The Battle-Axe of God

“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war:

For with you I will break the nation in pieces;

With you I will destroy kingdoms;

With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider;

With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider;

With you also I will break in pieces man and woman;

With you I will break in pieces old and young;

With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden;

With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;

With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen;

And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.

“And I will repay Babylon

And all the inhabitants of Chaldea

For all the evil they have done

In Zion in your sight,” says the LORD.

“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,

Who destroys all the earth,” says the LORD.

“And I will stretch out My hand against you,

Roll you down from the rocks,

And make you a burnt mountain.

They shall not take from you a stone for a corner

Nor a stone for a foundation,

But you shall be desolate forever,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 51:20-26)

God uses tools. Babylon had served its purpose in bringing God’s punishment against his people. The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem, taken away all the nation’s wealth, and hauled off its leading citizens into captivity, all on account of the continued refusal of his people to listen to God, to worship God, or to treat one another properly.

But, once the discipline had been successful, it was time to return things to the way they had been. The Israelites remained God’s people; God’s treaty with them was still operative. And so the tool he had used against his people now needed to be punished. For this purpose, he chose the Persians, who would act as his battle-axe against the Babylonians. He would repay the Babylonians for their excesses, for going beyond what was necessary to achieve God’s goals with his people. Despite their usefulness, the Babylonians were guilty of mistreating God’s people and for that they had to pay. For that was also part of God’s contract with Israel: those who cursed him, God would curse, just as those who blessed Israel, God would bless.

God is not unbiased when it comes to how he treats those who belong to him. Family gets special privileges, and no matter how mad God gets at his family, woe to those who dare to harm it. God can’t help but take care of us.

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