BABYLON
Prophetically scheduled for a Rebuild and a Final Fall
(all articles by Bible Prophecy As Written)
The Islamic State Of Iraq-Syria (ISIS), a terrorist army, created a borderless-State (Islamic State, caliphate) a few years back across two nations: Syria & Iraq.
In 1992 I documented the Bible prophecies about the unification of end-time Syria-Iraq. See the maps below.
ISIS, after a couple of years of terror, was beaten back, but still exists in several scattered positions. ISIS is also called ISIL, i.e., Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant (essentially the boundaries of ancient Assyria) or simply IS for “Islamic State.” As predicted in the Bible (map 1 below), the “king of the North” (Dan. 11:40) will occupy Syria-Iraq in the Last Days. As seen on map 2 below, the same kind of scenario appeared for a few years (2013-2017) with the rise of ISIS. If this is not the pre-fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, another such event will bring it to pass in the exact same territory. It seems beyond coincidence that such a precise event would—?? just happen ??—at the same time the other end-time prophecies are clearly setting the stage for the rise of the Antichrist, and the soon return in Victory of Jesus Christ,
When the “king of the North” arises in Syria-Iraq, Babylon will rise up for its’ prophetic encore. ISIS was at the doorstep of Bagdad, and Babylon is only 55 miles away! Those who say Babylon is over have either ignored or misread the prophecies. Read on for The Final Rise & Fall Of Babylon.
RIGHT: From The Assyrian Connection in 1993
The commentary with this map reads:
“The Antichrist’s initial conquests, beginning from the region of Syria-Iraq (and quite possibly with complicity from Iran, i.e., the heir of Persia) will need to be in these same regions [to fulfill the prophecies of Daniel].” (page 68)
The post on the map reads:
"The Domain of the King of the North
The king of the North (Antichrist/Antiochus, the little horns of Dan 7 & 8) and the king of the South, superimposed on a modern map (Dan 11:40)"
Again, simply and strictly from the Bible prophecy of Daniel 11, this map was constructed in 1993, 20 years before the rise of the "King of the North" look-alike...ISIS.
RIGHT:
The conquests of large portions of both Syria & Iraq by the Islamic State Of Iraq-Syria (ISIS) . ABOVE: The Syria-Iraq map published in The Assyrian Connection in 1993 showing the Bible’s prophecy of the rise of Syria-Iraq in the Last Days.
The Rise of Babylon—Next? The Islamic State “ISIS” was 70 Miles Away! —& is due for an Encore...
My friend Joseph Chambers (Paw Creek Ministries) visited Babylon twice. In a telephone conversation with him several years ago, I asked him what a Bagdad cab driver would say when asked “Can you take me to Babylon; where is it and how far is it?” Joseph’s answer— “They immediately say—”Babylon? Of course! It’s that way (south of Bagdad) about 55 miles.” This is about as clear a refutation as you can get to the teaching that Babylon was finished when the Persians took it in 535 BC. For those who continue to teach this, they need not ask the Bagdad cabbie, but best check their Scripture. For the prophecies of the rise of Babylon in the Last Days are both numerous and clear. There are 3 major passages about End Time Babylon—Isa. 13:17-22; Jer. 50-51; Rev. 17-18. Jeremiah says at Babylon’s FINAL fall they shall “sink down and not rise again.” (Jer. 51:64) Other prophecies say that Babylon HAS NOT MET ITS FINAL FALL , until these 5 things happen. NONE of them have happened. Therefore, Babylon MUST RISE AGAIN to fulfill these 5 prophecies.
1. Babylon will fall Suddenly & Violently
“…utterly destroy her, Let nothing be left to her. “ Jeremiah 50:26
This is still to happen in a rebuilt Babylon because the Persians took Babylon without a fight & without destruction.
"My vast army marched into Babylon in peace."
(Cyrus the Great, conqueror of Babylon)
"The Cyrus Cylinder," Edwin M. Yamauchi. Persia and the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Baker Book House. 1990, 1996, p. 87.
Iraqi road sign to Babylon
LEFT:
Babylon...will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
Isaiah 13:19-20
A TYPICAL “NEAR-FAR” PROPHECY
'Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' declares the LORD, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. (Jeremiah 25:12)
“…on October 13, 539…the troops of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle...Babylon was well treated by Cyrus...on October 29 Cyrus himself entered Babylon. Branches were spread in his path, and he proclaimed peace to everyone in the city."
"Founder Cyrus." A. T. Olmstead. History of the Persian Empire. Chicago. The University of Chicago Press. Phoenix Books. 1948, reprint 1963, pp. 50-51.
The NEAR-FAR prophecy above has 3 parts:
FIRST—it forecasts the capture of Babylon in the days of Daniel by the Persians. The historical record above shows that when this happened in 539 BC, the
Persian king Cyrus took Babylon peacefully. Thus the last part of Jeremiah’s prophecy about “I will make it an everlasting desolation” did not happen, and has never yet happened.
SECOND—the Babylonians are referred to by their distinct ethnic name, “Chaldeans.” This eliminates the wild speculations about America, Rome, or Great Britain being the Babylon of the last days. New Yorkers are not Chaldeans. Nor are Italians, Brits, or anyone else outside of Iraqis.
THIRD—the “FAR” part of the prophecy looks way beyond the punishment of the king of Babylon in 539. When it says “I will make [Babylon] an everlasting desolation,” that part of the prophecy is yet future. This makes perfect sense when we read Revelation chapter 18 about “the great city Babylon” (v. 10) It makes even more sense when we consider the double exclamatory “Fallen, fallen” (v. 2) and then another, “Woe, woe”(v. 10). Since the 3 “Woes” in Revelation 8:13 refer to a literal 3-judgments (9:12 & 11:14), then the 2 Woes of Babylon surely refer to a literal two-falls of Babylon—that by the Persians in 539, and the one yet to come in Revelation chapter 18 .
Indeed, “fallen (then)” and “fallen (future)” is Babylon the Great! (Rev. 18:2)
At the future “fallen,” Babylon will then become “an everlasting desolation.”
2. all False Gods of Babylon will be destroyed
'Babylon has been captured… Marduk has been shattered; Her images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.' Jer. 50:2
This is still to happen in a rebuilt Babylon because the Persians didn’t destroy, but preserved, the gods of Babylon.
“I sought daily to worship [the Babylonian god Marduk]… Furthermore,
I resettled upon the command of Marduk,the great lord, all the gods of Sumer.”
(Cyrus the Great, conqueror of Babylon)
"The Cyrus Cylinder," Edwin M. Yamauchi. Persia and the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Baker Book House. 1990, 1996, p. 87.
3. Babylon will be Without Inhabitants Forever
“And it will never again be inhabited Or dwelt in from generation to generation.” Jeremiah 50:39
This is still to happen in a rebuilt Babylon because Babylon has never yet been without inhabitants.
Babylon passed under the control of successive kingdoms for the next 2500 years
—Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Sassannians, Arabs — Iraq
— dwindling in population, but never "without inhabitants forever."
(pp. 271-274. "Babylon." Gwendolyn Leick. Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. London. Penguin Books. 2001, 2002)
4. No Arab will ever again Dwell at Babylon
It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there...
Isaiah 13:20
This is still to happen in a rebuilt Babylon because Arab villages have been documented at Babylon.
Two archaeologists, on two separate and unrelated expeditions,
documented the presence of several Arab villages at Babylon in the 19th and 20th centuries.
LEFT BELOW, Map #1
—p. 13. cf. map titled "Babylon." Barthel Hrouda. Robert Koldewey, Das wieder erstehende Babylon. Verlag C. H. Beck. Munchen. 1990. ISBN 3-406-31674-3
RIGHT BELOW, Map #2
—Ground Plans of the Remains at and near Babylon, by Capt. R. Mignan, London, Colburn & Bentley, New Burlington Street, Oct. 1829
ARAB VILLAGES ON KOLDEWEY’S MAP (above)
(see arrows above pointing to early 20th century Arab villages)
When the German archaeologist Robert Koldewey arrived to excavate Babylon he made a map of the site, showing that it was inhabited by local Arabs, some of whom had erected villages made of ancient Babylon's baked bricks.
..
..
ARAB VILLAGES ON MIGNAN’S 1829 MAP (above)
Essentially the same Arab occupants as
Koldewey's Map on left
BABYLONIAN INHABITANTS TODAY
“Another of the more dire threats to the site has been unchecked development inside the boundaries of the old city walls, enclosing nearly three square miles...
causing trepidation among Iraqis who live along them now.” (2011)
Project: Improvement of the Babylon Site:
Babylon; Director: Roberto Parapetti
FINAL FALL in the Day of the Lord
THE CONTEXT: Behold, the day of the LORD is coming... Isaiah 13:9
THE PROPHECY: Babylon...will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaiah 13:19
This is still to happen in a rebuilt Babylon because the Day Of The Lord is still future.
BELOW & RIGHT: Actual headlines within the past several years...
1. New York Times, 2010—After Years of War and Abuse, New Hope For Ancient Babylon
2. ABC News, 2010—War-Zone Archaeologists Saving Babylon
3. New York Times, 2011—A Triage to Save the Ruins of Babylon
4. Al Jazeera, 2012—Efforts under way to restore Babylon’s glory
5. CNN World, 2013—Bringing Babylon back from the dead
NOTE ABOVE... The World Monuments Fund, with help from the United States and several UN agencies, is attempting to build up and restore the “site” of Babylon. A group like ISIS can make it happen!
5. After the FINAL FALL the bricks will never again be used
"And they will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be desolate forever," declares the LORD. Jer. 51:26
This is still to happen in a rebuilt Babylon because Babylon’s ancient stones have been reused for ages.
Note the amazing correlation of the words in the Smithsonian report BELOW, June 2003,
with the prophecy of Jeremiah 51:26 ABOVE
Evidence that Babylon can Rise Overnight—DUBAI !
Look at the 2 pictures of Dubai below. Keep in mind the growth statistics to the right. The first 7 years, this new city in the sands of Arabia TRIPLED in population. For each of the next 3 decades it practically doubled. In terms of urban development, this is a virtual explosion of a metro-city into existence.
The same thing happened with Israel as a nation—an overnight burst into history in 1948. The same thing will happen with Babylon per the prophecies.
“Do not despise the beginning of small things” Zechariah 4:10
For a careful study of the likelihood that Babylon
may not need to be Rebuilt, but rather REVIVED... SEE HERE
When the headlines about ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq-Syria) appeared for the first time in 2014-16, the ISIS-map had the remarkable appearance of a prophecy about the "King of the North", based on the Bible, not the headlines. This prophecy is found in Daniel 11:40 and following. The Bible didn't change, or adjust its meaning--just the headlines. If the headlines disappear and recede into history (as is so often the case), the prophetic truths of Scripture continue onward toward there ultimate fulfillment. With that in mind, regarding the phenomenal rise of ISIS, I stated...,
Newsletter, Sep. 2016, Bible Prophecy As Written,
"If this is not the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, another such event will bring it to pass in the exact same territory. "
Mid-America Prophecy Conference, Apr. 2016, presentation handout on "Eastern Leg",
"This is the boundary of the coming King of the North, The Assyrian. If this Iraq-Syria "State" is not the final "King of the North," then there will be another Iraq-Syria "State" just like it in the future."
Partner Letter June 2014
God and only God calls forth events before they happen. (Isa. 46:8-11) And it is the Word of God in Daniel, Micah, Revelation and other Biblical references which predicts the rise of Syria-Iraq in the Last Days.
That's what I documented in The Assyrian Connection—Biblical prophecies. Therefore, we look to God's Book, and no other book, as the basis of understanding today's events. Though the events in Syria-Iraq have not yet worked there way into full fruition, indeed...they do look very familiar.
Various Conferences 2014-16
When the real event stacks up to the North of Israel, it will look very much like it does Today.
(Statement on the Events North of Israel given at the Lake Charles Prophecy Conference in Sep. 2014; the Pre-Trib Prophecy Study Group in Dec. 2014; the Mid-America Prophecy Conference in Tulsa, April 14-16, 2016)
Today (2017), as ISIS control of Syria-Iraq recedes, another "King of the North" geo-pattern is arising,
There has arisen another "look-alike" to the King of the North--The Arc Of Influence Created By Iran
NOTE:
In all references above to Daniel 11:40, the "King of the North" TERRITORY refers to modern-day Syria-Iraq. This is supported by a number of experts in Bible prophecy,
And there is no question about the contextual meaning of Daniel 11:40, as Arnold Fruchtenbaum makes clear below,
"... in all previous references [in Daniel chapter 11], "the king of the north" is always Syria. ... "the king of the north" always refers to Syria throughout Daniel 11 ...Consistency demands that "the king of the north" of Daniel 40-45 also refers to Syria..."
Messianic-Jew Bible Scholar Arnold Fruchtenbaum, https://www.pre-trib.org/consistent-biblical-futurism/message/a-review-of-after-the-empire-by-mark-hitchcock/read
(Note: In the historic era of Daniel 11 of which Fruchtenbaum is speaking, Syria, or "Seleucia", included the territory of modern-day Syria-Iraq)