Neo-Babylonians Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. -Jeremiah 51:6-9
Just like the Assyrian Empire, the Neo-Babylonians were a cleansing instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring the kingdom of Judah to a remembrance of the Lord and His covenants with them. When the Assyrians attacked the northern kingdom, they eventually came down to the south and destroyed most of Judah itself. Despite all of this, the great city of Jerusalem remained untouched. It was after this historic event that Lehi left Jerusalem with his family, having foreseen its destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian hosts. In this light, it is much easier to see why Laman and Lemuel thought that the destruction of Jerusalem would have been completely impossible, because it had been only a few years earlier to the Assyrians: the fiercest enemy the ancient world had ever seen. Yet, despite the doubts of those like Laman and Lemuel, the Babylonians did come to the Holy City, and it did fall to Nebuchadnezzar and his
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