Babylon Rises from the Dust
Editors Note: Chapter 1 from the book, "A Palace For The Antichrist" by Rev. Joseph Chambers.
The only biblical fulfillment, in our generation, that surpassed the rebuilding of ancient Babylon is the regathering of Israel to their God-given homeland. Babylon represents to the world system what Israel represents to biblical ideas and Christianity. The climax of all the ages is at hand. Everything must be in order. Judicial excellence must be perfectly satisfied. The Creator is ready to conclude the period within eternity that we call time. Human systems of religious and civic order have failed, but from that failure God has redeemed a remnant of godly men and women; and it is time for their vindication. They will be His new kings and priests and will reign under His complete Holiness and perfect government forever and ever.
Babylon was the world system that popularized the vices of paganism and government control over the masses. Man was created to be the Creator’s family and to live under His sovereign and spiritual Lordship. When our early fathers rejected His commandments, they accepted control by an evil system designed by Lucifer and carried out by the basest of men. Satan has always sought base-minded men to be his emissaries. That is why carnal, worldly persons are found in high places of government. An evil system will lift the shrewd into positions of power to gain control over human lives. That is what the liberalism of America represents today. The ultimate struggle is between good and evil, godliness and godlessness.
William Buckley, one of America’s foremost conservative thinkers, said in his book, God and Man at Yale, "I believe that the duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world. I further believe that the struggle between individualism and collectivism is the same struggle reproduced on another level."
Babylon of the Past
It is absolutely imperative that Babylon be rebuilt and once again heralded as the great city. God’s final judgment cannot be complete unless the judgment equals the offense. It is not acceptable for Him to judge someone or something that symbolizes the offender. His judicial excellence requires perfect justice in complete harmony with the sin and rebellion that is judged. (I.e., He cannot judge you for someone else just because you are similar to him or her.) The province and city of Babylon will be judged for her sin and stubbornness against the government and holiness of God.
The Babylonian wickedness introduced three major systems in opposition to God’s rule of His creation. All three of these systems have continued from that day and have been the means of great evil and human catastrophe. Every cruelty known to man has sprung from one of these systems. They were expressed in earlier towns of Sumer, Assyria, Persia and Egypt, etc., but were made fashionable by Babylon. Understanding these systems is imperative to this book and the rise of Babylon.
First System: Babylon made pagan religions fashionable. They took the base and deplorable idea of pantheism (matter of a series of gods representing every act or expression of nature) and elevated all of it to an art form. They incorporated art, drama, and music until the pagan ideas were beautifully represented in the highest expression of their culture. These ideas literally overwhelmed the populace and they gave to it their souls. Then they added sexual and carnal satisfaction with great feast days, celebrations, and pleasurable religious expressions, including sexual orgies and temple prostitution. The religious life became the center of the cultures, and the king or queen was transformed into a god or goddess. The whole idea is a perfect picture of the New Age religion so popular today. It is religious Babylon seen in Revelation 17 and being joined by every religious system of our present world. Any religion that becomes primarily celebration, pomp, and emotional titillation is following the Babylonian system.
Second System: Babylon then took the ideas of the city-states as known in Ur, Erech (Uruk), and many other small cities, and gave it a philosophical and intellectual form. They raised government to a system of bureaucracies, which permanently established control over the populace. They brought in representation from conquered small states and trained them to serve as their bureaucrats and then used them to control their own people. Building giant forms of bureaucracies, they made the people dependent on government. As government met human needs, it took on a god-like form. The state became all-powerful, and the people gave up their independence.
Third System: Iraq today brags about the kind of educational system and inventions it gave the world through the Sumerian and Babylonian periods. Here is their description: "What is known is that they were a tremendously gifted and imaginative people. The language, linguistically related to no other, ancient or modern, is preserved for us through the thousands of clay tablets on which they inscribed and developed the first writing as yet known to man. Fortunately, the Sumerians were prolific writers and meticulous record-keepers: these tablets richly describe their existence. With the invention of writing, the simple village life could evolve into complex civilization. They developed schools for an educated elite and for the many scribes who were needed for all the record-keeping and letter-writing they liked to do. Not only business records were written down but also the first numbers, calendars, literature, laws, agricultural methods, pharmacopoeias, personal notes, maps, jokes, curses, religious practices, and thousands of lists and inventories of all manner of human interests."
They made education a responsibility of the state and used it to promote state control. The educated elite came to claim authority and wisdom above the common people. Through the elitist educational, system they were able to control thought and intellectual development. When government operates the educational program, you have the fox in the hen house. This kind of a government run program takes on the form of the all-powerful state and squelches independent thinking so intrinsic to personal responsibility and true faith in God. These three systems are destined to be judged in the very geography of their origination.
Babylon Rises Again
A recent booklet published by the Iraqi government best describes their dream for rebuilt Babylon. The booklet’s title itself is quite revealing: From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein, Babylon Rises Again. (An edited form of this book is presented in Chapter 3). Let me quote the first six paragraphs:
"Babylon rises again. Glorious in a glorious time. She is the lady of reviving centuries. Rising dignified and holy. Showing the great history of Iraq. Adding to its magnificence. And emphasizing its originality. The Phoenix of the new time rising alive from the ashes of the past to face the bright present that places it on a golden throne and bringing back to it its charming youth and unique glory.
"Babylon was not a city made of rocks and bricks and full of events. It was not a forgotten place of the ancient past. In fact, Babylon is something else. Since its birth Babylon has stretched its arm to the future to be the place of wisdom and to represent the civilization and to remain as a glittering lighthouse in the dark nights of history. Here is Bab-ilu…
"It survived the ages, defied all times and overcame whatever threatened its existence. It won the battles by virtue of its great heritage and the formidable men, who carried that heritage, and defended it throughout the ages that produced unique heroes who know the originality of their city as it rises and revives to add to human civilization something new in writing, law, astronomy, medicine, arts, literature, commerce, agriculture, education, and mathematics. So history can start with it so that it remains the compass throughout the ages.
When Babylon was consisted of small city-states and separate dynasties. Hammurabi waged successive wars to unite these city-states so that Babylon remains as one city, as the bright light of civilization.
"However, it suffered more and more from repeated attacks until Nebuchadnezzar came to power and reconstructed it. He built temples and high walls as he realized it was the pulpit of the first Iraqi civilization.
"Today looks exactly like yesterday. After long periods of darkness that enveloped the land of Babylon and concealed its characteristics, Saddam Hussein emerges from Mesopotamia, as Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar had emerged, at a time to shake the century old dust off its face. Saddam Hussein, the grandson of the Babylonians, the son of this great land is leaving his fingerprints everywhere." (From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein, Babylon Rises Again, printed by Iraqi government.)
When you couple this dream of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with present facts it makes an impressive picture. World Press Review ran a story in the February 1990 edition. Let me quote a few excerpts from that review. Here’s how they described ancient Babylon, "And yet, for almost two millennia, Babylon was the most important city in the world. It was the commercial and financial center for all of Mesopotamia – the link connecting the Orient with the Mediterranean, Egypt with Persia. Its scribes and priests spread the cultural heritage of Sumeria, Chaldea, Assyria and Ur — the arts of divination, astronomy and accounting; private commercial law; and even the chariot – through the ancient world."
They then gave a description of what is actually happening now: "Today, thousands of workers are reconstructing the ancient city of Babylon in the middle of the Iraqi desert. More than that of Marduk or even of Nebuchadnezzar, the new Babylon, expected to be finished in 1994 (the date has been revised because of the war), will be the city of Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein. Though he has not had the martial successes of his distant predecessors, he is having his name stamped into the bricks with which the city is being restored. Every six feet along the new walls, there is a brick with an inscription in Arabic provided by the Iraqi president: ‘The Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar was reconstructed in the era of Saddam Hussein.’ Sixty million bricks have been laid so far."
It is very clear from this World Press Review that archaeologists (at least outside Iraq) think this is an unjustifiable adventure. They called it a "megalomaniacal Disneyland." Regardless, the Iraqi ruler continues. The progress was described in these words, "Besides the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, which is almost complete, he plans to rebuild the summer palace, the temple of Hammurabi, the Greek theater, the processional way, and even the controversial Hanging Gardens, which many historians believe never existed. Three artificial hills, each almost 100 feet high, are being built on the plain. They will be planted with palm trees and vines. At the foot of the hills will be restaurants and perhaps a casino."
It is certainly exciting to preach a prophesied biblical truth for over 40 years and then watch as the great God of this universe fulfills all that you have preached. That is exhilarating, but the glory goes to God who has proven Himself so completely faithful that every nuance of His Word is to be perfectly fulfilled. Living in a day of religious intellectualism, most ministers and teachers have given Bible truths relative interpretation. We are not searching for those hidden gems of revelation as the great reformers and revivalists of the past. We are satisfied with warmed-over homiletics.
The rebuilding of Babylon has caught the church leaders of our day by surprise and most of the ones I know are still denying that there is any significance. Very soon there will be no doubt. Here are some things you can watch for that will help strengthen this powerful biblical truth.
- Iraq will continue to be in the world news.
- This small nation will continue to be a sore spot in the Middle East and will gain political dominance.
- The rhetoric between Iraq and Israel will come and go until the fateful hour.
- Watch for a peace initiative between Iraqi leaders and Israeli moderates. This will eventually lead to a covenant of peace.
- Don’t set a timetable on what is happening. Leaders could well come and go before the ultimate events in this nation of destiny.
Babylon, Yet to be Destroyed in Biblical Fulfillment
A few brave souls have preached that the prophesied destruction of Babylon is yet future. Most Bible scholars have chosen the least controversial route of the convenient interpretation. They have taught that the great prediction of her destruction was complete and this city would never have a future. They cited such passages as, "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, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there." (Isaiah 13:19-20) It certainly sounds convincing on the surface.
As we pointed out earlier in this chapter, Babylon is the human source of every foul institution that Satan has developed to control men. The pagan institutions of religion, the design of a governmental bureaucracy to control civil institutions and state controlled education are certainly his (Satan’s) methods to establish his own government. God created men to be ruled by His theocracy. The invasion of sin changed that. Satan did not just induce men to slip up. Man fell into his arms, and he became the god of this world. Every true believer has been a pilgrim and remnant since that day. We are not of the world, neither its systems.
Such debauchery. As I have described, must be judged. To think that judgment is complete in the past is to ignore many great biblical principles. Not only do we have direct scriptural proof that her judgment is future, the very idea of a final hour of restitution and revelation demands it. When the reconciliation of all things is at hand, both systems, God’s and Satan’s, must be seen in contrast. It will be forever and indelibly etched in man’s mind that evil does not pay. Satan and sin will be seen in the light of eternal purity and justice, and the elect will never desire the opposite of the Creator. After this impending judgment, there will never be another "Garden of Eden" catastrophe.
The Mystery Babylon, Mother of Harlots
The 18th chapter of Revelation is the picture of a revived political system, while chapter 17 is Babylon’s pagan system of religion. The harlot decked with gold and precious stones and pearls; arrayed in purple and scarlet represents all false religions and the entire ecumenical religious crowd. Every religious idea from the crudest paganism to the pomp of Rome will be united in lust for wealth and political power. They will serve the political system and gain the allegiance of the multitudes. Religion is the most powerful unifying force on this earth. The Antichrist will use the harlot and then destroy her.
Here is the picture of the Babylonian political system destroying her religious ally, the harlot, "And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." (Revelation 17:15-17).
Just as Babylon under Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar used pagan religion to unify their control, the revived Babylon will do the same. But, remember, the political system always turns on the religious system when it has finished using her to gain the desired control over the people.
The Revived Political System of Babylon
Now we come to the actual rebuilding of this original city and her establishment as the leader of the world nations. Here are a few pertinent verses from Revelation 18, "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble." (Revelation 18:7-12)
"And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." (Revelation 18-21-24)
To read these passages leaves little doubt that the Holy Spirit is talking about a literal city. When Babylon is cited, the language is not symbolic language. To create symbolism by interpretative fiat is a horrible method of scriptural exegesis. It leaves the Holy Bible open to many intrusions that weaken its message. Once you accept the premise that this city is literal, then supportive truths emerge to strengthen the facts. Let us deal with a list of clear biblical support.
Babylon the Great is Fallen, is Fallen
"Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen." This is an incredible statement. If it appeared only once in the Bible, it would be powerful and dependable, but it is more than a statement; it is a theme. Babylon is destined for a specific act of God that will cause the whole earth to wonder. No doubt will be left that God the Creator had the last word. Look at the expression in this statement, "And he (the angel) cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen." (Revelation 18:2) Our God intends to show this act to the whole world.
Again in Revelation 14 we have almost the exact words. The setting of this expression is an overview of the time of judgment. The exact words are, "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (Revelation 14:8) This statement was made in conjunction with the worship of the Antichrist and his image, the mark of the beast, given to Satan’s initiates and to God’s great wrath against those who worship the devil and his cohorts.
It is striking that these same words appear in Isaiah’s treatment of the judgment of Babylon. "And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground." (Isaiah 21:9) Whenever such exact phraseology is used in Scripture we know that the Holy Spirit is arresting our attention. The wording is powerful proof that Isaiah and John are talking about the same judgment. We cannot ignore this fact.
Jeremiah made a similar statement by saying, "Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed." (Jeremiah 51:8) In all four of these predictions of destruction, suddenness is clearly a factor. Babylon is to be destroyed in a devastating blow of judicial expression. Historical facts clearly demonstrate that this has never happened. Her finely baked bricks have been used for centuries to build other buildings in the vicinity. A large town within visible sight named Hillah is almost completely constructed of bricks with the name Nebuchadnezzar stamped in them. The area is a lively community of businessmen, professionals, educators, farmers, herdsmen, and Iraqi governmental functions. God’s Word is specific when describing the final and complete judgment. It has not happened.
Even Saint Peter, when writing his first epistle, made mention of the church at Babylon. He said, "The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you." (I Peter 5:13) Some have tried to establish that he was talking about Jerusalem or Rome, but such language would have been utterly foreign in Peter’s day. If he had meant spiritual Babylon, the Holy Spirit would have inspired him to say that. That is the kind of confidence we can have in our verbally inspired, infallible Word of God.
The Arabs to be Judged in Babylon
The Holy Scripture clearly states that Arabians will be the occupants of this nation in the final hour of judgment. In previous times when Babylon was attacked and defeated, its occupants were Sumerians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians or Grecians, but never Arabians. In fact, it was in A.D. 637 that the first Arab empire was established in Mesopotamia. A northern city of Hatra was built and inhabited by Arabs about the time of Christ, but it was never more than a city-state. The first Arab government in Iraq was called the Abbasid Empire.
Here is another great evidence of biblical prophecy stating names and places hundreds of years in advance. Isaiah spoke by the Holy Spirit and prophesied, "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, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there." (Isaiah 13:19-20) Isaiah even called Babylon the beauty of the Chaldees, yet saw it occupied by the Arabians. This clearly puts the final judgment of this evil city after A.D. 637, and no such event has taken place in these intervening years. Another example of a small "jot or tittle" awaiting fulfillment in God’s pre-established hour.
Israel to Possess the Babylonians
The judgment of Babylon goes beyond the destruction of the city itself. Very important details can easily be seen as we view the larger picture. Those small details give specific information. Israel is destined to possess the Babylonians as servants even as they were once possessed. Isaiah said, "For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors." (Isa.14:1-2).
This has never been fulfilled. The golden kingdom of Israel is immediately after the tribulation of the last days when Babylon will be destroyed. Israel will possess the Promise Land stretching all the way to the Euphrates River and those whom she served will then be her servants and handmaids. Not one promise of the Word can fail, and this will be fulfilled.
Companion Prophecies (Isaiah 47, Revelation 18)
The 47th chapter of Isaiah is his most vivid description of Babylon’s judgment, filled with clear details and descriptive events. Revelation 18 is equally descriptive and similar beyond accident. There is no comparison in the two testaments more striking than these. Many quotes from the Old Testament by New Testament writers are far less similar than we see in these. Neither should be doubted because the New Testament is the completion of the Old Testament.
Let’s compare several passages. First, I will list the Isaiah text and then the corresponding text from the Book of Revelation.
"Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate." (Isaiah 47:1)
"For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." (Revelation 18:3)
"Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children." (Isaiah 47:8)
"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." (Revelation 18:7)
"But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments." (Isaiah 47:9)
"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." (Revelation 18:8)
"Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee." (Isaiah 47:13)
"And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." (Revelation 18:23)
I suggest that you read these two chapters several times and do a verse-by-verse study. They will yield many more similarities.
Babylon, the Seat of Sorceries and Paganism
This infamous city has provided the world with Satan’s clever duplication of the true faith and the one true God. The account of the Genesis creation is matched with the epic of creation, Babylonian style. The Flood of Noah has its counterpart in the epic of Gilgamesh. Even the biblical jurisprudence given by God to Moses has its contrast in the Code of Hammurabi. All of these satanic counterparts are far inferior and always filled with theological, moral, and philosophical distinctions that leave no doubt to their origin. Satan is the idiot god that rebelled against the Holy God.
Satan is having his last fling. Babylonian-style mythologies are experiencing worldwide interest. America has its New Age religion with multitude expressions of the occultic. From hit movies like "Pocahontas" to the metaphysical charismatic churches, our nation is on a binge of pleasure, riches, and superstition. Even jewelry is no longer simple worldliness. It is now an intimate part of the seduction scheme. New Agers are reproducing the Babylonian spirit in every conceivable idea. The very "elect" will be deceived if possible. The words "if possible" mean if you do not have the guards of the "Word" upon the frontlets of your spiritual eyes you are in grave danger of being deceived.