NOTES for Jer 51:1-64
Jeremiah proclaims God's judgment over the pagan nations surrounding Israel. Chapters 46 through 51 describe the scenes he saw of destruction, collapse, defeat, and captivity of powerful states hostile to Israel. These scenes are truly terrible, and they are not easy to read. A natural question arises: why should we read this today? These states have not existed for many centuries, and judgment over them remains not in the future but in the distant past.
I think at least two weighty reasons can be identified for why this biblical text retains its significance. First, by turning to history we can testify that these prophecies really were fulfilled, which is already no small thing, since it gives weight to all the other prophecies of Jeremiah as well. And second, it is always useful to remind ourselves where paganism leads, whether explicit worship of other gods or the implicit kind that comes through replacing the living God with all sorts of "spiritual" substitutes.