Babylon Brought Down to the Dust

Listen to this stirring divine declaration: "Come down and sit down in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit down on the earth where there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans.  For you will not experience again that people call you delicate and dainty."  (Isaiah 47:1)  For years Babylon has been enthroned as the dominating world power.  She has been "the decoration of the kingdoms" -a thriving  religious, commercial, and military center.  (Isaiah 13:19)  At Babylon's peak her empire extends  as far south as the border of Egypt. And when she defeats Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., it seems that God himself is unable to halt her conquests!  Thus, she sees herself as a "virgin daughter," one who will never suffer a foreign invasion."

However, this haughty "virgin" is to be knocked off her throne as the undisputed world power and made to  'sit in the dust' in humiliation.  (Isaiah 26:5)   She will no longer be considered  "delicate and dainty,"  Like a pampered queen.  Jehovah thus commands: "Take a hand mill and grind out flour, uncover your veil. Strip off the flowing skirt. Uncover the leg. Cross over the rivers."  (Isaiah 47:2)  After having enslaved the entire nation of Judah, Babylon will now be treated as a slave herself!  The Medes and the Persians, who unseat her from her position of power, will force her to do humiliating labor in their behalf.

Babylon will thus be stripped of her 'veil and flowing skirt,' losing every vestige of her former greatness and dignity.  "Cross over the rivers," her taskmaster will command.  Perhaps some Babylonians will actually be ordered to perform slavish outdoor labor.  Or the prophecy may mean  that some  will literally be dragged across rivers as they are taken  into exile.  In any event, Babylon will no longer travel in the grand style of a queen who is transported across a stream in a chair or a carriage.  Instead, she will be like a slave who has to forsake modesty, raising her skirt and exposing her legs in order to wade across a river.  How humiliating!



Jehovah continues his taunt:  "You ought to uncover your nakedness. also, your reproach ought to be seen.  Vengeance is what I shall take, and I shall not meet any man kindly."  (Isaiah 47:3)  Yes, Babylon will suffer shame and dishonor.  The wickedness and cruelty she perpetrates against God's people will be openly exposed.  No human can head off God's vengeance!

After having been held captive in mighty Babylon for 70 years, God's people will rejoice greatly at her fall.  They will cry out:  "There is One purchasing us.  Jehovah of armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 47:4)  Under the Mosaic Law, if an Israelite sold himself into slavery in order to pay off his debts, a repurchase(a blood relative) could buy him or repurchase him, out of slavery.  (Leviticus 25:47-54)  Since the Jews will have been sold  into slavery to Babylon, they will need to be repurchased, or set free.  For slaves, conquest normally  means little more than  a change of masters.  But Jehovah will  move conquering King Cyrus to release the Jews from slavery. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba will be given to Cyrus  as "a ransom" in place of the Jews.  (Isaiah 43:3) Appropriately, Israel's Redeemer is called "Jehovah of armies."  Babylon's seemingly powerful military force is puny when compared to Jehovah's invisible, angelic hosts. 

Next time: The Price of Cruelty

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001