YHWH's War-Club (Jeremiah 51:20-24).
The speaker here is clearly YHWH. What is more difficult to determine is the identity of God's ‘war-club and weapons of war'. Note that the pronouns are singular. (‘Thou' not ‘ye'). And if Jeremiah 51:24 is part of the passage, which the grammar suggests that it must be, the one in mind is clearly to be seen as an eyewitness to what had happened to Jerusalem. There are a number of possible alternatives:
· Some suggest Babylon itself. Babylon is called ‘the hammer of the whole earth' in Jeremiah 50:23, and this would fit in with the picture of Babylon as ‘the destroying mountain' (Jeremiah 51:25). But Babylon is not described as YHWH's hammer, nor is a war-club a hammer. Furthermore if it is referring to Babylon the passage does not fit easily into the context, for the context is God's judgment on Babylon, and it might therefore be thought to be abrupt to suddenly introduce Babylon as YHWH's war-club. It would also be necessary on this interpretation to exclude Jeremiah 51:24 as an essential part of the passage.
· Others suggest that it refers to Cyrus the Persian who would smite all the nations, including Babylon. But that is to overlook the intimate reference to what had happened to Zion as being ‘in your sight'.
· Another suggestion is Israel, but if so, many of the ideas are foreign to anything we find elsewhere about Israel. Nowhere else do we find Israel portrayed as the triumphant conqueror. Nor did Israel every do this to Babylon and the inhabitants of Babylonia.
· Even others suggest Jeremiah himself. This is much more likely. He was the one who was appointed over nations and kingdoms in order to tear down such nations and kingdoms by his prophetic word (Jeremiah 1:10), as through his prophecy he fulfilled YHWH's work (Jeremiah 18:7). It seems therefore reasonable to see what is then here described resulting from that same prophetic word as nations crumbled before the word of YHWH (as they have done in Chapter s 46-49), a confirmation of his calling. This is especially so if we see Cyrus the Persian as arising as a result of Jeremiah's prophetic word. Seeing it like that what is described can be seen as including both the activity of Babylon and the activity of Cyrus, all in accordance with Jeremiah's prophetic word. But its reference only to Cyrus founders on the fact that he was not an eyewitness of what had happened to Zion. Thus it would appear that the best solution is that Jeremiah and his prophetic word are in God's mind, a prophetic word fulfilled, firstly through Babylon, and then through Cyrus and the kings of the Medes (Jeremiah 51:11-12; Jeremiah 51:27-28).
“You are my war club (or ‘mace'),
And weapons of war,
And with you will I break in pieces the nations,
And with you will I destroy kingdoms,
And with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider,
And with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides in it,
And with you will I break in pieces man and woman,
And with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth,
And with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin,
And with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock,
And with you will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke (of oxen),
And with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies,
And I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
All their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,
The word of YHWH.”
Jeremiah is once more confirmed as God's instrument in bringing judgment on the nations, as he was in Jeremiah 1:10. Here he is portrayed not only as God's war-club, but also as all His weapons of war, a mighty armoury in the hands of God. By his prophetic word he is to be YHWH's means of bringing destruction on the nations, as he was appointed to be in Jeremiah 1:10, and as indeed he has been revealed as doing from Jeremiah 46:1 onwards. Now he is to accomplish the same against Babylon. Through Jeremiah's prophetic word God will render on Babylon and Babylonia all the evil that they have performed against Zion before Jeremiah's very eyes. And this is the prophetic word of YHWH.
Note the vivid description which brings out in detail precisely what is to result from the fulfilment of God's purposes. It was not that God chose for it to happen in this way. That was the choice of men. But it was the consequence of His moving the spirit of men to act in history. It covers the destruction of the military, the destruction of defenceless civilians, young and old, the destruction of the essential providers of food and finally the destruction of those in overall authority. All would be involved in the consequences of Jeremiah's prophecies. And now especially Babylon because of the evil that she had wrought against Israel/Judah, in Zion its very heart.