THE FALL OF BABYLON Having likened Cyrus to a bird of prey descending on Babylon (Is. 46: 11) as a shadow of the redeeming work of the Lord Christ against the devil, now the prophet reveals what will occur to the tender and delicate Babylon, the arrogant queen of kingdoms. He is speaking of the work of sin and its fruits in the life of man. 1. The fall of Babylon 1-5. 2. The sins of Babylon 6-15. 1. THE FALL OF BABYLON “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin daughter of Babylon. sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender or delicate.” (Is. 47: 1) Babylon has been called “Virgin,” a common name in the Holy Bible of cities (Is. 1: 8; 37: 22; Jeremiah 31: 21; 46: 11; Lamentations 1: 15). This Virgin is either betrothed to God, a holy bride like Jerusalem, or betrothed to the devil, to become his bride, united to him, carrying his kingdom of darkness. As Babylon represents the fallen soul, through pride with luxuries, temporary joy and earthly lusts, what happened to it reveals what would occur to man because of sin. What did happen to Babylon? Or what are the fruits of sins? a. Having been the capital of the greatest nation of these days, it tended to follow all practices of luxuries and corruptions. Having the appearance of outer joy, it was overwhelmed by great sorrow, to sit in the dust (Is. 47: 1), as though she suffered the loss of her man or one of her beloved (Lamentations 3: 29). The first work of sin is the loss of inner joy and the exalted peace of mind, to fill the soul with bitterness and despair, together with a feeling of isolation and deprivation. Yes, My God... In the absence of Your Light, death and nothingness would appear! O, how great is my misery, and how numerous are my wounds! Although You are the Comforter, the Grantor of peace, I separated myself from You! Although You are the Truth, yet, I did not seek Your counsel! My wickedness gave me deep wounds, because I did not walk the narrow way. Although You are the true life, yet I kept myself far away from You!1 St. Augustine b. In place of throne and authority Babylon would sit in the dust as a captive (Is. 47: 1). God created man a master on earth; granted him dignity and authority, but pride got him down to the abyss, to the humiliation of slaves. He bows down to sin, and runs after bodily lusts like a slave, after having been a king who knows how to control his feelings and senses and all his energies for the sake of the kingdom of God, according to the wisdom saying, “He who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city.” 1 .170 ، الحب الإلهي، ص 167 7 (Proverbs 16: 32) The Holy Bible warns us against pride, saying, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16: 18, 19) World glory likens a great hidden rock in the sea, a sailor unaware of its presence, will have the bottom of his boat’s broken up and sink1. St. Isaac the Syrian c. After having been the haughty queen of kingdoms, Babylon ended up practicing the hard work of slaves; likened by the prophet Isaiah to a woman working a millstone to grind flour, a task that requires the cooperation of two women, or animals, if it is of big size. And there she is ordered to take over that exhaustive work with nobody to help (Is. 47: 2); to be like Samson, who humiliated by sin, started to work the millstone in place of animals, amid laughter and reducible of his enemies. St. John Chrysostom, talking to us about our ascension to heaven in the ascending Jesus Christ reveals to us how our life and nature went down to a level far lower than animals; but our Christ hauled us up through His ascension, and granted us the enjoyment of His heavens, saying, [Behold, how our nature descended then ascended! There is nowhere lower than where man descended; and nowhere higher than where Christ ascended... that was expressed by the words of the apostle Paul, “He who descended is also the One who ascended.” Whereto, did He descend? “Into the lower parts of the earth;” then ascended “far above all the heavens” (Ephesians 4: 9, 10)... We were nothing but dust and ashes... then became dumber than the donkey and ox (Is. 3: 1), than the stork in the heavens, and the turtledove and the swallow (Jeremiah 8: 7). We became less clever than the ants (Proverb 6: 6)... harder than the rocks, likened to serpents (Psalm 58: 5)... and called the children of the devil (John 8: 44). That was how far we descended in our unworthiness. But today, our nature exalted far above all creatures. Today the angels regained those whom they have lost long ago, those for whom they yearned to see again! Today they behold our nature in the divine throne glittering in eternal beauty and everlasting glory2.] d. “Remove your veil, take off the skirt” (Is. 47: 2); something not worthy of young honorable girls at that time. After its valuable, richly decorated military and commercial ships, used to sail, proclaiming its sovereignty over the world, she is told, “Pass through the rivers; your nakedness shall be uncovered. Yes, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will not arbitrate with a man.” (Is. 47: 3) She destroyed many people and did many nations wrong, that is why she deserves to bear the shame of all her past deeds. Sin always gets man into disgrace and shame. Sin made us lose divine grace, to become bare; but our Christ, who bears our sins, became naked for our sake, to offer Himself as a cover to our shameful nakedness. 1 A.J. Wensinck: Mystical Treatises, St. Isaac Syrian, p. 219. الحب الإلهي، ص 730 الخ. 2 8 His crucifiers unclothed Him. Yet He “as a sheep before its shearers is silent”! He forsook His clothes on the cross, to clothe those driven out naked from Paradise! He gives them His clothes, to get, Himself ridiculed; realizing that they are convenient for the disgraced Adam. They took off His clothes, then clothed Him with a robe as crimson as blood, to adorn the slain Groom!1 St. Jacob El-Serougi e. She enters into a state of depression because of the disaster that befell her, thus she is unable to speak and lives in darkness, “sit in silence and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called the Lady of kingdoms.” (Is. 47: 5) 2. THE SINS OF BABYLON The order has been issued for the fall of Babylon, but not without proclaiming the basis of that verdict; as God in His love, always does to those condemned, in order to let others get the message, so as not to fall in the same transgression. The sins of Babylon were: a. Violence and lack of mercy. God allowed for His people to be delivered to Babylon as a way of chastisement; but Babylon misused the situation, and practiced violence even against the aged, disregarding their old age (Is. 47: 6). God expected them to be compassionate toward His people, whom He loves, even though while chastising them. b. She assumed that she is above the law. In practicing violence, she did not understand that what she is doing to others will be done to her. Being the mistress of all, she did not reflect on what might happen to her (Is. 47: 7). c. Sticking to feeling of deceiving security and false peace, (Is. 47: 8), not based upon an encounter with God the Source of peace, but upon a belief that nothing bad would ever happen to someone with all that great position and wealth. She assumed that she would never become a widow or would suffer loss of children, but, “Those two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness, because of the multitude of your sorceries, for the great abundance of your enchantments.” (Is. 47: 9) She became a widow, having lost her kingdom, and also lost all her inhabitants that were like children to her. d. Disregarding the fact that God is seeing her and is aware of her doings; trusting her wickedness, she said: ‘No one sees me.’” (Is. 47: 10). e. Leaning upon mere human wisdom (Is, 47: 10), together with sorceries and potent spells, she thought that the counsels of astrologers and stargazers would save her from what might come upon her; yet “as stubble, fire shall burn them, they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame.” (Is. 47: 11 - 15) There have been no الحب الإلهي، ص 1 .432 9 country in the world, as well known for astrologers and stargazers as was Babylon (see the book of Daniel), and here the prophet ridicule them.
Welcome