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| 1 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind. |
Against Babylon – Mystic Babylon, Christendom. D26; HG64:1
And against them – All in sympathy with Babylon. D39
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| 2 And I will send unto Babylon winnowers, that shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. |
The day of trouble – Rendered "evil" in "I create evil." (Isa. 45:7) A125
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| 3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. |
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| 4 And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. |
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| 5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. |
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| 6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; be not cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. |
Flee – No one is responsible to flee unless he sees that it is Babylon, but the very suggestion that it is Babylon means that one should make a thorough investigation to see if it is so. Q65:T
Present Truth will guide us into closer fellowship with God and separateness of mind, heart and service from Babylon. SM127:2
For those who obey this command there is but one place of refuge, "The secret place of the Most High" (Psa. 91:1)--the place or condition of complete consecration. D43
Out of the midst – "Come out of her, my people." (Rev. 18:4) D43; R436:5, R2538:1
The Lord's people are not to look back at the things that are to be destroyed. R5456:4
With a full renunciation of the things of the present time. R5456:5
And deliver – This call must be heard and heeded before the disaster comes; for it will come suddenly, as in an hour. SM411:2
Whoever shall seek to save his life must lose it. Whoever shall lose his life will thereby be preserving it. (Luke 9:24) R5456:5
LORD'S vengeance – A part of the work of the second advent will be the overthrow of antitypical Babylon. R5092:3; D39
A recompence – In the time of trouble God will repay his enemies according to their deeds. D39
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| 7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. |
A golden cup – Representing the Bible, the Divine Standard or authority. SM407:1
"Having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations." (Rev. 17:4) C156
The cup suggests that the unfaithful church had once been the receptacle of divine truth. R5092:1
Made all the earth drunken – Not that every doctrine presented by Papacy was false and intoxicating; but that a stupefying potion was put into the wine already in the cup. SM407:2
So strong is the power of this intoxication that its inconsistencies are not discerned by those intoxicated. SM408:1
Nations have drunken – As heathen philosophies were joined with Christianity a poisonous draught was mixed and poured into the "golden cup" of truth, making all nations drunk. R5910:6
"She made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (Rev. 14:8) C156
Wine – False doctrine. R5092:1
The nations are mad – Intoxicated with her errors. C156
As error spread, the spirit of ambition superseded the spirit of humility. R5910:6
The pagan doctrine of the immortality of the soul, combined with that of the torture of the wicked, resulted in the doctrine of eternal torture. R5911:1
During the Dark Ages millions were tortured, exiled, and murdered in multitudinous ways. R5911:2
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| 8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. |
Is suddenly fallen – Both literal and symbolic Babylon. R2498:3
"Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen." (Rev. 18:2) C156
She has been spewed out of his mouth, and the Almighty now calls upon his true people to "come out of her." (Rev. 18:4) R5478:2
And destroyed – And broken. C156
Howl for her – "And they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, Alas, that great city." (Rev. 18:19) C156
"The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her." (Rev. 18:11) R1371:6
Take balm – Human remedies. D469
For her pain – Her wound. C156
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| 9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. |
Babylon – The chief empire of earth in Jeremiah's day; an illustration of a prophecy which has had one literal fulfillment, and is about to have its second or higher fulfillment. R436:5[R436]
Is not healed – Illustrated by preparations for war among nations which confess allegiance to the Prince of Peace. R4411:6*[R4411*]
The protests and warnings of the righteous are steadily ignored by the world. D542[D542]
There is no balm in Gilead, and no physician there. (Jer. 8:22) D469[D469]
Forsake her – "Come out of her, my people." (Rev. 18:4) D543[D542]
Get out from under her influence; stand free from this bondage to error and worldliness. R5696:6[R5696]
His own country – To the true Church, or to the world, as the case may be, according as each is thus proved to be of the wheat or the tares. C156[C156]
Her judgment – Her punishment. C156[C156]
Reacheth unto heaven – "Her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities." (Rev. 18:5) R1371:6[R1371]
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| 10 Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness: come and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God. |
Declare in Zion – There is a nominal spiritual Zion, and a nominal fleshly Zion. D23; A297; T33
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| 11 Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple. |
The kings – Of Christ's Kingdom, the Royal Priesthood. R2498:4
Of his temple – The Christ. T70
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| 12 Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. |
The walls – Civil power. D40
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| 13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness. |
Upon many waters – "The waters that thou sawest where the whore sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues." (Rev. 17:15) R1371:6, R5846:2
The literal was built on the river Euphrates and derived wealth and splendor from that source; the symbolic is seated upon many waters--peoples, nations, from which it derives its support. R45:1
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| 14 Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by his soul, saying, Surely I will fill thee with man, as with the cankerworm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. |
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| 15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens: |
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| 16 when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries. |
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| 17 Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. |
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| 18 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. |
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| 19 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name. |
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| 20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; |
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| 21 and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; |
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| 22 and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin; |
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| 23 and with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces governors and deputies. |
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| 24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith Jehovah. |
Babylon – Christendom, the nominal Christian church, especially the Papacy. D26, D39
Of Chaldea – Babylonia, Christendom, all the nations of the so-called Christian world. D39
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| 25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. |
Mountain – Kingdom. A318
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| 26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith Jehovah. |
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| 27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough cankerworm. |
Set ye up a standard – The standard of the truth. D40
Blow the trumpet – The seventh trumpet, the last trump, the trump of God, the trump of knowledge and liberty. B148
Not metallic trumpets. The angelic movements under the seventh trumpet are as noiseless as they have been under the other six. HG26:1
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| 28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of their dominion. |
The kings – Of Christ's Kingdom, the Royal Priesthood. R2498:4
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| 29 And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. |
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| 30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might hath failed; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire; her bars are broken. |
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| 31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter: |
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| 32 and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. |
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| 33 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her. |
Of her harvest – "Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." (Rev. 14:15) R1371:6
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| 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out. |
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| 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. |
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| 36 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. |
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| 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. |
For dragons – "An habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." (Rev. 18:2) R1371:6
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| 38 They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions’ whelps. |
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| 39 When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah. |
They – Babylon's great ones, highly esteemed by her subjects, called by various dignified and high sounding titles. R1951:4
Perpetual sleep – As clergy, with high-sounding titles and offices, they shall never awake or exist again as such. R1951:4
Olam, lasting, not endless. R3725:5*
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| 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. |
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| 41 How is Sheshakh taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! |
How is Sheshach taken – Representing Babylon. The religious element will be the last to fall. (Jer. 25:26) HG94:1
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| 42 The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. |
The sea – Restless, anarchistic masses of mankind. A318
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| 43 Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. |
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| 44 And I will execute judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more unto him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. |
Bel in Babylon – The God of Babylon, the Pope. D40
Out of his mouth – He shall repudiate in his extremity the "great swelling words" and blasphemous titles which he has for so long appropriated to himself. D40
The wall of Babylon – The civil power that once defended it and that in a measure does so still. D40
Built of ignorance and superstition, whose great foundations were laid centuries ago. SM409:2
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| 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save your souls every man from the fierce anger of Jehovah. |
Go ye out – "Come out of her, my people." (Rev. 18:4) R1371:6, R2538:1
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| 46 And let not your heart faint, neither fear ye for the tidings that shall be heard in the land; for tidings shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come tidings, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. |
Rumour that shall be heard – "Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars." (Mark 13:7,8; Luke 21:8,9) R5969:2*
Another year – A second year. R5969:2*
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| 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment upon the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. |
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| 48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come unto her from the north, saith Jehovah. |
The heaven – The powers of spiritual control. A318
And the earth – Society. A318
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| 49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land. |
So at Babylon – Because of her greater responsibility, against her will burn the fierceness of his wrath and indignation. D28
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| 50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go ye, stand not still; remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. |
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| 51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah’s house. |
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| 52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. |
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| 53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come unto her, saith Jehovah. |
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| 54 The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! |
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| 55 For Jehovah layeth Babylon waste, and destroyeth out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered: |
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| 56 for the destroyer is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Jehovah is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite. |
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| 57 And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. |
Made drunk – An intoxication of error, false doctrines and theories. R4287:3
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| 58 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary. |
Her high gates – Representing mystic Babylon's worldly wisdom, human ingenuity and dexterity of organization to maintain control of the symbolic waters. SM409:2
Be burned with fire – Be destroyed. D40
The same symbol of fire is used by St. Peter in referring to the same trouble and destruction. SM424:3
Shall labour in vain – To prop and save the walls of Babylon. D40
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| 59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain. |
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| 60 And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. |
Jeremiah wrote in a book – The prophets did not confine themselves to oral teachings. R1145:3
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| 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words, |
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| 62 and say, O Jehovah, thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. |
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| 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 the Euphrates: |
Midst of Euphrates – Peoples, nations. B209
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| 64 and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. |
Shall Babylon sink – Into the restless sea of ungovernable peoples. D111
Showing that her destruction will be sudden, violent and complete. D37
And shall not rise – "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all." (Rev. 18:21) R1371:6, R5478:2
The "sea" of anarchy will swallow up the false systems. R5478:2
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