Babylon’s Fall Foretold

Babylon’s Fall Foretold

Jehovah declares: “Now hear this, you pleasure-given woman, the one sitting in security, the one saying in her heart: ‘I am, and there is nobody else. I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know the loss of children.’” (Isaiah 47:8) http://biblize.com/search?q=Isaiah+47:8&q_scope=

Babylon’s reputation for pleasure-seeking is well-known. Fifth century B.C.E. historian Herodotus tells of a “most shameful custom” of the Babylonians, namely, that all women are required to prostitute themselves in homage to their goddess of love. Ancient historian Curtius likewise said: “No contamination can surpass the manners of the city; no systematic corruption can offer more stimulations and allurements to debauchery.”

Babylon’s penchant for pleasure-seeking will hasten her fall. On the eve of her fall, her king and his grandees will feast, drinking themselves into a stupor. Thus, they will pay no heed to the Medo-Persian armies invading the city. (Daniel 5:1-4) http://biblize.com/search?q=Daniel+5:1-4&q_scope=

“Sitting in security,” Babylon will imagine that her seemingly impregnable walls and moat will protect her from invasion. She tells herself that “there is nobody else” who could ever occupy her place of supremacy. She does not imagine that she could become “a widow,” losing her imperial ruler as well as her “children,” or populace. Still, no wall can protect her from the avenging arm of Jehovah God! Jehovah will later say: “Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens and even if she should make the height of her strength unapproachable, from me the despoilers will come to her.”—Jeremiah 51:53.http://biblize.com/search?q=Jeremiah+51:53&q_scope=

What will result to Babylon? Jehovah continues: “But to you these two things will come suddenly, in one day: loss of children and widowhood. In their complete measure they must come upon you, for the abundance of your sorceries, for the full might of your spells—exceedingly.” (Isaiah 47:9)http://biblize.com/search?q=Isaiah+47:9&q_scope=

Yes, Babylon’s supremacy as a world power will suddenly come to an end. In the ancient Eastern lands, becoming a widow and losing children were the most calamitous experiences that a woman could undergo. We do not know how many “children” Babylon loses on the night of her fall. In due time, though, that city will be abandoned entirely. (Jeremiah 51:29) http://biblize.com/search?q=Jeremiah+51:29&q_scope=

She will also suffer widowhood in that her kings will be dethroned.

The book Nabonidus and Belshazzar, by Raymond Philip Dougherty, notes that while the Nabonidus Chronicle claims that Babylon’s invaders entered “without fighting,” Greek historian Xenophon indicates that there may have been considerable bloodshed.

Isaiah concludes this prophetic message on a note of compassion toward his own people. He says: “O my threshed ones and the son of my threshing floor, what I have heard from Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you people.” (Isaiah 21:10) http://biblize.com/search?q=Isaiah+21:10&q_scope=

In the Bible, threshing often symbolizes the disciplining and refining of God’s people. God’s covenant people will become ‘sons of the threshing floor,’ where wheat is forcibly separated from the chaff, leaving only the refined, desirable grains. Isaiah is not gloating over this discipline. Rather, he has compassion for these future ‘sons of the threshing floor,’ some of whom will spend their entire lives as captives in a foreign land.

This may serve as a useful reminder to all of us. In the Christian congregation today, some may be inclined to lose their compassion for wrongdoers. And those who receive discipline may often be prone to resent it. However, if we keep in mind that Jehovah disciplines his people in order to refine them, we will neither belittle the discipline and those who humbly undergo it nor resist it when it comes our way. Let us accept godly discipline as an expression of God’s love.—Hebrews 12:6.

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