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Jeremiah 51:29 "The land trembles and writhes in pain, for the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant."

 

God will always accomplish His purposes, so if He intends to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant, then that is what will happen (and has anyone encountered a citizen of Babylon lately?) (Other than in the metaphorical sense, of course.)

 

The thing is, though, with God there is also mercy. He doesn't just make up His mind to punish and then relentlessly pursue that punishment. Here, Jeremiah says the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand, implying that it could be the case that they would not. Not that God would "change His mind", but that perhaps Babylon could have amended her ways and not been deserving of such total destruction, like Nineveh after Jonah preached to them. 

 

I saw a video the other day of a Ukrainian drone pursuing and ultimately killing a Russian soldier, and I thought how very evil this kind of warfare is. The person controlling the drone is wholly removed from the reality of what he is doing. There is no room for surrender, no room for mercy, the enemy soldier becomes just an image on a screen, like in a video game. Even when God has set His purpose to chastise us, He is not at all like that. He is all just, but also all merciful. He loves us, He is not at war with us. When God allows us to be justly punished for our sinfulness, He does so out of love and with mercy, not with relentless pursuit.