Jeremiah 51 - 59-64

Jeremiah 51:59-64
The Word Jeremiah commanded Seraiah (the elect)!
By Brother Mike (10-8-18; 45 minutes)

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And [this] Seraiah [was] a quiet prince .
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon .
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words ;
62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever .
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, [that] thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates :
64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah .

INTRODUCTION

In verses 59-64 of Jeremiah 51, we have the word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah when Jeremiah went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into exile in Babylon. This was after the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 587 BC when many Israelites including Jeremiah the prophet and king Zedekiah were taken captive and removed to exile in Babylon. But, before Jeremiah left the land of Israel into exile, he commanded Seraiah, who was a descendant of Maaseiah, once a high priest, that when he would come into Babylon at some later date than Jeremiah, he was to read from the scroll of Jeremiah which pronounced all the evil that would come upon Babylon because Babylon had conquered Judah and Jerusalem and had destroyed the temple in 587 BC. Seraiah was to say when he came into Babylon, O Yahweh, you, you have spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever. Then, after Seraiah had finished reading all the words of evil against Babylon as written in the scroll of Jeremiah, he was to tie a stone to the scroll, and cast it into the Euphrates river, and say, Thus, shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah.

Verse 51:59:

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince .

In this verse, we first read, The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, and we are given this verse to prepare our minds as to what Jeremiah is about to command Seraiah. Now, Seraiah, which means Yahweh is ruler, we are told, was the son of Neriah, which means Seraiah was the son of the lamp of Yahweh as this is what the word Neriah means, and Neriah was the son of Maaseiah, which means Neriah was the son of Yahweh is a shelter as this is what the word Maaseiah means. Furthermore, Neriah was not only the father of Seraiah, but he was also the father of Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah, the prophet (Jer. 36:4, 32; 45:1). So, Seraiah and Baruch were brothers, which helps to explain why Jeremiah would choose Seraiah to carry a message into Babylon, for Seraiah must of watched his brother, Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe, be so faithful to the Lord, and, thus, was fully trained and prepared to walk in the similar steps of his brother, Baruch, whom we know was incredibly faithful to whatever the Lord commanded him through Jeremiah even risking his own life by standing with Jeremiah who prophesied the destruction of Judah, Jerusalem and the temple of his very own people (Jer. 36:8, 32).

Now, we wonder why the Lord mentions that Maaseiah was the grandfather of Seraiah. When we study Maaseiah, we find that he was the priest in his days (Jer. 21:1; 29:25; 37:3), which means that both Neriah and Seraiah must have been Levites (priests) as well since they were both descended from Maaseiah, the priest. And, in that Maaseiah is called the priest in his days, he must have been the chief priest of the temple, and was, thus, responsible to enter the holy of holies once a year to atone for the sins of the people. And, in doing so, he was a type of Christ who atoned for the sins of His people on the cross, once and for all, having entered the holy of holies in heaven to atone for the sins of His elect. So, Maaseiah was a type of Christ, and Seraiah, then, who descended from Maaseiah, would be a type of the elect who spiritually descended from their chief or high priest, Jesus Christ.

Next, we are told that The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah . . . when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. So, Jeremiah was about to be taken to Babylon along with Zedekiah the king of Judah when he instructed Seraiah, the brother of Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah, to say and do certain things when he himself came into Babylon some time later. We will learn just what Jeremiah instructed Seraiah in verse 61 to come, but at this point, let's just recognize that Seraiah was a type or picture of the elect who would come into Babylon with a message from God. Yes, Seraiah was, indeed, a picture of the elect after the temple was destroyed in 587 BC, which was a type of all the churches having been spiritually destroyed on September 7, 1994 during the Great Tribulation, who would come into Babylon (this world including all churches) with the message of the churches' eternal destruction.

Now, the last sentence of our verse reads, And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. Literally, it reads, And this Seraiah was a prince [chief] of rest. And, since, spiritually, rest must do with the rest in Christ Jesus that the elect entered into upon their having believed in Jesus Christ before May 21, 2011 (see Hebrews 4:3), we know that in Seraiah being called a prince of rest, he is a picture or type of the elect who can each be called a prince of rest in Jesus Christ because we have each come to rest in Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation, and, in Christ, we know that we are all princes or kings (Rev. 1:6; 5:10).

Verse 51:60:

60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon .

Here, we first read, So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon. More literally, it reads, And Jeremiah wrote all the evil [misery, or distress] that should come upon Babylon to one scroll, all these words that are written against Babylon. Of course, he didn't write it to one book back then because they didn't have books back then, but they had scrolls. So, we must say that Jeremiah wrote all the evil [misery, or distress] that should come upon Babylon to one scroll. And, this does not need to mean that Jeremiah did the actual writing himself, but his scribe likely did the writing while Jeremiah did the prophesying as is the case in Jeremiah 36:4 where we read,

Jer 36:4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book .

And, again, we read in Jeremiah 36:17-18,

Jer 36:17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth ?
18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book .

And, we read in Jeremiah 36:32,

Jer 36:32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words .

So, Jeremiah utilized a scribe to do at least some of his writings, but as to whether a scribe wrote all his writings, and, in particular, the writings against Babylon, we cannot say. Perhaps when we read that Jeremiah wrote all the evil that should come upon Babylon to one scroll means exactly that, namely that Jeremiah is the one who wrote of all the evil that should come against Babylon to one scroll. If so, then Jeremiah was more than a prophet; he was also a scribe. But, on the other hand, perhaps when we read that Jeremiah wrote all the evil that should come upon Babylon to one scroll means that he prophesied, and his scribe wrote down the words. Whatever the case, we know that the words of Jeremiah against Babylon were written to a scroll.

Verse 51:61:

61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words . . .

In this verse, we are told what Jeremiah said to Seraiah, the brother of Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe, before he went into exile in Babylon with king Zedekiah of Judah. We read, And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words. So, once Seraiah would come into Babylon, he was to read all the words that Jeremiah prophesied against Babylon. And, because Seraiah was a type of the elect who went into exile in Babylon (this world including all churches) during the Great Tribulation after September 7, 1994, Seraiah is a picture of the elect during that time who were commanded to bring the words of God against this world including all the churches (Babylon) while leading up to Judgment Day, which began on May 21, 2011. And, the words that we, the elect, brought during that time was that the time would soon come that Babylon (the peoples of this world including all those in the churches) would no longer be able to become eternally saved in Jesus Christ, and unless they then pled with God for eternal salvation, they would never ever be able to become saved after Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011. Yes, terrible judgment would soon come upon this world (Babylon) because they had come into the churches and spiritually destroyed them by false gospels and teachings, and all in the name of Christ, but it was the false Christ, the counterfeit Christ, the man of sin, the Antichrist, Satan whom Yahweh used as His tool of wrath against all the churches, for it was written that judgment must begin at the house of God (1Peter 4:17). But, now, ever since Judgment Day began, Yahweh's wrath has come upon Babylon (this world including all churches) for the damage they did to God's people during the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011.

Verse 51:62:

62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever .

In this verse, we first read, Then shall you say, O LORD, you have spoken against this place. More literally, it reads, And you shall say, Yahweh, you, you have spoken against this place. Notice the great emphasis upon Yahweh having spoken against this place: it reads, . . . Yahweh, you, you have spoken against this place. That is, it is emphasized twice in that Yahweh, you, you have spoken against Babylon. Why do we see such an emphasis? Well, it seems to be a sort of reminder that Yahweh has spoken against Babylon. Therefore, although Babylon was used against all the churches to spiritually destroy the churches during the Great Tribulation because of their sins; nevertheless, Babylon is going to pay for what they have done to the churches. And, this is emphasized in that Yahweh, you, you have spoken against Babylon. Therefore, Babylon (this world including all churches) will pay for their sins because Yahweh has spoken, and when Yahweh speaks against a place, that place is certain to come under the wrath of God as this world and all the churches to gether have ever since Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011.

Now, as we continue in our verse, we are told why Yahweh has spoken against Babylon. First, we read, it is to cut it off. And, the way Babylon has been cut off is that it no longer has any possibility of becoming eternally saved. That is, none of the unsaved peoples in the world, and none of those who have remained in the churches, who all became a part of Babylon beginning on May 21, 1988 when the churches began to be given over to the Antichrist, the false Christ, the man of sin, Satan as judgment against them (see Why leave all churches? ), can any longer be eternally saved. They have been cut off from eternal life; from Yahweh's eternal promises! They are now all certain to perish on the relatively soon to come Last Day of Judgment Day in which we now find ourselves when they will all be annihilated in the fire of Yahweh's wrath.

Next, we are told why Yahweh has cut off Babylon. We read, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast. And, of course, the reason why none shall remain in Babylon, neither man nor beast is because Babylon (the peoples of this world including all those who have remained in the churches, and all the animals [beasts] on the earth) are now certain to perish on the relatively soon to come Last Day of Judgment Day that we are now in when the outward form of this world will go up in flame, both man and beast as the elements melt with fervent heat.

But, not only has Yahweh cut off Babylon so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but, we read, that it shall be desolate forever. And, of course, Yahweh is not here referring to being physically desolate, but spiritually desolate. And, to be spiritually desolate means that Babylon (the peoples of this world, and all those now in the churches) have no possibility for eternal salvation. With respect to the eternal promises of God, they have been cut off; they are desolate. They have no eternal hope, but they will all perish on the Last Day of Judgment Day in which we now find ourselves. Yes, they have been made to be spiritually desolate forever because they have no future beyond this life. When the Last Day comes all the ones who died and are already in the graves, and all those who still remain will be brought forth to eternal destruction; they will never be conscious of anything ever again. It is the end for all of Babylon!

Verse 51:63:

63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, [that] thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates . . .

Here, it is first stated, And it shall be, when thou has made an end of reading this book. We can translate this verse like this: And it will be, when you [Seraiah] have finished reading this scroll. Here, the word translated as book in the King James is changed to scroll because they did not have books back then as we think of a book, but they had scrolls written on papyrus. Furthermore, when we read, And it will be, when you have finished reading this scroll, it is being spoken to Seraiah, the brother to Baruch who had been Jeremiah's scribe. And, since Seraiah, as we already learned, was a type or picture of the elect who were sent after September 7, 1994 when the temple (the churches) had been spiritually destroyed to declare the Word of the Lord against Babylon (against this world including all the churches) just as Seraiah had been sent to declare the words of Jeremiah against Babylon after 587 BC when the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, we know that when we read, And it will be, when you have finished reading this scroll, it was not only instruction to Seraiah of Old, but it was also instruction to the elect as they declared the wrath of God upon this world and all the churches (Babylon) when leading up to Judgment Day, which began on May 21, 2011.

Now, when Seraiah was finished reading the scroll of Jeremiah against Babylon in Babylon, he was instructed to bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates. We read, thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates. What could this be a picture of? Or, what does this symbolize? To begin to understand this, we need to first discover what the stone that was tied to the scroll symbolizes. When we look up this word stone in the Bible, we find that it can symbolize Jesus Christ himself. For instance, we read in Acts 4,

Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole .
11 This is the stone [Jesus Christ] which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner .
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved .

And, we read in Ephesians 2,

Eph. 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God ;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone . . .

And, again, we read in 1Peter 2,

1Peter 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone [Jesus Christ], disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious ,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ .
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone [again, that�s Jesus Christ], elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded .
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone [Jesus Christ] which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner ,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed .

Thus, from these verses, we see that the stone is symbolic of Jesus Christ. But, what, then, does the Euphrates River symbolize in which the scroll tied to the stone was cast? Well, we read of the Euphrates in Genesis 15:18, which reads,

Ge 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates . . .

And, we read in Deuteronomy 11:24,

De 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be .

And, once more, we read in Joshua 1:2-4,

Joshua 1:2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel .
3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses .
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast .

From these verses, then, we learn that the river Euphrates was an outer eastern boundary to the promised land. It was the great obstacle that one had to cross if coming from the east into the promised land. Spiritually, it is a picture of hell that we must cross over on the bridge of Jesus Christ to be able to enter the promised land of heaven. That bridge, of course, is the gift of faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. If we have been gifted with that faith, then we receive a free pass to cross the bridge into the promised land. But, if we have not been gifted with that faith, then we are not permitted to cross into the promised land, but we must pay for our sins by being drowned in the river Euphrates, which is a picture of being cast into hell. So, when we read, And it shall be, when you [Seraiah who was a type of the elect] are finished reading this scroll, thou shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates, it was instruction to the elect during the Great Tribulation that when we had finished declaring the Word of God against Babylon (this world and all churches) on May 21, 2011, we were to tie a stone to it (Babylon), and cast Babylon in the midst of the Euphrates, which means we were to use the Word of God's wrath, Jesus Christ, against Babylon (this world and all churches), and cast her into hell where Jesus Christ (the stone) would cause her to sink, and to never rise again. In short, ever since May 21, 2011, the elect are to declare the end to this world and all the churches (Babylon) by the use of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who will cause Babylon to drown in hell forever when on the Last Day the peoples of this world and all the churches will be annihilated forever in the fire of Yahweh's wrath.

Verse 51:64:

64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah .

In this final verse of Jeremiah Chapter 51, we first read, And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her. Literally, we could translate it like this: And you [Seraiah who typifies the elect] do say, Thus does Babylon sink, and does not rise from the evil that I do bring upon her. Notice that the future tense has been taken out, and the present tense is put in its place. It is not that you [Seraiah] shall say, or that Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her, but it's that you [Seraiah] do say, and that Thus does Babylon sink, and does not rise from the evil that I do bring upon her. We can change the tense like this because in the Hebrew the tense is not explicitly stated, but it is left up to interpretation and depends upon the context. Back then when this verse was written, judgment upon Babylon was yet future so that the future tense was used in translation, but now the context is that of Judgment Day having already begun so that we can legitimately use the present tense in our translation. So, once again, our verse reads, And you [Seraiah who typifies the elect] do say, Thus does Babylon sink, and does not rise from the evil that I do bring upon her.

Now, Seraiah typifies the elect as we have already learned so that when we read that you [Seraiah] do say, Thus does Babylon sink, and does not rise from the evil that I do bring upon her, it refers to the elect who are now saying ever since Judgment Day began that Thus does Babylon [this world and all the churches] sink, and does not rise from the evil that I [Yahweh] do bring upon her. Why? Well, we learned in the previous verse that the elect are to tie a stone to the scroll written against Babylon beginning on May 21, 2011, and cast it into the Euphrates river. This symbolizes that they are to use the Word of God, Jesus Christ (typified by the stone), to declare judgment against Babylon, and, the result being that this world and all the churches sink in hell, and they will not rise from the evil that Yahweh does bring upon them as none of them can any longer be eternally saved, which means they will all be annihilated due to their sins on the relatively soon to come Last Day of Judgment Day in which we now find ourselves.

Then, next, in our verse, we find this strange statement about the peoples of this world and all the churches during Judgment Day. We read, and they shall be weary. Now, this reminds me of what we read in Matthew 11:28 where we read,

Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour [with weariness] and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest .

The idea is that all you that are weary in labor, come unto Christ, and He will give you rest in eternal salvation. But, no one is finding rest in the salvation of Jesus Christ during Judgment Day, and so our verse says, and they shall be weary. Why are all the peoples of this world and all those still in the churches (Babylon) weary? Well, because none are receiving rest in the eternal salvation of Jesus Christ because there is no longer any eternal salvation, or rest, available ever since Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011. So, we read, and they shall be weary. No, they are not weary simply because they are physically and mentally tired, but they are weary because none of them are receiving eternal salvation in Jesus Christ. Thus, when we read, and they shall be weary, it is another one of the many verses which teach that eternal salvation is no longer possible during the Judgment Day in which we now find ourselves (see also " Is God Still Saving? " and Luke 11:5-13 , Isaiah 13:10, scroll down to verse 10 and Isaiah 13:14 and Revelation 18 study - Part 3, scroll to verses 21-23 and Revelation 9 - Part 2, verse 6 and Jeremiah 50, scroll down to verse 12 and Jeremiah 50:16-17 , Jeremiah 50:40 , Jeremiah 51:26 , Jeremiah 51:30 and 32 , Jeremiah 51:36 , Jeremiah 51:43-44 , Jeremiah 51:55 , Jeremiah 51:58 ).

CONCLUSION

This study has been about the word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah when Jeremiah went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into exile in Babylon after the temple was destroyed in 587 BC by the Babylonians. But, spiritually, it is about what the Lord had commanded the elect (who were typified by Seraiah) after all the churches (typified by the temple) had been spiritually completely destroyed by September 7, 1994 of the Great Tribulation by the false Christians who were typified by the Babylonians. And, what the Lord had commanded the elect at that time is this: when you come to Babylon, and shall see, and shall read all the words which were written by Jeremiah against this world including all the churches (Babylon), then you shall say, Yahweh, you, you have spoken against this place (Babylon), to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever. So, the elect were to declare that God has spoken against this world and all the churches (Babylon) to cut them off, and this was to be accomplished after September 7, 1994 of the Great Tribulation. And, the elect did, indeed, do this as they proclaimed that this world and all the churches (Babylon) would soon be cut off from any possibility of eternal life when Judgment Day would begin on May 21, 2011. They also proclaimed that none shall remain in Babylon, neither man nor beast after May 21, 2011 because all would soon be destroyed forever on the relatively soon to come Last Day of Judgment Day that we would all then come to be in. And, they proclaimed that Babylon would be desolate forever in that this world and all the churches would soon be without Christ in salvation forever once Judgment Day would begin on May 21, 2011.

Then, when the elect who were typified by Seraiah had made an end of reading all the words which the Lord had spoken against Babylon (against this world including all churches), which they did on May 21, 2011, they were to bind a stone to them, and cast them into the midst of the Euphrates. The binding or tying a stone to the words of the Lord against Babylon was symbolic of the elect using the Word of God, Jesus Christ (the stone), to declare judgment against Babylon, which was likened to the elect casting Babylon (this world and all the churches) into the Euphrates river which typified hell.

And, last, the elect (typified by Seraiah) are to say ever since May 21, 2011 began, Thus shall Babylon sink, and will not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they will be weary. That is, the elect are to declare the end to this world and all the churches (Babylon) because now that they can no longer be eternally saved, there is no possibility of them ever rising up from the judgment that the Lord has brought upon them, but they will sink until when on the relatively soon to come Last Day of Judgment in which we now find ourselves, they will all be destroyed forever in the fires of God's wrath.

Finally, we the elect (typified by Seraiah) are instructed to say of the peoples of this world and all the churches, and they [are] weary. This is saying the same thing as there is no longer any possibility of their eternal salvations because if they are all weary, and they are, it spiritually means that they have no rest in the salvation of Jesus Christ. Jesus said,

Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour [with weariness] and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest .

But, no one is receiving rest from their weariness, so we read that they are weary. Therefore, none are becoming eternally saved, and this is because there is no possibility of anyone becoming eternally saved ever since Judgment Day began upon Babylon (upon this world and all the churches) on May 21, 2011.

Now, until next time, may Yahweh through our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, bless thee, and keep thee: Yahweh make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Yahweh lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .