The Oppressor Oppressed
21.¡°Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,¡± declares the LORD. ¡°Do everything I have commanded you.
21.¡°Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of Pekod. Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you,¡± says the Lord.
22. The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction!
22.¡°Let the battle cry be heard in the land, a shout of great destruction.
23. How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations!
23. Babylon, the mightiest hammer in all the earth, lies broken and shattered. Babylon is desolate among the nations!
24. I set a trap for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the LORD.
24. Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you. You are caught, for you have fought against the Lord.
25. The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
25. The Lord has opened his armory and brought out weapons to vent his fury. The terror that falls upon the Babylonians will be the work of the Sovereign Lord of Heaven¡¯s Armies.
26. Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant.
26. Yes, come against her from distant lands. Break open her granaries. Crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble. Destroy her completely, and leave nothing!
27. Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.
27. Destroy even her young bulls¡ªit will be terrible for them, too! Slaughter them all! For Babylon¡¯s day of reckoning has come.
28. Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
28. Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon, as they tell in Jerusalem how the Lord our God has taken vengeance against those who destroyed his Temple.
The Proud Falls
29.¡°Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
29.¡°Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon. Surround the city so none can escape. Do to her as she has done to others, for she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
30. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,¡± declares the LORD.
30. Her young men will fall in the streets and die. Her soldiers will all be killed,¡± says the Lord.
31.¡°See, I am against you, O arrogant one,¡± declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, ¡°for your day has come, the time for you to be punished.
31.¡°See, I am your enemy, you arrogant people,¡± says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven¡¯s Armies. ¡°Your day of reckoning has arrived¡ªthe day when I will punish you.
32. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.¡±
32. O land of arrogance, you will stumble and fall, and no one will raise you up. For I will light a fire in the cities of Babylon that will burn up everything around them.¡±
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The Oppressor Oppressed (50:21-28)
The Sovereign Lord Almighty Himself comes against Babylon in judgment. Although the Lord had previously sent Babylon to bring judgment against His own people (cf. Jer. 25:8-11), the Babylonians were not exempt from obeying and honoring God. Instead of seeing themselves as the servants of the Lord of Israel, Babylon ¡°opposed the Lord¡± (v. 24). They thought that they had defeated both the Israelites and their God. They also thought Israel¡¯s guilt exempted them from guilt (v. 7). They were wrong.
So often we too take credit for what God has done through us. We pray for God to do something, and when God does it, we say that it was our prayers that accomplished it. We ask God for help at work, and then take pride in all we did to deserve our promotion. We must always remember to truly give God alone all glory.
The Proud Falls (50:29-32)
Pride indeed comes before the fall. The Babylonians thought that they were indestructible, and that their armies were unstoppable. They became arrogant, proudly defying the Lord (v. 29). Therefore, God declared, ¡°I am against you, O arrogant one¡± (v. 31). God decreed that He would bring upon the Babylonians the punishment they deserved.
Scripture says, ¡°God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble¡± (James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5). It is a sobering image to think of God being against us and opposing us, but it is heartening to know that when we humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up (cf. James 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:6). It is too easy for pride to slip into our thoughts. We need to vigilantly root out our pride and humble ourselves before our mighty and gracious God.

- Do you give God thanks and glory for your answered prayers? Keep a dated prayer journal of your requests, and record a prayer of thanksgiving when God answers.
- Spend some time asking God to root out any pride in your thinking. Be still before God, and know that He alone is God. Ask God to give you a genuine humility that joyfully gives God glory.

O Sovereign Lord, I want to honor You with my life, but pride sneaks into my thoughts. I pour contempt on all my pride, confessing it before You, and asking You to enable me to give You all glory. In Jesus¡¯ name I pray. Amen.
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