Psalm 137: Lessons About the End Times from Babylon’s Judgment
Introduction: Here, the psalmist expressed laments about the Jews’ suffering during Babylonian captivity and God’s promised judgment against the Edomites and the Babylonians. The psalmist most likely drafted this psalm either at the end of captivity or between the end of captivity and the later destruction of Babylon. “The Psalm is generally thought to have been written soon after the Return from Babylon in B.C. 537, while Babylon, though it had lost its independence, still enjoyed a large measure of prosperity under the mild rule of Cyrus. The past tenses of Psalm 137:1-3 seem to imply that the writer and his companions are no longer in exile, while from Psalm 137:7-9 it appears that the wrongs of Israel have not yet been fully avenged on Babylon.” (Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick on Psalm 137).1 The psalmist’s prophecies of sorrow and judgment also closely match the suffering and judgment against Babylon referenced in the book of Revelation. Thus, this psalm can be read on three levels. First, it documents the sorrow and regret the Jews experienced in captivity because of their rebellions against God and God’s promised judgment against evil. Second, it documents the hope of a faithful remnant while in captivity. Third, it should also be read as a prophecy of the sorrow and judgment that will happen during the end times for those who reject God and rebel against Him. During the end times, there will be: (1) sorrow, (2) shame, (3) many who will blaspheme God, (4) many who will compromise their faith, (5) forgetfulness, (6) faithlessness, and (7) God’s judgment.
First, during Babylonian captivity, many Jews felt sorrow for what they had lost because of their rebellions against God. During the end times, most who rebel against God will also experience great sorrow. In both cases, this sorrow will happen only after the people ignore God’s repeated warnings. Second, during Babylonian captivity, many Jews felt such shame or regret that they could not even find comfort in their music. During the end times, many who rebel against God will also experience shame or regret for their actions. This shame and regret are again avoidable for any who repent of their sins and turn to Jesus. Third, during captivity, the Babylonians pressured many Levites to play their worship songs for their amusement and mocking. During the end times, the ruler of this world will pressure people to blaspheme what is holy and reserved for God’s glory. Sadly, he will seduce many. Fourth, during Babylonian captivity, some faithful Jews questioned how they could sing the Lord’s songs in a foreign land. They were sojourners whose real home was in the Promised Land. Believers are also sojourners whose real home is in heaven. During the end times, God’s sojourners in this world will also be pressured to compromise their beliefs and God’s Word. Sadly, many will reject God’s warnings and compromise in their faith. Fifth, the psalmist vowed that he would never forget God in his darkness. During the end times, many believers will sadly forget God, their first love, during their time of darkness. Sixth, the psalmist condemned the Edomites, Esau’s descendants, who rejected God and celebrated Judah’s destruction. During the end times, God will also judge those who deny God the same way Esau rejected his spiritual inheritance. Finally, the psalmist concluded with a prophetic word of judgment against Babylon. During the end times, God will judge modern day Babylon, the governments and peoples of the word who reject Him.
1. Sorrow: During the End Times, Most Who Rebel Against God Will Experience Great Sorrow. Ps. 137:1.
During Babylonian captivity, the Jews encountered intense sorrow and mourning. While in captivity, the Jews retreated to Babylon’s many canals and rivers to privately mourn the loss of their country because of their rebellions against God. “1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” (Ps. 137:1). “The immense rivers of Babylon said to the exiled one, you’re not home any more. As they remembered Zion, they wept. · They wept over the death of so many loved ones. · They wept over the loss of almost everything they owned. · They wept over the destroyed city of Jerusalem and her great temple. · They wept over the agony of a forced march from Judea to Babylon. · They wept over the cruelty of their captors. · They wept over the loss of such a pleasant and blessed past. · They wept over the forced captivity of their present. · They wept over the bleak nature of their future. · They wept over their sin that invited such judgment from God.” (David Guzik on Ps. 137) (emphasis original).2
During Babylonian captivity, the Jews mourned what the lost because of their sins3
The Jews ignored God’s many warnings before He was forced to discipline them. Before the Jews entered the Promised Land, God warned that He would be forced to “scatter” them “amongst the nation” if they disobeyed Him and pursued other gods (Lev. 26:33-35; Dt. 28:64; Neh. 1:8). God’s prophets later repeated these warnings (e.g., Jer. 9:16; 13:24; 18:17; Ezek. 7:22-24; 12:15; 20:23; 22:15). When the Jews ignored these warnings, God kept His Word. In approximately 722 B.C., following a three-year siege, King Sargon of Assyria captured Samaria and the Kingdom of Northern Israel (2 Kgs. 17:5-6). Between approximately 586 and 597 B.C., God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar II to take Judah into Babylonian captivity in three waves (2 Chr. 36:20; 2 Kgs. 25:21; Jer. 39:2-3). Only the poorest Jews were left behind in Judah (2 Kgs. 24:14-16; Jer. 52:28-30). The Jews remained in Babylonian captivity for 70 years until approximately 538 B.C. when Persian King Cyrus II gave the Jews permission to return. “For this is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.”’ (Jer. 29:10-14; Dan. 9:2; Ezra 1:1-3).
God also warned the Jews that they would experience torment while in captivity. The sorrow that the Jews felt also should not have come as a surprise. Moses warned that they would suffer as they were forced to serve the lifeless idols that they would so highly value. “Furthermore, the LORD will scatter you among all the peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers have not known. Among those nations you will find no peace, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul.” (Dt. 28:64-65).
The Jews suffered just as God warned. Lamentations also records the sorrow and broken fellowship with God that the Jews felt while in captivity. “Judah has gone into exile out of affliction and harsh servitude; she lives among the nations, but she has not found a resting place; all those who pursued her have overtaken her in the midst of distress.” (Lam. 1:3). “Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her leaders are among the nations; the Law is gone. Her prophets, too, find no vision from the LORD. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and are silent. They have thrown dust on their heads; they have put on sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.” (Lam. 2:9-10).
God also warns of great suffering under the world’s oppression and during the end times. In Isaiah’s oracle concerning Babylon, he prophesied about God’s judgment during the end times. He warned of even worse suffering for those who reject God. “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every human heart will melt. They will be terrified, pains and anguish will take hold of them; they will writhe like a woman in labor, they will look at one another in astonishment, their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it.” (Is. 13:6-9). “The great day of the LORD is near, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly.” (Zeph. 1:14). These warnings are repeated in the New Testament: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.” (2 Tim. 3:1). “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” (1 Thess. 5:3). “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:17).
Jesus offers compassion and rest when sinners repent and turn to Him. Today, many also struggle under the oppression of this world. This suffering will become more intense during the end times. But Jesus will offer comfort, peace, and rest when sinners repent and turn to Him as their Lord and Savior. “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29).
2. Shame: During the End Times, Many Who Rebel Against God Will Experience Shame or Regret For Their Actions. Ps. 137:2.
During Babylonian captivity, many Jews could no longer sing because of their shame. Because of the regret that the Jews felt for ignoring God’s repeated warnings, many Jews lost their desire to sing or find comfort by playing their musical instruments. “2 Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps.” (Ps. 137:2). Many also felt as though they should save their joyful songs in hope of their return to the Promised Land. “These were musical instruments, used in the temple service by the Levites, who seem to be the persons here speaking; who took care of them, and preserved them from the plunder of the enemy; and carried them with them to Babylon, in hope of returning with them to use them as before, or to solace themselves and others in captivity; though now they had no heart to make use of them, their sorrow was so great, and therefore hung them upon the willows as useless things:” (John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Psalm 137:2).4
At Babylon’s canals and rivers, the Jews hung up their harps because they could not sing5
God’s prophets warned the Jews that they would be unable to sing while in captivity. God’s warning about captivity included His warning that the Jews’ shame and sorrow would be so intense that they would not be able to sing or play music. “Moreover, I will eliminate from them the voice of jubilation and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.” (Jer. 25:10). “So I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps will no longer be heard.” (Ezek. 26:13). “The joy of tambourines ceases, the noise of revelers stops, the joy of the harp ceases.” (Is. 24:8). “Then I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into songs of mourning; and I will put sackcloth around everyone’s waist, and baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and the end of it will be like a bitter day.” (Amos 8:10).
While in captivity, the Jews found no joy. Just as God warned, the Jews’ shame and sorrow kept them from singing. “Elders are absent from the gate, young men from their music. The joy of our hearts has ended; our dancing has been turned into mourning.” (Lam. 5:14-15). When Job was in mourning, he also could not sing. “Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of those who weep.” (Job 30:31).
During the end times, revelers who have rebelled against God will also be unable to sing. These specific warnings about the Jews’ shame and sorrow are included as a warning to everyone who is living in rebellion against God. During the great tribulation, sorrow, regret, and shame will cause many to lose their will to sing and dance. “And the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again;” (Rev. 18:22). But many will sadly refuse to repent of their sins.
3. Blasphemy: During the End Times, the Ruler of This World Will Pressure People to Blaspheme God. Ps. 137:3.
During captivity, the Babylonians pressed the Jews to sing praises to their pagan idols. For the Levites who had assumed the duties of leading the Jews in praise and worship in the Temple, the Babylonian captors mocked them and pressured them to lead worship for their false gods. “3 For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors, jubilation, saying, ‘Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!’” (Ps. 137:3). “In the midst of the willows, or in the midst of the rivers, or in the midst of Babylon, it matters little which, they hung their harps aloft—those harps which once in Zion’s halls the soul of music shed. Better to hang them up than to dash them down: better to hang them on willows than profane them to the service of idols.” (Charles Spurgeon on Ps. 137:2).6
During captivity, the Babylonians taunted the Jews and sought to humiliate them. The Babylonians were well aware of what the Jews considered holy and reserved for Yahweh. Like the many antisemites today, they hated the Jews and mocked their beliefs. “In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her treasures that were hers since the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the adversary and no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, they laughed at her ruin.” (Lam. 1:7).
God condemned the Jews who profaned His holy worship songs. God judged those who made what He called sacred profane. Songs that were meant to worship God would only be played to amuse people. “Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, nor do they consider the work of His hands.” (Is. 5:12). “And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.” (Ezek. 33:32). “Who improvise to the sound of the harp, and like David have composed songs for themselves, who drink wine from sacred bowls while they anoint themselves with the finest of oils— Yet they have not grieved over the collapse of Joseph.” (Amos 6:5-6).
During the end times, the ruler of the world will also pressure people to worship him. The pagan worship that the Babylonians tried to force upon the Jews foreshadowed the antichrist’s blasphemy during the end times. “who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2 Thess. 2:4). “they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?’ A mouth was given to him speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.” (Rev. 13:4-6).
4. Compromise: During the End Times, God’s Sojourners in This World Will Be Pressured to Compromise Their Beliefs and God’s Word. Ps. 137:4.
A faithful remnant refused to compromise by profaning God’s Temple worship music. The psalmist had the faith to know that God’s worship music would one day be sung in a restored Temple. Thus, he refused to compromise by singing holy songs in a pagan land. “4 How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Ps. 137:4). “The ‘songs of Zion’ are Jehovah’s songs, used in his worship, suited only for religious occasions. It would be desecration to sing them ‘in a strange land,’ among strange people, not to call forth devotional sentiment, but to gratify curiosity.” (Pulpit Commentary on Ps. 137:4).7
Prior to and during captivity, many Jews showed little loyalty to God and His Word. God sent His prophets to condemn the Jews whose loyalty towards Him disappeared like the morning dew. They were quick to compromise His Word and what He called holy. “What shall I do with you, Ephraim? What shall I do with you, Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, and like the dew which goes away early.” (Hosea 6:4). “Then the LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah, ‘Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there.’ Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.” (Jer. 3:6-7). “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people approaches Me with their words and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught;”’ (Is. 29:13; Matt. 15:8-9; Mark 7:6-7).
Believers are sojourners in this world with their real home in heaven. In reference to Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah, Hebrews explains: “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Heb. 11:13). David also called himself a sojourner: “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with You, a sojourner like all my fathers.” (Ps. 39:12). “I am a stranger in the earth; . . .” (Ps. 119:19). “For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; . . ..” (1 Chr. 29:15). Jesus also journeyed through the Promised Land without a permanent home: “And Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’” (Lk. 9:58; Matt. 8:20). His home was and is in heaven.
Live in the world but not of the world. All believers are sojourners on Earth: “for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.” (Lev. 25:23b). Thus, God wants you to live as a stranger to the evil things of this world: “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” (1 Pet. 2:11).
During the end times, God will again call upon His people to avoid compromise. God condemns those who will live in pursuit of the pleasures of the flesh. “You have lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” (Jam. 5:5). “But she who indulges herself in luxury is dead, even while she lives.” (1 Tim. 5:6). When God judges the new Babylon, He will call upon His people to stay separate and holy to avoid sharing in Babylon’s judgment. “And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the excessive wealth of her luxury.’ I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues;”’ (Rev. 18:2-4).
5. Forgetfulness: During the End Times, Many Believers Will Forget About God, Their First Love, During Their Times of Darkness. Ps. 137:5-6.
A faithful remnant did not forget God during Babylonian captivity. The psalmist vowed that he would rather lose his ability to sing and play music than forget God. “5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.” (Ps. 137:5-6). “With such self-maledictions on his ability to act and speak, the psalmist is avowing his loyalty to Jerusalem, the chief of all his joys. But he is not merely expressing his pleasure in a city. It is the city of God, the city that God chose for his dwelling place forever. He may not sing the songs of Zion now, but he will not abandon his loyalty to the faith or his hope for deliverance. If he abandoned his faith, it would be better to be dumb and unable to sing, or paralyzed and unable to play the harp. So he will maintain his loyalty and ‘set’ Jerusalem as his chief joy.” (Allen Ross on Ps. 137:5-6).8
Set your hope on the New Jerusalem in heaven, not in worldly things9
God urged His people to not forget Him during captivity. God urged His people in exile to remember Him and pass their faith onto the next generation, who would return to the Promised Land. “You who have escaped the sword, Go! Do not stay! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to your mind.” (Jer. 51:50). But many Jews sadly forgot about God. Nor were many faithful to God. “But they flattered Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, nor were they faithful with His covenant.” (Ps. 78:36-37;Matt. 15:8).
God sadly had to urge many to leave Babylon after He freed them. Because many forgot about God, they decided to stay in Babylon after God used the Persians to free them. Thus, God used His prophets to urge His people to flee back to Israel. “Come out from her midst, My people, and each of you save yourselves from the fierce anger of the LORD.” (Jer. 51:45). “You there! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, ‘because I have spread you out like the four winds of the heavens,’ declares the LORD. ‘You, Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.”’ (Zeph. 2:6-7).
During the end times, many will also forget about God during their darkness. During the end times, many will forget their first love. “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Rev. 2:4). “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold.” (Matt. 24:12). “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” (2 Tim. 3:1-4). Because many will forget about God, He will again urge His people to flee from the evil in the world to avoid judgment. “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues;” (Rev. 18:4).
6. Faithlessness: During the End Times, God Will Judge Those Who Deny God the Way Esau Rejected His Spiritual Inheritance. Ps. 137:7.
The descendants of Esau were under God’s judgment for rejecting Him. The psalmist called for God to judge the Edomites because they had rejected God and celebrated Judah’s destruction. “7 Remember, Lord, against the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem, those who said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare to its foundation!’” (Ps. 137:7). The prophet Obadiah also stated God’s judgment upon Edom for celebrating Judah’s destruction at the hands of the Babylonians: “The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord GOD says concerning Edom— We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations saying, ‘Arise, and let’s go up against her for battle’— Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You are greatly despised.” (Obed. 1:1-2).
God’s judgment erased even the memory of Edom10
God’s judgment upon Esau. As a child of the flesh, Esau had little regard for the blessings of God available to him as the firstborn son of Isaac. Thus, he gave them up to Jacob in exchange for a bowl of lentil stew (Gen. 25:29-34a). He did this because he “despised his birthright.” (Gen. 25:34b). The book of Hebrews adds that Esau sold his birthright because he was both immoral and did not have faith in God: “that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.” (Heb. 12:16). Because Esau had no faith, he left the Promised Land. Thus, God “hated” his evil heart: ‘“but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” (Mal. 1:3; Rom. 9:13).
God’s judgment upon Esau’s descendants in Edom. Even though Esau rejected God, God still made a nation out of Esau in Edom (modern day Jordan). They also had the opportunity to enjoy God’s blessings. Moses even called the Edomites Israel’s “brother”, and he warned the Jews to not detest them (Num. 20:14; Dt. 23:7). But, like Esau, the Edomites rejected God. They instead worship idols. They even refused to allow the Jews to pass through Edom on the way back to the Promised Land (Num. 21:4). They also fought many wars to destroy Israel. They came to symbolize the flesh in its war against the spirit (Gal. 5:17; Ro. 8:5-8). With sadness, God later judged the Edomites both for their many wars against Israel and for celebrating the destruction of both Judah and the Temple at the hands of the Babylonians. “Flee away, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan, for I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him at the time I punish him.” (Jer. 49:8; Is. 34:5). “Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, so that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.” (Obadiah 1:9). “therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword.”’ (Ezek. 25:13). Like Edom, no nation should become prideful and believe that it can live in open rebellion against God. Eventually, all nations will be judged. It is the role of believers to be “salt and light” the lost nations (Matt. 5:13-16).
God lifts up holy nations and humbles the proud evil ones. As part of God’s greater plans, He lifts up the holy nations and brings down the evil ones in His timing: “He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.” (Job 12:23). “You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; . . .” (Is. 9:3(a)). “Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.” (Is. 40:15). “All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.” (Is. 40:17). “But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.” (Jer. 10:10). “The LORD is King forever and ever; nations have perished from His land.” (Ps. 10:16). “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (Dan. 4:35).
In the end times, God will blot out the nations with no faith in Him. Today, Edom no longer exists because of God’s judgment. Without the Bible, Edom would be entirely forgotten. But their forgotten status is exactly the message that believers should focus on. Just as God can record people in the book of life, He can blot out the wicked. This includes wicked nations with no faith in Him: “You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.” (Ps. 9:5). “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.”’ (Ex. 32:33). ‘“Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven;. . .”’ (Dt. 9:14). “. . . and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.” (Dt. 29:20). “May they be blotted out of the book of life and may they not be recorded with the righteous.” (Ps. 69:28). This is repeated in the book of Revelation. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” (Rev. 13:8).
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. The warning to all people is that they cannot be reconciled to God if they reject their spiritual birthright the way Esau did. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6). Faith in Jesus allows any to be saved (Jo. 3:16). But many will sadly refuse to turn to Jesus during the suffering they will encounter during the great tribulation.
7. Judgement: During the End Times, God Will Judge Modern Day Babylon, the Governments, and Peoples of the Word Who Reject Him. Ps. 137:8-9.
God judged Babylon for its many sins. The psalmist concluded by prophetically calling for the Messiah to judge Babylon. “8 Daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, blessed will be one who repays you with the retribution with which you have repaid us. 9 Blessed will be one who seizes and dashes your children against the rock.” (Ps. 137:8-9). “The desolation of Babylon began with its capture by Cyrus, but was not completed for many centuries. In the Archaemenian period it was one of the chief cities of the empire. Even under the Parthians it was still a flourishing town. But from the time of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 13:1-22) it was a doomed city, and in the eyes of a devout Jew already ‘desolate.’ Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us; i.e. happy shall he be that completes thy destruction, and the destruction of thy people. He will be the instrument for carrying out God's vengeance.” (Pulpit Commentary on Ps. 137:8-9).11
God’s promised future judgment of Babylon. Before God used King Nebuchadnezzar II as His instrument to send Judah into exile, God sent His prophet to warn that He would also judge Babylon for its sins. “Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going insane. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed…Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.” (Jer. 51:7-8, 37). “And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” (Is. 13:19). “And it will be on the day when the LORD gives you rest from your hardship, your turmoil, and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, ‘How the oppressor has ceased, and how the onslaught has ceased!”’ (Is. 14:3-4). ‘“Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.’ And one said, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”’ (Is. 21:9). “And it will be on the day when the LORD gives you rest from your hardship, your turmoil, and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, ‘How the oppressor has ceased, and how the onslaught has ceased!”’ (Is. 14:4). Babylon’s judgment would bring the Jews joy (Ps. 126:1-3). But God does not rejoice in His judgments (2 Pet. 3:9).
At the conclusion of the great tribulation, Jesus will come to judge the new Babylon12
Jesus Christ will come to judge the government of the world, also called Babylon. The psalmist celebrated the “blessed one” who would bring this judgment (Ps. 137:8-9). “In Psalm 137:8-9 the psalmist blesses the future king from David’s line, the one he expects will arise as the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent and his seed, thereby enacting God’s justice by visiting the sins of father on his children (Gen 3:15; Exod 34:6-7).” (James Hamilton on Ps. 137).13 Isaiah’s prophecy of judgment against Babylon is repeated in Revelation in reference to the future world government under Satan’s control. “And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”’ (Rev. 14:8). “And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.’ For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the excessive wealth of her luxury.” (Rev. 18:2).
Image credit: Psalms 137:1 Artwork | Bible Art↩︎
Allen Ross, A Commentary of the Psalms: Volume 3 (90-150), Kregel Academic (2016) p. 791.↩︎
Image credit: Psalms 137:7 KJV Bible Verse Images↩︎
James M. Hamilton Jr., Evangelical Bible Theology Commentary Psalms (Vol. II: Psalms 73-150) (Lexham Academic 2021) p. 449.↩︎