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Babylon
FROM ALMOST INCIDENTAL
references in the writings of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel all
of whom lived during the period 700 to 500 B.C. we learn a number of facts
about the development of Babylon into a most formidable fortress city.
Jeremiah for example, speaks of
"the broad walls of Babylon...and her high
gates". (Jeremiah 51:58) Isaiah
prophesied of the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus the Persian and makes
reference to the 'two-leaved gates' of that city. (Isaiah 45:1-2) Daniel
records an occasion when Nebuchadnezzar, walking upon the palace roof,
boasted of his achievements - "Is
not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by
the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?"
(Daniel 4:30 R.S.V)
These may be just incidental references, but what is the
picture? GREAT BABYLON, having broad walls, a broad city, with great and
high gates. This is how the Bible spoke of that city nearly 2,600 years ago.
Herodotus, who was born about a hundred years after the death of Daniel,
visited the city and in his history describes what he saw. His description
supports and amplifies that of the Bible.
It seems incredible that
in time Babylon should so completely disappear, except for these two
fragmentary sources of evidence. Yet this civilisation did disappear
completely for over two thousand years - so completely that Herodotus was
pronounced unreliable and the Bible legendary, because both spoke of this
civilization of which there was no trace until the nineteenth century.
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The Ishtar Gate |
Incredible? Not to the
student of the Bible! The Bible said that this great civilization would so
disappear. This was something which Herodotus did not say and could not say.
There could be no stronger evidence for the Divine authorship of the Bible
than the remarkable discoveries in the 'land between the rivers' made by the
archaeologist in the last century. It is a fascinating and exciting story,
well documented - but carrying with it for those who can see and hear, the
most solemn warning for the generation of today. This can easily be seen by
placing some of the prophecies concerning the desolation of Babylon side by
side with the facts as they have since been discovered. To the evidence of
the historical accuracy of the Bible we can add that of the fulfilment of
its prophecies.
PROPHECY
We have the words
pronounced against Babylon by the prophet Isaiah, before Nebuchadnezzar had
come on the scene with all his remarkable feats of engineering!
"And it shall come to
pass...that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon,
and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 'For I
will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut of from
Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. 'I
will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and
I will sweep it with the besom of destruction."
(Isaiah 14:4,22-23)
Again the prophet writes:
"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...from
generation to generation."
(Isaiah 13:19-20 See also Jeremiah Ch's 50 & 51)
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Ruins of the hanging gardens of Babylon |
There are many similar
prophecies. Babylon was to become like Sodom and Gomorrah! Few Bible lovers
at the beginning of the nineteenth century suspected what dramatic
demonstrations of the fulfilment of this prophecy were ahead. We believe the
remains of Sodom and Gomorrah are buried under the waters of the southern
tip of the Dead Sea, and they found Babylon buried under seventy feet of
mud, sand and rubble! The city was surrounded by three separate walls 22
feet, 25 feet and 12 feet thick, running approximately fourteen miles long
on all four sides. They found the tower. It was built in a form of terraces
- the lowest one was 288 feet square and the total height of the building
was also estimated to have been 288 feet.
Fifty eight million bricks
went into the construction of it! The most splendid thoroughfare of the
ancient world led in a straight line from the Ishtar gate of Babylon to the
tower or temple. Nebuchadnezzar describes it:
'Aibur-shabu,
the street of Babylon, I filled with high fill for the procession of the
great Lord Marduk, and with Turminabanda stones and Shadu stones I made
this Aibur-shabu from the 'holy gate' to Ishtar-saki-patebisha, fit for
the procession of his godliness.'
On each of the slabs with
which the street was paved is inscribed:
'Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon son of Nabopolassar king of Babylon, am
I. The Babel street I paved with Shadu slabs for this procession of the
great Lord Marduk. Marduk, Lord, grant eternal life.'
Several times our
newspapers have reported from Baghdad on projects which aim at rebuilding
Babylon as it was in the seventh century B.C. although these have never been
completed. Yet before the nineteenth century A.D. no-one believed what the
Bible said about Babylon.
What need for
further evidence of the historical accuracy of the Bible and for the
fulfilment of its prophecies? They have been fully vindicated in the case of
Babylon after 2,600 years. But time is always on God's side - never on
man's. And time is still on God's side - for within fifty years of the
discovery of its ruins, nature was already clawing Babylon back to her grave
and steadily hiding it again under a shroud of sand from the deserts.
Babylon was overthrown as God said it would be and the empire has vanished.
There may be some who think they can restore this great Babylon, but time
will tell whether their plans will succeed - the Word of God tells us - 'it
shall never be inhabited.' (Isaiah 13:20) |
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