51:41 “See how Babylon 90 has been captured!
See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken!
See what an object of horror
Babylon has become among the nations! 91
51:42 The sea has swept over Babylon.
She has been covered by a multitude 92 of its waves. 93
51:43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins.
She has become a dry and barren desert.
No one lives in those towns any more.
No one even passes through them. 94 (Jeremiah 51:41-43)

Many associate Babylon with America, and while there is a great deal of conjecture to what extent we should relate the two, it is kinda scary to think of America being taken hostage and 'the land of the free' no longer being the superpower it once was. Whatever role our country may play in the end times, it is certain that God did everything He said was going to happen. Jerusalem was eventually destroyed despite Jeremiah's warnings for the people to repent, and King Zedekiah had his eyes gouged out and thrown in prison for the rest of his days. Just like an infected limb that is beyond any other recourse but surgery, the people of Jerusalem were decimated and all but a few poor were left as 'vinedressers and farmers' (52:16). We read the Old Testament and begin to think that God somehow relishes destruction, but it is truly His last resort when His people are so hard of hearing that nothing else works!

It is kinda ironic that the very first book of the bible I began writing about for these blogs I just finished now at the near end of the semester! (Ah well, I did a lot of jumping around!).