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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'1-');">Daniel 5</a></h2>
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<h4>The Fall of Babylon</h4>
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<h5>The Relevance of Babylon</h5>
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<p class="cmn">First mention: <a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,14);">Genesis 2:14</a>.
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<br>Mentioned over 300 times in the Bible.<br>Alluded to 3 times in Christ's genealogy.<br>Presently 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Baghdad.</p>
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<h5>The Origin of Babylon</h5>
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<p class="cmn">The first world dictator: Nimrod ("Rebel").
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<br>The classical translation of <a onclick="return mV('Gen',10,9);">Genesis 10:9</a> is misleading: "a mighty hunter <i>in defiance of</i> the Lord."</p>
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<p class="cmn">Nimrod built the famous Tower of Babel as the centerpiece of his rebellion against God. ("Bav" = gate; "El" = God. Babel = "Gateway to the gods"). This was the beginning of the city of Babylon. (This ziggurat was later rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar as Etemenanki, "the building which is the foundation of heaven and earth.")</p>
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<p class="cmn">God disrupted this rebellious coalition through the "confusion of tongues" in <a onclick="return mV('Gen',11,'1-');">Genesis 11</a>. This rebellion against God is still with us. The residuals from Babylon include most of the traditions of idol worship, astrology, and the occult that continue to the present day. The original Biblical significance of the zodiac (or "Mazzeroth") was corrupted by the Babylonian religious system and continues in all cultures to this day. (See our Briefing Package, <i>Signs in the Heavens</i>.)</p>
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<h5>The Battle of the Nine Kings</h5>
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<p class="cmn">In <a onclick="return mV('Gen',14,'1-');">Genesis 14</a> we find Abraham's dramatic rescue of his nephew Lot in the Battle of the Nine Kings. There were four attacking kings from southern Mesopotamia who defeated five kings of the plain.</p>
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<p class="cmn">The four kings had, for 12 years, been under the leadership of Cherdorlaomer, the King of Elam. It is provocative that in the list which introduces these kings in <a onclick="return mV('Gen',14,1);">Genesis 14:1</a>, the one mentioned first is Amraphel, King of Shinar (Babylon), one of the secondary kings at the time.</p>
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<h5>First Mention of Jerusalem</h5>
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<p class="cmn">Also in <a onclick="return mV('Gen',14,'1-');">Genesis 14</a>, after Abraham's stunning victory, we encounter a mysterious character Melchizedek, King of Salem (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',110,'1-');">Psa 110</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,'1-');">Heb 5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',7,'1-');">Heb 7</a>, etc.), a location later to be known as Jerusalem (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',76,1, 2);">Psa 76:1-2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Sa',18,18);">2 Sam 18:18</a>).</p>
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<p class="cmn">This begins an antithetical relationship between Jerusalem and Babylon that climaxes with the destruction of Babylon in the "Day of Lord" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',16,'1-');">Rev 16</a>, <a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-');">17</a>, <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">18</a>, and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',19,'1-');">19</a>) and with the presentation of the "New Jerusalem" in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,'1-');">Revelation 21</a>.</p>
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<h5>The Early Years</h5>
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<p class="cmn">Assyria rose to power in the second millennium <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> and emerged as the dominant power until the rise of the Chaldeans in the seventh century <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> Various early kings appointed governors over the city of Babylon before the Amorite invasion led to the founding of the first Semitic dynasty of Babylon under Sumu-abum (1894 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>). The sixth king of the line, Hammurabi (1792-1750 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>) enlarged the city and made it a prosperous capital and trading center. Hammurabi and his son, Samsu-iluna, reigned from 1749 to 1712 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> It was during this period that the nation Israel was living in Egypt. Soon the south was in revolt and by the end of his reign, the founder of a new dynasty in the marshlands in the south, Iliman, controlled Babylonia as far north as Nippur. This new dynasty was known as Sealand, and for over a 100 years the Sealanders held an effective political force holding the south against the Kassites and others who were eventually to supplant them on the Babylonian throne. With the capture of the city by the Hittites, (1595 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>) and then the subsequent occupation by the Kassites who ruled for some 400 years.</p>
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<p class="cmn">During the first millennium B.C., Babylon endured as a minor tribal center, and as a mere pawn of Assyrian politics.</p>
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<h5>An Instrument of Judgment</h5>
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<p class="cmn">King Hezekiah's victory over the Assyrians: <a onclick="return mV('Isa',36,'1-');">Isaiah 36</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Isa',37,'1-');">37</a>. Hezekiah falls victim to his pride and takes credit for God's handiwork. <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',20,'12-18');">2Ki 20:12-18</a>. God announces that He will bring judgement upon the nation Israel by having Babylon take them captive as slaves. <a onclick="return mV('Isa',39,'1-');">Isaiah 39</a>.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Jer predicted that the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews was to last 70 years, and it did. <a onclick="return mV('Jer',25,11, 12);">Jer 25:11-12</a>. Failure to keep the Sabbath of the land for 490 years (70 times 7) was the cause for the particular period of 70 years of captivity (<a onclick="return mV('2Ch',36,21);">2 Chronicles 36:21</a>). (Cf. "70 times 7" <a onclick="return mV('Mat',18,22);">Mat 18:22</a>.)</p>
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<h5>The Rise of Nebuchadnezzar</h5>
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<p class="cmn">In 627 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> a governor of the Sealands (modern Kuwait), Nabopolassar, rallied the tribes and broke out from besieged Erech and cleared Babylon from the Assyrians for the last time. Six weeks later the people of Babylon invited Nabopolassar to be their king. Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, used the city as a base from which he marched on many campaigns to Syria and Palestine. He was destined to bring in the Chaldean dynasty's finest hours and Babylon's most famous period.</p>
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<h5>The Battle of Carchemish</h5>
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<p class="cmn">In 612 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> the combined forces of Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians attacked and destroyed the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The only remaining power of significance was the Egyptians. The Babylonian Chronicle records the defeat of Pharaoh Necco and the Egyptians at the famous battle at Carchemish and the then-known world was under Babylonian rule.</p>
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<h5>Conquest of Jerusalem</h5>
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<p class="cmn">In 606 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> Nebuchadnezzar succeeded in his siege of Jerusalem and Jehoiakim of Judah became his vassal. Jehoiakim would also revolt three years later, <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',24,1);">2Ki 24:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Dan',1,1,2);">Dan 1:1-2</a>. Nebuchadnezzar's first expedition was <i>before</i> he ascended to the throne; Nebuchadnezzar's first year was concurrent with Jehoiakim's fourth year, <a onclick="return mV('Jer',25,1);">Jer 25:1</a>. This is in agreement with Clinton, Pussey, Anderson (p. 229-240.) This initiated a 70-year period known Biblically as the "servitude of the nation."</p>
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<p class="cmn">It was in this first siege that Daniel and his three friends were deported as teenagers to be educated there and to serve at the Babylonian court. These "hostages" might help assure the continued loyalty of the vassal king in Jerusalem.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Despite Jeremiah's warnings, Jehoiakim rebelled three years later after the Egyptians had beaten the Babylonian army in open battle. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem a second time, seized Jehoiakim, and appointed a king of his own choice, Zedekiah; <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',25,1);">2Ki 25:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',39,1);">Jer 39:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',52,4);">52:4</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',24,1);">Eze 24:1</a>. Babylonian Chronicle, as quoted in D. J. Wiseman, <i>Chronicles of Chaldean Kings (626-556</i> <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span><i>) in the British Museum</i>, 1956. The capture of Jehoiachin and his substitution by a Babylonian nominee, Mattaniah-Zedekiah, accords with the Biblical accounts of the same events. <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',24,'10-17');">2Ki 24:10-17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Ch',36,'5-10');">2Ch 36:5-10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',37,1);">Jer 37:1</a>.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Skilled craftsmen from Judah were deported to assist the immense building program then current at Babylon, where in Esagalia and other temples the spoils of war were dedicated to be displayed on state occasions; <a onclick="return mV('2Ch',36,7);">2Ch 36:7</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,3);">Dan 5:3</a>. Tablets from the vaulted rooms by the Ishtar Gate include four listing rations given to "Yau'kin of Judah." Five sons of Jehoichin are also mentioned as well as five carpenters from Judah, presumably captives from the siege of Jerusalem.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Again, despite Jeremiah's repeated warnings, Zedekiah also rebelled, which led to the third and final siege by Nebuchadnezzar, and the complete destruction of Jerusalem. This initiates the period known as the "desolations of Jerusalem" that also lasted exactly 70 years. Many commentators make the mistake of treating the "servitude of the nation" and the "desolations of Jerusalem" as synonyms since they both were predicted to be 70 years in duration. The "desolations of Jerusalem" was a punishment for not yielding to the "servitude." <a onclick="return mV('Jer',27,6,8,11);">Jer 27:6, 8, 11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',38,'17-21');">Jer 38:17-21</a>; Cf. <a onclick="return mV('Jer',29,10);">Jer 29:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Dan',9,2);">Dan 9:2</a>.</p>
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<h5>Nebuchadnezzar's Successors</h5>
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<p class="cmn">Nebuchadnezzar's death was followed by a steady weakening of the regime. His successor, Amel-Marduk ("Evil-Merodach" of <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',25,27);">2Ki 25:27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',52,31);">Jer 52:31</a>), ruled but two years and was replaced in 560 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> after an army coup by the commander in chief, Neriglissar (Nergal-Sharezer of <a onclick="return mV('Jer',39,3);">Jer 39:3</a>), son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar. After frequent absences from active service, he was, in turn, ousted, and his weak son Labashi-Marduk lasted only a few months before another coup d'etat brought Nabonidus to the throne.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Soon after his election, Nabonidus led the army to Palestine and Northern Arabia, leaving his son Belshazzar as co-regent in Babylon. Nabonidus' decision to stay in Arabia resulted from his unpopularity at home as much as from his desire to found a settlement there with exiles from Palestine.</p>
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<p class="cmn">In Babylon there had been inflation brought on both by the continuing military expenditure and by the extensive program of public works begun by Nebuchadnezzar. This inflation rate amounted to 50% between 560 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> and 530 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>, resulting in widespread famine.</p>
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<p class="cmn">In the last year of Nabonidus, the Babylon Chronicle (British Museum) records that the idols of the cities around Babylon, except Borsippa, Kutha, and Sippar, were brought in, an action taken only at the sign of impending war. This cylinder, one of 4 bearing the same text found at the four corners of the ziggurat at Ur, is inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform: prayer to the moon-god Sin, to whom the Ziggurat is consecrated; mentions "Belshazzar, the son first (born) the offspring of my heart (body)." Inscriptions designate Daniel as "the 3rd Ruler in the kingdom." (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'29');">Dan 5:29</a>)</p>
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<h5>The Rise of Cyrus</h5>
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<p class="cmn">Cyrus II ("the Great," 559-530 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>) was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire that continued for two centuries until the time of Alexander the Great (331 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>). Cyrus' father, Cambyses I (600-559 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>), was king of Anshan, a region in eastern Elam. His mother was Mandane, a daughter of Astyages, king of Media (585-550 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>) When Cambyses I died in 559 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>, Cyrus inherited the throne of Anshan and, after unifying the Persian people, attacked his father-in-law, the weak and corrupt Astyages. The Median general Harpagus, whom Astyages had previously wronged, deserted the king and brought his army to the side of the young Cyrus. Astyages was soon captured and the Persians took the capital city of Ecbatana in 550 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> without a battle. (This was also to be the result at Babylon 11 years later.)</p>
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<p class="cmn">Cyrus succeeded in welding the Medes and Persians into a unified nation. Moving swiftly to the west, he absorbed all the Median territories as far as the Halys River in Asia Minor. When Croesus, the fabulously wealthy king of Lydia, refused to recognize the sovereignty of Medo-Persia, Cyrus defeated him in battle and took over his empire in 546 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> Seven years later, he was ready to launch the great assault against Babylon itself.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Babylon was in no position to resist a Medo-Persian invasion in the year 539 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> During the preceding fourteen years, Nabonidus the king had not so much as visited the capital city, leaving the administration of the metropolis to his profligate son Belshazzar, to whom he also "entrusted the kingship." ("Verse Account of Nabonidus," Pritchard, <i>Ancient Near Eastern Texts</i>, 313.) Nabonidus further weakened the empire by incurring the displeasure of the powerful Babylonian priesthood.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Toward the end of September, the armies of Cyrus, under the able command of Ugbaru, district governor of Gutium, attacked Opis on the Tigris River and defeated the Babylonians. This gave the Persians control of the vast canal system of Babylon. On October 10, Sippar was taken without a battle and Nabonidus fled.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Two days later, on October 12, 539 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>, Ugbaru's troops were able to enter Babylon <i>without a battle.</i> Herodotus describes how the Persians diverted the River Euphrates into a canal upriver so that the water level dropped "to the height of the middle of a man's thigh," which thus rendered the flood defenses useless and enabled the invaders to march through the river bed to enter by night. (<i>Herodotus</i> 1.191.)</p>
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<div align="center"><img src="./gifs/comm/missler/dan5_1.gif"><br></div>
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<p><b>The Handwriting on the Wall</b></p>
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<p class="cmn">The Talmud suggests that the writing was vertical and backwards: (Aramaic, like Hebrew, reads from right to left. We've reversed the chart to read backwards for Western readers):</p>
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<table border="0">
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<tr><td valign="top">
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<p style="margin:5px 0px 5px 20px;font-weight:bold;">M<sup>e</sup>n<sup>e</sup>, </p>
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<p style="margin:5px 0px 5px 20px;font-weight:bold;">M<sup>e</sup>n<sup>e</sup>,</p>
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<p style="margin:5px 0px 5px 20px;font-weight:bold;">T<sup>e</sup>k<sup>e</sup>l,</p>
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<p style="margin:5px 0px 5px 20px;font-weight:bold;">P<sup>e</sup>r<sup>e</sup>s.</p></td><td><div align="center"><img src="./gifs/comm/missler/dan5_2.gif"><br></div></td></tr></table>
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<p class="cmn"><b>Mene:</b> numbered, reckoned. "God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it." Your number is up.</p>
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<p class="cmn"><b>Tekel:</b> weighed. "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting."</p>
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<p class="cmn"><b>Peres:</b> (rendered "upharsin": "u" is Aramaic for "and"; "pharsin" is the plural form of "peres.") broken, divided. "Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and the Persians." (By implying a different vowel, "paras" rather than "peres." It also becomes a play on words: <i>paras</i> was the word for Persia.)</p>
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<h5>God's Personal Letter to Cyrus </h5>
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<p class="cmn">Cyrus was able to boast that the conquest was almost bloodless with no significant damage to the city. Daniel (who lived at least until the third year of Cyrus) presented Cyrus with the writings of Isaiah (Josephus, Antiq. XI, i.2) that includes a letter addressed to Cyrus by name, written 150 years earlier: <a onclick="return mV('Isa',44,27,28);">Isa 44:27-28</a> to <a onclick="return mV('Isa',45,'1-7');">Isa 45:1-7</a>.</p>
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<p class="cmn">The famous Steele of Cyrus: "...without any battle, he entered the town, sparing any calamity...I returned to sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris, the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time...and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned to them their habitations."</p>
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<p class="cmn">This cylinder, discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in the 19th century, can presently be seen in the British Museum in London.</p>
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<div align="center"><img src="./gifs/comm/missler/dan5_3.jpg"><br></div>
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<p class="cmn">The Jews were actually encouraged by Cyrus to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple (<a onclick="return mV('2Ch',36,22);">2Ch 36:22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Ezr',1,'1-4');">Ezr 1:1-4</a>). Furthermore, he gave them back the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from Solomon's Temple and he contributed financially to the construction of their second temple. About 50,000 Jews responded to this royal proclamation and returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel.</p>
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<p class="cmn">A year later, on July 23, 537 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>, the return of Jewish exiles under Zerubbabel got under way just seventy years after the captivity began just as Jeremiah had predicted. The foundations of the second Temple were laid by the spring of 536 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> It was a successor, Artaxerxes I (465 - 423 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>) who issued the specific decree concerning the rebuilding of the <i>walls</i> of Jerusalem. This decree is the trigger for one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible: the famous "Seventy Sevens" of <a onclick="return mV('Dan',9,'1-');">Daniel 9</a>.</p>
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<h4>The Decline</h4>
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<h5>The Achaemenids</h5>
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<p class="cmn">Cyrus claimed the title "King of Babylon" and made his son Cambyses to act as his viceroy in Babylon in 538 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> Things remained peaceful until his death in 522 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span></p>
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<p class="cmn">In the reign of Darius II (521-486 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>) a further return of exiles to Jerusalem was allowed. His rule did not go unchallenged and several local Babylonians controlled the city for varying periods, usually taking the throne-name of "Nebuchadnezzar" to bolster their claims. Thus Nidintu-Bel ("Nebuchadnezzar III") held sway October-December 522 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> Araka ("Nebuchadnezzar IV") was put to death November 27, 521 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span></p>
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<p class="cmn">Darius introduced a rigid royal control with local administrative reforms aimed at curbing corruption and establishing a courier system between Babylon and other capitals. He built himself a palace (Apadana), a house for his crown prince, and an arsenal.</p>
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<p class="cmn">In the fourth year of Xerxes (485-465 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>) the Babylonians made another attempt to gain their independence. Bel-shimanni and Shamash-eriba claimed the throne in 482 and this revolt was suppressed with much cruelty and damage to Babylon. On his visit in 460 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span>, Herodotus reported that the city was virtually intact, however.</p>
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<p class="cmn">Xerxes and his successors (Artaxerxes I - Darius III, 464-332) had little to spare for Babylon amid their lengthy and expensive wars with Greece. Irrigation work was neglected and the diversion of trade to the main Persian road from Sardis to Susa aided the decline of the city's influence.</p>
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<h5>The Rise of Greece</h5>
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<p class="cmn">On October 1, 331 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> Alexander (III, "the Great") was welcomed by the Babylonians when he entered the city after his victory over the Medes at Gaugamela. He was acclaimed king and on his return from the east nine years later he planned extensive renovations including the creation of a port for the city large enough for 1000 warships. Though the site of Esagila was cleared, work ceased on Alexander's ambitious plans at his death in Babylon on June 13, 323 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> The career of Alexander is detailed in <a onclick="return mV('Dan',8,'1-');">Daniel 8</a>. His successors, in <a onclick="return mV('Dan',11,'1-');">Daniel 11</a>.</p>
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<p class="cmn">His four key generals divided it among themselves: Cassander took over Greece and Macedonia; Lysimachus took Thrace and Bithynia; Seleucus took Syria, Babylonia, and portions all the way to India; Ptolemy took Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia.</p>
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<p class="cmn">The subsequent struggles among his generals did not leave the city unscathed. Seleucus, who claimed the title of king in 305 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> was acknowledged from 311 when all documents were dated by his "era." The foundation of a new rival capital city, Selucia, on the River Tigris expedited the decline of the ancient metropolis.</p>
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<p class="cmn">The dispersal of Jews from Babylon is reported by Josephus. (<i>Antiq.</i> XVIII, ix 6-9.)</p>
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<h5>Atrophy and Decay</h5>
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<p class="cmn">The city subsequently underwent a gradual decay, even though the ruins remained occupied. Documents on clay from a school for priests in the city continued at least until 100 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>AD</span></p>
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<p class="cmn">Early in the first century <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>AD</span> a colony of merchants from Palmyra brought brief prosperity, but they left about 75 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>AD</span> (Garner, p 7-8.)</p>
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<p class="cmn">The city was visited by Trajan in 115 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>AD</span> Babylon was first reported deserted by Septimus Severus 84 years later.</p>
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<p class="cmn">As recently as the 1800's the village of Hillah, containing over 10,000 inhabitants, stood on the site of ancient Babylon. (Rich, p.157.)</p>
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<p class="cmn">In the late nineteenth century, the German archeologist Robert Koldewey conducted extensive studies at Babylon and the four Arab villages situated on the site. Babylon had been inhabited for some time even before his arrival. The great prophecies concerning the city of Babylon in <a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'1-');">Isaiah chapters 13</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1-');">14</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'1-');">Jer 50</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,'1-');">51</a> <i>have never been fulfilled.</i></p>
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<h4>The Destruction of Babylon</h4>
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<h5>The Prophecies of Isaiah</h5>
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<p class="cmn">In <a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'1-');">Isaiah 13</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1-');">14</a>, the destruction of Babylon is predicted. In vigorous terms, Isaiah describes how Babylon will be destroyed and then will never again be inhabited. This identifies the time of the destruction as that particular period known as the "Day of The Lord" that is mentioned throughout the scripture and is associated with the final day of God's vengeance. (<a onclick="return mV('Joe',2,10);">Joe 2:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mal',4,5);">Mal 4:5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Dan',12,1);">Dan 12:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,'21-22');">Mat 24:21-22</a>.) When God destroys Babylon, he will destroy all the evil in the world.</p>
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<h5><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'1-');">Isaiah 13</a></h5>
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<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'10');">10</a>] This exact imagery is used in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',6,'1-');">Revelation 6</a> to describe the judgment of the Tribulation just before the Second Coming.</p>
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<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'11');">11</a>] This startling idea parallels <a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,'21-22');">Matthew 24:21-22</a>. We can't say that the world's population has been on the brink of annihilation before.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'13');">13</a>] This clearly is yet future.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'17');">17</a>] This reference to the Medes is one of the reasons why many have viewed this as referring to the events of 539 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>BC</span> However, nothing prohibits the Medes from being involved in the future. The Medes were a people who occupied the mountainous area of northwestern Iran and northeastern Iraq, presently occupied by the Kurds today. They have been fighting Turkey, Iran, and Iraq in an attempt to establish their own independent country of Kurdistan. Hundreds of Kurdish women and children were the victims of Saddam Hussein's poison gas attacks in 1987 and 1988 and the hatred by the Medes for the Babylonians runs deep.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'19');">19</a>] "The glory of the Babylonians' pride": not Rome, nor allegorical: literally, the Chaldeans' pride. Overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah, that is, with "fire from heaven." This has yet to happen to Babylon.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'20');">20</a>] After the Fall of Babylon under the Persians, it was inhabited, even by Alexander and subsequently.</p>
|
||
<h5><a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1-');">Isaiah 14</a></h5>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1');">1</a>]
|
||
It is also important to note that this judgment on Babylon will take place at a time when Israel is resettled in their own land from many nations. This cannot be applied to the fall of Babylon to the Persians, during which Israel was still in captivity and in exile from the land.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'22');">22</a>] Clearly, this is part of God's climactic scenario as part of the "Day of the Lord" and is part of the final scenes at the end of the "Seventieth Week" of <a onclick="return mV('Dan',9,'1-');">Daniel 9</a>, and that is highlighted in <a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,1);">Matthew 24</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',6,'1-');">Revelation 6</a> through <a onclick="return mV('Rev',19,'1-');">19</a>.</p>
|
||
<h5>The Prophecies of Jeremiah</h5>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'1-3');">Jer 50:1-3</a>] Does the "nation from the north" refer to Magog or the Russians?</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'4');">Jer 50:4</a>] Again, the spiritual position of Israel is described.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'9');">Jer 50:9</a>] Again, it appears to be an alliance of many nations that are coming against Babylon.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'10-13');">Jer 50:10-13</a>] Again, the absence of subsequent habitation marks this event as yet future.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'15');">Jer 50:15</a>] Again, the period of time is the "Day of Vengeance" of God, a time of climax described throughout the Scripture and yet future.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'20');">Jer 50:20</a>] The repeated references to the forgiveness of Israel imply a time that is after the New Testament period alluded to in <a onclick="return mV('Rom',11,25);">Romans 11:25</a>. It certainly cannot be applied to Israel at the time of her return from the Babylonian captivity (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',12,10);">Zec 12:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Zec',13,1);">13:1</a>).</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'40');">Jer 50:40</a>] A repeated comparison to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, which has never yet happened to Babylon.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,41,46);">Jer 50:41, 46</a>] A multinational force, not just the Persians.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,'7');">Jer 51:7</a>] A reading of the language clearly links this with <a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-');">Rev 17</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">18</a>.</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,'26');">Jer 51:26</a>] Again, a reference to the non-reuse of remaining materials. When Robert Koldewey arrived in Babylon in the late 1800's, he found entire sections of the old city being mined for bricks. (Kodewey, p.168.)</p>
|
||
<p class="hangIndent">[<a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,'45');">Jer 51:45</a>] Again, remarkably similar language as in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-');">Rev 17</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">18</a>.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The destruction of Babylon predicted by both Isaiah and Jeremiah <i>has never been fulfilled.</i></p>
|
||
<h5><a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-');">Revelation 17</a></h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Notice that the prostitute <i>is not the beast,</i> but <i>rides</i> the beast. She initially exploits the beast, but is eventually destroyed by him. (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,16,17);">Rev 17:16-17</a>.)</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The reference to the "cup" is another link with Jeremiah, et al.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Again, note the distinction between the Woman and the Beast.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Mystery Babylon as a false religious system is here identified with the city of Rome from the first century until this present hour.</p>
|
||
<h5><a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">Revelation 18</a></h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The destruction of Mystery Babylon continues in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">Chapter 18</a>, with commercial as well as religious overtones. Notice that there are three groups that bemoan her fall: kings, merchants, and those who trade by sea. Notice that here are 28 <i>literal</i>commodities listed: perhaps this is to prevent us from allegorizing these references (see chart on next page).</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The clear references to Rome, in both religious and commercial terms, have caused most commentators to identify "Mystery Babylon" as the Roman religious system commingled with the emerging European Community. This allegorical view has overlooked the reemergence of a literal city of Babylon as well.</p>
|
||
<h5>Babylon Reemerges?</h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The strange vision in <a onclick="return mV('Zec',5,'5-11');">Zecharaiah 5:5-11</a> suggests that there will be an appropriate time when the commercial and religious power center of the Planet Earth will, once again, migrate <i>back to its original site</i> of the literal city of Babylon.</p>
|
||
<div style="margin-left:20px;">
|
||
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" style="border:3px double #000;">
|
||
<tr><td rowspan="2"> </td><td colspan="2" class="cmtdtop">Isaiah</td><td colspan="2" class="cmtdtop">Jeremiah</td><td colspan="2" class="cmtdtop">Revelation</td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdcent" style="border-width:0px 0px 0px 1px;"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'1-');">13</a></td><td class="cmtdcent" style="border-width:0px"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1-');">14</a></td><td class="cmtdcent" style="border-width:0px 0px 0px 1px;"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'1-');">50</a></td><td class="cmtdcent" style="border-width:0px;"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,'1-');">51</a></td><td class="cmtdcent" style="border-width:0px 0px 0px 1px;"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-');">17</a></td><td class="cmtdcent" style="border-width:0px;"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">18</a></td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Many nations attacking</td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,4,5);">4-5</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,2,26);">2, 26</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,2,9,41,46);">2,9,41,46</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',1,'7');">7</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'16');">16</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Israel in Land forgiven</td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1');">1</a></td>
|
||
<td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,4, 20);">4, 20</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Like Sodom and Gomorrah</td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'19');">19</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'40');">40</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Never to be inhabited; bricks never reused</td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'20');">20</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'23');">23</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,13,26,39');">13, 26, 39</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,26,29,37);">26, 29, 37</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Israel in Land forgiven</td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1');">1</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,4, 20);">4, 20</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">During "Day of Lord"</td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,6,10,11, 13);">6, 10, 11, 13</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'25');">25</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent">X</td><td class="cmtdcent">X</td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Literal (Chaldean) Babylon</td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'19');">19</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'22');">22</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,'50');">50</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,4,24,63);">4, 24, 63</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Kings fornication, drunk with wine...</td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,'7');">7</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'2');">2</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,3, 9);">3, 9</a></td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td class="cmtdleft">Scarlet, purple, golden cup</td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"> </td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,'7');">7</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'3-4');">3, 4</a></td><td class="cmtdcent"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,6, 16);">6, 16</a></td></tr></table>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Note that the <i>"ephah"</i> and the <i>"talent"</i> were the standard commercial measures of volume and weight, respectively. The two carriers had the <i>"wings of a stork"</i> which is an unclean bird. The captive woman called <i>"wickedness"</i> may be a reference to the harlot of <a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-');">Revelation 17</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">18</a>.</p>
|
||
<a name="mystbab" id="mystbab"></a>
|
||
<h5>"Mystery Babylon"</h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn"><i>All</i> forms of occultic practices have had their origins in the original city of Babylon. <a onclick="return multiClick('Isa',47,'1-');">Isaiah chapter 47</a> brings this out clearly. (See also Hislop in bibliography.) Tammuz, the son of Nimrod and his queen, Semiramis, was identified with the Babylonian Sun God, and worshipped following the winter solstice, about December 22.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">As Babylon was conquered by subsequent empires, this entire religious system was transplanted, first to Pergamos (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,'12-17');">Rev 2:12-17</a>) and then to Rome. When Constantine established Christianity as the official state religion of Rome, many of the religious traditions and practices of the earlier pagan worship were adapted and incorporated into the resulting system. As the Babylonian religious system was integrated with Christian ceremonial observances, many of our traditions surrounding Christmas emerge.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The Babylonian worship of Ishtar, the Golden Egg of Astarte, and the fertility rites of spring give us Easter ("Ishtar," the mother goddess of Babylon).</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The calendar year-end on October 31, and its associated occultic rituals, gave us our Halloween. Many ancient cultures (Celts, Druids, et al.) observed October 31, the Eve of Samhain, as their year-end. This was related to worship of Baal (Mars) and may have been stimulated by the perturbation of the orbit of the earth associated with the planet Mars. See our Briefing Package, <i>The Signs in the Heavens.</i></p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Most of what we associate with pagan Rome had its origins in ancient Babylon. It was the appearance of these idolatrous influences that has evoked the intense criticism of Roman Catholicism by Protestant commentators over the centuries (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,'18-19');">Rev. 2:18-19</a>). To equate "Mystery Babylon" with the Papacy, however, may be a myopic oversimplification. It appears more likely that it is an "ecumenical" integration of all the world's religions, including the ancient Babylonian occult forms that presently masquerade as the "New Age."</p>
|
||
<h5>The Conspiracy Theories</h5>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>Bab-El, Babylon, Nimrod: Pantheism; Polytheism; Occult; Kabbalah; Gnostics, et al. ZendAvesta; India; Egypt, etc.</li>
|
||
<li>Knights Templar (Protection for the Crusaders).</li>
|
||
<li>HQ: Jerusalem, Acra, Cypress.</li>
|
||
<li>Wealth; Lands. Corruption (at beginning? later?).</li>
|
||
<li>1100-1300: Satan Worship.</li>
|
||
<li>Catholics reluctant; ultimately they burn at stake; movement goes underground.</li>
|
||
<li>1500s re-emerge: Rosecrucians; Order of the Rose.</li>
|
||
<li>1600s, 1700s: Secret societies within secret societies.</li>
|
||
<li>May 1, 1776: "Illuminati"; Adam Weishaupt, Prof of Law, Univ of Englestasdt, Bavaria.</li>
|
||
<li>1870: "Merger" with the Freemasons.</li>
|
||
<li>Open worship of Satan; hidden from rank and file.</li>
|
||
<li>33 levels of secrecy. ...search their own libraries!</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h5>Great Seal of the United States</h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Designed and accepted in 1782 by Freemasons; influenced by European mysticism; put on the dollar bill by Henry A. Wallace, VP under FDR. Wallace fascinated by the occult.</p>
|
||
<div style="margin-left:20px;"><table>
|
||
<tr><td style="font-weight:bold;">Annuit Coeptis: </td><td>Announcing the birth of...</td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td style="font-weight:bold;">Novus</td><td>New</td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td style="font-weight:bold;">Ordo</td><td>Order</td></tr>
|
||
<tr><td style="font-weight:bold;">Seclorum</td><td>World</td></tr>
|
||
</table></div>
|
||
<p class="cmn"><b>Eagle:</b> Egyptian Sun god Amun Ra; Egyptians, Greeks, and Persians: eagle sacred to the sun. Eagle was the Living Symbol of Mendes, a representative of the Sun. (Nine tail feathers: Inner Circle of Nine of the Illuminati?) 32, 33 wing feathers: 32 degrees of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry; 33 on the left: the honorary 33rd degree.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn"><b>All Seeing Eye:</b> The Open Eye of Egypt; Symbol of Osiris; Ubiquity of Masonic Law; Sun God is associated with Lucifer.</p>
|
||
<h5>Council for Foreign Relations 1921</h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Dream: One World Government; 3000 members; members must not divulge meetings; no minutes taken. Control of most senior officials for decades?</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn"><b>Spin-offs:</b> Bilderbergers (Castle) - Europe; David Rockefeller; Major Media; Tri-Lateral Commission; Europe/Japan/U.S.; One World Government.<br>Signs? (Satan loves symbols).<br>Crescent Moon: Shriners. Islam, Vatican.<br>(See our Briefing Package, <i>The Sword of Allah.</i>)</p>
|
||
<p><b>Federal Reserve (A private corporation)</b></p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Fears of Thomas Jefferson, et al: Control of the currency; thus, explicitly prohibited in The Constitution.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Not "one" conspiracy (except in the Satanic sense)<29>many.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">[Any preoccupation with other than the Bible seems to open avenues of corruption of even the most well-intentioned pursuits.]</p>
|
||
<h4>Babylon Today</h4>
|
||
<h5>Nebuchadnezzar V?</h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Saddam Hussein was born in 1937 in the village of Tikrit, 100 miles north of Baghdad on the Tigris River. (About 800 years earlier, Saladin, the greatest Muslim warrior of the twelfth century, was born in the same village. It was Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in 1187 that resulted in the Third Crusade.)</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Saddam Hussein's exploits on behalf of the Baath Party became legend and when they seized control in 1968, Saddam Hussein, at the age of 31, became a leader in Iraq. A few weeks after becoming president of Iraq in 1979, he executed some of his closest friends and fellow members of the ruling Baath Party.</p>
|
||
<div align="center"><img src="./gifs/comm/missler/dan5_4.jpg"><br></div>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Saddam Hussein has spent almost 20 years<72>60 million bricks, and many hundreds of millions of dollars<72>rebuilding the city of Babylon as a deliberate stratagem to identify himself with the Nebuchadnezzar of old. Part of his strategy is to vigorously build his Babylonian identity to appeal to the entire Arab world to unite against Israel and the "infidel West."</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Between 1983 and 1988, Iraq spent $34 <i>billion</i> to outfit and modernize Saddam's army.</p>
|
||
<h5>Progress to date</h5>
|
||
<p class="cmn">Perhaps of greatest interest is the southern palace that includes Nebuchadnezzar's throne room where the famous "handwriting on the wall" took place in <a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'1-');">Daniel 5</a>. This very large ceremonial room has been used for various state occasions over the past several years.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">A replica of the famed Ishtar Gate, the main Processional Way, the Ninmakh Temple, the Ishtar Temple and others are all presently in the process of being completed.</p>
|
||
<p class="cmn">The Tower of Babel is being planned as a hotel, with plans for connecting to a monorail around the city. Also being completed is the 4000 seat Greek Theatre (originally established during the reign of Alexander) as well as other facilities.</p>
|
||
<div align="center"><img src="./gifs/comm/missler/dan5_5.gif"><br></div>
|
||
</div></div>
|
||
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