"I will rise up against them," declares the LORD of hosts, "and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity," declares the LORD. Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. Zavada, Jack. Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,For your sake I have sent to Babylon,And will bring them all down as fugitives,Even the Chaldeans, into the ships in which they rejoice. Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 'You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land You will not be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.'". And the angel said to me, Why do you wonder? 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. "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 LORD of hosts. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy. 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. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. And they went by way of the Arabah. And a voice came from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.. read more. He burned the house of the Lord, the kings house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. 7 Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? So the kings scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors and the princes of the provinces which extended from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language. They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came: Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer stream to him. Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord.It is an enduring nation,It is an ancient nation,A nation whose language you do not know,Nor can you understand what they say. The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization The Word "Babylon" Babylon is Akkadian "babilani" which means "the Gate of God (s)" and it became the capital of the land of Babylonia. Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths None remained except the poorest people of the land. And a second time they said, Hallelujah! read more. They are coming from a far country,From the farthest horizons,The Lord and His instruments of indignation,To destroy the whole land. But you have been cast out of your tombLike a rejected branch,Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword,Who go down to the stones of the pitLike a trampled corpse. 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. It is quite hard to identify an original Babylonian god, other than perhaps Marduk or Nabu. What happened that caused a short-lived Old Testament city-state to become such a New Testament symbol of evil? 'This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest; They will each turn back to his own people. When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.As windstorms in the Negev sweep on,It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land. And they went by way of the Arabah. Ruins of the great palace built by the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BC. Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. Revelation 18 almost reads like a news report of the breakdown of civilisation. He will even oppose the Prince of princes. Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. The history of Babylonia proper, known as the Old Babylonia period (1830-1550 b.c. the earth is shaken, and an outcry is heard among the nations. Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. read more. Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. Babylon. My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. In the Bible, Babylon is described as a violent and oppressive kingdom that destroyed cities and enslaved their people. Now the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of the Lord and the stands and the bronze sea, which were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. "All of them come for violence. Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. So Judah was led away into exile from its land. The king appointed for them a daily ration from the kings choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the kings personal service. I will punish Bel in Babylon,And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth;And the nations will no longer stream to him.Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down! Its name stems from the narrative in Genesis 11:1-11, which concerns the construction of the Tower of Babel (bel). Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Babylon the Great, commonly known as the Whore of Babylon, refers to a symbolic female figure and place of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. John is carried away in the Spirit into the wilderness where he saw: Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 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. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. Babylon, past and future, is a significant theme in the Bible. Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. Most of the Biblical prophecies relating to Babylon are in relation to the captivity and Gods revelation to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel concerning the ultimate end of the captivity both for Israel and for Babylon. And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. ", "Into his right hand came the divination, 'Jerusalem,' to set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile., However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' The fall of Babylon came as the kingdom of Judah's prophesied 70 years of national captivity was ending (Jeremiah 25:11-12). You felt secure in your wickedness and said,No one sees me,Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you;For you have said in your heart,I am, and there is no one besides me. But evil will come on youWhich you will not know how to charm away;And disaster will fall on youFor which you cannot atone;And destruction about which you do not knowWill come on you suddenly. "Into his right hand came the divination, 'Jerusalem,' to set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall. What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I make known to you. Wail, O gate; cry, O city;Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;For smoke comes from the north,And there is no straggler in his ranks. ', and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and. The whole assembly numbered 42,360, besides their male and female servants who numbered 7,337; and they had 200 singing men and women. For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. The LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight. Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. Setting siege to the large city of Babylon, the Medes had dug a canal diverting the water that flowed under the city wall. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say, and from where have they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon., Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left, says the, And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.. These events are recorded in 2 Kings 1725 and 2 Chronicles 3236. And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship. Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniels vision recorded in chapter 7 includes much added revelation. Now is the time to understand the words of this prophecy and heed the warning of God found in Revelation 18:4. : "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues." superpower Bible Prophecy Europe Governments News and Prophecy. The king said to Haman, "The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please." She also is a member of BRRC. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;I will make myself like the Most High.. All the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon. A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media; I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused. For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon. Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter. "Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, Which lives securely," declares the LORD "It has no gates or bars; They dwell alone. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. 'Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. 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. That exile started with a two-stage deportation597 and 587 BCEand presumably ended with the conquest of Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 538 BCE. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.). that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, "How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased! Just as Satan is called the father of lies, the evil world system, Babyloncontrolled by himis mother to his evil acts. - And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying; and he cried with a strong voice, saying. 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. In the Bible, Babylon is mentioned from Genesis to Revelation, as it rises from its rebellious beginnings to become a symbol of the Antichrist's evil world system. 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. When we read verse 5, we are given a kind of identity of the "great harlot.". Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and captured the city. 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. "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 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. How then will one answer the messengers of the nation? I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him. The fall of the Babylonian Empire came suddenly when the Medes and the Persians overran the city of Babylon in a night attack in 539 b.c. Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. God can and will use evil people and nations to enact His will (Pharaoh in Egypt, e.g.) The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima. The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king's personal service. Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. Because you are glad, because you are jubilant, Because you skip about like a threshing heifer. It may have been a fortress but was more likely a temple. Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets."