Jeremiah 50:9

Jeremiah 50:9

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.

1. “For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country…”

a. assembly [6951 * qahal][Strong: company, congregation, multitude, assembly]

b. great [1419 * gadowl][Strong:  great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent:--+ aloud, elder(-est), + exceeding(-ly), + far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, X sore, (X ) very.]

c. nations [1471 * gowy][Strong: (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:--Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

2.  “…and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken…”

a. array [6186 *arak][Strong: a primitive root; to set in a row, i.e. arrange, put in order (in a very wide variety of applications):--put (set) (the battle, self) in array, compare, direct, equal, esteem, estimate, expert (in war), furnish, handle, join (battle), ordain, (lay, put, reckon up, set) (in) order, prepare, tax, value.]

3. “…their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.”

a. arrows [2671 * chets][Strong: properly, a piercer, i.e. an arrow; by implication, a wound; figuratively, (of God) thunder-bolt; (by interchange for '`ets']

b. mighty [1368 * gibbowr][Strong: powerful; by implication, warrior, tyrant:-- champion, chief, X excel, giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man.]

c. expert [7919 * sakal][Strong: a primitive root; to be (causatively, make or act) circumspect and hence, intelligent:--consider, expert, instruct, prosper, (deal) prudent(-ly), (give) skill(-ful), have good success, teach, (have, make to) understand(-ing), wisdom, (be, behave self, consider, make) wise(- ly), guide wittingly.]

1). Smart Bombs change face of modern warfare. “By the time of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, laser-guided weapons were in widespread use and accounted for about one in ten bombs dropped by U.S. and coalition forces. In the ensuing years, the technology has advanced even more.

Current GPS guidance systems now allow long-range targeting of individual buildings. The streets of Baghdad today are pocked with razed structures whose neighbors stand unscathed on either side.” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0218_050218_tv_bombs.html

2). During the first Persian Gulf War of 1991 when America and an alliance of other nations liberated Kuwait from the invasion from Iraq, America used a host of weapons for the first time in a military conflict that was computer and laser guided. As a result, many speculated, including me that the verse of our text applied to the use of these weapons against Iraq/Babylon. Yes, they could be applied, but the first Gulf War ended and Kuwait was liberated, but Iraq was not destroyed. In the second Gulf War in 2003, the Iraqi government was removed by the U.S. and eventually replaced with Democratic elections, but again the nation was not destroyed. I personally believe that the weapons used in the two Gulf Wars could be applied to the above verse but the actual fulfillment of the whole prophetic scenario of Jeremiah 50, 51 will not be fulfilled until Revelation 18. The similarities of Jeremiah 51:60-64 with Revelation 18:21 are enough to establish it.

a). Jeremiah 51:60-64 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

Jeremiah 51:62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

Jeremiah 51:63 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 Euphrates:

Jeremiah 51:64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

b). Revelation 18:21 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.