Posted on 07/29/2008 1:04:22 AM PDT by John Leland 1789
GOD'S REMEMBRANCE OF "BABYLON THE GREAT." Revelation 16:19; 18:5.
In the twenty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy there occurs a remarkable prediction of which no account is taken in the various handbooks that have lately been issued, but which has a most important bearing upon dispensational changes that now seem to be pending.
The verses are the 15th and 16th: "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel unto me; Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them."
Then follows the catalogue of the nations. They would be:
1st. JERUSALEM AND THE CITIES OF JUDAH—an apostate portion of the nation. Not apostate because of their sins and transgressions—the whole nation had been guilty in that respect—but apostate because they had not believed God and hearkened to His voice, and served the king of Babylon.
The twenty-fourth chapter shows this division. Those who heard the Lord's voice, in spite of past sins and transgressions, were regarded, in His good pleasure, as “very good figs,” even as Abraham believed God, and God was pleased to count him righteous. But those who remained believed the lie (27:10, 14, 15, 16; 28:1-17; 29:31, 32), and there would be no sword, but "peace and safety," and were reckoned as very bad figs, so vile that they could not be eaten, and upon them would fall the curse of Deuteronomy 38:37; and they would be utterly consumed, where ever they went, by the four sore judgments of Jehovah—the sword, the pestilence, famine, and the noisome beast. Thus it came about that this portion was simply regarded as "of the nations" or Goyim, while as to those described as "very good figs," Jehovah would be to them a God, and they to Him the people.
The great issue in Jeremiah is the "hearkening to the Lord's voice." The phrase is reiterated again and again in the Book. The alternative was to believe the lie, to hearken to prophets prophesying falsely in the name of Jehovah. This issue is thus presented in the seventh chapter, versus 22-26: "I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people: and walk ye in all the ways that I command you, that it may be well with you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: yet they hearken not unto Me, nor inclined of their year, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers."
2. PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT, AND HIS SERVANTS, AND HIS PRINCES, AND ALL HIS PEOPLE. Thus the very nation to whom they were looking for protection would also have to drink of the cup of the wine of the fury of the Lord. They would be put to the sword.
3. THE PHILISTINES, EDOM, MOAB AND AMMON, TYRE AND SIDON. The peoples round about Palestine that had so greatly troubled them in the past, these two would drink of the same wine cup with them and with Pharaoh.
4. NATIONS FURTHER OFF, SUCH AS DEDAN AND TEMA, ARABIA, ELAM, AND MADAI.
All these four classes of nations were to drink at one time, and at the hands of the king of Babylon, the cup of the wine of the fury of the Lord.
It is added, "And the King of Sheshach shall drink after them."
"Sheshach," say the Revisers, is, "according to ancient tradition, a cypher for Babel,"* i.e. for Babylon. (*God thus apparently turns their Kabbalism upon them. For by the Kabbalistic way of reckoning the last letter of the alphabet for the first, and so on, Sheshach and Babel are the same word.)
The time when Babylon was to drink of this wine cup was, then, to be a later one than that at which Jerusalem and Judah, Egypt, the nations round about Palestine, and the nations at a distance, would drink it.
At what later period, then, could this be?
First, let us reply at what later period we should not look for it. It could hardly take place during the time of the government of the earth by the four Gentile empires. The following considerations are offered by way of proof:
There were three prophets of the captivity—Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel, and these present three different aspects of the government of the earth.
The peculiar feature of the captivity period is that a revolution then took place in the government of the earth, to which nothing that has since transpired offers any parallel. For, from the day Israel crossed the Jordan to the times of the failures of her kings, nations, peoples, and kingdoms rose in strength when her iniquitys called for some divine chastisement, and fell when, through her repentance, the Lord granted deliverance; for she was God's kingdom upon earth, and by which He would, and will, rule the earth. But the whole system was set aside when the Shekinah left the earth.
EZEKIEL shows an end come upon the government of the earth in its divine form, Jehovah present in the Temple in Jerusalem, signified by the Shekinah-glory. The Shekinah is beheld departing from the earth. Then, in chapter twenty-five, the nations round about Palestine, such as the Philistines, Moab and Ammon, Edom, &c., are got rid of; next Egypt, Elam, and Assyria, which were aspiring to the mastery of the world as rivals to Babylon, are disposed of; and in chapter thirty-two the common dirge of all of them is sung.
This would have been the proper place to have introduced the four Gentile empires; but such a thought could not occur in Ezekiel. Any other form of government but that of Jehovah present in Jerusalem would be foreign to the whole scope of the Book, and the whole period of the rule of the four Gentile empires is omitted by Ezekiel. So that in chapters thirty-three to the end he is occupied about the restoration of the government of Jehovah, including the suppression of the rebellion of God after Israel is at rest in the land (the Lord, as the Son of man, having come according to promise), till at last the Shekinah-glory returns to the Temple, and the Millennium is established.
JEREMIAH neither shows the earth governed by the presence of Jehovah in the Temple at Jerusalem, nor by power committed to the four Gentile empires. What he shows is the earth not governed at all, but, on the contrary, nation rising up against a nation and kingdom against kingdom, their peoples drunken with the cup of the wine of the fury of the Lord, the sword finding its way into every land. Thus again the whole period of the rule of the four Gentile empires is omitted by Jeremiah as foreign to the scope of his prophecy.
DANIEL makes no reference to the government of the earth by the presence of Jehovah in the Temple at Jerusalem, as in Ezekiel. He makes no reference to the surging of the nations and absence of government, which forms the theme of the prophet Jeremiah. On the other hand, Daniel fills in the gap which Ezekiel and Jeremiah had left open, and shows how the interval will be occupied; viz., by power committed for a time to the four Gentile empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
These powers would be bestial in character; that is, like the wild animals, they would have no sense of responsibility to God, for God is not in all their thoughts.
The threefold view the scope of the captivity prophets seems indeed, essential to a right understanding of dispensational truth. For the question of the government of the earth is usually presented one-sidedly, Daniel, the most attractive of the three, being alone taken account of, and this has led many persons to think that the Millennium begins at the expiration of the times of the Gentiles,** which is nowhere stated in Scripture. (**It is not as a power governing by divine authority, but as one in rebellion against divine authority, that the image in Daniel 2 is crushed by the stone falling on it.)
The threefold view teaches us two important facts:
1. At some time after the times of the Gentiles have expired, and before the descent of the Lord as Son of Man to the earth, the scope of Jeremiah's prophecy will be again taken up and brought to its final issue.
2. At some time after the times of the Gentiles have expired, and after the descent of the Lord as Son of Man to the earth, the scope of Ezekiel's prophecy will be again taken up and brought to its final issue.
But it is with Jeremiah that we are occupied in this paper.
When, therefore, the times of the Gentiles come to an end, we must look to the land and city of Babel, or Babylon, being once more upon the scene; to a general refusal to hearken to the Lord's voice concerning a time at hand when the sword will be called for all over the earth, nation to rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, led by Judah and Jerusalem (now being repeopled by Jews returning in unbelief), but spread through all the earth. We must look to a false prophecy of "peace and safety," and universal belief in the lie, the pseudos, which formed the subject of a special article in our first number. At that time all these things should be expected, and lastly, but not least, God will call to mind the fact that He has not yet given to "the King of Sheshach," that he too may take of the cup of the wine of His fury, that his nation and the city may also drink and reel to and fro like a drunken man. For such is the scope of Jeremiah's prophecy.
In considering the call of Jeremiah, we note that he was ordained to be a prophet to the Gentiles, and that while yet in his mother's womb. (1:5.) Child though he was when the Lord put His words into his mouth, he was made "a defensed city, and an iron pillar and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land." (1:18.)
His assumption of the prophetic office commenced with two visions, the vision of the almond-rod and the vision of the seething caldron.
When interrogated regarding the former, as to what he saw, he replied, "I see a rod of an almond-tree," to which the Lord replied in a way not uncommon in Scripture, by the figure of paronomasia (when two words, though differently spelt, have a similar sound in pronunciation.), "Thou has well seen: for I will watch over my word to perform it," [“Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” (KJB)] the Hebrew for "almond" being shaked, and that for "watch over" being shoked. (1:11, 12, R.V.) The almond is a symbol, and as a symbol it calls for interpretation. We must consult Numbers 17. When Aaron’s robbed "budded and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms, and yielded ripe almonds" (R.V.) [“budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.” (KJB)], it was kept "for a token against the children of rebellion." Taking the two passages together, then, it would appear that the almond is not a symbol connected with God's promises to man, as the olive and the vine, but indicates what God is in Himself with regard to His word of judgment upon the children of rebellion.
Next Jeremiah beholds a seething caldron, with the face turned toward the north area this is explained, "Out of the north and evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land."
So just as Paul, who was to be the Apostle of the Gentiles, who sent first to his own people, Jeremiah, appointed to be prophet to the Gentiles, must first carry a message to his own people. But let unbelievers of the Gentiles take heed! [Study Romans chapter 11]
Chapters two to twenty-four are, accordingly, occupied with the consideration of the sin of the nation. The main theme, then, commences in chapter twenty-five. It shows the whole government of the earth upset, the nations drunk and mad, because of the cup of the wine of the fury of the Lord.
Chapters 26 to 29 show the message rejected, and a lie believed. In chapters 30 to 33 we have God's gracious promises through Messiah with regard to the ultimate redemption of the inheritance; in 34 to 41 the insolent behavior of Zedekiah, belief that the lie having developed into open defiance; in 42 to 45 warnings regarding Egypt; while 46 to 52 close the book, bringing us back to the subject of 25, giving us the details of what is set forth in the chapter with regard to the various nations and the ultimate outcome.
As regards Judah and Jerusalem, what we are there told is that the children of Israel and the children of Judah will together seek, in tears, the Lord their God, and make inquiry concerning Zion, desiring to make an everlasting covenant with Him. Egypt is dealt with at the head of the list; then follow the Philistines; then Moab and Ammon; then Edom; then successively Damascus, Kedar, and Elam; lastly, and in great detail, Babylon is dealt with, showing how the great oppressor should finally meet with retribution, and thus, later than all the other nations, take and drink the cup of the wine of the fury of Jehovah.
As regards the epic when these things will happen to Babylon, the Spirit, speaking by the prophet, does not appear to leave us in any doubt. It could not be before the rise of the four Gentile empires, as Babylon was then required by Jehovah as His sword, punishing all the nations including Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. It could hardly be at any time during the sway of those in empires, as it has been already shown that that period is outside the scope of Jeremiah's prophecy. Must it not, then, be after the conclusion of Gentile domination?
When, then, is it?
We are told at the outset. The fiftieth and fifty-first chapters are the ones that give this account of the day of reckoning with Babylon for the plunder of the vessels of the Temple, and for the destruction of the Temple itself. We are at once told, in the first 5 verses of the whole 110, that these things will happen in days when "the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek their God; they shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come ye and join yourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten."
So again it is written in 50:20, "In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found."
That surely did not happen in the days of Belshazzar, when Darius, the Mede, took the kingdom.
The reader will, therefore, be spared any dissertation as to the effect the dispersion of the Elamites had on the westward flow Aryan nations; no learned remarks will be made as to the connection between the Protomedes and those "Medes" who are spoken of in 51:28; information will be withheld as to whether it was or was not Cyrus who overthrew Belshazzar, and as to whether the victor entered the city from the north or from the south; while as regards Nabonidus, of whom infidel writers delight to say so much, we hope our readers will forgive us if we ignore the existence of that worthy altogether.
On the other hand, for those who hearken to the Lord's voice, there is further matter of deep interest.
Why, once clearly see that Jeremiah 25 is unaccomplished as regards Babylon, and that that unaccomplished portion, conjointly with chapters 50 and 51, remains in it in its entirety to meet with its fulfillment after the Times of Gentile rule are over, after the great Pseudos of 2 Thessalonians 2 has been believed by all the unsaved dwellers upon earth, after the Book of the Inheritance has been opened by the Lion of the tribe of Judah, after God’s four sore judgments have been again upon the earth, the sword, the pestilence, the famine, and the noisome beast, nation rising up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, then we can see that this will be the time when "Babylon that Great" will be "remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath!" (Revelation 16:19.)
Those who believe God are not likely to have much difficulty in seeing to what this refers. What God is remembering is that He gave Jeremiah a certain cup, saying to him, "Take the cup of the wine this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it"; that amongst them was Babylon; and He decides that the time has come for the accomplishment of His word to Jeremiah, and the retribution for the destruction of that temple of which He gave the pattern to His servant David.
If the reader can grasp this, he will understand that Revelation 17 and 18 are in part an amplification of what is set forth in 16:19, and that the subject is finally disposed of in 19:1-4. In fact, he is recommended to read rapidly Jeremiah 50 and 51, and then Revelation 16:19 to 19:4, when the following remarkable parallelisms between the Prophet and the Apocalypse will at once become apparent; say
(1) Revelation 17:1 with Jeremiah 51:13. (2) Revelation 18:2 with Jeremiah 51:8. (3) Revelation 18:4 with Jeremiah 51:45. (4) Revelation 18:6 with Jeremiah 50:15. (5) Revelation 18:19 with Jeremiah 50:13. (6) Revelation 18:20 with Jeremiah 51:48. (7) Revelation 18:22, 23 with Jeremiah 50:15; 25:10.
There is very much more of that might be said about Babylon the Great. We might point out interesting facts regarding the use of the several terms—the Woman, the Harlot, and the City; and the contrast these bare towards the several terms used of the heavenly Jerusalem—the Woman, the Bride or Wife, and the City. We might dwell upon the intoxicating wonder there will be in the earth when men behold, not merely a restoration of the city of golden palaces and the broad walls, which in an almost incredible space of time were erected by the great son of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar the Great, but when they see realized the efforts of the rebels at Babel to build the city in such a form, in such a way, and of such a character that God found it necessary to say, "Come, let us go down." But to go into all these matters would be to depart from the insulation of the special subject of this paper, which in an endeavor to prove that the fulfillment of the word of God to Jeremiah the prophet involves the future erection of a costly city on the banks of the Euphrates; that the question is not whether or not we are to find a place for the Church of Rome somewhere in the Apocalypse, but whether we are going to believe that God means to fulfill His word to Jeremiah and to John, that He has a work of retribution to perform in the land of the Chaldeans upon the King and city of Sheshach. For this essay only touches upon a single aspect of Babylon, and Babylon is an enormous subject, having many aspects quite distinct from the one here presented.
In conclusion, let us notice again the symbol of the almond; for God will watch over His word of judgment to the children of rebellion at Babel, or Babylon, to perform it. Yes, though twenty-five centuries roll by ere He make the king of Sheshach drink of the cup of the wine of His theory, neither he nor his city shall escape; for every word will come true. Note the triplet of words indicative of divine derision—
Shaked—Shoked—Sheshach.
The whole list based on word-play, as shown in the foregoing; for the Babylonian Theosophists loved, and of their modern representatives love word-play. Their symbols, too, are framed so as to admit of many solutions. We now make them a present of a fresh solution (which, whether they think it applicable or not, has this merit, that it will come true) quote of their famous symbol of
SSS
PING!
PING!
A sit down open Bible study.
And I appreciate your post on THE NEW BIRTH. Reading again
Ping!
4 later reading
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