew and four Greek words. The chief of a tribe or family. A ruler in his capacity of lawgiver and dispenser of justice. A ruler con...

  • Caterpillar

    [ebd] the consumer. Used in the Old Testament (1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chr. 6:28; Ps. 78:46; Isa. 33:4) as the translation of a word (hasil) the root of which means "to devour" or "consume," and which is used also with reference to the lo...
    [isbe] CATERPILLAR - kat'-er-pil-er (chacil (Ps 78:46; Joel 1:4, etc.); yeleq (Ps 105:34 the King James Version, the American Standard Revised Version "grasshopper"; Jer 51:14,27 the King James Version; elsewhere "canker-worm")): A...
    [nave] CATERPILLAR Sent as a judgment, 1 Kin. 8:37; Psa. 78:46; Psa. 105:34; Jer. 51:27; Joel 1:4; 2:25.

  • Dragon

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Ps. 44:19; Isa. 13:22; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 10:22; Micah 1:8; Mal. 1:3); probably, as translated in the Revised ...
    [isbe] DRAGON - drag'-un (tannin, plural tannim, tannoth; drakon): Tannin and the plural tanninim occur 14 t, and in English Versions of the Bible are variously rendered "dragon," "whale," "serpent" or "sea-monster"; but Lam 4:3, t...
    [nave] DRAGON Any terrible creature, as a venomous serpent, Deut. 32:33; Psa. 91:13; a sea serpent, Psa. 74:13; 148:7; Isa. 27:1; a jackal, Isa. 13:22; 34:13; 35:7; 43:20; Jer. 9:11; 10:22; 14:6; 49:33; 51:37; Mic. 1:8; Mal. 1:3. ...

  • Sheshach

    [ebd] (Jer. 25:26), supposed to be equivalent to Babel (Babylon), according to a secret (cabalistic) mode of writing among the Jews of unknown antiquity, which consisted in substituting the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet for t...
    [isbe] SHESHACH - she'-shak (sheshakh, as if "humiliation"; compare shakhakh, "to crouch"): The general explanation is that this is "a cypherform of `Babel' (Babylon)" which is the word given as equivalent to "Sheshach" by the Targ...
    [smith] (from the goddess Shach , reduplicated) is a term which occurs only in (Jeremiah 25:26; 51:41) where it is evidently used as a synonym for either Babylon or Babylonia.
    [nave] SHESHACH, a symbolical name, apparently applied to Babylon, Jer. 25:26; 51:41.

  • Duties of Men

    [nave] DUTIES OF MEN In Executing Judgments:Gen. 3:15; 1 Sam. 15:18 with vs. 1-19.2 Sam. 7:14; 2 Kin. 9:6, 7; 2 Kin. 19:25, 26; 2 Chr. 22:7; Psa. 17:13, 14; Isa. 10:5, 6; Isa. 13:5; Jer. 27:8; Jer. 51:20-23 Isa. 41:15. See: Agency....

  • Idolatry

    [nave] IDOLATRY. Wicked Practices of Human sacrifices, Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut. 12:31; 18:10; 2 Kin. 3:26, 27; 16:3; 17:17, 18; 21:6; 23:10; 2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6; Psa. 106:37, 38; Isa. 57:5; Jer. 7:31; 19:4-7; 32:35; Ezek. 16:20, 2...

  • Armenia

    [ebd] high land, occurs only in Authorized Version, 2 Kings 19:37; in Revised Version, "Ararat," which is the Hebrew word. A country in western Asia lying between the Caspian and the Black Sea. Here the ark of Noah rested after th...
    [isbe] ARMENIA - ar-me'-ni-a: I. GEOGRAPHY II. ANCIENT HISTORY 1. Turanian Armenians Their Religion 2. Aryan Armenians: History to 114 AD LITERATURE I. Geography. 'araraT (Sumerian Ar, "region," plus ar "high," plus Tu, "mountain,"...
    [smith] (land of Aram) is nowhere mentioned under that name in the original Hebrew, though it occurs in the English version, (2 Kings 19:37) for Ararat. Description. --Armenia is that lofty plateau whence the rivers Euphrates, Tig...
    [nave] ARMENIA, a region in Western Asia, 2 Kin. 19:37; Jer. 51:27. Assassins of Seacherib take refuge in, Isa. 37:38.

  • Ararat

    [ebd] sacred land or high land, the name of a country on one of the mountains of which the ark rested after the Flood subsided (Gen. 8:4). The "mountains" mentioned were probably the Kurdish range of South Armenia. In 2 Kings 19:3...
    [isbe] ARARAT - ar'-a-rat ('araraT): A mountainous plateau in western Asia from which flow in different directions the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Aras and the Choruk rivers. Its general elevation is 6,000 feet above the sea. Lake V...
    [nave] ARARAT A district of Armenia, Jer. 51:27. Ark rested in mountains of, Gen. 8:4. Assassins of Seacherib take refuge in, Isa. 37:38.

  • MINNI

    [ebd] only in Jer. 51:27, as the name of a province in Armenia, which was at this time under the Median kings. Armenia is regarded by some as = Har-minni i.e., the mountainous country of Minni. (See ARMENIA.)
    [isbe] MINNI - min'-i (minni): A kingdom mentioned in Jer 51:27, along with Ararat and Ashkenaz, as assailants of Babylon. It is identified with the Minnai of the Assyrian inscriptions, in close relation with, or part of, Armenia.
    [smith] (division), (Jeremiah 51:27) already noticed as a portion of Armenia. [ARMENIA]

  • BABEL

    [smith] (confusion), Bab?ylon (Greek form of Babel), is properly the capital city of the country which is called in Genesis Shinar, and in the later books Chaldea, or the land of the Chaldeans. The first rise of the Chaldean power wa...

  • Post

    [ebd] (1.) A runner, or courier, for the rapid transmission of letters, etc. (2 Chr. 30:6; Esther 3:13, 15; 8:10, 14; Job 9:25; Jer. 51:31). Such messengers were used from very early times. Those employed by the Hebrew kings had a...
    [isbe] POST - post (ruts, "to run," ratsim, "runners"): The "runners" formed the royal guard (1 Sam 22:17; 1 Ki 14:27; 2 Ki 11:4,13; see GUARD). From them were chosen the couriers who carried royal letters and dispatches throughout...
    [nave] POST A bearer of message, Job 9:25; Jer. 51:31. Of Hezekiah, 2 Chr. 30:6, 10; Ahasuerus, Esth. 3:13, 14; 8:10, 14.

  • Prophecy

    [ebd] or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a "miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, disce...

  • Balm

    [ebd] contracted from Bal'sam, a general name for many oily or resinous substances which flow or trickle from certain trees or plants when an incision is made through the bark. (1.) This word occurs in the Authorized Version (Gen....
    [smith] (from balsam , Heb. tzori, tezri) occurs in (Genesis 37:25; 43:11; Jeremiah 8:22; 46:11; 51:8; Ezekiel 27:17) (It is an aromatic plant, or the resinous odoriferous sap or gum which exudes from such plants.) It is impossible t...
    [nave] BALM, a medicinal balsam, Gen. 37:25; 43:11; Jer. 8:22; 46:11; 51:8; Ezek. 27:17.

  • Ambush

    [ebd] Joshua at the capture of Ai lay in ambush, and so deceived the inhabitants that he gained an easy victory (Josh. 8:4-26). Shechem was taken in this manner (Judg. 9:30-45. Comp. Jer. 51:12).
    [isbe] AMBUSH - am'-boosh ('arabh, "to set an ambush"; ma'arabh, "an ambush"): A military stratagem in which a body of men are placed in concealment to surprise an enemy unawares, or to attack a point when temporarily undefended. T...
    [nave] AMBUSH. Instances of At Ai, Josh. 8:2-22; Shechem, Judg. 9:25, 34; Gibeah, Judg. 20:29-41. Near Zemaraim, 2 Chr. 13:13. By Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 20:22. See: Armies. Figurative Jer. 51:12.

  • CAPTAIN

    [isbe] CAPTAIN - kap'-tin: In the King James Version there are no fewer than 13 Hebrew words, and 4 different Greek words, which are rendered by this one English word. In the Revised Version (British and American) some of these are...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Judah and Benjamin were the only tribes the writer mentioned because these were the tribes that made up the Southern Kingdom that had suffered exile in Babylon. Those who gave to the reconstruction project evidently included ...
  • The fact that Nehemiah did not move back to Susa when he finished the wall and secured the city shows that his concern was not primarily those projects. The larger goal of reestablishing the Jews in the land to which God had ...
  • The events of the Book of Esther took place during the Persian period of ancient history (539-331 B.C.) and during the reign of King Ahasuerus in particular (486-464 B.C.).Chronology of the Book of Esther483Ahasuerus' militar...
  • The king gave the Jews permission to defend themselves by killing their enemies. Evidently this meant that they not only met attack with resistance but in some cases initiated attack against those who they knew would destroy ...
  • 30:6 David had evidently become self-confident and had forgotten his complete dependence on the Lord (cf. John 15:5). Prosperity often tempts us with a false sense of our security (cf. Prov. 1:32; Jer. 22:21), and David slipp...
  • 72:1-4 This prayer for the ability to rule justly and righteously is similar to Solomon's request for wisdom that he voiced at the beginning of his reign (1 Kings 3:9). His references to the mountains and hills are probably m...
  • Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1965.Bromiley, Geoffrey W. God and Marriage. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980.Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poe...
  • The recurrence of the Hebrew word massa', translated "oracle"or "burden,"prescribes the boundaries of this section of text.140These chapters present the nations over which Immanuel is ruler, and they expand the idea of God's ...
  • This is a message of the destruction of the anti-God religious and commercial system that Babylon has symbolized throughout history (cf. Rev. 17-18).21:1 This oracle concerns the wilderness of the sea. This enigmatic title pr...
  • This section of Isaiah on "The Lord's redemption of His servant [Israel]"(44:23-47:15) has included an announcement of redemption (44:23-28), the identification of the instrument of redemption, Cyrus (45:1-13), and a reminder...
  • Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had ...
  • The Book of Jeremiah is not theologically organized in the sense that it develops a certain theological emphasis as it unfolds, as Isaiah does. Rather it presents certain theological truths in greater or lesser degree through...
  • I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • The first series of prophetic announcements, reflections, and incidents that comprise this part of the book deals with Jeremiah's ministry to his own people.64The second main division of the book contains oracles against fore...
  • 8:18 The prospect of this catastrophic invasion overwhelmed Jeremiah with sorrow. It made him weak, and he could not get over his anguish.8:19 He could hear his people in captivity bitterly crying out. They longed for Jerusal...
  • 9:10 The Lord took up a lamentation on behalf of the land that suffered because of His people's sin. The coming invasion would leave the land deserted even by beasts and birds. The rest of this message indicates that the inva...
  • This scathing exposé of the folly of idolatry resembles several polemics in Isaiah (cf. Isa. 40:18-20; 41:6-7; 44:9-20; 46:5-7). Verses 12-16 appear again in 51:15-19."Why did so easy a target as idolatry need so many at...
  • This prophecy about Israel's neighbors anticipates chapters 46-51, which contain oracles against Gentile nations.12:14 The Lord promised to judge Judah's neighbor nations that had robbed His people of what the Lord had given ...
  • The following three pericopes bracket assurance of imminent judgment for Judah with promises of distant blessing for Israel and the nations. This passage promises deliverance from the captivity for the Israelites. It appears ...
  • 25:15 The Lord instructed Jeremiah to take from His hand, figuratively, a cup of His wrath and to cause all the nations to whom the Lord would send him to drink from it. The cup is a common figure for the wrath of God in Scri...
  • 29:1-3 Jeremiah sent a letter to all the Judahites who had gone into exile in Babylon with King Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) in 597 B.C. We do not know the date of its composition, but Jeremiah probably wrote it within a few years o...
  • This chapter on Egypt contains three separate prophecies that Jeremiah delivered about the fate of that nation. Their purpose seems to have been to discourage King Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and the pro-Egyptian party in Judah ...
  • This oracle is similar to the one in Isaiah 15 and 16.555Other oracles against Moab appear in Ezekiel 25:8-11, Amos 2:1-3, and Zephaniah 2:9, but this is the longest one. It is very difficult to say when Jeremiah gave this or...
  • Jeremiah wrote almost as much about Babylon's future as he did about the futures of all the other nations in his other oracles combined. The length of this oracle reflects the great importance of Babylon in his ministry as we...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • 9:1 In his vision Ezekiel heard the Lord (cf. v. 4) cry out loudly for the executioners (guards), who would punish the people of Jerusalem, to draw near to Him with their weapons in hand. The Lord had predicted that the peopl...
  • It is appropriate that this section appears at this point in Ezekiel, between the messages announcing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin (chs. 4-24) and the messages announcing future blessings for Israel (chs. 33-48). I...
  • This message forms a fitting conclusion to the whole section of prophecies about Israel's restoration to the Promised Land (chs. 33-39) as well as to those about future invasion (chs. 38-39).39:25-26 The Lord promised to rest...
  • 5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confron...
  • Whereas the previous verses have focused on the Antichrist, those in this pericope concern Israel. Here we learn that this "end time"will definitely be a time of intense persecution of Jews. This section constitutes the clima...
  • An oracle is a message of judgment. Amos proceeded to deliver eight of these, seven against Israel's neighbors including Judah (1:3-2:5) and one against Israel (2:6-6:14).12The order is significant. The nations mentioned firs...
  • The second description of Nineveh's fall is more philosophical than the first one and ends with a statement by Yahweh that gives the reason for its fall (v. 13).2:8 Nineveh had been as placid as the waters around the city for...
  • This section, evidently another message that Nahum delivered concerning Nineveh's fall, begins by comparing it to the fall of another great city. Nahum proceeded to use many figures of speech to describe how various segments ...
  • 2:13 Zephaniah also prophesied the destruction of Assyria to Judah's north (really northeast) and her capital Nineveh (cf. Isa. 13:1-14:27; 21:1-10; Jer. 50-51). Since Nineveh fell to the combined forces of Babylonia, Media, ...
  • Chapter 8 not only contains two major messages from the Lord (vv. 1-17, 18-23) but 10 minor messages, "a decalogueof divine words,"155that make up the two major ones. "Thus says the Lord"introduces each of these minor message...
  • Matthew separated the explanation of this parable from its telling in the text (vv. 24-30). He evidently did this to separate more clearly for the reader the parables Jesus spoke to the multitudes from the parables He told Hi...
  • The Triumphal Entry happened on Monday. The cursing of the fig tree took place on Tuesday, and the disciples' mention of its withering followed on Wednesday (cf. Mark 11:1-14).78021:18-19 Jesus passed the lone fig tree somewh...
  • 24:1 The connective "and"(NASB, Gr. kai) ties what follows to Jesus' preceding denunciation of the generation of Jews that rejected Him and the divine judgment that would follow (23:36-39). However the "apocalyptic"or "eschat...
  • This pericope parallels 9:30-37. Both sections deal with true greatness, and both follow predictions of Jesus' passion. This second incident shows the disciples' lack of spiritual perception and their selfishness even more th...
  • This is the final scene that furnishes background information before the revelation of the seven bowl judgments. Again what John saw was mainly on the earth."The total scene in 14:14-20 closes the section on coming judgment (...
  • The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plag...
  • 16:17 This final judgment has the greatest impact of all since the air into which the angel pours his bowl is what humans breathe.535The loud voice is probably once again God's since it comes from the throne in the heavenly t...
  • 17:1 The fact that this chapter describes the judgment of Babylon referred to in 14:8 and 16:19 seems clear. It was one of the angels who poured out the bowl judgments who served as John's guide as he viewed these events in h...
  • 17:3 The angel carried John away in the Spirit to a wilderness area (cf. 1:10; 4:1; 21:10). This wilderness may refer to the desert near literal Babylon,558or it may anticipate the desolate condition of the harlot.559There he...
  • 17:7 The angel promised to interpret these revelations that were so baffling to John, particularly the mystery concerning the woman and the beast. More information about the beast follows in verses 7-14 and more about the wom...
  • 18:1 John next saw another scene on earth (Gr. Meta tauta eidon, "After these things I saw,"cf. 4:1). Another angel of the same kind as in 17:1 (i.e., one who descends from heaven to fulfill a special mission; cf. 10:1; 20:1)...
  • 18:4 Another voice from heaven instructed God's people to separate themselves from the system that the city symbolizes so they would avoid getting caught in her judgment. The being speaking is evidently an angel who speaks fo...
  • Three groups of people mourn Babylon's destruction in these verses: kings (vv. 9-10; cf. Ezek. 26:15-18), merchants (vv. 11-13, 15-17a; cf. Ezek. 27:36), and sea people (vv. 17b-19; cf. Ezek. 27:29-36).18:9 World government l...
  • In contrast to the earth-dwellers, God's people will rejoice when Babylon falls (cf. 11:10). The songs in 19:1-5 may be their response to this invitation. Heaven rejoiced over the fall of ancient Babylon too (Jer. 51:48-49).6...
  • 18:21 The angelic act of throwing the millstone into the sea is symbolic of Babylon's fate (cf. Jer. 51:63-64). As it is impossible for that huge stone to rise to the surface, so the economic system that has driven this world...
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