Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
The verse pictures a bloody judgment falling on Chaldea, with the dead left lying through the country and the pierced strewn in the streets of the capital. It stands as part of God's announced sentence of overthrow, desolation and doom upon Babylon, spoken long before the blow came after her iniquity was full and offered mercy was refused. It was fulfilled when the Medes and Persians took Babylon in the night of Belshazzar's careless revelry, entering by the dried river-bed and undefended gates and slaying the king and his host until Cyrus held the city and the empire fell. That night did not exhaust the sentence, for the prophecy looked on to complete ruin, and old Babylon on the Euphrates sank into desolation never to be rebuilt, its ruins still witnessing to the truth foretold. In its fuller reach the fall of literal Babylon is the type of the final destruction of mystical Babylon, the great apostate system of Revelation 18, whose doom will come when God closes accounts with the world.
Judgment Pronounced on Babylon
The verse portrays slaughter under divine judgment, with the dead falling throughout the country of the Chaldeans and those pierced by weapons falling and lying in her streets. That death in land and streets is the substance of Babylon's judgment, bringing mortality upon its people as part of its overthrow and desolation. The same slain and wounded in land and streets stand as warning of doom and as a lesson for cities that forget and defy God.
It belongs to the prophecy, burden, and message against Babylon announcing its overthrow, destruction, doom, and utter desolation. It is part of the great burden of prophecy foretelling downfall, marking the fall of the head of gold before the silver Persian empire takes its place. Its ruined remains by the Euphrates bear witness to the truth of that prophecy of doom.
It was uttered as God's prediction many years before the fall, to be proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy. It was God's message through Jeremiah to ancient Babylon when it had filled the cup of its iniquity. That message joined impending judgment with gracious warning and proffered mercy, which was slighted and left unheeded.
God's judgments were visited upon ancient Babylon after she refused to be healed. When her sins mounted up to heaven she invited the stroke of wrath plainly foretold. Then death filled her land and streets, and she fell to rise no more.
In this destruction God defends His people and opposes the Babylonian religious system. Pagan Babylon persecuted God's people and bore the mark of an apostate power that persecuted true worshipers.
Fulfilled in Babylon's Fall
The verse foretells the sudden fall of the Babylonian empire, not merely the city of Babylon, taking place in the midst of the security felt by Belshazzar and his lords. It was fulfilled in the night Babylon was taken by the Medes and Persians when Cyrus captured the city. Its prediction belongs to the prophecies of Babylon's destruction, describing that fall as a slaughter within the land of the Chaldeans, with the slain falling and those thrust through or pierced lying in the streets of Babylon.
The Persians watched in silence and darkness where the Euphrates entered and left the walls as the water sank in the river-bed. They entered through the dry river-bed, seized the undefended river-gates, and raised the war-shout that spread alarm through the city. In darkness and confusion a terrible massacre followed, with fire and sword going through the town. The drunken revelers given to revel and riot could make no resistance, and her young men and all her host were utterly destroyed without sparing.
Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain in his palace on the scene of his impious revelry. By morning Cyrus was undisputed master of the city, Darius the Median took the kingdom, and the Babylonian Empire perished. That overthrow by the Persians did not complete the destruction, for the prophecy pointed to eventual ruin. Babylon later declined into desolation, with no rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River to be expected.
The prophecy was uttered as a prediction many years before the fall, as part of the great burden of prophecy against Babylon foretelling its downfall and marking the fall of the head of gold before the silver Persian empire took its place. It was literally fulfilled. Its ruined remains by the Euphrates bear witness to the truth and fulfillment of that prophecy of doom. This is proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy.
Type of Mystical Babylon
The prophecy makes a sudden transition from type to antitype. It has a double meaning and a double fulfillment. Its first and typical application is to ancient Babylon humbled by the Medes and Persians. That ancient Babylon was a great world kingdom and in a peculiar and wonderful way the type of the religious world of the last days, representing both the ancient empire and mystical Babylon. The fall of literal Babylon therefore serves as a type, comparison, and vivid portrayal of the fate and final destruction of great, mystical, modern Babylon when God shall finally and forever close up all earthly accounts.
The antitypical Babylon is the great apostate harlot-system ruling over the nations of the earth. Its fuller and emphatic application is to modern Babylon and all sinners punished in the day of the Lord, as described in Revelation 18. That alone is the Babylon whose fall Revelation predicts. In one application that fall corresponds to churches that rejected the Advent message and remained in confusion and worldly attachment.
Babylon's doom is a warning and lesson for cities and people that forget and defy God. Its people ignored warnings until its doom was declared. The lesson calls for doing right rather than merely reacting with an impulse to improve.
The verse pictures a bloody judgment falling on Chaldea, with the dead left lying through the country and the pierced strewn in the streets of the capital. It stands as part of God's announced sentence of overthrow, desolation and doom upon Babylon, spoken long before the blow came after her iniquity was full and offered mercy was refused. It was fulfilled when the Medes and Persians took Babylon in the night of Belshazzar's careless revelry, entering by the dried river-bed and undefended gates and slaying the king and his host until Cyrus held the city and the empire fell. That night did not exhaust the sentence, for the prophecy looked on to complete ruin, and old Babylon on the Euphrates sank into desolation never to be rebuilt, its ruins still witnessing to the truth foretold. In its fuller reach the fall of literal Babylon is the type of the final destruction of mystical Babylon, the great apostate system of Revelation 18, whose doom will come when God closes accounts with the world.
Judgment Pronounced on Babylon
The verse portrays slaughter under divine judgment, with the dead falling throughout the country of the Chaldeans and those pierced by weapons falling and lying in her streets. That death in land and streets is the substance of Babylon's judgment, bringing mortality upon its people as part of its overthrow and desolation. The same slain and wounded in land and streets stand as warning of doom and as a lesson for cities that forget and defy God.
It belongs to the prophecy, burden, and message against Babylon announcing its overthrow, destruction, doom, and utter desolation. It is part of the great burden of prophecy foretelling downfall, marking the fall of the head of gold before the silver Persian empire takes its place. Its ruined remains by the Euphrates bear witness to the truth of that prophecy of doom.
It was uttered as God's prediction many years before the fall, to be proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy. It was God's message through Jeremiah to ancient Babylon when it had filled the cup of its iniquity. That message joined impending judgment with gracious warning and proffered mercy, which was slighted and left unheeded.
God's judgments were visited upon ancient Babylon after she refused to be healed. When her sins mounted up to heaven she invited the stroke of wrath plainly foretold. Then death filled her land and streets, and she fell to rise no more.
In this destruction God defends His people and opposes the Babylonian religious system. Pagan Babylon persecuted God's people and bore the mark of an apostate power that persecuted true worshipers.
Fulfilled in Babylon's Fall
The verse foretells the sudden fall of the Babylonian empire, not merely the city of Babylon, taking place in the midst of the security felt by Belshazzar and his lords. It was fulfilled in the night Babylon was taken by the Medes and Persians when Cyrus captured the city. Its prediction belongs to the prophecies of Babylon's destruction, describing that fall as a slaughter within the land of the Chaldeans, with the slain falling and those thrust through or pierced lying in the streets of Babylon.
The Persians watched in silence and darkness where the Euphrates entered and left the walls as the water sank in the river-bed. They entered through the dry river-bed, seized the undefended river-gates, and raised the war-shout that spread alarm through the city. In darkness and confusion a terrible massacre followed, with fire and sword going through the town. The drunken revelers given to revel and riot could make no resistance, and her young men and all her host were utterly destroyed without sparing.
Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain in his palace on the scene of his impious revelry. By morning Cyrus was undisputed master of the city, Darius the Median took the kingdom, and the Babylonian Empire perished. That overthrow by the Persians did not complete the destruction, for the prophecy pointed to eventual ruin. Babylon later declined into desolation, with no rebuilding of old Babylon on the Euphrates River to be expected.
The prophecy was uttered as a prediction many years before the fall, as part of the great burden of prophecy against Babylon foretelling its downfall and marking the fall of the head of gold before the silver Persian empire took its place. It was literally fulfilled. Its ruined remains by the Euphrates bear witness to the truth and fulfillment of that prophecy of doom. This is proved by the dispassionate testimony of heathen historians who did not know the prophecy.
Type of Mystical Babylon
The prophecy makes a sudden transition from type to antitype. It has a double meaning and a double fulfillment. Its first and typical application is to ancient Babylon humbled by the Medes and Persians. That ancient Babylon was a great world kingdom and in a peculiar and wonderful way the type of the religious world of the last days, representing both the ancient empire and mystical Babylon. The fall of literal Babylon therefore serves as a type, comparison, and vivid portrayal of the fate and final destruction of great, mystical, modern Babylon when God shall finally and forever close up all earthly accounts.
The antitypical Babylon is the great apostate harlot-system ruling over the nations of the earth. Its fuller and emphatic application is to modern Babylon and all sinners punished in the day of the Lord, as described in Revelation 18. That alone is the Babylon whose fall Revelation predicts. In one application that fall corresponds to churches that rejected the Advent message and remained in confusion and worldly attachment.
Babylon's doom is a warning and lesson for cities and people that forget and defy God. Its people ignored warnings until its doom was declared. The lesson calls for doing right rather than merely reacting with an impulse to improve.