Remember the Lord in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem

Jeremiah 51:34-64

“See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter— then sleep forever and not awake,” declares the Lord. “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.

Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord. Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,” declared the Lord.

You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the Lord in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem.

This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’ The words of Jeremiah end here.

Why?

The ruin of Babylon is full and complete, so Babylon sinks to rise no more because of the disaster God brings on her.

The Lord says to his people living in Babylon, "Remember the Lord in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem". For the Lord still remember his people and they will come back to their homeland in Jerusalem.

God's anger and power no one can suffer, so fear the Lord and obey God's word is our blessing.

How?

Fear the Lord and be humble, remember the Lord anywhere I am, for the Lord is my fortress and my strength.