Babylon Then and Now
The story of Ancient Babylon’s demise is reflected in the “sixth trumpet” and the “sixth bowl of wrath” in Revelation.
In Revelation, this incident lies behind the portrayal of
the “inhabitants of the earth” who refused to repent of their sins, despite
enduring the “plagues” unleashed by the first six of the “seven
trumpets.” And the overthrow of ancient Babylon by the “Medes and
Persians” is echoed in the “sixth bowl of wrath” when the “kings
of the east” were released from the Euphrates River for the final battle on
the “great day of God the Almighty.”
Belshazzar’s celebration was interrupted when a mysterious hand wrote
unknown letters on the wall, letters that none of the Chaldean “wise men”
could interpret. Only Daniel was able to do so, and in the process, he issued a
stern rebuke to the Babylonian potentate for his blasphemy:
- (Daniel 5:20-23) – “But against the Lord of the heavens have you uplifted yourself, and the vessels of his house have they brought before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine therein, and GODS OF SILVER AND GOLD, OF BRONZE, IRON, WOOD AND STONE, WHICH SEE NOT NOR HEAR NOR KNOW HAST THOU PRAISED, whereas, God in whose hand your breath is and whose are all your ways, HIM HAVE YOU NOT GLORIFIED.”
In contrast to his noble ancestor, King Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar
failed to humble his heart, and instead, he profaned the Lord’s sacred vessels.
Rather than honor the “Most-High” as Nebuchadnezzar had done, he praised
false gods and idols.
The same hardness of the heart is reflected in Revelation. After
the sounding of the “sixth trumpet,” four angels were loosed from the
Euphrates who roused a massive army that slew a “third of mankind.” This
was the latest and worst of the series of “plagues” inflicted on the
earth by the “seven trumpets.”
But the men who survived all “these plagues” continued to refuse
to repent. Rather than acknowledge the God of heaven, they paid homage to “the IDOLS OF GOLD AND OF SILVER AND OF COPPER and
of stone and of wood, WHICH
CAN NEITHER SEE NOR HEAR NOR WALK.” And
their stubborn refusal more than justified God’s “wrath” on them when
the “seventh trumpet” sounded and ushered in the “Day of the Lord”
- (Revelation 9:13-20, 11:15-19).
Verbally, the “sixth trumpet” is
linked to the “sixth bowl of wrath” by the references to the “Euphrates
River.” Just as the “four angels” were “loosed” from the river
to attack men, so when the “sixth bowl” was emptied, the Euphrates was
dried up, preparing the way for the invasion by the “kings of the east” that
culminated in the battle at the “place called Armageddon,” which
resulted in the destruction of end-time “Babylon” when the “seventh
bowl of wrath” was emptied - (Revelation 16:12-21).
Likewise, on the night when the army of the “Medes and Persians” captured
Ancient Babylon, it first dammed the Euphrates, then its troops entered the massively
walled city along the dry riverbed. In this way, the “great city” was
conquered in one night, and Belshazzar, the last ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire,
was slain – (Daniel 5:24-31, Isaiah 44:27-45:1, Jeremiah
50:38-42).
Thus, in Revelation, key events from the book of Daniel
become patterns for the final cosmic conflict between the “Lamb” and the
“Dragon.” And in this case, the overthrow of Ancient Babylon foreshadows
the destruction of end-time “Babylon, the Great Harlot” in whom was
found “all the abominations of the earth.”
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