In this installment, we’ll take another look at the destruction of Babylon, this time from a spiritual perspective. At issue here is the origin of the pagan religions of the world and Satan’s effort to make himself the object of all worship. Then we’ll watch as Israel is once again made the premier nation on Earth.

Isaiah 47:1-15 The Fall of Babylon
“Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate.  Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil.  Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams. Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.” (Isaiah 47:1-3)

According to Genesis 10:8-12 Babylon was originally founded by Nimrod.  His wife Semiramis, who sometimes personifies Babylon in this prophecy, originally called herself the Virgin of the Sea, and that’s most likely the source of Isaiah’s sarcastic portrayal of  Babylon in this passage. His command to “sit on the ground without a throne” is a reference to Babylon’s self proclaimed title of “Queen of Kingdoms”.  Following with instructions to act like an ordinary woman of the time is like saying, “You’re no virgin and you’re no queen.  You’re no better than anybody else.”  As He frequently does, the Lord has His prophet use sexual terminology to symbolize their lack of righteousness.

Our Redeemer—the LORD Almighty is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.

“Sit in silence, go into darkness, Daughter of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms.  I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy.  Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke. (Isaiah 47:4-6)

Here’s a prophecy that God would order the Babylonian captivity because of Israel’s disobedience. Jeremiah would later say that God was giving Israel to Babylon for 70 years and after that He would judge the Babylonians for their guilt. (Jeremiah 25:8-12) Some have questioned the Lord’s motives in judging Babylon for simply obeying His instructions, and for them Isaiah’s prophecy also contains His answer to their accusation.

You said, ‘I will continue forever— the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.  “Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security and saying to yourself,  ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’  Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. (Isaiah 47:7-9)

Under Satanic influence, Semiramis declared that she had been impregnated by the Sun god and then gave birth to a son, Tammuz.  When he was killed in a hunting accident she went into mourning.  After 40 days he supposedly rose from the dead.  Semiramis thereupon named herself the eternal Queen of Heaven and established a celibate priesthood with an “infallible” leader to organize the worship of her and her son.  She concluded that being the wife of a god and the mother of a “resurrected” son made her a goddess and meant she would never be a widow, nor would she suffer the loss of children.

Of course this was all nonsense, put into her head by Satan, the author of lies. But she became so powerful that her story has lived on in one form or another in every major mythology, and when the pagan religion of Rome was merged with Christianity in the 4th Century, traditions that began with her  were continued in the Roman Church. Mistletoe, the Yule log, hot cross buns, the evergreen tree, the 40 days of lent, the elevation of Mary and others all come from the Babylonian mother-child cult started by Semiramis.  Even the Bible recognizes her notoriety. The phrase “land of Shinar” is thought by some to have been derived from her name.

But as Rev. 18:4-8 confirms, total destruction would suddenly come upon the kingdom she personifies. By using a portion of Isaiah 47:7-9 John lends support to the view that he was speaking of literal Babylon, not some place else. At the end of the age, the great Babylonian religion will return to its place of origin to die at the location of its birth.  Zechariah 5:5-11 explains this:

Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what this is that is appearing.”

I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “It is a measuring basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”

Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!  He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed the lead cover down over its mouth.

Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When it is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”

When Babylon was conquered (but not destroyed) the seat of its mother-child cult was first moved to Pergamus, where Satan had his throne (Rev. 2:13), and then to Rome.  So far it has never returned to Babylon, but 100 years after the Persians had conquered Babylon, Zechariah wrote that it will.  The spirit of Semiramis is the woman in the basket who personifies wickedness.  When the time is right she will be returned to her ancestral home.  The Hebrew word translated Babylonia above is Shinar.  We should remember that while Shinar may or may not be a derivative of Semiramis, it is a physical location  in Mesopotamia called Babylon.

After the Rapture, the two largest and most powerful religious systems on Earth will be the Catholic Church and Islam.  In Rev. 17, John describes how for a time they’ll appear to be united. A woman, identified as mystery Babylon, the mother of prostitutes, will be riding a beast, which has earlier been described both as the anti-Christ and his kingdom.  (Some traditions hold that far from being the Virgin of the Sea, Semiramis was the madam of a brothel when she first met Nimrod.  If so, she really was the “mother of prostitutes”.)

The woman and the beast are not the same, but for a time will appear to be in league with each other.  The woman, being the rider, will actually be the dominate partner at first and has long been identified with the Catholic Church. But as Rev. 17:16 tells us, the anti-Christ and his kingdom will actually hate the woman, and acting on God’s orders will destroy her.

Now think about this.  If the anti-Christ will come from the Catholic Church, as some believe, would he destroy the very system he heads up? I don’t think so. But today the countries that made up the Eastern leg of the Old Roman Empire are Islamic, and the anti-Christ could just as easily come from there as from the West.  One of the central tenets of Islam is to make peace with your enemies until you’re powerful enough to conquer them.  To me, it’s perfectly logical to see Islam’s messianic figure, who some call al Mahdi, teaming up with the Pope after the rapture until he becomes powerful enough to consolidate the whole world under Islam and eliminate the Catholic religion.  Both John’s and Zechariah’s prophecies could be fulfilled that way with the one world religion headquartered in Babylon.  If so, the location of its birth will become the location of its death, just like Isaiah foretold.

You have trusted in your wickedness  and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’  Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom;  a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you. (Isaiah 47:10-11)

The Babylonian religion has always assumed that there is no one greater, no power to hold it accountable. But when the day of its destruction comes, neither great wealth nor supernatural power will be sufficient to rescue it.

“Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.  All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!  Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame.  Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by. That is all they can do for you—these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood. Each of them goes on in his error; there is not one that can save you.” (Isaiah 47:12-15)

Today, some unbelievers dismiss Christianity as a corruption of the Legend of Semiramis, just another mother-child cult with Mary in the role of the Queen of Heaven and Jesus as the resurrected son, Tammuz. But here Isaiah shows that even though the myth preceded the truth in fulfillment, it was the prior knowledge of the truth that spawned the myth. Long before the prophets wrote of a coming Messiah, God had the gospel written the stars.  It was called the Mazzaroth and was based on 12 constellations with a total of 48 stars traditionally named by Adam, Seth, and Enoch. Called by their Hebrew names, the stars in these 12 constellations tell of a coming redeemer who would be born of a virgin, die for the people, and be resurrected to life. But, still acting under Satan’s influence, Semiramis and her priests corrupted the Mazzaroth into the 12 signs of the zodiac, giving birth to the blasphemy we call astrology today. Evidence of this has been confirmed in the ruins of the tower of Babel, one purpose of which was the study of astrology.  That’s why in Biblical times the practice of astrology was a crime punishable by death (Deut.18:10).  (You who follow your horoscope should take heed)

No matter how astute their knowledge nor how comprehensive their experience, no astrologer will be able to save him or her self from God’s judgment, let alone their mentor and their goddess, Semiramis.

Isaiah 49:8-26. Restoration of Israel
This is what the LORD says:  “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you;  I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. See, they will come from afar—some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan.” (Isaiah 49:8-12)

The Lord has always kept a faithful remnant of Israel. In each generation some have been called to simply keep the dream alive in their hearts, while others moved the Lord’s agenda forward, one small painful step at a time. But soon the time of waiting will be over. Imagine the joy in the hearts of those who hear the Lord’s call to reassign the tribal inheritances, as prophesied in Ezekiel 48. When that happens, they’ll know it’s forever, that their times of hardship and unmet expectations are over.

Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” (Isaiah 49:13-14)

After so many centuries of disappointment and heartbreak, many will be unable to believe it’s actually happening.  Over time they’ve spiritualized the promises and allegorized the prophecies until it no longer seems possible that the Lord will actually return for them. His response is poignant to the point of tears.

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,  I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.  Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.

Lift up your eyes and look around; all your sons gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

“Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away. The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing,  ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’

Then you will say in your heart,  ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up?  I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’ ” (Isaiah 49:15-21)

As the people return in a seemingly endless stream, they’ll be surprised at their own numbers.  After 2000 years of relentless persecution the size of their population will far surpass their expectations.  The true extent of the Lord’s providence will be seen in their preservation.  And though for 70 years now they’ve heard the world constantly demanding that they get smaller, they’ll realize that instead, they’ll  need to get bigger. Ezekiel’s prophecy says that Israel in the Kingdom Age will extend from 100 miles north of Damascus to 100 miles south of Jerusalem, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, so it’ll will be more than sufficient to their needs.

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” (Isaiah 49:22-23)

Having labored to keep their Jewish populations subjugated and contained, gentile leaders will offer them every kind of assistance when the Lord returns in victory.  It will be their last chance to get back into His good graces, and there’s no limit to what they’ll do avoid being seen as opposed to His wishes. Sadly, it’ll be too late.

Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce?  But this is what the LORD says:  “Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with  wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Isaiah 49:24-26)

Israel’s wealth will be restored, all their captives set free.  The Lord will personally see to it. The ill gotten gains of their enemies will be taken to the point of leaving them completely destitute, and they’ll finally realize that the Lord sees fighting against Israel as fighting against Him.

In this installment, we’ll gain a little more detail on the blessings Israel will receive in the Kingdom Age, and we’ll also see the Lord’s response to those who claim that His promises to Israel were canceled because they rejected the Messiah.

Isaiah 40:1-14. Comfort for God’s People
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.(Isaiah 40:1-2)

After the 2nd Coming, the surviving world’s attitude toward Israel will change as the Lord commands them to speak words of peace and comfort to His people. In Isaiah 61:7 we’ll see that instead of their shame, God’s people will receive a double portion of joy in their inheritance.

A voice of one calling:  “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

John the Baptist quoted the first part of this passage when the Jewish officials asked who he was (John 1:23). It’s complete fulfillment will come when the Lord returns.  In Biblical times, when a King was about to take a journey, construction crews were sent ahead to smooth and level the road.  Gullies were filled in, hill tops leveled off and all irregularities removed from the way, so the King would not feel any discomfort or experience any delay on his journey. When the Lord returns this will be accomplished supernaturally in plain view of all as the creation itself responds in joy to the arrival of the Messianic King.

A voice says, “Cry out.”

And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

Throughout the last 2000 years many people have doubted it would ever happen. Learned theologians have stood in the lecture halls of our seminaries and the pulpits of our churches and denied this day. Peter warned us this would happen.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4)

Some have taught that all prophecies concerning the Lord and Israel were fulfilled before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and that we are to view the Bible’s prophetic passages as being historical.

Others have said there would be no literal return of the Lord for anyone, that prophecies speaking of such were to be seen as allegory, not fact, fulfilled when we invited the Lord into our hearts.

And still others have said that even if the Lord does come back, it won’t be for Israel.  They said that  by rejecting the Messiah Israel had been disqualified from receiving God’s promises, leaving the Church as God’s sole beneficiary. This doctrine, known as replacement theology, is at the core of liberal protestant belief even today.

But these views of man are of no more value than the grass and flowers that dry up and blow away.   The Lord has made clear promises to His people and His word stands forever.

You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,  lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:9-11)

Those who are being told to comfort His people are now asked to go before the Lord and present Him to them.  Jesus quoted from this passage in Revelation 22:12. “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.”  And what is His reward? They will be His people and He will be their God.  It’s the final fulfillment of the 4th cup of the Passover, “I will take you as my own people and I will be your God.”(Exodus 6:7)  Like a shepherd tends his flock, he’ll see to all the needs of His people.

And As For The Rest Of You … Isaiah 40:12-14, Isaiah 41:8-16
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?  Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind (Spirit) of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?   Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? (Isaiah 40:12-14)

The smug intellectuals who scoffed at the prophecies and said they meant something else will have a tough time answering these questions. This passage reminds me of the Lord’s confrontation with Job (Job 40-41), and like him they’ll be at a loss for words.  It’s as if the Lord is saying, “Who are you to tell my people what I meant? Have you done the things I’ve done? Have you ever understood My Spirit?  Did I ever seek your advice or ask for your opinion? Of that day the Lord has said, “The wisdom of the wise will perish and the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” (Isaiah 29:14)

“But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,  I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:8-10)

In spite of those who allegorize the prophecies away and say that Israel has no purpose in the world today, the Lord will gather His people from the the farthest corners of the Earth and bring them home, just like a shepherd gathers his scattered sheep and reunites his flock.

“All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you  will be as nothing at all.  For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.  Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:11-14)

Israel’s enemies will come to naught, and will no longer be found. As their shepherd The Lord will protect and defend  His people. The last phrase of this passage reveals an interesting secret.  We already know that when we see the word LORD all in caps, it means the Hebrew text contains the 4 initials of God’s name, JHVH (YHWH).  That means the name of God the Father belongs there.

But the Hebrew word for redeemer is only used for the kinsman redeemer, the Son.  And even though both Father and Son are in view, God had Isaiah write “I myself will help you.”  It’s one of the many hints in Scripture that Jesus was being literally accurate when He said, “I and the Father are one”. (John 10:30) Not just one in purpose, or from one family, but literally one.  As He told Philip, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.  You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:15-16)

Even more than now “little” Israel will be a force to be reckoned with at the End of the Age.  Mountains and hills represent governments here and before it’s over, the Lord’s government will be the only one left. All others will have blown away like chaff on the wind.

Daniel described the fate of the world’s governments when confronted by the Kingdom of God in similar terms. First the vision Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The statue represents the four Gentile governments who have ruled the world from Daniel’s time till now.

While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:34-35)

 

And now Daniel’s interpretation.

 

The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. (Daniel 2:44-45)

 

History tells us that the iron represents Rome, the bronze Greece, the silver Persia, and the gold Babylon.  Prophecy shows that the Rock that will crush them all is the Kingdom of God.

 

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name. (Zech. 14:8-9)

By the end of the day of His return, the Lord will be King over all the Earth and the seat of His Kingdom, Israel.

No More Curse Forever. Isaiah 41:17-20
“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Isaiah 41:17-20)

Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.” (Isaiah 55:13)

These two references confirm the Lord’s earlier promise that at His return the curse that has plagued the Earth since the days of Adam and Eve will be lifted. Israel will be a garden paradise with mountain streams and fertile valleys.  Every one who looks upon it will understand that the Holy One of Israel has created it. Like the rainbow was a sign that there would never again be a world wide flood (Genesis 9:12-17), Israel will be a sign that the curse is gone forever.

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.  I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:13-15)

Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. (Micah 4:4)

What we’ve learned so far is that at the beginning of the Millennium all of Israel’s enemies will have been vanquished.  The Messiah will be King of the whole Earth.  Every citizen of Israel will be a Messianic Jew. The curse will be gone and the planet will have been restored to the paradise it was when Adam arrived to take dominion over it.  Satan will be bound and his demonic hordes defeated.   It sounds pretty good, but there’s plenty more to come.