The Arrogance of the Ax: When God Judges His Instruments Text: Jeremiah 50:11-13
Introduction: God's Sovereignty and Man's Pride
There is a recurring problem in the hearts of men and nations, and it is the problem of forgetting their place. It is the creature attempting to climb onto the Creator's throne. It is the tool boasting against the one who wields it. The prophet Isaiah puts it this way: "Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?" (Isaiah 10:15). This is the question that hangs over every great empire, every superpower, and every man who swells with pride over his own accomplishments.
God is absolutely sovereign. This is the bedrock of all reality. He does as He pleases in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And in His sovereignty, He often uses wicked men and wicked nations to accomplish His good purposes. He used the bloody Assyrians as the rod of His anger to chastise the northern kingdom of Israel. And here, in Jeremiah, we see Him using the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, as His hammer to bring judgment upon His own covenant people, Judah, for their adulterous apostasy.
But the tool must never forget it is a tool. The hammer must never think it is the carpenter. God used Babylon to discipline His people, but Babylon did not do it for God's glory. They did it out of their own greed, their own lust for power, and their own cruel arrogance. They were not humble instruments submitting to the Almighty; they were a proud and boastful empire, exulting in their own strength. And so, God, having used the rod to discipline His child, then turns and breaks that same rod over His knee. The judgment of Babylon is one of the great themes of Scripture, for Babylon is more than just an ancient city on the Euphrates. It is the archetypal city of man, the great symbol of organized, prideful rebellion against God, from the Tower of Babel to the great harlot of Revelation.
In our passage today, God turns His attention from the sins of His people to the sins of their captors. He announces that the very instrument of His wrath will now become the object of His wrath. And the reason is simple: they got the assignment wrong. They thought the power was their own, and they took gleeful, cruel delight in plundering what God called His.
The Text
“Because you are glad, because you exult, O you who plunder My inheritance, Because you skip about like a threshing heifer And neigh like valiant steeds, Your mother will be greatly ashamed; She who gave you birth will be humiliated. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of Yahweh she will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be in desolation And will hiss because of all her wounds."
(Jeremiah 50:11-13 LSB)
The Indictment of Arrogant Joy (v. 11)
We begin with God's charge against Babylon, found in verse 11:
"Because you are glad, because you exult, O you who plunder My inheritance, Because you skip about like a threshing heifer And neigh like valiant steeds," (Jeremiah 50:11)
The first thing to notice is the reason for God's anger. It is not simply that Babylon conquered Judah. God ordained that part. The indictment is against the attitude with which they did it. "Because you are glad, because you exult." God's judgment on His own people was a sorrowful necessity, a severe mercy. But Babylon took unholy glee in it. They were not sober executioners of divine justice; they were drunken revelers at a funeral. They saw Judah's fall not as a display of God's holiness, but as an opportunity for their own enrichment and aggrandizement.
And notice what they plundered: "My inheritance." This is a covenantal term. God is not talking about real estate in the abstract. He is talking about His chosen people, the line through whom the Messiah would come. Though they were unfaithful, they were still His. Babylon was not just robbing a nation; they were laying hands on God's treasured possession. This is a profound warning. When God chastises His church, and He does, outsiders had best be careful how they react. To mock the bride of Christ, even when she is being disciplined by her Husband, is to invite the fiercest jealousy of that Husband.
The imagery here is vivid and contemptuous. Babylon is pictured as a "threshing heifer" skipping about. A heifer on the threshing floor was allowed to eat as it worked; it grew fat on the grain it was trampling. This is a picture of gluttonous, thoughtless prosperity at the expense of others. They were getting fat off God's grain. They were "neighing like valiant steeds," an image of lusty, animalistic pride and unbridled strength. This is not the picture of a nation soberly aware of its place in the grand scheme of God's providence. This is the picture of a beast, full and proud, with no thought for the God who holds its very breath in His hand.
The Sentence of Utter Humiliation (v. 12)
Because of this arrogant joy, God pronounces a sentence of profound reversal and shame in verse 12.
"Your mother will be greatly ashamed; She who gave you birth will be humiliated. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert." (Jeremiah 50:12 LSB)
"Your mother" here refers to the nation of Babylon itself, personified as the matriarch of its people. The one who gave birth to these proud, neighing warriors will be brought to public disgrace. There is a principle of corporate solidarity at work here. The sins of the sons bring shame upon the mother. The entire national enterprise, the very source of their identity and pride, will be covered in humiliation.
And the nature of this humiliation is a complete reversal of their status. Babylon, the queen of the nations, the center of the world, the "glory of kingdoms" (Isaiah 13:19), will become "the least of the nations." This is the law of God's kingdom: He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Pride is a direct challenge to the throne of God, and He will not tolerate a rival. Every nation that puffs out its chest and says, "I am, and there is none else besides me," is writing its own obituary.
The end result is not just political demotion but total desolation. "A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert." The once-fertile crescent, the garden of the Babylonian empire, will become a wasteland. This is covenantal language. Blessing is life, fertility, and order. The curse is death, barrenness, and chaos. Babylon, by its pride, has chosen the curse. God simply gives them what they have asked for. When a nation turns its back on the source of all life, it should not be surprised when the land itself dries up and dies beneath its feet.
The Cause and the Consequence (v. 13)
Verse 13 makes the cause of this desolation explicit and describes the effect it will have on all who witness it.
"Because of the wrath of Yahweh she will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be in desolation And will hiss because of all her wounds." (Jeremiah 50:13 LSB)
Let there be no mistake about the cause. This is not a geopolitical accident. This is not the result of shifting trade routes or a failure of economic policy. This is "because of the wrath of Yahweh." History is not a random series of events; it is the unfolding of God's decrees. The rise and fall of empires is not ultimately in the hands of kings and generals, but in the hands of the sovereign God who sets up one and puts down another. The desolation of Babylon will be a clear, unmistakable sign of God's holy anger against pride.
The result is finality. "She will not be inhabited, but she will be completely desolate." This is not a temporary setback. It is an utter and permanent ruin. And this ruin is to be a public spectacle. "Everyone who passes by Babylon will be in desolation and will hiss because of all her wounds." The word "desolation" here for the passerby means to be appalled, astonished, struck dumb with horror. The "hiss" is a sound of derision and contempt. Think of it: the city that was once the terror of the world will become a tourist attraction for ruin-gazers. The place that once elicited fear and tribute will now elicit only scorn and cautionary tales.
This is the principle of lex talionis, an eye for an eye. Babylon mocked and exulted over the wounds of Jerusalem. Now, the world will mock and hiss over the wounds of Babylon. God is not mocked; whatsoever a man, or a nation, sows, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7). They sowed arrogant glee, and they will reap astonished contempt.
Conclusion: The Tale of Two Cities
This prophecy is not just about an ancient empire. Babylon, as I said, is a stand-in for the proud, God-defying city of man in every age. And standing opposite Babylon is another city, Jerusalem, the city of God. The Bible is the story of these two cities, and every human being is a citizen of one or the other.
The city of man is built on pride, on the boast that we can be like God. It exults in its own power, its own technology, its own culture. It grows fat by plundering whatever it can, and it neighs like a proud stallion. And like Babylon, its end is certain. It will become a desolation, a wasteland, a monument to the wrath of God against pride. The great harlot, Babylon the Great, will fall, and all who have put their trust in her will be appalled at her ruin (Revelation 18).
But there is another city. This is the Jerusalem from above, the bride of Christ, the church of the living God. This is God's inheritance. And though this city is often afflicted, chastised, and seemingly plundered in this life, her King reigns. While the mother of Babylon will be ashamed, the children of this Jerusalem will rejoice. While Babylon will be the least of nations, this city will inherit the earth.
The warning to the world is clear: Do not lay a hand on the inheritance of God. Do not rejoice when the church is disciplined. The God who jealously guards His people will surely hold you to account. The warning to the church is also clear: Do not act like Babylon. Do not be proud. Do not exult in your own strength. Do not grow fat on the spoils of this world. We are exiles and sojourners here, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.
And the great comfort is this: God's judgment on Babylon is the defense of His people. He strikes down the proud in order to vindicate the humble. He humbles the city of man in order to exalt the city of God. The desolation of Babylon is the prelude to the restoration of Zion. Therefore, let us not put our trust in the proud empires of this world, which are here today and a hissing tomorrow. Let us put our trust in the King of Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and whose dominion endures throughout all generations.