{"id":108,"date":"2008-01-29T12:25:57","date_gmt":"2008-01-29T17:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danielgoepfrich.wordpress.com\/2008\/01\/29\/jeremiah-50-51\/"},"modified":"2022-08-01T18:36:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T22:36:05","slug":"jeremiah-50-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologyisforeveryone.com\/jeremiah-50-51\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeremiah 50-51"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is important to learn to interpret the Bible correctly, especially when it comes to understanding Bible prophecy. Bible interpretation is both a science and an art. “It is a science because it is guided by rules within a system; and it is an art\u00a0 because the application of those rules is by skill, not by mechanical imitation.” (Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation<\/em>, p. 1)<\/p>\n

In this section of Jeremiah, we find an excellent example of one of those rules for interpreting the Bible: the law of double reference. Basically, “double reference” says that a passage can have one meaning for the immediate hearers and one meaning for future hearers, while saying the same thing at the time of writing.<\/p>\n

In Jeremiah 50-51<\/a> we find God’s promise to destroy Babylon because of their wickedness. At first glance we assume that it simply refers to the overthrow of Babylon by the Medo-Persians in October 539 B. bet 365<\/a> C. (see Daniel 5<\/a> for the account of what happened).<\/p>\n

These are the clues that tell us that this is the overthrow described:<\/p>\n