The Punisher is Punished

I find it interesting how throughout history, when God uses one nation to punish his nation, that after a time, that punishing nation is itself punished.

Today's reading is just another example of that.

Babylon has been used to correct the behaviour of God's people. God warned them (his people) it would happen and that they could choose to listen to him and be saved, or not listen and be destroyed. Many listened, many did not. Babylon none-the-less served as a corrective to the people.

Here we read that Babylon herself will be corrected

2"Declare among the nations and proclaim,
set up a banner and proclaim,
conceal it not, and say:
'Babylon is taken,
Bel is put to shame,
Merodach is dismayed.
Her images are put to shame,
her idols are dismayed.'

Bel according to Wikipedia is a name that signifes "lord" or "master", and "is a title rather than a genuine name, applied to various gods in Babylonian religion". And Merodach according to the Bible Encyclopedia is a name which means "death or slaughter" It is probably "the name of a Babylonian god, probably the planet Mars (Jer. 50:2), or it may be another name of Bel, the guardian divinity of Babylon".

That which Babylon herself trusts in will be put to shame.

The neat thing is, when that happens God says that

4... the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the LORD their God. 5They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, 'Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.'

So even the punishment of the punisher will be used of God to bring his people back to him. Isn't that cool?

It just so shows that God is in control of all things. :)