20 He says, "You are My war-club , My weapon of war ; And with you I shatter nations , And with you I destroy kingdoms . 21 "With you I shatter the horse and his rider , And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider , 22 And with you I shatter man and woman , And with you I shatter old man and youth , And with you I shatter young man and virgin , 23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock , And with you I shatter the farmer and his team , And with you I shatter governors and prefects .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 51:20-23
Commentary on Jeremiah 51:1-58
(Read Jeremiah 51:1-58)
The particulars of this prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to again. Babylon is abundant in treasures, yet neither her waters nor her wealth shall secure her. Destruction comes when they did not think of it. Wherever we are, in the greatest depths, at the greatest distances, we are to remember the Lord our God; and in the times of the greatest fears and hopes, it is most needful to remember the Lord. The feeling excited by Babylon's fall is the same with the New Testament Babylon, Revelation 18:9,19. The ruin of all who support idolatry, infidelity, and superstition, is needful for the revival of true godliness; and the threatening prophecies of Scripture yield comfort in this view. The great seat of antichristian tyranny, idolatry, and superstition, the persecutor of true Christians, is as certainly doomed to destruction as ancient Babylon. Then will vast multitudes mourn for sin, and seek the Lord. Then will the lost sheep of the house of Israel be brought back to the fold of the good Shepherd, and stray no more. And the exact fulfilment of these ancient prophecies encourages us to faith in all the promises and prophecies of the sacred Scriptures.