Isaiah 21:9
And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
Isaiah's burden pictures a night watch reporting chariots and horsemen with the doubled cry that Babylon has fallen, the repetition sealing the certainty of its doom. The overthrow was accomplished by Media and Persia, with Elam summoned to rise with Cyrus against the city that had ruled it. The fall was judgment upon idol worship and the religious system it upheld, shattering its images and ending its dominance though its worship lingered on in diminished form. As Babel's doom foreshadowed ancient Babylon's, so ancient Babylon's sudden fall while feasting foreshadows the fate of mystical Babylon on a far greater scale. Mystical Babylon receives two warnings before destruction, first through the worldwide Advent movement of 1844 and again with great power in Revelation 18 before the plagues, calling honest believers to recognize the times and come out, and the same fall describes the decline of piety, the setting aside of God's law for human precepts, and the divisions of the popular churches.
Ancient Fall Foretold
Isaiah 21:9 stands in the collection drawn from Isaiah's active ministry rather than in the later portion given wholly to the future. It belongs with the prophecies concerning Assyria, the wilderness of the South, Idumea, and Israel. It stands in the sequence announcing God's judgments on the nations, among the burdens that lead forward into the prophecy of judgment upon the whole earth.
The prophecy pictures a set watch, with a chariot of men and a couple of horsemen whose incoming report declares that Babylon has fallen. The cry is doubled, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and the doubling emphasizes the certainty of the downfall. That announcement joins the conquest of the city with the breaking of the graven images of her gods unto the ground.
The overthrow foretold was accomplished chiefly by the Medes and Persians in their historical capture of Babylon. Elam was called to join Media in the assault for Babylon's punishment. Elam, though then part of the Babylonian empire, rose with Cyrus against Babylon because he was of Elamite origin, and ancient Babylon fell before him.
The fall was judgment upon Babylon's graven images and upon the idolatrous religious system they upheld. Its causes were idol worship, departure from virtue, and persecution of God's people. Its result was the shattering of the idols and the ending of that system's dominance and idolatrous power. That worship did not disappear at once but lingered in places and at times influenced other beliefs, yet it declined and was never restored to its former preeminence.
The alarm came suddenly while Babylon was feasting and reveling. A chariot with horsemen arrives and startles the city with news of conquest and of its gods' images shattered.
Type of Final Babylon
The doom pronounced on Babel foreshadowed the doom of ancient Babylon, and the fall of ancient Babylon before Cyrus stands as an object lesson foreshadowing the fate of mystical Babylon in the present age. The ruin of mystical Babylon will be greater in scale, because the world is greater than was the ancient city and empire. The fall comes as a sudden alarm breaking in upon feasting and revelry, when a chariot with horsemen arrives with the cry that Babylon has fallen and the images of its gods have been shattered to the ground. Its feasting and revelry continue until judgment startles the wicked and hypocrites. Mystical Babylon of the last days likewise receives two warnings before its destruction. The first warning came through the worldwide Advent movement of 1844, and Revelation 18 describes a later repetition of the message with great power, followed by the plagues.
The watchman's announcement of morning is the glorious news of the coming King, that the darkness is breaking. His coming brings judgment and the raising of the dead. The announcement that Babylon is fallen and its idols destroyed signals fallen Babylon. Honest believers should recognize the times and come out of Babylon.
Present Application to Churches
The language of falling in the verse describes the church itself as fallen, with its shame turned into a boast and a source of pride. The cry that Babylon is fallen describes the decline of true piety in American churches, where admiration for eloquent preaching displaces reverence for God's word and science is elevated above Scripture. The same announcement applies to religious lawlessness, where replacing God's commandments with human precepts and refusing the duty of obedience to God's law brings moral and spiritual collapse.
It applies to popular churches whose ministers preach notable dead men instead of the living Christ, so that when a living Christ begins to be preached the fall of Babylon may be declared. The declaration that Babylon is fallen and its idols shattered applies to divisions among professed Christians, with those divisions standing as evidence that the fall has taken place. The announcement also applies to the papal power identified with Babylon, whose rule has ended and whose influence is being consumed, with final destruction expected at Christ's coming.
The cry of Babylon, Babylon is misused by some to oppose church organization as fallen Babylon, mistaking orderly organization for Babylonian confusion.