God Judges Judah

Lesson Summary

Just as God used Assyria to deliver judgment to his people in Israel about 125 years earlier, he sent Babylon to deliver judgment to Judah. Babylon’s king at this time was Nebuchadnezzar. This wicked king— called “my servant” in the book of Jeremiah—was the one God chose to bring his judgment to Judah (Jeremiah 25:9, 27:6, 43:10).

God is in control of the hearts of kings, and he turns them wherever he wants (Proverbs 21:1). And so, God used Nebuchadnezzar for his purposes. But the manner in which the Babylonians treated God’s people, and their boasting and pride, would not go unpunished.

God used Jeremiah to encourage his people in captivity and to proclaim judgment upon Babylon. God would bring a nation from the north (the Medo-Persian Empire) to punish the Babylonians, and he would use the Persian King Cyrus to bring his people back home.

Read and Discuss

Read the following passages and discuss the questions together.

Jeremiah 50:11–16

1.     Why was God going to bring judgment against Babylon, according to verse 11?

2.     What was going to happen to Babylon (v. 13)?

3.     Who was it that was bringing destruction to Babylon (vv. 13–15)?

Jeremiah 50:29–34

4.     Why was God going to bring judgment against Babylon, according to verses 29–31?

5.     What was going to happen to Babylon?

Jeremiah 50:38–46

6.     Why was God going to bring judgment against Babylon, according to verse 38?

7.     What was going to happen to Babylon (vv. 39–40)?

8.     Who was going to come against Babylon (vv. 41–42)?

9.     Who is the one who decided that Babylon would be judged? Can God’s purposes be thwarted?