p. 395 | BABYLON IS FALLEN, IS FALLEN

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 19, 1900

BABYLON IS FALLEN, IS FALLEN.

By William Warren Prescott

On three distinct occasions the God of heaven sent messages of instruction and warning to Nebuchadnezzar, each one being but a part of that complete revelation of the gospel of the kingdom which resulted in the conversion of the king, and his personal acknowledgment of God as worthy of all praise and glory. Every one throughout the kingdom of Babylon who should learn of these experiences, whether he was the successor of Nebuchadnezzar on the throne, or the humblest person in a private station, was without excuse if he failed to give to God the glory due unto him, and to yield himself to be his servant. It was not necessary that the experiences themselves should be repeated. The revelation of the gospel had been made with clearness and power, and it was sufficient that this revelation should be declared to all. And this was done so thoroughly by the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar that no one perished in the fall of Babylon, except by his own choice.

This is shown by the message that Daniel bore to Belshazzar: “And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; . . . and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” The fact that Belshazzar knew of these experiences of Nebuchadnezzar, and yet did not glorify God, was sufficient for his condemnation. He had rejected the gospel of the kingdom. It is clear from this that the story of God’s dealings with Nebuchadnezzar ought to be made known in this day to all the people of the earth, and that this is the distinct message for this time, when the history of Babylon is being repeated. This is the fullness of the message, of which we have the mere syllabus in Rev. 14: 6-12. It is also clear that wherever this story of God’s dealings with Nebuchadnezzar is told, “not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” the gospel of the kingdom will have been preached for a witness, and men will make their final choice, either to glorify God or to lift up themselves against the Lord of heaven. For this reason the book of Daniel and its meaning ought to be, and will be, taught as the gospel of the kingdom in every part of the earth. “Whoso readeth, let him understand.”

The varied experiences of men and of nations are not mere matters of chance, neither are they determined by arbitrary decrees on the part of the King of heaven. There are eternal principles of truth and righteousness which constitute the very essence of the character of God himself. In the gospel these principles are set forth, and provision has been made through the gift of Jesus Christ that they should be wrought out in the character of men. This glorifies God, and results in eternal salvation for man. But when these principles are willfully rejected, there is no further hope, and the sentence of destruction is written. So it was in Babylon. Belshazzar’s rejection of the gospel of the kingdom was final, and then God himself made known to him the result of his choice.

“Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

It is evident that the sentence of destruction was not pronounced upon Babylon without a judicial investigation. The stability of the kingdom depended upon the character of the men in the kingdom; and when it was revealed by the conduct of these men that they had fallen beyond any hope of recovery, even God himself could not save them and their kingdom without denying his own character. The city fell because the men inside the walls had already fallen, having persistently refused that power by which alone men can be holden up.

God himself had regarded the course of affairs in Babylon. He himself had noted the fact that the limit had been reached, that the cup of its iniquity was full, and that the end had come. No definite date had been indicated in the calendar of heaven, when Babylon should fall; but when the balances of the sanctuary, in which character is weighed, showed that all the essential elements of kingship were wanting in Belshazzar, the kingdom would inevitably be broken, and “another kingdom” would succeed Babylon.

From the way in which Daniel read the writing upon the wall, it is evident that the same spirit of a prophet is required in order to read understandingly what God has written, or caused to be written, as is essential in the giving of prophecy. To the wise men of Babylon the words on the wall meant nothing. Not being themselves in the current of God’s revelation, nor familiar with his thoughts, and having no experience of “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,” they could not go beyond the letter of the writing; but when Daniel looked at the words on the wall, he saw, through the Spirit of Prophecy, the completed sentences from which these words were taken, and hence could read the writing, so as to make known the interpretation. It is just such readers and teachers of the handwriting of God that are needed to-day—those who are sufficient to be ministers of the new covenant, “not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” “What is written in the law? how readest thou?”

“Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”

Although the rewards bestowed by Belshazzar were worthless in themselves since the kingdom of Babylon was at an end, yet there is a deep significance in the facts as a part of the gospel of the kingdom. Mark well the contrasts between Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans and Daniel the Hebrew captive, on that last night in the history of Babylon. The one had refused to acknowledge himself as the servant of the most high God, and had sought his own exaltation by lifting up himself against the Lord of heaven. When laid in the balance, he was found altogether lighter than vanity. His kingdom was broken, and he himself perished. The other began his career in Babylon by purposing “that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank;” and his life had been the constant interpretation of his own words: “I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might.” On that last night “light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him;” and now, with all the outward marks of a king, he survived the fall of Babylon and its king, a ruler in the very territory where he had been a captive. So it will be in the days near to come, when this history will be repeated. “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . . Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and he shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the land; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

In two brief sentences is recorded all that is given in the book of Daniel of the fulfillment of many prophecies concerning the fall of Babylon. Some of the most striking of these prophecies are the following:—

“Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” Isa. 13: 19-22.

“Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls: your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed; behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Put yourself in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the Lord. Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen; her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.” Jer. 50: 10-15.

“Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps. In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.” Jer. 51: 36-43.

It is impossible to read these prophecies without seeing in them more than a description of the desolation of Babylon of the Chaldees. In them is also given a picture of the desolation of modern Babylon and the whole earth, when “destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled.” In these predictions is also involved the fulfillment of this later prophecy concerning modern Babylon: “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the

air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” Rev. 16: 17-20.

But there is salvation from all this ruin. Sin is the cause of it all, and salvation from sin means salvation from all its consequences. “Be not partakers of her sins, . . . that ye receive not of her plagues.” Heed the great message of warning and invitation which is now being sounded “with a loud voice” throughout the world: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” “Acknowledge that Jehovah is God; it is he who has made us, and his we are.” And in that great day when he will “destroy them which destroy the earth,” he will tenderly care for his own. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.”

W. W. P.