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Home ¬ Previous Page ¬ What is Babylon? |
A Study by Frank W. Dowsett.
Firstly, it was a literal city on the banks of the Euphrates River, which passed through the city itself. It is reputed to have been built about 2,230 B.C. It was the capital of the country referred to in Scripture as Shinar, and later called Chaldea or the land of the Chaldeans. It was also referred to as Babylonia. It became famous, and is widely remembered for the reputation of its Hanging Gardens, which were acknowledged as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World", built reputedly by the Emperor Nebuchadnezzar as a tribute to his queen. As a matter of interest, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were;
Babylon was the site from which the Babylonian Empire was destroyed and defeated during Belshazzar"s Feast, as recorded in Daniel chapter five. The Medes and the Persians invaded the city of Babylon by the simple expedient of diverting the waters of the Euphrates. Where this river flowed under the perimeter walls of the city, Nebuchadnezzar had constructed great portcullises, or grates, with spearheads along the bottom which were suspended down into the river in order to prevent any enemy entering into the city via the river. But he underestimated the ingenuity of the Medes and the Persians. They built a diversion far beyond the limits of the city by which, at a given signal, the waters of the Euphrates were diverted into a side channel, thus completely stopping the flow of the river through the city. As the protection barriers didn"t reach right to the bed of the river, having been designed and erected only with surface craft in mind, the invading armies were easily able to march right into the city by way of the now dried up river bed. The city itself was destined by God for utter destruction. We read of this fact in the following Scriptures;
And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 51:37, 58-64).
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees" excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 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. 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. 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. (Isa. 13:19-22).
History bears out just how accurately these prophesies were fulfilled. We should also notice the prophetic nature of the history of this great city, and we will see, as we proceed with our studies, just how accurately these prophesies are now being fulfilled in the system which it generated.
Secondly, Babylon was a kingdom, or Empire.
A). It was the first of the four major empires or kingdoms revealed by God through the prophet Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. We read in Daniel 2:26-38;
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,
Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation
thereof? Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which
the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians,
the soothsayers, show unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth
secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter
days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for
thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come
to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall
come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom
that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known
the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of
thy heart. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image,
whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was
terrible. This image"s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,
his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and
part of clay.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
From this we recognise that the Babylonian Empire over which Nebuchadnezzar reigned was to be the greatest of all the succession of four empires represented by the image which he had seen in his vision, which were to rise and dominate the world. They were all ultimately to be destroyed themselves by the Fifth world Empire, represented by "the stone cut out without hands", the Stone Kingdom of Israel, which was NOT a part of the Babylonian succession of empires.
B). It was the area to which the remnant of the southern house of Judah was taken captive.
C). It became the source from which originated virtually every evil teaching and doctrine which has adversely affected God"s true Israel people, and their true understanding of God"s Divine Plans and Purposes ever since. As an example, we only have to look at the writings contained in the Babylonian Talmud to justify this claim. This must be the most porno-graphic, disgusting, anti-God and anti-Christ work ever devised by the mind of man. One only has to read it to realise where the themes for most of our modern television programmes originate.
Thirdly, Babylon became the name of an entire system.
This Babylonian system was set up, and is controlled and empowered by Satan as his own system or World Order, in direct opposition and defiance to God"s System or World Order.
It represents the kingdom of Satan, as opposed to the Kingdom of God. The recognition of this fact is, I suggest, the KEY to understanding;
a). The whole of history - past, present, and future - as well as,
b). The entire Word of God as the revelation of God"s Divine Will and Purpose.
This understanding will give us the proper perspective, in relation to their activities, of the two major protagonists;
as well as the arena within which their battle for supremacy is being fought, namely;
The Meaning and Significance of the Name "Babylon".
Babylon and Babel are the same Hebrew word. (Strongs #894).
There are two meanings to the word;
(1) Confusion, and
(2) The gate of the god "Bel", also spelt "Baal". Thus it also means "The gate of Baal".
Therefore, we find that the full meaning and application of the word "Babylon" is; The gate, or place of entering into, or the door, to the worship of Baal. This gives an added significance to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He said that HE is the door. Thus the major significance and purpose of Babylon is to entice God"s Israel people away from the true worship of Jehovah, and from obedience to Him, into the idolatrous worship of Satan"s false system. It is to entice us to turn from entering the True Door which is Jesus Christ into entering the false door which is presented to us by Satan. Satan"s plan is to destroy by deceit and perversion - the kosmos or World Order of God, for which our Lord Jesus Christ died to preserve, and to replace it with his own evil kosmos or world order. The full import of this fact is little realised by the great majority of Christians today. Let us have a brief look at John 18:36 and John 3:16-17;
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
It is important to note at this point that the word world used in the above verses is kosmos, meaning the world system or order. It does not refer to the earth as a planet, nor primarily to the people of the world. It does not say that God so loved all the people of the world. It refers to His love for His own World Order. God"s World Order is manifest through His Kingdom. It was this "world order" that was not of this world. It was this "world order" that He loved so much, that He came to die for its preservation in order that it should not perish. He did not come to condemn or to destroy this "world order" of His, but to preserve it so that the entire world, through its preservation, might be itself brought into a place of safety. Whosoever accepted and believed this glorious fact would inherit Eternal Life as citizens of this everlasting World Order or Kingdom. We live in very perilous days. But God has not left us without a witness, nor without assurance. Those who have been blessed with some understanding of His great plans and purposes for this world have been also given a very real responsibility to ensure that as many as come within our reach are warned of the present danger. We have now, I firmly believe, reached the era of The Watchmen, and the words of the prophet Isaiah are no less applicable today as they were when he first pronounced them, as recorded in Isaiah 21:1-12. (N.I.V).
An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused. At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me. They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields! This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert." And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post. Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses." And he gives back the answer: "Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!" O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD Almighty, from the God of Israel. An oracle concerning Dumah : Someone calls to me from Seir, "Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?" The watchman replies, "Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; and come back yet again."
The "desert by the sea" referred to here is the waters of the Euphrates on which was situated the City of Babylon. The prophet is clearly staggered by what he sees in his vision. He sees the constant attacks which are being made against his people. He sees their horrifying results. The Lord tells him to post a lookout, and the prophet replies that he is constantly on his watch. It"s a pity that more of our present-day "prophets" can"t say the same. But the message finally comes. Babylon has fallen. All their images and idols of gold, and the gold that they have worshipped as idols, have been shattered.
It is almost impossible for us to fully appreciate this within our present system. We sincerely want it to happen, but even those of us who realise the lateness of the hour and the inevitable crash that is about to burst upon the world, find it difficult to form a real picture within our mind of what it will be really like when this iniquitous system finally crashes to the ground. God"s people, who have been crushed to the threshing room floor will at last be freed from the bondage of Babylon that has kept us in chains for so long. No wonder the cry goes out, "Watchman, what is left of the night?" Confusion will reign supreme. But the watchman will then really come into his own. He will tell the people to keep coming back to him for the latest news. His message to the people then, as now, is that they must enquire regularly as to the latest position.
It"s no good the watchman having all the information in the world if no one comes to ask of him as to what everything means. And it"s no use the people coming to the watchman if he in turn doesn"t know what is happening. Sadly, this seems to be our present situation. There are very few watchmen on the walls, faithfully and truthfully alerting the people to what is happening around about them. Most of them are content to just stand in their pulpits and offer platitudes and tear-jerking sermons that might satisfy the moment for many people, but which in the end tell them nothing of the reality of God"s great plans, and how they are being fulfilled. Let"s face it friends. If we are all to be raptured up into the sky somewhere so that what is going to happen doesn"t affect us in any way, then why should we worry about asking the watchmen as to what in happening. How many ministers today are able to tell their congregation that Dumah, referred to in the above passage is the abbreviated form of "Idumea", another name for Edom? Thus we see that the time of the fall of Babylon is associated with Edom, presently found in Zionist Jewry. It is not without significance that the word means "silence", and prophetically predicts the final end and condition of Edom, that of silence. The Word of God is abundantly clear as to His intentions regarding these people who have used this evil Babylonian system for thousands of years to bind and destroy His people. We read in Isa. 34:5; Ezek. 35:14-15, and Ezek. 36:5;
For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom, And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.
Thus says the Lord GOD, "As all the earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.
The duty, purpose, and responsibility of the watchmen today is to watch, understand, and warn God's people of the activities of Esau in relation to Babylon. God will not hold guiltless those who know the truth, but refuse to acknowledge and teach it for fear of personal repercussions.
This is not the time for compromise. It is now time to take up the mantle left to us by the Holy Prophets, and to cry out and warn God"s people of their sins and their transgressions. Satan is now roaring about like a lion, knowing that his time is short. Surely we can do no less in the service of the King of Kings.
(To be Continued.)