Conclusion of God's Instrument of Destruction

Cyrus, leader of the Medo-Persian armies is undeterred by Babylon's fortification.  On the night of October 5/6 539 B.C.E., he orders the delivering of the waters of the Euphrates River. As the water level falls, the invaders stealthily make their way into the city, walking along the riverbed through thigh-deep water.  Babylon's inhabitants are caught unaware, and Babylon falls.  (Daniel 5:30)  Jehovah God inspires Isaiah to prophecy these events, leaving no doubt that  He is directing matters.

How complete will the destruction of Babylon be?  Listen to Jehovah's pronouncement:  "She will never be inhabited ,  nor will she reside for generation after generation. And there the Arab will not pitch his tent, and no shepherds will let their flocks lie down there. And there the haunters of waterless regions will certainly lie down, and their houses must be filled with eagle owls.  And there the ostriches must reside, and goat-shaped demons themselves will go skipping about there.  And jackals must howl in her dwelling towers, and the big snake will be in the palaces of exquisite delight. And the season for her is near to come, and her days themselves will not be postponed." (Isaiah 13:20-22) Utter desolation will be the city's fate.

This did not happen immediately in 539 B.C.E. Still, today it is very clear that everything Isaiah foretold regarding  Babylon has come true.  Babylon "is now, and has been for centuries, a scene of wide desolation, and is  a heap of ruins," says one Bible commentator.  Then he adds:  "It is impossible to behold this scene and not be reminded how exactly the predictions  of Isaiah and Jeremiah have been fulfilled."  Clearly, no man in Isaiah's day could have foretold Babylon's fall and her eventual desolation. After all, Babylon's fall to the Medes and the Persians occurred some 200 years after Isaiah wrote his book! And her final desolation came centuries later.  Does this not strengthen our faith in the Bible as the inspired Word of God?  (2 Timothy 3:16)  Moreover, since Jehovah fulfilled prophecies in times past, we can have absolute confidence that Bible prophecies  yet unfulfilled will be realized in God's due time.

Next time: "Rest From Your Pain"

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000