Jeremiah 50

Jeremiah 50:8-12
Come out from Babylon, for she has been plundered!
By Brother Mike (8-28-17; 45 minutes)

8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks .
9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain .
10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD .
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls ;
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert .

INTRODUCTION

In this study of Jeremiah 50:8-12, the people of Yahweh are commanded to come out of the midst of Babylon from where they were exiled by the Babylonians due to their sins because Yahweh has now raised up great nations from the north to come against Babylon to punish her for her sins in having destroyed the people of Yahweh and having taken them into exile in Babylon. Because the Babylonians were glad and rejoiced, and sprang about in pride as a heifer at new grass, and bellowed in pride as bulls in that they had once conquered the people of Yahweh and took them into exile in Babylon, we are told that the Babylonians' mother will be exceedingly disappointed and ashamed in her children because now the nations from the north of Babylon have come to spoil or plunder Babylon, and their arrows are as a wise expert, which never return in vain. They are making Babylon a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

Now, let's begin considering each verse one at a time to see how this all relates to us today.

Verse 50:8:

8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks .

In this verse, we first read, Remove out of the midst of Babylon. This is a command for the people of Yahweh to come out of Babylon. Literally, this meant that the people of Israel were to come out of their exile in Babylon, which they began to do by the decree of Cyrus, king of Persian who had conquered Babylon in 539 BC. We read of king Cyrus's decree in Ezra 1,

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah .
3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem .
4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem .

Now, although this decree for the Israelites to come out of Babylon was literally fulfilled when those who had been originally exiled in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar returned to Jerusalem under the decree of Cyrus, the king of Persia, this was but only a type or picture of the people of Jesus Christ who have in our time ever since May 21, 2011 been commanded to come out from the Babylon of the world of sin and all the Christian churches under the decree of Jesus Christ, which states,

Re 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues .

So, the ancient Babylon that the literal Israelites came out from under the decree of king Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC was a type of this world of sin and all churches that the elect are commanded to come out from under the decree of Jesus Christ ever since May 21, 2011 as they await their translation into the new heaven and earth to be manifest on the Last Day of this Day of Judgment.

But, next, our verse states, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans. The word Chaldeans is a synonym for the word Babylonians, so what we are being told here is that not only are we commanded to come out of Babylon, but we are also commanded to come out of the land of the Babylonians, which is basically saying the same thing twice. And, when Yahweh says the same thing twice, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass as we read in Genesis 41,

Ge 41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass .

So, in that Yahweh's command to come out from Babylon is mentioned twice in two slightly diverse ways, it means that this thing of departing out from all the churches is established by Yahweh, and He will shortly bring it to pass. Of course, from our vantage point, many, if not all, of the elect have already departed from the churches and from the world of being involved in sin: in the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1John 2:16). But, perhaps, there are yet more elect to depart out of the churches, and, if so, we know that this is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass (see Why leave all churches? ).

Finally, our verse not only tells us to come out from Babylon (the world and all churches), but when we come out we are to be as the he goats before the flocks. What is this telling us? When we think of male goats and sheep moving together, the he-goats will normally congregate to the front of the sheep, and they will lead the sheep because they are much less fearful, more bold and confident than are the sheep. Furthermore, the word translated as he-goats in our verse, can be translated as chief ones depending upon the context. So, as we come out from all the churches and the world, we are to be as the chief ones before the flock. That is, we are to be the leaders like the he-goats who are to set the example for the flock by departing out boldly, confidently, and fearlessly from all the churches and the world of sin. We are not to fear for our lives because the departing out of our church removes us from the support and love of others, for Yahweh will care for His people outside of the churches. And, when we obey Yahweh through the sacrifice of ourselves for the kingdom of heaven, He is there to bless us a hundredfold in those things and people needed to support us. For what does the scripture say? We read,

Mark 10:29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's ,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life .

And, again, we read,

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee .

So, with such great promises, let's come out fearlessly, boldly, and confidently from all churches and all sin in obedience to our Lord. For if we have things to lose, we have much more to gain; and in the world to come eternal life.

Verse 50:9:

9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain .

Here, we learn of the reason as to why the people of Israel were to come out of Babylon: it is because Yahweh will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. That is, He is bringing great nations from the north to destroy Babylon, and the Israelites needed to come out from Babylon so that they would not be destroyed along with the others. In the historical account, the nations to come against Babylon were the Medes and Persians, but, in the spiritual account, the Medes and Persians are a type of the elect who have in this day already come out from Babylon (the world of sin and all the churches) between May 21, 1988, the end of the church age, and May 21, 2011, the beginning to spiritual Judgment Day. They are spoken of as nations, plural, because the elect come from all the various nations around the world, and they are spoken of as great nations because they are identified with Christ who is great. And, what's more, they come from the north country because, spiritually speaking, the north country is where the Lord raises up peoples to do His warfare. First, He raised up the Babylonians who are in the north country to destroy His own people Israel and take them into exile, and, then, He raised up the Medes and Persians who are in the north country as well to destroy the Babylonians who are a picture of all the unsaved people in the churches and in the world of whom the elect (typified by the Medes and Persians) have come up against with the message that Babylon has been taken, for there is no longer any possibility for their eternal salvation. This means that all the people in the churches and in the world are now certain to die due to their sins on the Last Day of Judgment Day which we are now in when those who are in the graves and unsaved, and those who still remain and are unsaved will both be burned up to suffer eternal death through annihilation.

Now, continuing with our verse, we read, and they shall set themselves in array against her. Literally, it reads, they array against her. That is, the Medes and Persians array, arrange, prepare, or order themselves against Babylon. They are there to battle against Babylon, and they have arrayed themselves for the task. In the historical account, this means that the Medes and Persians put on their armor and armed themselves with weapons. And, they also positioned themselves to be in a state of readiness to attack according to their preplanned strategy. In the spiritual account, the Medes and Persians represent the elect who have arrayed or ordered themselves in our day to go out into the entire world to proclaim that Babylon is taken as Babylon (the world and all churches) no longer has any hope for eternal salvation. For us to array ourselves means that we have literature ready to pass out to the world such as the Babylon is Taken Flyer under the NEWS section on the web site at May-212011.com. It can mean that if we have a vehicle that we put two magnetic car signs on each door with the message that Babylon is taken (email me if you would like information on where to get and what to put on these signs). It can mean that we pool our money to put up bill boards, newspaper ads, TV ads, and the like. It can mean that we advertise on social networks on the internet, and everywhere else that we can on the internet. In short, everything that we did when leading up to May 21, 2011 with all its variety of advertising, we can now do again, but this time with the Message that the world and all the churches (Babylon) have fallen or been taken because there is no longer any hope for any of them to be eternally saved. Yes, there are literally hundreds of ways that we can array ourselves so that we can fulfill our Lord's command to declare that Babylon is taken, and so that we can successfully battle against Babylon (the people of the world and of all churches). The question is, will you and I obey the Lord and begin to get the message out to the world and churches more and more?

Next, our verse says, from thence she shall be taken. From where shall Babylon be taken? Well, she, Babylon, will be taken from wherever we the elect have gotten out the message that the world and all churches (Babylon) have been taken or fallen; otherwise, how will they know that they have been taken as of May 21, 2011 unless we tell them. And, how shall we tell them unless we go into the world to do so? And, how shall we go into the world unless we are sent? And, how shall we be sent unless we had been already saved by May 21, 2011? And, if we are already saved, then we are called and chosen to obey our Lord in declaring to the world and all churches, that they, Babylon, have been taken because there is no longer any eternal hope for them, but only the black darkness of eternal death, which is soon to be manifest on the Last Day of the spiritual Judgment Day that we have already entered as of May 21, 2011.

Now, our verse continues by saying, their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man. Literally, it reads, His arrows shall be as a wise expert. Notice that it is not their arrows which shall be as a mighty expert as the King James translates it, but it is his arrows shall be as a wise expert. So, it is not the arrows of the elect (typified by the Medes and Persians) which shall be as a wise expert, but it is His arrows which shall be as a wise expert. And, whose arrows are His arrows? That's right, they are the arrows of Jesus Christ, and He is the wise expert. What we are being told, then, is that the arrows of the elect are the arrows of Jesus Christ. But, what are the arrows of Jesus Christ? When we look up the word arrows in the Bible, we find that they represent words. For instance, we read in Psalm 64,

Ps 64:3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words . . .

And, we read in Jeremiah 9,

Jer 9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD .

Obviously here, the tongue represents the bow, and the words consisting of lies represent the arrows shot from the tongue represented by the bow. We also read in Proverbs 25,

Pr 25:18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow .

Here, a man that bears false witness is called a sharp arrow because his false witness is by using words. And, in Jeremiah 9:8, we read,

Jer 9:8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait .

In this case, their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaks deceit. So, since the arrow is said to speak deceit or lies, and deceit or lies are spoken by words, the arrow must speak words, which means that the arrow consists of words, and we can equate the arrow with words.

So, what can we conclude from all this? Well, we can conclude that the bow represents the tongue from which the words come, and the arrows that the bow shoots are the actual words themselves. Therefore, when we read that Christ's arrows shall be as a wise expert , we are being told that the words of Christ against Babylon shall be as a wise expert. Christ knows exactly what needs to be said, and exactly when to say it as He is a wise expert. And, He uses His elect to speak and advertise His words, and we are told repeatedly in scripture that we must now declare that Babylon (this world and all churches) have fallen and been taken ever since May 21, 2011. We have no choice! If we love our Lord, we will want to obey His commandment. And, right now, He commands us to speak and advertise that Babylon has been taken. According to the all wise expert archer of words, Jesus Christ, let us now shoot out His arrows of words which bring spiritual judgment upon the entire world including all Christian churches by giving notice that there is no longer any hope for anyone of them to become eternally saved. Indeed, Babylon has been taken!

Now, finally, our verse concludes by saying that none shall return in vain. That is, every time we pass out a flyer, or speak, or advertise saying, Babylon (this world and all churches) has been taken, that eternal salvation is no longer possible for anyone who is a part of her, our words (our arrows) will never be in vain. They will achieve what they have been destined to achieve. Our words, whether written or spoken, will always have the effect for which they were intended. This is incredibly encouraging to us! Although many people will not like us for getting out this message including Satan and his band of renegades, we can know that our work is not in vain. Every single arrow that we shoot from our mouths and pen, will hit its target. Whether we shoot at one person, or our voice or advertisement shoots at many people, every single arrow of ours will hit its target, and this is most encouraging for us. None of His arrows shot by us will return in vain.

Verse 50:10:

10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD .

In this verse, we first read, And Chaldea will be a spoil. Literally, it reads, And the Chaldeans will be a spoil. That is, all the Babylonians (a synonym for Chaldeans), which is all the unsaved people in the world and all those who have remained in all the Christian churches, will be plundered by the elect who bring the message that Babylon has been taken. Why? Because there is no longer any hope for anyone of them to become eternally saved ever since May 21, 2011, which means that they will all soon perish. Every eternal thing that they thought they had such as eternal life - as most believe that they would see their dead loved ones again - has been spoiled and given to the elect as only they will have eternal life, and will see their dead loved ones if they too were elect. Otherwise, if a dead loved one is not of the elect, then they will be remembered no more as we read in Isaiah 65,

Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind .

So, every single last unsaved person anywhere in the world or anywhere in the Christian churches, namely the Chaldeans or Babylonians, have been spoiled or plundered by Yahweh on May 21, 2011, and the elect are the ones who are commanded to get this message out to the entire world. And, as they get this message out to the world, the unsaved come to understand this, which is a plundering or spoiling of their beliefs which has somehow seen themselves as going to heaven despite what the Holy Scriptures teach: that only those saved from their sins in Jesus Christ will go to heaven as we read in Acts 4,

Ac 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved .

Now, continuing with our verse, we read, all that spoil her shall be satisfied. This means that all the elect who are getting out the message that Babylon (the world and all churches) has been taken because they have no possibility for eternal salvation ever since May 21, 2011 are satisfied. Why are they satisfied? Well, because they know that Babylon (the world and all the churches) is finally getting what it deserves for all her sins. The scripture says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and now, ever since May 21, 2011, we know for sure that Babylon will pay for her sins as no one in her any longer has a possibility of eternal life, and so she is guaranteed to die on the soon to come Last Day of Judgment Day when all those who are unsaved and in the graves, and all those who are unsaved and still remain will die in the fires of burning to be annihilated forevermore. Justice will be satisfied! And, so, the elect who are spoiling or plundering Babylon are satisfied as well. It could also mean that as we get out the message that Babylon is taken, we will have a sense of completeness, fullness, satisfaction which should motivate us to, all the more, get out Yahweh's message to all the churches and the world.

Finally, our verse concludes with, says the LORD. The word here translated as LORD is really the word Yahweh although as we have said before, we do not know for sure what the vowels are in this word; nevertheless, the word Yahweh is a good approximation at the least, and so we will prefer this word Yahweh to the word LORD because the word Yahweh is a much better approximation to God's personal name than is LORD, and it is used to designate Him more than 5,500 times in the Old Testament, which makes it the most commonly used name for God in the Bible. And, therefore, arguably, the most important word in the Bible, for it is God's very own personal name. I suppose that God has left us with some mystery to His personal name because there will always be some mystery to God.

Verse 50:11:

11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls ;

Here, we first read, Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of mine heritage. That is, because the Babylonians were glad and rejoiced in pride in spiritually destroying or plundering the Israelites in Judah and Jerusalem in 587 BC as Yahweh's judgment against them for their sins . . . and then we read, because you are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls. Here, it is better translated, because you sprang about [in pride] as a heifer at new grass, and bellowed [in pride] as bulls. That is, because the Babylonians sprang about in pride as a heifer at new grass, and bellowed in pride as bulls in destroying or plundering the Israelites of Judah or Jerusalem in 587 BC as Yahweh's judgment against them for their sins . . . To put it all together, what our verse is saying is this: Because the Babylonians were glad and rejoiced in pride, and because they sprang about in pride as a heifer at new grass, and bellowed in pride as a bull in destroying or plundering Judah or Jerusalem (Yahweh's heritage) in 587 BC, this is why we read in the next verse that the Babylonians' mother will be sore confounded.

Now, because we already know that the literal Babylonians typified the spiritual beings of Satan's kingdom including all the unsaved in the world and Christian churches, and Judah or Jerusalem that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC typified all the Christian churches in our day, what our verse is really telling us in this day is that because the spiritual beings of Satan's kingdom (the Babylonians) were glad and rejoiced (in pride) in spiritually destroying all the churches (Yahweh's heritage) by May 21, 2011, and, because they also sprang about in pride as a heifer at new grass, and bellowed as a bull in pride in spiritually destroying all the churches (Yahweh's heritage) by May 21, 2011, this is why we read in the next verse that their mother will be sore confounded. And, just who their mother is we will discover in the next verse to which we now turn ourselves.

Verse 50:12:

12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert .

We just learned that because the Babylonians or Chaldeans (the spiritual beings in the kingdom of Satan) were glad and rejoiced in pride, and sprang about in pride as a heifer at new grass and bellowed in pride as bulls in spiritually destroying or plundering all the Christian churches by May 21, 2011, we are told that [their] mother shall be sore confounded. Literally, we can translate it,

12 Your [the Babylonians'] mother is exceedingly disappointed . . .

Now, first, who is the mother of the Babylonians? Why, it is Babylon herself; she is the mother of the Babylonians. We read of her in Revelation 17:

Re 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH .

And, who does Babylon the Great symbolize in Revelation 17? Well, she refers to this entire world of unsaved people, which, ever since May 21, 1988 when all the churches were given over to Satan's rulership (see Biblical Calendar ), now includes the Christian corporate church, which includes all the Christian churches everywhere in the world (see Revelation 17:1-18 - The Great Whore! ). So, when our verse says, Your [the Babylonians'] mother is exceedingly disappointed, it is saying that Babylon the Great, which is the whole world of unsaved people including all those in all the Christian churches worldwide, is disappointed. It doesn't mean she was disappointed when she spiritually destroyed all the Christian churches from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, but it means she is now disappointed.

But, if Babylon the Great is now disappointed, she is also ashamed, for our verse continues to say, she that bare you is ashamed. And, once again, this does not mean that she was ashamed when she spiritually destroyed all the Christian churches from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, but it means that she is now ashamed after being made a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert ever since May 21, 2011. So, Babylon the Great is now disappointed and ashamed because she spiritually destroyed all the churches, and, as a result, behold, the hindermost of the nations [Babylon] is a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Literally, we can translate it like this:

12 . . . behold, the last [or least] of the nations [Babylon] is [now] a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert .

In other words, ever since May 21, 2011, the last or least of the nations, which use to be the first or greatest of the nations [Babylon] up until May 21, 2011, is now a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. And, of course, this language is spiritual. It means that Babylon is now a spiritual wilderness, a spiritual dry land, and a spiritual desert. And, we all know why that is: it is because there is no longer any spiritual eternal salvation to be had in Babylon; therefore, it is without the spiritual water of salvation; hence, it is a spiritual wilderness, a spiritual dry land, and a spiritual desert. Notice that a wilderness, a dry land, and a spiritual desert are basically describing the same thing, and this same thing is mentioned three times: a wilderness, one, a dry land, two, and a desert, three. This is to emphasize that it is Yahweh's purpose (see symbolism of Bible #3 ) that in these days of judgment ever since May 21, 2011 that Babylon would be a spiritual wilderness, dry land, and desert in that the spiritual waters of salvation are gone from the kingdom of Babylon; never to water it again.

CONCLUSION

We learned that the people of Yahweh were commanded to come out from Babylon where they had been taken in exile for their sins. They were to come out because Yahweh had raised up nations to the north of Babylon to come down against Babylon to take her captive. Although this literally took place about 2500 years ago, it was but an earthly picture or type of the elect today being commanded to come out from all churches and the world of sin (Babylon) on May 21, 2011 because Yahweh has now raised up the elect (typified by the nations to the north) to come against all the churches and the world (Babylon) by bringing the message that all the churches and the world (Babylon) have been spiritually taken. That is, there is no longer any hope for anyone in the churches or in the world to become spiritually, eternally saved, so they have all been taken. As Revelation 18 puts it, Babylon has fallen, has fallen.

Now, we first learned that the elect are to come out of all the churches and the world (Babylon or the land of the Chaldeans) as he goats before the flocks. This, we learned, meant that the elect are to come out as the chief ones; that is, with all boldness, confidence, fearlessness, and leadership to be an example unto the flock. We also learned that the elect (typified by the assembly of great nations from the north country) has now set themselves in array against Babylon by preparing and beginning to use witness materials to make known that Babylon has been taken. We are greatly encouraged to have learned that none of our efforts in getting out the words that the world and all churches are taken are in vain. These words are as arrows shot by a wise expert, and none of them will return in vain. Every piece of literature we pass out, every word we speak that Babylon is taken will fulfill the purpose for which it was purposed by Yahweh. Furthermore, as we get out the message that Babylon has been taken, although it will plunder or spoil the Chaldeans, also known as Babylonians, it will bring satisfaction to us, and this is another encouragement to all who are obeying Yahweh to join in battle against Babylon. It is not a battle fought with guns and bombs, but it is a spiritual battle fought with words against all Christian churches, and even against the entire world of sin.

Finally, we learned that because the spiritual demonic beings and principalities of Babylon were glad and rejoiced in pride, and because they sprang about in pride as a heifer at new grass, and bellowed in pride as bulls in having spiritually destroyed the world and all the churches (Yahweh's heritage) between May 21, 1988 and May 21, 2011, Babylon, their mother, is now ever since May 21, 2011 exceedingly disappointed and ashamed because now she who was once the greatest or first of nations has become the least or last of nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert where no water of salvation can be found.

Now, may Yahweh through our Lord Jesus Christ, bless thee, and keep thee: Yahweh make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Yahweh lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .