So, looking many years into the future, we have: ***************(Begin Quote)

Transcription

1 (I encourage you to read this chapter in your own Bible first. In my readings many Biblical points are made which are not identified or proved by their Scripture texts, for that would require much larger mails. It is recommended that you search for them for yourself if you do not already accept them to be true.) Reading #945 The fall of Babylon Isaiah was now led to reveal to all the world, but especially to God s people, what the final result of most of the battles in the war would be, and incidentally, what the end of the whole war will bring. Unfortunately, because of the mind-set of the prophet and his people, it had to be written in very war-like terms for it to be accepted, but those of us who understand the character of our God will have no problem in seeing that what God says HE will do is simply a statement of what was going to happen as a natural course of events and which He will then use to bring about His desires. Why allow it to be published in such a way? Because in that political climate, He needed to be seen as a strong God among the other nations gods who appeared tough too. We also need to keep in mind that this information was given in the early part of Isaiah s mission which started just before 750BC (when Uzziah s sole rule ended) so as an approximation this would have been spoken about 740BC. At that time Babylon was a small independent nation which even became a part of the Assyrian Empire for a while! (See note 1.) It was not until around 608BC nearly 150 years AFTER these words, that Babylon overcame Assyria and ended up the ruler of the then known world. But Isaiah s message went PAST even that event into about 539BC when the Medes and Persians under Darius and Cyrus took over the kingdom, as the chest and arms of the statue of Daniel 2 indicate. Why? To make the contrast plain between those whom the Son of God can support and those whose actions He can use. So, looking many years into the future, we have: 1 The burden [the future history] of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see [in a vision]. [This was a very sorrowful message for Isaiah to proclaim it was a burden to him and explains why he should call the followers of God out of there.] 2 [God told him] Lift you up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them [My people], shake the hand [signal to them], that they may go into the gates of the nobles [become part of the history of the Bible]. 3 I have commanded My sanctified ones [My loyal followers], I have also called My mighty ones for My anger, even them that rejoice in My highness. 1

2 Here God lifts the veil a little and assures us that often the mighty men of earth do His will even if they are not fully aware of it at the time! Daniel 5: 30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two [62] years old [and reigned for about two years, after which Cyrus took over]. 2 Chronicles 36: 22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has the LORD God of heaven given me; and He has charged me to build Him a house [temple] in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up [to Jerusalem and build it]. Some more details of the takeover: 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts musters the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land. [They come from within the empire. Consider Ezekiel 28:18.] It was peoples whom the Jews regarded as heathen whose actions were being used by God! Why? Because His representative ones would not do it His way! (It will be a similar situation in the near future.) 6 Howl you; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: 8 and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails [in childbirth]: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames [ faces out of a nightmare, The Message version]. 2

3 Unfortunately, like the Assyrians and the Babylonians, the attackers will tend to overdo their task and many will suffer who would not have had to if the Jews had accepted their assignment in the spirit of Godliness. Why did Babylon fall? Instead of being a protector of men it had become a selfish, proud and cruel oppressor and thereby lost God s protection and fell apart from within its own ranks. Why didn t God use His own people? Because instead of being the voice of God to the lost the Jews had become insular and self-glorying and impotent in that regard. (See note 3.) {PK } While nations have rejected God's principles, and in this rejection have wrought their own ruin, yet a divine, overruling purpose has manifestly been at work throughout the ages. It was this that the prophet Ezekiel saw in the wonderful representation given him during his exile in the land of the Chaldeans, when before his astonished gaze were portrayed the symbols that revealed an overruling Power that has to do with the affairs of earthly rulers. {PK 535.2} [Ezekiel 1:4-8; 26; 10:8.]... The wheels [earthly powers] were so complicated in arrangement that at first sight they appeared to be in confusion; yet they moved in perfect harmony. Heavenly beings, sustained and guided by the Hand [of the Spirit] beneath the wings of the cherubim, were impelling those wheels; above them, upon the sapphire throne, was the Eternal One; and round about the throne was a rainbow, the emblem of divine mercy. {PK 535.3} Now we have a picture which is expanded in the New Testament: 9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. First: {Conflict and Courage 251.3} Daniel was imbued with the spirit of Jesus Christ, and he pleaded that the wise men of Babylon should not be destroyed. The followers of Christ do not possess the attributes of Satan, which make it a pleasure to grieve and afflict the creatures of God. They have the spirit of their Master who said, I am come to seek and to save that which was lost. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. 3

4 Had Daniel possessed the same quality of religious zeal which is so quickly inflamed today in the churches, and men are led by it to afflict and oppress and destroy those who do not serve God after their prescribed plan, he would have said to Arioch, These men who claim to be wise men, are deceiving the king. They have not the knowledge they claim to have, and should be destroyed. They dishonor the God of heaven, they serve idols, and their lives in no way do honor to God; let them die; but bring me in before the king and I will show unto the king the interpretation. {CC 251.3} The transforming grace of God was made manifest in His servant, and he pleaded most earnestly for the lives of the very men who afterwards, in a secret, underhanded manner made plans by which they thought to put an end to the life of Daniel. These men became jealous of Daniel because he found favor with kings and nobles, and was honored as the greatest man in Babylon. {CC 251.4} So God does NOT destroy sinners as Isaiah s message seems to indicate. Second: The thought of verse 10 is repeated in Joel 3:14-17, for prophecies can have many applications. Jesus in Matthew 24:29-30 and Mark 13:24-27 also uses it where He ties it into the Second Coming. There it will be literally and then spiritually fulfilled, while here in Isaiah s time it would have been more of a metaphorical and then maybe a literal realisation. {PP 340.1} Never since man was created had there been witnessed such a manifestation of divine power as when the law was proclaimed from Sinai. The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Psalm 68:8. Amid the most terrific convulsions of nature the voice of God, like a trumpet, was heard from the cloud. The mountain was shaken from base to summit, and the hosts of Israel, pale and trembling with terror, lay upon their faces upon the earth. He whose voice then shook the earth has declared, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. Hebrews 12:26. Says the Scripture, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; and the heavens and the earth shall shake. Jeremiah 25:30; Joel 3:16. In that great coming day, the heaven itself shall depart as a scroll when it is rolled together. Revelation 6:14. And every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. Isaiah 24:20. 4

5 {DA 632.1} At [or near] the close of the great papal persecution [in the 1700 s], Christ declared, the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. Next, the stars should fall from heaven. And He says, Learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that He is near, even at the doors. Matthew 24:32, 33, margin. John the Revelator also describes the first of the signs to precede the Second Advent: There was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon become as blood. Revelation 6:12. These were, and are to be, actual physical events. {GC } The condition of the church at this time [the time of the end] is pointed out in the Saviour's words in the Revelation: Thou hast a name [among men] that thou livest, and [in My sight] art dead. And to those who refuse to arouse from their careless security, the solemn warning is addressed: If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Revelation 3:1, 3. {GC 309.3} It was needful that men should be awakened to their danger; that they should be roused to prepare for the solemn events connected with the close of probation. The prophet of God declares: The day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Who shall stand when He appeareth who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity? Joel 2:11; Habakkuk 1:13. To them that cry, My God, we know Thee, yet have transgressed His covenant, and hastened after another god, hiding iniquity in their hearts, and loving the paths of unrighteousness -- to these the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light, even very dark, and no brightness in it. Hosea 8:2, 1; Psalm 16:4; Amos 5:20. It shall come to pass at that time, saith the Lord, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees [backsides]: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. Zephaniah 1:12. I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 11. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them; their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation. Zephaniah 1:18, 13. {GC 310.1} 5

6 The prophet Jeremiah, looking forward to this fearful time, exclaimed: I am pained at my very heart... I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried. Jeremiah 4:19, 20. {GC 310.2} That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm. Zephaniah 1:15, 16. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh... to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 9. {GC 310.3} Therefore this part of Isaiah s vision also applies to our time: 11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 [At the same time] I will make a man more precious than fine gold [in his character]; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. The whole world would, and will be, divided into two camps in that Day of Judgment; the sheep and the goats as per Matthew 25. {ML 263.4} In the estimation of God a pure heart is more precious than the gold of Ophir. A pure heart is the temple where God dwells, the sanctuary where Christ takes up his abode. A pure heart is above everything that is cheap or low; it is a shining light, a treasure house from which come uplifting, sanctified words. It is a place where the imagery of God is recognized, and where the highest delight is to behold his image. It is a heart that finds its whole and only pleasure and satisfaction in God, and whose thoughts and intents and purposes are alive with godliness. Such a heart is a sacred place; it is a treasury of all virtue Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger. Did you notice that event in Joel s version, written about 700BC? We have already read Isaiah s early account of it in chapter 2: Paul seems to 6

7 have used Haggai s text (about 520BC) to tell us of the last-day occurrence. Haggai 2:6-7 and Hebrews 12: What will you do at this time? The Spirit says, Isaiah 26: 20 Come, My people, enter you into your [prayer] chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. The fall of Babylon is now described: 14 And it shall be as the chased roe [the Message version makes this a white-tailed deer (running away)], and as a sheep that no man took up [they have no shepherd]: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. 15 Every one that is found [caught] shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined to them shall fall by the sword. 16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished [raped]. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes [and Persians] against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. It was destruction from within, for Media and Persia who were the leaders of the rebellion, were small nations within Babylon but they were joined by other groups. There was, and is, plenty of warning: Jeremiah 51: [This was written during the next century, about 595BC.] 28 Prepare against her [i.e. Babylon] the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. 29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant [like the 1,000 years]. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne [forgotten how] to fight, they have remained in their holds [their fortresses]: their might has failed; [in battle] they became as women: they [the Medes and Persians] have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken. 7

8 31 One post [messenger] shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another [as in a relay race], to show the king of Babylon [Belshazzar] that his city is taken at one end, 32 and that the passages [river beds] are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire [the Medes came in through the riverbed], and the men of war are affrighted. [Cp. Revelation 17:16-17.] 33 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; the daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 34 [Jerusalem then speaks in the vision] Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a dragon, he has filled his belly with my delicates, he has cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and My blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea [the river Euphrates], and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps [of ruins], a dwellingplace for dragons [stray animals], an astonishment, and a hissing [a whistle of astonishment], without an inhabitant. The end of Satan s empire: 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. Isaiah through the Message version: And Babylon, most glorious of all kingdoms, the pride and joy of Chaldeans, Will end up smoking and stinking like Sodom, and, yes, like Gomorrah, when God had finished with them. 8

9 No one will live there anymore, generation after generation a ghost town. Not even Bedouins will pitch tents there. Shepherds will give it a wide berth. But strange and wild animals will like it just fine, filling the vacant houses with eerie night sounds. Skunks will make it their home, and unspeakable night hags will haunt it. Hyenas will curdle your blood with their laughing, and the howling of coyotes will give you the shivers. Babylon is doomed. It won t be long now. The Message (MSG) Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson Saddam Hussein tried rebuilding it from 1983 to 1987! But here is what it ended up as: Bye for now, RonP In this reading the old-fashioned words of the KJV have been modernised, and in some instances, the manmade punctuation has been altered for greater understanding. Some of the comments are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own. Some of these readings are available as PDF files here or as MP3 audios at this site. Note 1. Assyrian vs Babylonian The two neighboring sister-states of ancient Mesopotamia competed for dominance and as such grew widely different in character. History Assyria took its name from the town of Ashur, which was the main town but it may also apply to the wide empire that was captured and ruled by the Assyrians. Assyria had better climate than Babylonia owing to the fact that it was located in a highland region north of Babylonia. Assyrians were not entirely Semitic and their true origin is not really known. Their culture was also largely indebted to the Babylonians, the Hurrians and the Hittites. Their religion was an adoption from the Babylonians except that the presiding god of the city of Ashur became Assyria s chief deity. Their nature of worship was animistic [which is a very ancient form of devotion. See note 2.] Babylonia was located at the eastern end of the fertile crescent of west Asia with its capitol as Babylon. At times it was referred to as the land of the Chaldeans. There were originally two political divisions namely Sumer and Akkad. Both the Assyrians and Babylonians made use of the Cuneiform script and all people including royalty, priests, merchants and teachers relied on writing. Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon for many years, his reign eventually becoming one of the longest and most accomplished in human history. Some historical moments during his reign include twice capturing Jerusalem and 9

10 destroying it, and the buildings and walls he built in the city, which were admired by Greek historians. Organization While merchants and agriculturalists sprung up in Babylonia, Assyrians became more militaristic, forming an organized military camp ruled over by an autocratic king as the supreme ruler. Successful generals then founded Assyrian dynasties and the king was the autocratic general of an army, who was in the early days surrounded by feudal nobility. These nobles were aided, from the reign of Tiglath-Pileser onwards, by an elaborate bureaucracy. The king s palace was more sumptuous than the worship houses (temples) of the gods from which it was separate. All people were soldiers or little else to the extent that even the sailor belonged to the state. This resulted to the sudden collapse of the Assyrian [empire] during the age of Ashurbanipal when it was drained of its warrior population. In the neighboring Babylonia, the priesthood was the highest authority with priests having been raised to the throne by the revolution. Under the control of a powerful hierarchy, the Babylonian king remained a priest to the end. Summary: 1. Assyria was located north of Babylonia, its highland location giving it better climate than Babylonia. 2. Assyrians formed a military dynasty whereas Babylonians became merchants and agriculturalists. 3. The supreme ruler in Assyria was an autocratic king while in Babylonia, priesthood was the highest authority. 4. Assyrians nature of worship was animistic [see note 2] and that of idolatry while for Babylonians it was in a Supreme God. [The in place of antichrist, Baal.] Note 2: Animism (from Latin anima, breath, spirit, life ) [1][2] is the religious belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. [3][4][5][6] Potentially, animism perceives all things animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words as animated and alive. Note 3: Habakkuk 1: An example of God using the nations. 1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see [about 612BC]. 2 [He cried] O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear! Even cry out to You of violence [among Your people], and You will not save! 3 Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me: and there are [those] that raise up strife and contention. 4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment does never go forth: for the wicked does compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds [among Your people]. 5 [God answered] Behold you among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which you will not believe, though it be told you [by Myself]. 6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans [aka the Babylonians], that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust [make a ramp], and take it. 11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power to his god! 10