The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lordthe bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. In the Old Testament Babylon was a city; in the New Testament Babylon is a spirit. The predictions of Isaiah have to do with Babylons ultimate destruction in the Day of the Lord. The whore of Babylon has influence over culture and over people. Babylon is military in nature. The number of the men of the people of Israel: the sons of Parosh, 2,172; the sons of Shephatiah, 372; the sons of Arah, 775; the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812; the sons of Elam, 1,254; the sons of Zattu, 945; the sons of Zaccai, 760; the sons of Bani, 642; the sons of Bebai, 623; the sons of Azgad, 1,222; the sons of Adonikam, 666; the sons of Bigvai, 2,056; the sons of Adin, 454; the sons of Ater of Hezekiah, 98; the sons of Bezai, 323; the sons of Jorah, 112; the sons of Hashum, 223; the sons of Gibbar, 95; the men of Bethlehem, 123; the men of Netophah, 56; the men of Anathoth, 128; the sons of Azmaveth, 42; the sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743; the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621; the men of Michmas, 122; the men of Bethel and Ai, 223; the sons of Nebo, 52; the sons of Magbish, 156; the sons of the other Elam, 1,254; the sons of Harim, 320; the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 725; the men of Jericho, 345; the sons of Senaah, 3,630. Babylon was the center of a powerful empire that continually sought to expand its power, which often led to imperial wars with other nations. And. When and how was Judah conquered by the Babylonians? All who came upon them have devoured them; And their adversaries have said, We are not guilty. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning. For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong. 'Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.'" And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. He knewof the coming Babylonian (Assyrian) captivity, hence his predilection to flee and to want for their destruction. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. He said to him, Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place.read more.Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is not yet completed., Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persiain order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiahthe Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Another massive prophecy against Babylon is found in Isaiah 47. Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar figure prominently in the Old Testament, as it was Babylon that invaded Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and carried off many Jews to Babylon as exiles. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. 'Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. The Bible tells the story of the tower of Babel and how the language of mankind was confused there. After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying. Babylon is pictured as being punished because of its cruel treatment of Israel (50:17, 18; 51:24, 49). The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD--the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. Ruins of the great palace built by the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BC. Thou art this head of gold (Daniel 2:37, 38). The city also included great parks and gardens, some of which, such as the hanging gardens described by Diodorus, were outstanding wonders in the ancient world. It was this city, proud of its supposed invulnerability, which had ignored the rapidly expanding power of the Medes and the Persians. How then will one answer the messengers of the nation? Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying. Flee from the Chaldeans!Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this,Send it out to the end of the earth;Say, The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.. A horde of great nations from the land of the north. Revelation 18 almost reads like a news report of the breakdown of civilisation. But some of the poorest people who had nothing, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at that time. Their horde of faces moves forward. The episode teaches Bible readers important lessons about unity and the sin of pride. However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. If Herodotus can be believed, the walls were indeed formidable being 350 feet high and 87 feet thick. And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved,read more.that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,How the oppressor has ceased,And how fury has ceased! Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128. I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, read more. Jeremiah is seen as the true prophet of God in contrast to the false prophets who had predicted victory over Babylon (cp. God rejected all the descendants of Israel and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He cast them out of His sightThe people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam didso Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria (2 Kings 17:20-23). The captain of the guard also took away the bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the pans and the drink offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. For much of its early history, Babylon was a small, obscure city-state until King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) chose it as his capital, expanding the empire that became Babylonia. The story of the tower of Babel unfolds in Genesis 11:1-9. He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the. For in one hour your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. The city of Babylon continued to flourish after the Medes conquered it, and though its glory dwindled, especially after the control of the Medes and Persians ended in 323 b.c., the city continued in some form or substance until a.d. 1000 and did not experience a sudden termination such as is anticipated in this prophecy. The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. They were taught the language spoken in Babylon. A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered! Daniel: The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentary by Walvoord & Dyer. When we read verse 5, we are given a kind of identity of the "great harlot.". They must not arise and take possession of the earth, And fill the face of the world with cities., I will rise up against them, declares the, I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, declares the. Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.. The prophecies of Daniel were meticulously fulfilled. One of the great military powers of the past was Babylon. From verse 5, the harlot is described under the symbol of Babylon, and this continues into the beginning of chapter 19. "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear--because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand. Which sends envoys by the sea,Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,To a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nationWhose land the rivers divide. To prevent further arrogance, God confused the people's language so they could not overstep his limits on them. The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. It was this Belshazzar who held the ungodly feast of Daniel 5 and perished at the hands of the Medes and Persians. In the Bible generally, and in Revelation in particular, Babylon represents the world against God fallen, sinful humankind. It is thought that the Hebrew scribes associated the tower with Babylon due to a misinterpretation of the Akkadian name for Babylon which meant "Gate of the Gods" with the Hebrew word for "confusion". The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah. "They will all respond and say to you, 'Even you have been made weak as we, You have become like us. "Yet you said, 'I will be a queen forever ' These things you did not consider Nor remember the outcome of them. 'A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it This also will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.' When he died in 556 B.C, after only four years of reign, he was succeeded by his son who was assassinated shortly after he came to the throne. Babylon in the Bible was an important city-state on the banks of the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia (the southern part of modern Iraq). Babylon is referenced 280 times in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. In 729 b.c. The beginning of this kingdom was Babel, or Babylon (Gen. 10:8-10). Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. "I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. 'Return it to its sheath In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear--because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Media as a separate kingdom had matched the rise of the Babylonian Empire. Here a prediction of Babylons utter humiliation is given, and the foreview seems to relate primarily to the capture of Babylon by the Medes and the Persians. In recent years, the Iraqi government has reopened the site, hoping to attract tourists, but the effort has been largely unsuccessful. "I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King." Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. Babylon is the fountainhead of all idolatry and has many harlot daughters (such as the Roman Catholic Church). Remember, O Lord, against the sons of EdomThe day of Jerusalem,Who said, Raze it, raze itTo its very foundation. O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,How blessed will be the one who repays youWith the recompense with which you have repaid us. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha. You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! Vivienne Sharp / Heritage Images / Getty Images. They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. The name Babylon is believed to have been derived from the Akkadian reference to the city - Bav-il or Bav . All rights reserved. Notable buildings were also found such as the palace of the king, the temple of Bel over eight stories in height, and many other buildings of less importance. He sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth. saying, Thus says the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings, long pinions and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar. Now a woman in Bible prophecy represents a church, the pure woman in Revelation 12 being the pure church, God's own people, and the harlot woman in Revelation 17 is . Two centuries later, Alexander the Great planned to make Babylon the jewel of his Asian empire, but ended up dying in the city in 323 B.C.E. In Daniels interpretation of the tree vision of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, he had predicted Nebuchadnezzars humiliation in which he suffered seven years of insanity before his reason returned. Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.read more.Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. Why should this city become a ruin? The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. Babylon was indeed like the lion, the king of beasts, and had eagles wings like the king of birds. All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. "Their camels will become plunder, And their many cattle for booty, And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair; And I will bring their disaster from every side," declares the LORD. All rights reserved. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! Their horses were 736; their mules, 245; their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720. Babylon was represented in the great image by the head of gold, and Daniel recognized the importance of Nebuchadnezzar: Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon for their unfaithfulness. Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death. These came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the LORD had commanded them not to do like them. Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king's satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring. And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans; Be also like male goats at the head of the flock. read more. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits, with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. It is considered by some to be the place where life began and was the site where humans attempted to build a tower that would extend . Why Is Babylon Famous in the Past and in the End Times. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. Revelation 14:8 says Babylon the Great is fallen, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. She is only called great for her extensive tentacular reach, like the tentacles of an octopus. Modern Babylon, we are told, sits astride a beast (Rev. They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. I was angry with My people,I profaned My heritageAnd gave them into your hand.You did not show mercy to them,On the aged you made your yoke very heavy. Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you. Persia was also, rising in power, however, and under Cyrus II Media was conquered by the Persians about 549 b.c. When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit a great sin.