The Daughter Of Babylon?

We recall now a time in ancient bible history, (Genesis 11: 1 -9) Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the East, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused  the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

This was the ancient forerunner and earlier picture of the fabulously wealthy Babylonian Empire that ruled over the nations of the known world with members from every nation and tribe united under one language and King. The Babylonians had plundered Israel and took it’s people into captivity for a number of years. Eventually the Jews returned to their own land and Babylon was destroyed. (Jeremiah 50: 35 - 36) “A sword upon the Chalde′ans, says the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes and her wise men! A sword upon the diviners, that they may become fools! A sword upon her warriors, that they may be destroyed!

Two hundred years ago, scholars doubted whether Babylon ever existed. The only record could be found in the Bible. Critics used the story of Babylon, and what they called its "non-historic kings," to discount Scripture. However, Babylon was discovered and excavated in 1898.

We know today that Babylon was one of the first cities in the world, and founded by Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:9-10). Archaeologists have found his name on many inscriptions and tablets, while a massive head of Nimrod has been excavated near Calah on the Tigris River.

The Bible tells the story of the tower of Babel and how the language of mankind was confused there. Archaeologists have found that the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia had a popular habit of building towers called ziggurats. Almost every city of importance had at least one.

The Tower of Babylon was the highest and largest of all, being 91 meters high and built in seven stages. The foundations and a few steps of the stairway may still be seen today. This was the most probable location of the Tower of Babel.

For 1400 years, the city of Babylon grew in importance. In 626 BC, it became the capital of the Babylonian empire. Babylon reached its peak in the time of Nebuchadnezzar II, becoming the wonder of the ancient world. It was 18 kilometers in circumference, with 26-meter-wide double walls towering 62 meters high. It was a magnificent sight, the famous Hanging Gardens were one of the seven wonders of the world. We know today that ancient Babylon was a center of advanced science, art, culture, and industry. Then appeared upon the scene the Hebrew prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah who predicted her utter destruction. "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah" (Isaiah 13:19).

"And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, and astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant" (Jeremiah 51:37). These amazing prophecies are all the more astounding because Babylon was located at the very center of economic trade routes of that time. Destruction of a city might have been plausible, but that it would never be rebuilt to be inhabited again seemed far-fetched. This prophetic claim has been tested over the ages, yet the prophecy stands to this very day.

Babylon was extremely wealthy. Jeremiah predicted that these treasures would be robbed, and that all who robbed her would be satisfied (Jeremiah 50:10). To read this history is to read the fulfillment of the prophecy. Cyrus the Median took treasures, Xerxes the Persian took huge amounts of gold, and Alexander of Greece plundered what was left, fulfilling these prophecies to the letter.

(Jeremiah 51:33) For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden;

yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.”

So then the question remains, who is the daughter of Babylon?

This is an obvious allusion to a nation in later times much like that of the former great Babylonian Empire with inhabitants from every nation, tongue and tribe on earth united under one government and one language. There is only one nation under God that comes to mind that fits the description.

Will this be a nuclear holocaust?

(Revelation 18: 1 - 10) After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird; For all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness.” Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds;

mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, ‘A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,’ so shall her plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; they will stand far off, in fear of her torment. (15, 17- 18 ) The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning.