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INCE we can't see the sky
falling, nor do most of us expect it to happen any time soon, a lengthy
dissertation about the falling of the sky might be a tedious read for us. But,
if it began to fall tomorrow, we would all be quite a bit more interested in
what some trusty prognosticator might have written about just how things are
going to pan out in "the saga of our falling sky." Such is the case
with this second straight chapter about Babylon. Since we can't put our finger
on the seat of Babylon, nor can we name for sure who the mayor currently is...
this chapter might not be a most intriguing read. But the day came in the life
of Israel when this portion was incredibly significant for them. When Daniel (a
reader of Jeremiah's prophecies) lived through the fall of Babylon, it's safe
to say that to him the things the old prophet had said were interesting indeed
(Daniel 9:1-3).
Now, the prophet Jeremiah gave a
very strange piece of instructions to go along with the completed manuscript of
his book. You will recall that his book had been destroyed and rewritten once
before (Jeremiah 36). Surely this time Jeremiah would have had his secretary
Baruch prepare an extra copy from the start, because he sent the original (at
the least, chapter 51) to Babylon to be read by a prince named Seraiah, who was
then supposed to attach a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates River
(Jeremiah 51:63). As the prophecy literally sank to the riverbed, Seraiah was
to declare, "Thus shall Babylon
sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they
shall be weary" (Jeremiah 51:64).
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