No. 803
Part One – Edom and Babylon
“For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” (Isa. 63:4) “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” (Isa. 34:8)
This is how the Prophet Isaiah referred to that period described by Daniel as “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1) Malachi said of this period, “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble.” (Mal. 4:1) The Apostle James said of it that the rich shall weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon them. (Jas. 5:1-6) Joel described it as “a day of clouds and of thick darkness.” (Joel 2:2) Amos described it as a “very dark” day with “no brightness in it.” (Amos 5:20) The Lord Jesus referred to it as a time of “great tribulation,” so ruinous in its character that, if it were not cut short, no flesh would survive its ravages. (Matt. 24:21-22)
Many scriptures make clear that the dark and gloomy day described by the Prophets is a day of judgment upon mankind socially and nationally – a day of national recompenses. Note that there is a difference between national judgment and individual judgment. While nations are composed of individuals who are largely responsible for the conduct of the nations, and those individuals suffer greatly in the calamities which befall the nations, nevertheless, the judgment of the world as individuals will be distinct from its judgment as nations.
The day of individual judgment for the world will be the Millennial Age. (See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume I, Chapter VIII) Under the favorable conditions of the New Covenant, and with a clear knowledge of the truth and every possible assistance and incentive to righteousness, all men will then be on trial for eternal life individually. The judgment of nations, now imminent, is a judgment of men in their collective (religious and civil) capacities. The civil institutions of the world have had a long lease of power; and now, as the “Times of the Gentiles” come to a close, they must render up their accounts. The Lord’s judgment, expressed beforehand by the Prophets, is that not one of those institutions will be found worthy of a renewal of that lease or a continuance of life. The decree is that the dominion shall be taken from them, and that He “whose right it is” shall take the Kingdom, and the nations shall be given to Him for an inheritance. (Ezek. 21:27; Dan. 7:27; Psa. 2:8; Rev. 2:26-27)
Hear the Word of the Lord to the nations assembled before Him for judgment:
“Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies.” (Isa. 34:1-2)
“But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.” (Jer. 10:10)
“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations . . . Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind [intense trouble and commotion] shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.” (Jer. 25:31-33)
“Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth [present social order] shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:8-9)
It is not our purpose to cause a sensation or to arouse idle curiosity. Nor can we hope to prompt the hearts of men to penitence or change the present social, political and religious order, thus averting the impending calamity. No hand but the hand of God could stay the progress of the present current of events; and His hand will not do so until the bitter experiences of this conflict have sealed their instruction upon the hearts of men. Our main object is not, therefore, to enlighten the world, but to forewarn, forearm, comfort, encourage and strengthen “the household of faith,” so that they may see by faith the glorious outcome – the permanent establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, under Christ, the Prince of Peace.
Taking his standpoint at the end of the harvest of the Gospel Age, the Prophet Isaiah beheld a mighty Conqueror, glorious in His apparel (clothed with authority and power), and riding forth victoriously over all His enemies, with whose blood all His garments are stained. He inquired who the wonderful stranger was: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?” (Isa. 63:1)
EDOM SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT
Edom was the name given to Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, after he sold his birthright for a mess of “red pottage.” (Gen. 25:30-34) The name was also subsequently applied both to the people descended from him and to the country in which they settled. (See Gen. 25:30; Gen. 36:1; Num. 20:18, 20-21; Jer. 49:17) Consequently, the name Edom is an appropriate symbol for a class who, in this age, have similarly sold their birthright for a trifling consideration.
The Prophets frequently used the name Edom to represent that great company of professed Christians sometimes called “the Christian World,” and “Christendom” (i.e., Christ’s Kingdom). These names show a great lack of understanding of the true object and character of Christ’s Kingdom, and the appointed time and manner of its establishment. They are simply boastful appellations which belie the truth presented by the groans of the oppressed and the mutterings of the angry nations. Do these constitute Christ’s Kingdom – a true Christendom? The fallacy of the boastful claim is plain to see.
The fitness of the symbolic name “Edom” in its application to Christendom is very marked. The nations of so-called Christendom have had privileges above all the other nations. To them, as to the Israelites of the previous age, have been committed “the oracles of God.” (Rom. 3:2) Both directly and indirectly, all the blessings of civilization have come to these nations as a result of the enlightening influences of the Word of God. The presence in their midst of a few saints (a “little flock”), developed under its influence, has been as “the salt of the earth,” preserving it to some extent from utter moral corruption. By their godly examples and their energy in holding forth the Word of life, they have been “the light of the world,” showing men the way back to God and righteousness. However, only a few in these favored nations have made proper use of their advantages, which have come to them by reason of their birth in the lands so blessed with the direct and indirect influences of the Word of God.
Like Esau, the masses of Christendom have sold their birthright. By the masses, we mean not only the agnostic portion, but also the great majority of worldly professors of the religion of Christ. They are Christians in name only. They lack the life of Christ in them. They have preferred present earthly advantage to all the blessings of communion and fellowship with God and Christ, and to the glorious inheritance with Christ promised to those who faithfully follow in His footsteps of sacrifice. They are the nominal spiritual Israel of the Gospel Age, of which “Israel after the flesh” in the Jewish Age was a type. They really have little or no respect for the promises of God.
They are indeed a mighty host, bearing the name of Christ and posing before the world as the Church of Christ. They have built up great organizations representing various schisms in the professed body of Christ. They have written massive volumes of so-called “systematic theology,” and have founded numerous colleges and seminaries to teach that theology. They have done “many wonderful works” in the name of Christ, which were often, nevertheless, contrary to the teachings of His Word. (Matt. 7:22) The Edom class who have sold their birthright includes almost all of “Christendom.”
As all of the land of Edom symbolizes all of “Christendom,” so its capital city, Bozrah, represents ecclesiasticism, the chief citadel of Christendom. The name Bozrah signifies “sheepfold,” and the slaughter of the day of vengeance is said to be of the “lambs and goats.” (Isa. 34:6) The reply to the Prophet’s inquiry about who came from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah is this: “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” (Isa. 63:1 ) It is the same mighty one described by the Revelator (Rev. 19:11-16), the “King of kings and Lord of lords,” Jehovah’s Anointed, our blessed Redeemer and Lord Jesus.
THE TREADING OF THE WINEPRESS
The Prophet inquired further: “Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?” Hear the reply: “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” (Isa. 63:2-4) The Revelator added, “And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” (Rev. 19:15)
The treading of the winepress is the last feature of harvest work. The reaping and gathering is all done first. (See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume III, Chapter VI) The fact that the King of kings is represented as treading the winepress “alone” indicates that the power exerted for the overthrow of the nations will be divine power, and not mere human energy. It will be God’s power that will punish the nations: “And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips [the force and spirit of His truth] shall he slay the wicked.” (Isa. 11:4; Rev. 19:15; Psa. 98:1)
The honors of the coming victory for truth and righteousness can be ascribed to no human generalship. Wild will be the conflict of the angry nations, and world-wide will be the battlefield and the distress of nations; and no human Alexander, Caesar, or Napoleon will be found to bring order out of the dreadful confusion. But in the end, it will be known that the grand victory of justice and truth, and the punishment of iniquity with its just deserts, was brought about by the mighty power of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
All of these things are to be accomplished in the closing days of the Gospel Age, because, as the Lord states through the Prophet, “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” (Isa. 34:8) All through the Gospel Age the Lord has taken cognizance of the controversy, the strife and contention in nominal Zion. He has observed how His faithful saints have had to contend for truth and righteousness, and even to suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake at the hands of those who opposed them in the name of the Lord. For wise purposes the Lord has hitherto refrained from interfering; but now the day of recompenses has come, and the Lord has a controversy with them.
As it is written, “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish.” (Hos. 4:1-3) This prophecy, so true in its fulfilment upon fleshly Israel, is doubly so in its fuller application to nominal spiritual Israel – Christendom.
“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 25:31) “Hear ye now what the Lord saith . . . Hear ye, O mountains [kingdoms], the Lord’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.” (Micah 6:1-2)
Hear again the Prophet Isaiah speak (from the future standpoint) concerning this controversy: “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and harken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.” (Isa. 34:1-2)
The Lord will thus smite the nations and cause them to know His power, and He will deliver His faithful people who go not with the multitudes in the way of evil, but who wholly follow the Lord their God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. And even this terrible judgment upon the world, as nations, thus dashing them to pieces as a potter’s vessel, will prove a valuable lesson to them when they come forth to an individual judgment under the Millennial reign of Christ. Thus, in His wrath, the Lord will remember mercy.
THE DOOM OF BABYLON
“The burden [doom] of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see . . . Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them . . . 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 . . . And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible . . . I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isa. 13:1-13; compare Rev. 16:14; Heb. 12:26-29)
The symbolic Edom of Isaiah’s prophecy corresponds to the symbolic Babylon of the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation. These various prophecies concerning Babylon are all in full accord, and manifestly refer to the same great city. And since these prophecies had but a very limited fulfilment upon the ancient, literal city, and those of Revelation were written centuries after the literal Babylon was laid in ruins, it is clear that the special reference of all the Prophets is to something of which the ancient literal Babylon was an illustration. It is clear also that, in so far as the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah concerning its downfall were accomplished upon the literal city, it became in its downfall, as well as in its character, an illustration of the great city to which the Revelator points in the symbolic language of the Apocalypse (Chapters 17 and 18), and to which chiefly the other Prophets refer.
What is today known as Christendom is the antitype of ancient Babylon; and therefore, the solemn warnings and predictions of the Prophets against Babylon – Christendom – are matters of deepest concern to the present generation. Would that men were wise enough to consider them! Though various other symbolic names, such as Edom, Ephraim, Ariel, etc., are applied to Christendom in the Scriptures, this term, “Babylon,” is the one most frequently used, and its significance, confusion, is remarkably appropriate.
The Revelator intimated that it would not be difficult to discover this great mystical city, because her name is in her forehead; that is, she is prominently marked, so that we cannot fail to see her unless we shut our eyes and refuse to look: “And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” (Rev. 17:5) But before looking for this Mystical Babylon, let us first observe the typical Babylon, and then, with its prominent features in mind, look for the antitype.
The name Babylon was applied, not only to the capital city of the Babylonian empire, but also to the empire itself. Babylon, the capital, was the most magnificent, and probably the largest, city of the ancient world. It was built in the form of a square on both sides of the Euphrates river; and, for protection against invaders, it was surrounded by a deep moat filled with water and enclosed within a vast system of double walls, from thirty-two to eighty-five feet thick, and from seventy-five to three hundred feet high. On the summit were low towers, said to have been two hundred and fifty in number, placed along the outer and inner edges of the wall, tower facing tower; and in these walls were a hundred brazen gates, twenty-five on each side, corresponding to the number of streets which intersected each other at right angles. The city was adorned with splendid palaces and temples and the spoils of conquest.
Nebuchadnezzar was the great monarch of the Babylonian empire, whose long reign covered nearly half the period of its existence, and its grandeur and military glory were chiefly due to him. The city was noted for its wealth and magnificence, which brought a corresponding moral degradation, the sure precursor of its decline and fall. It was wholly given to idolatry, and was full of iniquity. The people were worshipers of Baal, to whom they offered human sacrifices. The deep degradation of their idolatry may be understood from God’s reproof of the Israelites when they became corrupted by contact with them. (Jer. 7:9; Jer. 19:5)
The name originated with the frustrating of the plan for the great tower, called Babel (confusion), because God there confounded human speech; but the native etymology made the name Babil, which, instead of being reproachful, and a reminder of the Lord’s displeasure, signified to them “the gate of God.” The city of Babylon attained a position of prominence and affluence as the capital of the great Babylonian empire, and was called “the golden city,” “the glory of kingdoms,” and “the beauty of Chaldees’ excellency.” (Isa. 14:4; Isa. 13:19)
Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded in the dominion by his grandson Belshazzar, under whose reign came the collapse which pride, fullness of bread and abundance of idleness always ensure and hasten. While the people were abandoning themselves to demoralizing excesses, all unconscious of impending danger and following the example of their king, the Persian army, under Cyrus, stealthily crept in through the channel of the Euphrates (from which they had turned aside the water), massacred the revelers, and captured the city. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of that strange handwriting on the wall: “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin,” which Daniel interpreted to mean: “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it . . . Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting . . . Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Dan. 5:25-28) And so complete was the destruction of that great city that even its site was forgotten and was for a long time uncertain.
Such was the typical city; and, like a great millstone cast into the sea, it was sunken centuries ago, never again to rise; even the memory of it has become a reproach and a byword. Now let us look for its antitype, first observing that the Scriptures clearly point it out, and then noting the aptness of the symbolism.
In symbolic prophecy a “city” signifies a religious government backed by power and influence. Thus, for instance, the “holy city, the new Jerusalem,” is the symbol used to represent the established Kingdom of God, the overcomers of the Gospel Church exalted and reigning in glory. The Church is also, and in the same connection, represented as a woman, “the bride, the Lamb’s wife,” in power and glory, and backed by the power and authority of Christ, her husband. “And there came unto me one of the seven angels . . . saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he . . . showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem.” (Rev. 21:9-10)
This same method of interpretation applies to mystical Babylon, the great ecclesiastical kingdom, “that great city,” which is described as a harlot, a fallen woman (an apostate church – for the true Church is a virgin), exalted to power and dominion, and backed, to a considerable degree, by the kings of the earth, the civil powers, which are all more or less intoxicated with her spirit and doctrine. (Rev. 17:1-6) The apostate church lost her virgin purity. Instead of waiting, as an espoused and chaste virgin, for exaltation with the heavenly Bridegroom, she associated herself with the kings of the earth and prostituted her virgin purity – both of doctrine and character – to suit the world’s ideas.
In return she received, and now to some extent exercises, a present dominion, in large measure by the direct and indirect support of the civil powers. This unfaithfulness to the Lord, whose name she claims, and to her high privilege to be the “chaste virgin” espoused to Christ, is the occasion of the symbolic appellation, “harlot,” while her influence as a sacerdotal empire, full of inconsistency and confusion, is symbolically represented under the name Babylon, which, in its widest sense, as symbolized by the Babylonian empire, we promptly recognize to be Christendom; while in its more restricted sense, as symbolized by the ancient city Babylon, we recognize to be the nominal Christian Church.
The fact that Christendom does not accept the Bible term “Babylon” and its significance – confusion – as being applicable to her, is no proof that it is not so; ancient Babylon also did not recognize the Bible significance – confusion. Ancient Babylon presumed itself to be the very “gate of God” but God labeled it Confusion (Gen. 11:9), and so it is with her antitype today. She calls herself Christendom, the gateway to God and everlasting life, while God calls her Babylon – confusion.
It has been very generally and very properly claimed by Protestants that the name “Babylon” and the prophetic description are applicable to Papacy, though recently a more compromising disposition is less inclined so to apply it. On the contrary, every effort is now made on the part of the sects of Protestantism to conciliate and imitate the Church of Rome, and to affiliate and cooperate with her. In so doing they become part and parcel with her, while they justify her course and fill up the measure of her iniquities, just as surely as did the scribes and Pharisees fill up the measure of their fathers who killed the Prophets. (Matt. 23:31-32)
All this, of course, neither Protestants nor Papists are ready to admit, because in so doing they would be condemning themselves. And this fact is recognized by the Revelator, who shows that all who would get a true view of Babylon must, in spirit, take their position with the true people of God “in the wilderness” – in the condition of separation from the world and worldly ideas and mere forms of godliness, and in the condition of entire consecration and faithfulness to and dependence upon God alone. “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman . . . And upon her forehead was a name written . . . babylon.” (Rev. 17:3-5)
And since the kingdoms of the civilized world have submitted to be largely dominated by the influence of the great ecclesiastical systems, especially Papacy, accepting from them the label “Christian nations” and “Christendom,” and accepting on their authority the doctrine of the divine right of kings, etc., they also link themselves in with great Babylon, and become part of it, so that, as in the type, the name Babylon applied, not only to the city, but also to the whole empire, here also the symbolic term “Babylon” applies, not only to the great religious organizations, Papal and Protestant, but also, in its widest sense, to all Christendom.
Hence this day of judgment upon mystic Babylon is the day of judgment upon all the nations of Christendom; its calamities will involve the entire structure – civil, social and religious; and individuals will be affected by it to the extent of their interest in, and dependence upon, its various organizations and arrangements.
The nations beyond Christendom will also feel the weight of the heavy hand of recompense in that they also are to some extent bound in with the nations of Christendom by various interests, commercial and others; and justly, too, in that they also have failed to appreciate what light they have seen, and have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19) Thus, as God declared through the Prophet, “For all the earth [society] shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” (Zeph. 3:8) But because of her greater responsibility and her misuse of favors received, the fierceness of His wrath and indignation will burn against Babylon – Christendom. (Jer. 51:49) “At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.” (Jer. 50:46)
Some sincere Christians, perceiving the unrest and the doctrinal upheavals in all the religious systems, may still be anxiously inquiring: “If all Christendom is to be involved in the doom of Babylon, what will become of Protestantism, the result of The Great Reformation?” This is an important question, but Protestantism, as it exists today, is not the result of the Great Reformation, but of its decline. Protestantism now partakes to a large degree of the disposition and character of the Church of Rome, from which its various branches sprang.
To be continued in our August 2024 paper.
(Excerpt from Studies in the Scriptures, Volume IV, Chapters I and II, pages 11-28, condensed and edited.)
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