ONE of the first great cities of antiquity was Babylon, founded by Nimrod, the great "lawless warrior" of the family of Ham. The origin of its name was the sin of its founders. Rebelling against God, rejecting His law of beneficence in the peopling of the earth, they sought their own glory, and to perpetuate their own name. They declared that they would escape future deluges, concentrate their efforts, and become themselves the arbiters of men's destiny. They said, as recorded in sacred story: "Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Gen. 11:4. And they proceeded to build with their well-burned brick. Verse 3. Upon some of those very bricks scholars have found the name they gave their city. It was "Bab-il," or "Bab-ilu," the "Gate of God," or the "Gate of Heaven." It was man's attempt to improve upon God's plan; to put man's work in the place of God's free grace and Spirit; to exalt the creature to the throne of the Creator; and they called it, as have the children of Babylon their efforts ever since, "the Gate of God."
But the erecting of other standards which must be universally and forever false, always leads to confusion. And God, who gives no names without purpose, thus called it "Babel," or "Babylon," meaning confusion. Perverse men named the city what they hoped it would be. God named the rebellious efforts of man just what they truly are. From that effort of man, from that first false principle, has sprung every false system of religion, and every perversion of the true religion, which has cursed the nations and the world, and put to death millions of the children of God. "Babylon hath . . . made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad." Jer. 51:7.
Worship of the Babylonian Sun-god. Recording the Restoration of the Sun-god at Sippura, near Babylon, by Nabupal-Idinan, King of Babylon, about 400 B.C.
Babylon was greater in influence than was warlike Assyria. Sayce declares: "In populousness and antiquity, Assyria was far exceeded by the southern kingdom of Babylonia. Here were the center and starting-point of the civilization which afterward spread thru Western Asia." Another bears witness: "The earliest religious, scientific, and artistic traditions of our present civilization were cradled in Babylonia."
Babylonian perversion of the true, the exaltation of the human to the divine, did not originate in man. It was taught him by the true "king of Babylon,"—"Lucifer," the fallen angel. Isa. 14:4, 12-14. Here are his thoughts, purposes, and principles: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations! And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars [mighty angels] of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation [as one reigning], in the uttermost parts of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds [of angels]; I will make myself like the Most High." Self-exaltation is the spirit of Babylon. At its least it is the perversion of truth; at its greatest it is open, active rebellion against God; in all it is confusion, and its ultimate is destruction. And God has given us the origin, history, and end of ancient Babylon, that we may discern the character and see the end of modern Babylon. The former is a prophecy of the latter.
Account of the Building of the Walls and Temples of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.
For a time He who ruled over nations suffered the Babylon of Nimrod to remain. As long as God could get glory, even from her perverseness, she was a dominant city of earth. When He could no longer use her, she fell, and Assyria, with the capital city of Nineveh, became the ruling power of the Orient. And yet from the days of Hammurabi (Amraphel, Gen. 14:1), the city of Babylon, which he had made great, so continued. Its supremacy there was none to question. "No capital in the world has ever been the center of so much power, wealth, and culture, for a period so vast."
At the time of our lesson in Daniel 1, a change had again taken place. Babylon, no longer Hamitic, but decidedly Shemitic, had, under a king (Nabopolassar) appointed B.C. 626 by the Assyrian emperor, arisen from its ancient ruins and former vassalage to proud Nineveh. Babylon was again in the ascendancy. Assyria had yielded to the united and superior power of Media, Egypt, and Babylonia, her former dependencies, and Nineveh fell, as God had predicted. The kings of Babylon and Media had strengthened their mutual interests by marriage between the royal families. Egypt soon bowed her back to defeat. Proud and wealthy Tyre was humbled in the dust. Edom and Moab and Philistia had all passed under the rod of the mighty conqueror, Nebuchadnezzar, who in B.C. 607 was associated with his father Nabopolassar, as joint ruler over the empire.
Babylon was just beginning to crown herself with her greater glory. Ancient public buildings and heathen temples were repairing, and new ones were projected on a much larger scale. Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, was king. His wife was Amyitis, daughter of Cyaxares, king of the Medes.
Nebuchadnezzar was Babylon's greatest king. He seemed to possess neither the vanity nor the cruelty of some of the ancient Assyrian monarchs. He was progressive and enlightened. The very city in which he ruled had for years been the seat of ancient learning. Even the kings of Assyria, who ruled over Babylon from Nineveh, acknowledged the traditional Babylonian greatness.
6Babylon was greater in influence than was warlike Assyria. Sayce declares: "In populousness and antiquity, Assyria was far exceeded by the southern kingdom of Babylonia. Here were the center and starting-point of the civilization which afterward spread thru Western Asia." Another bears witness: "The earliest religious, scientific, and artistic traditions of our present civilization were cradled in Babylonia." Babylonian perversion of the true, the exaltation of the human to the divine, did not originate in man. It was taught him by the true "king of Babylon,"—"Lucifer," the fallen angel. Isa. 14:4, 12-14. Here are his thoughts, purposes, and principles: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations! And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars [mighty angels] of God; and I will sit upon the mont of congregation [as one reigning], in the uttermost parts of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds [of angels]; I will make myself like the Most High." Self-exaltation is the spirit of Babylon. At its least it is the perversion of truth; at its greatest it is open, active rebellion against God; in all it is confusion, and its ultimate is destruction. And God has given us the origin, history, and end of ancient Babylon, that we may discern the character and see the end of modern Babylon. The former is a prophecy of the latter.
Shalmaneser tells us, in his history of expeditions, of his arrival in Babylon: "He entered also into Babylon, the bond of 'heaven to earth, the seat of life.'" The original name still held good among the heathen—"the Gate of God." Nebuchadnezzar's religious zeal was shown in repairing the ancient tower of Babel, which had fallen into decay. He himself tells this in one of his inscriptions, which have come down to us in the stone volumes.
He gathered around him as counselors those considered the wisest among the nations, and thus added luster to the glory of his reign. Education was fostered under royal patronage; astronomy flourished; universities great and ancient were maintained. Four classes of wise men are named in Daniel—magicians, astrologers ("enchanters," R.V.), sorcerers, and Chaldeans.
The astrologers were priests of the star-worshippers, and pretended to foretell future events by the stars.
The sorcerers seem to be identical with soothsayers. They pretended to foretell the future by the examination of the entrails of animals, such a belief still prevailing among not a few in Christendom, who predict the winter's severity or mildness by the "melt," or spleen, of swine.
The magicians, or magi, were a priestly class, highly educated, occupying a position of great influence between the ruler and the people. The originator of their religion was Zoroaster. They performed religious ceremonies, wore a peculiar dress, lived apart by themselves, and constituted a complete hierarchy. They were deeply versed, according to their times, in philosophy, the sciences, and especially astronomy. They at times accompanied the king as his advisers, even in war. While there were doubtless many impostors among them, and the name thru this class, in after ages, assumed a low significance, there were also among them devout and wise men, who were doubtless worshipers of the true God. From this class came the wise men (magi) to see our Lord. Matt. 2:1-12. They were learned, influential, and wealthy, and Daniel was by the king placed at their head. Dan. 5:11.
The Chaldeans were the educated class, evidently including in their courses of instruction all the learning of the realm.
The promising royal youths of Judah, of good form and feature, and of royal bearing, were selected by the king as future servants, officers, and ministers of the government in Babylon. That they might be fitted for these responsibilities, the king placed them in his universities for a three years' course of special training. Here is the Bible account:
"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles; youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they should stand before the king. Now among these were, of the children of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And the prince of the eunuchs gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego." Dan. 1:1-7.
Chart of the Country around Babylon with Limits of the Ancient City according to Opport.
Of the ability of their instructors, the education Nebuchadnezzar proposed to give these youth, its real worth as compared with divine instruction, and the result of the trial between the two systems, we will consider in following articles.
'They are they which testify of Me.' John 5:39, last part.
3. How may we find the knowledge of God?
'If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.' Prov. 2:3-5.
4. What worthy example is given us?
'They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.' Acts 17:11.
5. What was the result?
'Therefore many of them believed; also of honorable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.' Acts 17:12.
6. Of how great importance did Job consider the words of God?
'I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.' Job. 23:12.
7. Why did the Lord humble the children of Israel in the wilderness, suffering them to hunger and then feeding them with manna?
'That He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.' Deut. 8:3.
8. In whom are we to trust for an understanding?
'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.' Prov. 3:5, first part.
9. May we not depend upon our own understanding?
'Lean not unto thine own understanding.' Prov. 3:5, last part.
10. Why may we not?
'If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.' 1 Cor. 8:2.
11. Can the natural man understand the things of God?
'The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' 1 Cor. 2:14.
12. What then shall we do?
'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.' James 1:5.
I. E. L.
True Patriotism
T<small>H</small>ERE are no points of the compass on the chart of true patriotism.—Robert C. Winthrop.
Christ the Teacher and Healer
By Mrs. E. G. White
By Mrs. E. G. White
Personal Work.
CHRIST neglected no opportunity of proclaiming the Gospel of salvation. Listen to His wonderful words to that one woman of Samaria. He was sitting by Jacob's well, as the woman came to draw water. To her surprise He asked a favor of her. "Give Me to drink," He said. He wanted a cool draught, and He wished also to open the way whereby He might give to her the water of life. "How is it," said the woman, "that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." Jesus answered, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. . . . Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
How much interest Christ manifested in this one woman! How earnest and eloquent were His words! When the woman heard them, she left her water-pot, and went into the city, saying to her friends, "Come, see a Man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" We read that "many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him." And who can estimate the influence which these words have exerted for the saving of souls in the years that have passed since then?
Wherever hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them. He reveals to them the Father, and the service acceptable to Him who reads the heart. For such He uses no parables. To them, as to the woman at the well, He says, "I that speak unto thee am He."
The Healing Touch.
In the fisherman's home at Capernaum, the mother of Peter's wife is lying sick of "a great fever," and "they tell Him of her." Jesus "touched her hand, and the fever left her," and she arose and ministered to the Saviour and His disciples.
Rapidly the tidings spread. The miracle had been wrought upon the Sabbath, and for fear of the rabbis the people dared not come for healing until the sun was set. Then from the homes, the shops, the market-places, the inhabitants of the city pressed toward the humble dwelling that sheltered Jesus. The sick were brought upon litters, they came leaning upon staffs, or, supported by friends, they tottered feebly into the Saviour's presence.
Hour after hour they came and went; for none could know whether to-morrow would find the Healer still among them. Never before had Capernaum witnessed a day like this. The air was filled with the voice of triumph and shouts of deliverance.
Not until the last sufferer had been relieved, did Jesus cease His work. It was far into the night when the multitude departed, and silence settled down upon the home of Simon. The long, exciting day was past, and Jesus sought rest. But while the city was wrapped in slumber, the Saviour, "rising up a great while before day, . . . went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."
Early in the morning Peter and his companions came to Jesus, saying that already the people of Capernaum were seeking Him. With surprise they heard Christ's words, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore am I sent."
Not to Himself.
In the excitement which then pervaded Capernaum there was danger that the object of His mission would be lost sight of. Jesus was not satisfied to attract attention to Himself merely as a wonder-worker or as a healer of physical disease. He was seeking to draw men unto Him as their Saviour. While the people were eager to believe that He had come as a king to establish an earthly reign, He desired to turn their minds from the earthly to the spiritual. Mere worldly success would interfere with His work. And the wonder of the careless crowd jarred upon His spirits.
"Brought upon Litters."
No self-assertion mingled with His life. The homage which the world gives to position, wealth, or talent, was foreign to the Son of Man. None of the means that men employ to win allegiance or command homage did Jesus use. Centuries before His birth it had been prophesied of Him, "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall He not break, and the dimly-burning flax shall He not quench: He shall bring forth judgment unto truth."
"Supported by Their Friends."
The Pharisees sought distinction by their scrupulous ceremonialism, and the ostentation of their worship and their charities. They proved their zeal for religion by making it the theme of discussion. Disputes between opposing sects were loud and long, and it was not unusual to hear on the streets the voice of angry controversy from learned doctors of the law.
In marked contrast to all this was the life of Jesus. In that life no noisy disputation, no ostentatious worship, no act to gain applause, was ever witnessed. Christ was hid in God, and God was revealed in the character of His Son. To this revelation Jesus desired the minds of the people to be directed.
The Sun of Righteousness did not burst upon the world in splendor, to dazzle the senses with His glory. It is written of Christ, "His going forth is prepared as the morning." Quietly and gently the daylight breaks upon the earth, dispelling the darkness and waking the world to life. So did "the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings."
Jesus Leads His Followers
By Horace Bushnell
JESUS does not drive His followers on before,as a herd of unwilling disciples, but goes before Himself, leading them into paths that He has trod, and dangers He has met, and sacrifices He has borne Himself, calling them after Him and to be only followers.
—Horace Bushnell.
