Bible Reading: Part 4. From Olive Tree

“Prehistoric Mesopotamian city straddling the Euphrates River. It served as the capital of the ancient Babylonian kingdom and is considered one of the wonders of the ancient world (Dan. 4:30). Genesis records that it originally served as a center for the kingdom of Nimrod, a descendant of Noah’s second son Ham (Gen. 10:10). It may also be the site of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:2). Babylon is not mentioned again until the Assyrians exiled the Israelites in the 8th century BC and relocated some of Babylon’s citizens to repopulate Israel (2 Kings 17:24). King Hezekiah of the surviving tribe of Judah was chastised by Isaiah for showing off all his wealth to Babylon’s King Marduk-Baladan (2 Kings 20:13, called Merodach-Baladan and Berodach-Baladan in the Bible). As a consequence, Isaiah predicted that Hezekiah’s descendants would be exiled to Babylon (2 Kings 20:17-18; Isa. 39:6), though he also foretold Babylon’s own ruin (Isa. 21:9). Isaiah’s successors Jeremiah and Habakkuk made similar predictions of Judah’s downfall to the Babylonians (Jer. 20:4; Hab. 1:6), but Jeremiah assured that God would bring them back to their homeland (Jer. 29:10). Micah made parallel predictions of the Babylonian exile and of God’s rescue (Mic. 4:10). Just as was predicted, in the 6th century BC King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem, deporting its inhabitants to Babylon (2 Kings 24:14) and destroying its temple (2 Kings 25:9). The writings of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Psalm 137 take place during the Israelite’s stay in Babylon. After the Persians conquered the Babylonians in the 6th century BC, King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland, making true the words of previous prophets (Ezra 1:1). In the New Testament, the Jewish exile to Babylon is used by Matthew to segment Jesus’ genealogy (Matt. 1:12, 17). Both Peter and John likely use the city as a metaphor for the Roman Empire in their writings to signify that though there are forces which oppose God’s chosen people, these forces ultimately do not last (1 Pet. 5:13; Rev. 18:2).” Sent from Bible Study