Our reading today focuses on two nations: Israel and Babylon. Babylon was the superpower in the world at this time while the tiny nation of Israel had shrunk down to the single tribe of Judah, with Jerusalem as its capitol.

Babylon, the capitol of Babylonia, was glorious. It was the cultural center of the world. It had scientists, engineers, architects, artists, and sculptors and was well supplied with water and rich in agriculture. Situated on the Euphrates River Babylon was the crown princess in the Cradle of Civilization.

By comparison, Jerusalem was a small city situated on a low mountain near the Dead Sea. It was about a quarter the size of Babylon with only a small army. Jerusalem should have fallen long before Nebuchadnezzar captured it, but God had always defended this city he referred to as the apple of his eye (Zechariah 2:8).

Now, however, the little nation of Israel was going to be swallowed up by the great empire of Babylon.

Rachel Weeps for Her Children

Jeremiah had a dream one night and in it he saw Rachel, one of the matriarchs of Israel.

“A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31:15

Who was Rachel and who were her children? . . . And where was Ramah?

We may recall that Israel’s patriarch Jacob had a wife named Rachel who had two children, Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph was sold into slavery in  Egypt where he married and had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Benjamin fathered the tribe of Benjamin, and Ephraim and Manasseh’s descendants formed two more of Israel’s tribes. Because all three of these tribes descended from Rachel they were regarded as her children.

Ramah was a town in the highlands of Benjamin’s territory. In his dream Jeremiah saw Rachel weeping for her children in Ramah, crying over the loss of Manasseh and Ephraim who were swept away by the Assyrians, and the loss of Benjamin, conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.

But God said, “‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,’ declares the Lord. ‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants. Your children will return to their own land.’” Jeremiah 31:16-17

The Road Back

God had disciplined his people in order to bring them back to him, and apparently the people of Ephraim called out to God soon after they were punished.

“‘I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning . . . ‘after I strayed I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast, I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Jeremiah 31:19

God was pleased and his heart was stirred for Ephraim.

“‘Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him.’” Jeremiah 31:20

God told the captives to mark the road they took into exile so they could find their way back someday. He planned to bring them home again and renew his relationship with them.

“‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.’” Jeremiah 31:33-34

God who created the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the sea, said that only if those things vanished from his sight would Israel ever cease to be a nation.

“‘Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done.’” Jeremiah 31:37

Israel was going to be conquered and carried off to Babylon, but they would remain a nation through it all.  Mighty Babylon, however, was going to perish.

The Fall of Babylon

The Babylonian Empire was at its peak. It was hard to imagine that within fifty years the Medes and Persians would defeat Babylon almost without a fight, but God told Jeremiah that was what was going to happen.

“‘For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured.’” Jeremiah 50:9

What would become of the people of Israel then? They were captives in a land that was itself going to be captured, but God had a plan to preserve them.

“‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.’” Jeremiah 50:18-19

Not only was Israel going to come back home, God was going to give them peace and prosperity. He was also going to blot out their sins.

“‘In those days, at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.’” Jeremiah 50:20-21

As for Babylon, once it was defeated it would never rise again.

“So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns, so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.” Jeremiah 50:39-40

The Tale of Two Nations

Over time the rich plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that supported both the Assyrian and Babylonian empires became a desert. Sadam Hussein drove off most of the remaining ancient people who made a living in that region in the 1990’s when he drained the Euphrates marshes. The great empires that God brought down in that part of the world have never returned.

Meanwhile, Israel did come home after Persia defeated Babylon. It wasn’t until 1949 that they were recognized as a nation again on the world stage, but God has held his people together. Even today people descended from the ancient Israelites know their identity. Over the centuries the Jewish people have faced many struggles and wondered if they would survive, but God has not let them go.

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land . . .’” Jeremiah 50:33-34

The rise and fall of empires is in the hands of God. He keeps track of his people and preserves them, and when they want to come home to him, he welcomes them back.