The Desolation of Babylon

Long before Babylon even became a power and defeated the Assyrians or even exiled Judah and Jerusalem, Isaiah was prophesying against them. The sovereignty of God over the nations is revealed as God tells of what He will do in the future. He will raise nations up and He will bring them low. There is nothing beyond the power of God to accomplish. And for Babylon, their future was total desolation, just as Sodom and Gomorrah lay in ruins by the Dead Sea, having been burnt and never rebuilt, so will Babylon stand forever in its destruction. 

God is mustering an army for the Day of Judgment against Babylon. They will come from the ends of the heavens to destroy that whole country. The Day of the LORD is near - nearer than when Isaiah prophesied 2700 years ago - and it will be a Day of Destruction. All hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear. Terror will seize them. pain and anguish will grip them. Like a woman in labor their faces will be aghast. The LORD does not mince words in this prophesy. The Day of the LORD will be a cruel day filled in wrath and fierce anger. He will make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. 

There will be signs in the heavens as this Day of the LORD occurs.  The stars and constellations will not show their light. The sun and moon will be darkened. The heavens will tremble and the earth will be shaken from its own orbit when the LORD Almighty pours out His wrath. He will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sins. The arrogance of the haughty and the pride of the ruthless will come to an end. Mankind will become scarcer than pure gold. People will flee to their native lands. Whoever is captured will be thrust through and fall by the sword. The sword will not care about the women or infants either - even they will be destroyed.

Is Isaiah referring to a yet future event or one that for us has already passed? God tells us that He will raise up the Medes against Babylon. This happened in October 539 BC. History records that those armies had no regard for their enemies, they cut them all down, whether man, woman, children, or infants. That war was brutal and total in its destruction. Babylon was overthrown, but it remained a vital city and people lived there for generations after Cyrus came and went. Even up to 1000 AD, Babylon was a place where people lived. What is missing?

Isaiah continues his prophecy against Babylon with these words, 'Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.'  A partial fulfillment was made when the Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon the night when Daniel was called to interpret the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar. The final and fuller fulfillment will be what is recorded in the book of Revelation, when God brings down fire from Heaven on the Whore of Babylon and wipes it out in one hour. The stars will be eclipsed, the sun and moon covered by an even larger heavenly body. The world will shake and the wrath of God will be poured out on the world system began by Nimrod back at the Tower of Babel. Then Jesus will destroy the wicked and reign as King over all.