Jeremiah 50

The word of the LORD by Jeremiah said: "Declare...proclaim -- do not conceal -- Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken...; her idols are humiliated...for out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein."

And yet, good news!!!

In those days and in that time, the children of Israel shall come...and Judah together; with continual weeping they shall come and seek the LORD their God...in perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten. 

My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray...they have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them...because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, the LORD, the hope of their fathers. 

Israel and Judah will seek the LORD and they will follow a never-changing covenant forever. 

Meanwhile, the LORD will cause nations to come up against Babylon and the Chaldeans; they will be plundered. The land will be uninhabited, "a dry land and a desert." 

The LORD promised: 

I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. But I will bring back Israel to his home...his soul shall be satisfied...in those days and in that time, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; for I will pardon those whom I preserve. 

And again:

Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, that He may give rest to the land...

By the way, this is both prophecy fulfilled and prophecy to come. It was Cyrus and the Medo-Persians "from the north" who put an end to the Chaldeans of Babylon (539 B.C.); but there is a future promise yet to be completed against Babylon (see Revelation), far worse than Cyrus. And Israel still has not lived in peace with the LORD their God or is at rest in the land. That time is still future. Be ready.

COMMENTARY

At this time, it may have seemed that all was lost for Israel and Judah as a nation and people, and that  Babylon should rule forever. But that was not the very clear message Jeremiah had. Let us just say: the LORD compared the destruction of Babylon to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And His message for Israel and Judah was not only that they would return to the land, but they would seek the LORD their God, and when anyone seeks the LORD, they will find Him and have rest forever. 

credit: A Little Perspective