The Hanging Gardens – From A Distance Had The Appearance of
Forrest Covered Mountains Seen Nowhere else in Around
A. One of the
"Seven Wonders" of the ancient world
B. 400 feet
square - Raised in terraces one above the other
1. To the height of 350 feet
2. Reached by stairways ten feet wide
C. Top of each
terrace was covered with large stone slabs
1. A bed of rushes on top
2. Then a thick layer of asphalt
3. Next two courses of brick cemented together
4. Finally plates of lead to prevent leakage
5. The whole thing was covered with earth
a. Planted with shrubbery
b. Planted with large trees
D. Built by
Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife
1. Amyitis – Cyaxeres’ Daughter - king of the mountain country of Media
2. She was more contented with her surroundings
The Rest Of The
City - In Its Glory And Magnificence, In Keeping With These Palaces, Towers,
And "Hanging Gardens"
A. Contained
many parks
B. There was
much unoccupied land that could be tilled
C. This helped
support the over 1,000,000 population
D. Isaiah
calls it:
Isaiah 13:19 ¶
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency…
The Feast
II. Belshazzar Praises False Gods
Daniel 5:1 ¶
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank
wine before the thousand.
Daniel 5:2
Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver
vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was
in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines,
might drink therein.
Daniel 5:3 Then
they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house
of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and
his concubines, drank in them.
Daniel 5:4 They
drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of
wood, and of stone.
A. Belshazzar
made a great Feast to 1000 of his lords - BC
1. Sent for the vessels Nebuchadnezzar took from the Jerusalem
Temple
2. So that he and his princes, his wives and his
concubines, might drink therein.
3. They praised the gods of gold, and of silver,
brass, iron, wood, and stone
B. “His father
Nebuchadnezzar” – Actually his grandfather
1. Nebuchadnezzar - succeeded at his death, BC 561,
by his son Evil-Merodach
a. Liberated Jehoiachin, king of Judah,
from prison
b. Fed him from his own table. (II Kings 25:27-30.
Jeremiah. 52:31-34)
2. Evil-Merodach was put to death after 2 year reign
a. By conspirators wanting the throne
b. Led by Neriglissar - his brother-in-law
1. Ascended the throne
2. Reigned for about four years
3. Killed in battle in the year BC 556.
3. Laborosoarchod - Neriglissar’s son succeeded him
a. A retarded child
b. King for less than a year - was beaten to death
4. Nabonidus (or Nabonnaid) married the widow of
Neriglissar
a. Took the throne
b. Reigned from BC 555 to the Fall of Babylon
in BC 538
c. Jeremiah prophesied about Nebuchadnezzar:
Jeremiah 27:7
And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very
time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve
themselves of him.
C. Belshazzar
second in command in Babylonia
1. Reigned with his father Nabonidus
2. Nabonidus away on some military expedition - left
Belshazzar in charge
3. Feasts common in Babylon,
but this Feast was no common Feast.
D. There is no
feast like it recorded in history.
1. Turning point in history of Babylon
a. BC 538 – 23 years after Nebuchadnezzar’s death
b. From the
"Head of Gold" to the "Arms and Breast of Silver" of the
Image
c. From the "Lion" to the "Bear" of
prophecy in Daniel 7:1-5
2. The Feast of Belshazzar - given in defiance to God
a. The city was in a state of siege - But the walls
of the city were impregnable
b. The armies of the Medes and Persians were camped
outside its walls
1. Belshazzar felt secure
2. The drawbridges were drawn up
3. The brazen gates barred
4. Belshazzar was confident he had soldiers on the walls
c. Contempt to God and camped army outside
III. Belshazzr
Sees The Handwriting of God
Daniel 5:5 In the
same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the
candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king
saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Daniel 5:6 Then the
king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the
joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another
A. The Hand of God appeared
1. With its
finger silently wrote
a. In
mystic characters
b. On the
wall over against the lighted Candlestick
2. Could be
clearly seen by all Belshazzar”s guests
B. It was no hallucination – It was the
doom of Babylon
1. It sobered the King
2. Filled him with fear-
joints of his loins loosed – knees knocked
III. Belshazzar
Calls For An Interpreter
Daniel 5:7 The king
cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.
And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read
this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with
scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler
in the kingdom.
Daniel 5:8 Then
came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make
known to the king the interpretation thereof.
Daniel 5:9 Then was
king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and
his lords were astonied.
A. Made a
decree because of his fear
1. Wanted someone to read the writing
2. Wanted someone to interpret the writing
B. The reward
for reading and interpreting the writing
1. Be clothed with scarlet
2. Have a gold chain around his neck
3. Be a third part ruler in Babylon
C. The
"Wise Men" of Babylon fail again - could not interpret the writing
1. Some say it was a language they did not know
2. The real reason - takes a "Man Of God"
to interpret the Words Of God
D. The
Caldeean’s failure
1. Troubled the King
2. His countenance was changed
3. His lords were astonished
4. They also saw that the "handwriting on the wall"
IV. Belshazzar
Hears The Queen
Daniel 5:10 ¶
Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the
banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy
thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
Daniel 5:11
There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in
the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of
the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king,
I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and
soothsayers;
Daniel 5:12
Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding,
interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of
doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now
let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
A. The party
changed to terror
B. The Queen
came in to find out what the commotion was about
1. The queen undoubtedly remembered Nebuchadnezzar
and Daniel
2. the Queen made of the word "father."
instead of "grandfather,"
3. In Semetic languages there are no words for
"grandfather," or "grandson."
C. The Queen
told Belshazzar to call Daniel
1. He had helped Nebuchadnezzar
2. He has an excellent Spirit in him
3. Has knowledge and understanding – interprets
dreams and hard sayings
D. Babylon’s Fall predicted in Bible and described in
secular history
1. Herodotus, Xenophon, Berossus, Babylonian Chronicles,
& the Cyrus Cylinder
2. Isaiah and Jeremiah fall (Isaiah. 13:17-22; 21:1-10; 47:1-5; Jeremiah 51:33-58).
E. The Persians
diverted The Euphrates - flowed south through Babylon
1. Into an ancient lake located to the north.
2. This allowed them to walk into the city on the river
bed
3. They scaled the undefended walls that flanked the
river.
"Hereupon the Persians who had been
left for the purpose at Babylon by the river-side, entered the stream, which had now sunk so as to
reach about midway up a man's thigh, and thus got into the town. Had the
Babylonians been appraised of what Cyrus was about, or had they noticed their
danger, they would never have allowed the Persians to enter the city, but would
have destroyed them utterly; for they would have made fast all the street-gates
which gave upon the river, and mounting upon the walls along both sides of the
stream, would so have caught the enemy as it were in a trap. But, as it was,
the Persians came upon them by surprise and took the city. Owing to the vast
size of the place, the inhabitants of the central parts (as the residents at
Babylon declare), long after the outer portions of the town were taken, knew
nothing of what had chanced, but as they were engaged in a festival, continued
dancing and reveling until they learnt the capture but too certainly." -
Herodotus
V. Belshazzar Calles
Daniel
Daniel 5:13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and
said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the
captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
Daniel 5:14 I have even heard of thee, that
the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and
excellent wisdom is found in thee.
Daniel 5:15 And now the wise men, the
astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this
writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not
shew the interpretation of the thing:
Daniel 5:16 And I have heard of thee, that
thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read
the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be
clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the
third ruler in the kingdom.
Daniel 5:17 Then Daniel answered and said
before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another;
yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the
interpretation.
Daniel 5:18 O thou king, the most high God
gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
Daniel 5:19
And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and
languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he
would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put
down.
Daniel 5:20 But when his heart was lifted
up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and
they took his glory from him:
Daniel 5:21 And he was driven from the sons
of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the
wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the
dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men,
and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
Daniel 5:22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar,
hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
Daniel 5:23 But hast lifted up thyself
against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house
before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk
wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass,
iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose
hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
Daniel 5:24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was
written.
VI. Daniel
Interprets The Handwriting on the wall
Daniel 5:25 And this is the writing that
was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
Daniel 5:26 This is the interpretation of
the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Daniel 5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the
balances, and art found wanting.
Daniel 5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Daniel 5:29 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.
A. The writing
was in Aramaic
1. The letters
are arranged in Acrostic style
2. Mystified the Chaldeans - could make no sense of
the words
a. Would read from right to left - as Hebrew and
Aramaic
b. Or from left to right - as other languages
c. Daniel read from top to bottom, beginning at the
right
B. While
interpreting Daniel changes the word Upharsin to Peres
1. Peres is the singular of Upharsin.- helps the
interpretation
2. The consonants
P-R-S - also could mean Persians
3. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin in English - Numbered,
Numbered, Weighed, Divisions
4. Daniel interpreted them
a. MENE—"God hath numbered thy Kingdom, and finished it."
b. TEKEL—"Thou art weighed in the balances and
art found wanting."
c. PERES—"Thy Kingdom is divided, and given to the
Medes and Persians."
C. Below from
the Talmud
D. Belshazzar probably
didn’t expect the prophecy fulfilled soon
1 Clothed Daniel with scarlet
2. Put a chain of gold about his neck
3. Made a proclamation that he should be the 3rd
Ruler
a. Belshazzar himself was the 2nd ruler
b. His father Nabonidus was the 1st ruler
4. To Daniel it was an empty honor – He knew God’s
Word is true
VII. Babylon’s
Fall
Daniel 5:30 ¶ In that night was Belshazzar the king of
the Chaldeans slain.
Daniel 5:31 And
Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
Daniel 6:1 ¶ It
pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which
should be over the whole kingdom;
A. Darius the
Mede didn’t take Babylon
B. It was
captured by Cyrus
1. Out of
courtesy – Made his uncle governor – Darius, king of Media
a. Because Media was the older of the two Kingdoms
b. Because Cyrus had some other military campaigns
2. Darius ruled for two years.
C. Daniel made
first of 120 princes Darius set over Medo-Persia
VII. Taking Babylon
A. War breaks
out 2 years after Nebuchadnezzar’s death
1. Between the
Babylonians and the Medes
2. Continued off and on for over twenty years
B. Cyaxares,
king of the Medes
1. Also called Darius
2. Helped his nephew, Cyrus, the Persian
C. Cyrus takes
over Babylon
1. In the seventeenth year of Nabonidus
2. The third year of Belshazzar
D. The
Babylonians were not worried about Cyrus
1. They had provisions to last them for years
2. Enough tillable soil to reinforce the provision
E. False
Security.
1. 175 years before God said (before Cyrus was born)
he would take the city
Isaiah 44:28
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even
saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation
shall be laid.
Isaiah 45:1 ¶
Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden,
to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open
before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Isaiah 45:2 I
will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in
pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
Isaiah 45:3
And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret
places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am
the God of Israel.
Isaiah 45:4
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called
thee by thy
name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
2. When God sets the time - the strongest fortress will
fall
F. Cyrus
realized the futility of attacking the city – Used Strategy
1. Drained the
Euphrates flowing through the city
2. Marched his soldiers in on the river bed
G. Cyrus
divided his army into three Divisions – Divide & Conquer
1. The 1st diverted the river Euphrates
at the right time
2. The 2nd stationed where the river entered the city
on the north
3. The 3rd was stationed where the river
left the city on the south
a. The 2nd & 3rd entered
the channel as soon as the water was low enough
b. Marched toward each other until they met at the
Palace
H. Easily could
have been a failure
1. If the city wasn’t all drunk
2. If the guards had not been carelessness
3. The brass gates were left unbolted
4. The water level through the city should have been
an alarm
I. Cyrus’ soldiers
of Cyrus took possession of the city
1. Stormed the Palace
2. Killed Belshazzar
3. The rebellion to God cost Belshazzar his life -
and Babylon’s fall
4. The seventy years captivity was over – BC 536
VIII. The
Rebuilding Of Babylon – Important To Future Events
A. This is
seen in the 17th & 18th chapters of the Book of
Revelation
1. The 17th speaks of Woman
a. Called "Mystery, Babylon
the Great
b. Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth
2. The 18th chapter speaks of a City
a. A literal city
b. Called Babylon
the Great
B. The Woman and the City are not the same
– Chapter 18, “After these things”
1The Woman is destroyed by the Ten Kings
2. The Kings in 18:9 - bewail and lament the city’s
destruction of the City
a. It’s not destroyed by them
b. It’s destroyed by a Mighty Earthquake And Fire –
Revelation 18:9, 21
3. The woman & the city are announced by
different angels
a. The events of 17th chapter seventeen
are announced by a Vial Angel
b The 18th
announced by another angel
4. The woman destroyed 3 ½ years before the city –
Revelation 14:8
C. Ancient
Babylon was destroyed, but will be rebuilt before the 2nd Advent
D. Babylon’s destruction is in Isaiah 13 – 14 &
Jeremiah 50 - 51.
E. Many
prophecies of Babylon have not been fulfilled yet
IX. History of Babylon From Cyrus (BC 536)
A. Cyrus was
so quick – some didn’t know of the change for 3 days
B. BC 516
Revolted against Darius Hystaspis
C. About BC
478 Xerxes – Almost destroyed the Temple of Bell
D. BC 331
Alexander the Great came to Babylon
1. Then the city was very powerful
2. Decided to bring all his forces to crush any
resistance
3. Babylon
received him happily
4. Vowed he would rebuild the temple
of Bel
a. He sacrificed to Bel first
b. He kept 10,000 men there to clear the ruins of the
temple
c. Intended to make Babylon
his capitol
d. Drank himself to death at age 33
E. Babylon
came under the power of the Seleucus
1. There was wars between Alexander’s 4 generals
first
2. Wanted to build a Capital for himself
3. Founded Seleucia
by Babylon about BC 293
a. This rival city gradually drew off the people of Babylon
b. Strabo (died in 25 A D) said Babylon
was almost deserted
F. There was
still Jews left from the Captivity
1. Remained in large numbers
2. 60 A D 60 we find the Apostle Peter working among
them
3. Peter wrote his first epistle from Babylon
- I Peter. 5:13
G. 5th
century primarily Jews
1. Theodoret says that Babylon
was almost all Jews
2. They still had 3 Jewish Universities
3. "Babylonian Talmud" issued
a. In the last year of the entury
b. Recognized by Jews from all over
H. 917 AD lbu
Hankel says it was insignificant
I. 1100 AD
Babylon rose again to some importance
1. It was known as the "Two Mosques."
2. Shortly afterwards it was enlarged, fortified, and
called Hillah.
J. 1898 Hillah
had 10,000 inhabitants
1. was surrounded by fertile lands
2. Had many date groves along the Euphrates.
K. Today
people are living there and rebuilding is happening:
“The present site
consists of several mounds which cover the remains of Nebuchadnezzar’s summer
palace, the Ishtar Gate and a further palace complex, the Temple of Marduk and the ziggurat, and a residential area.
A reconstruction has been made of the Ishtar Gate, and other works are being
carried out by the Iraqi government”
(Quoted in January
2003 from http://www.bible-history.com)
X. Specific
Prophecies About Babylon’s Destruction
A. We can not
say about Babylon so far
Isaiah 13:20 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.
Jeremiah 51:26
And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for
foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 51:43 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.
1. Many towns
and cities have been built from the ruins of Babylon:
1. Seleucia,
built by the Greeks
2. Ctesiphon,
by the Parthians
3. Al Maiden, by the Persians
4. Kufa, by
the Caliphs
2. Hillah was built
intirely from the debris
3. In houses
of Bagdad - Babylonian stamped bricks are seen often
B. But Isaiah gives a specific time for the prophecy to be
fulfilled
Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to
lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
1. He calls it the ‘Day of The Lord’
a. The ‘Day of the Lord’ takes in the Tribulation Period
and the Millennium
b. Isaiah says when Babylon
will be destroyed
Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not
cause her light to shine.
2. None of these things happened when Babylon
was taken by Cyrus in BC 538
3. They haven’t happened since
4. The darkening of the "Heavenly Bodies"
a. Tells us it is at the close of "The Great
Tribulation,"
b. Foretold by Christ in The Olivet Discourse - Matthew
24:29-30
c. The time of the Seventh Vial - Revelation
16:17-19.