For over two thousand years, the ancient city of Babylon lay in ruins, hidden under the desert sand.
Its downfall was expected as the Bible predicted its destruction. The prophet Jeremiah, for instance, prophesied:
Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives (Jeremiah 51:37).
And so it happened. The once mighty Neo-Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled over it from ca. 604 BC to 562 BC, soon shared the fate of all superpowers. It was defeated by a rival empire. The Persians under Cyrus the Great brought an end to the Neo-Babylonian empire in 539 BC.
But interestingly, the New Testament Book of Revelation, written over 500 years after the destruction of Babylon, also describes the fall of the city.
Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! 'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!' (Revelation 18: 1, 9).
Many if not most Bible scholars see Revelation as an eschatological book, a prophecy of the last phases of earth history. Indeed, it culminates with the establishment of a new heaven and a new earth. The symbolic language of the book has given rise to several schools of thought. Some prominent Bible scholars have interpreted Babylon spiritually as referring to a political and religious system that attempts to resist God and His purposes.
Babylon is an interesting case since once again there is a literal place called Babylon. The ancient city is being rebuild partly with U.S. funds.
Saddam Hussein began rebuilding Babylon before the first Gulf War of 1991. He saw himself as a new Nebuchadnezzar who needed a new capital. The Iraqis carried on the reconstruction project even after Saddam's death. Recently the Obama administration pledged to contribute 700 000 U.S. dollars towards "The Future of Babylon Project" to help realise Saddam's dream of building a lucrative tourist attraction and a mighty Iraqi city.
It is a mystery why U.S. taxpayers should help rebuild Nebuchadnezzar's capital at a time of financial instability.
Joel Kontinen is an author and translator currently living in Finland. His bacground includes an MA in translation studies and a BA in Bible and Theology. He mostly writes about origins issues.
» left by swapnananda from India (253 days 2 hours ago.)
Mr. Joel,
Your article was an eye opener. Yes we need to be aware of the curent world news and tally with what the Bible says about it. Thank you for this article.
Thanks for reading, Swapna. The building project suggests that the events prophesied in Revelation will soon be fulfilled. The King of kings is coming back .We don't know when that will happen, but it's good to be ready.
I have asked that very question, Joel. It is a strange thing for an American leader to have such a direction. like 300 million for Hamas? I don"t get it.
Thanks, Ken. It does sound strange. I'm not sure how much president Obama really knows about this project but someone in his administration must have approved the use of money. Perhaps he just wants to keep the Iraqis happy?
Even stranger, when you consider who it was that propped up this "neo-Nebuchadnezzar" to begin with, and it happened long before Obama entered the picture (but, maybe you don't care about the details, because they obfuscate your fantasy). As for rebuilding Bhagdad, I'm sure it has something to do with Bush having first destroyed on pretense. That man really made a mess of thngs, didn't he? Just like his father before him, makes a mess of the kitchen (Somalia), leaves the cleanup for whoever comes after.
Hi anon, the interesting thing is that the Obama administration wants to fulfil Saddam Hussein's dream. Perhaps it is just Obama's way of wanting to please the Iraqis, but nonetheless Babylon is rising from the desert sand with the help of US money.
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