Babylon being rebuilt -- a sign of the end?

[BobRyan]

For 2300 years Babylon has remained "in ruins" by the command of God.

Then Saddam Hussein declared his intent to rebuild Babylon -- and then before he could do it - he was destroyed, and all his work in Babylon looted and pillaged.

A brief review -

Plans to rebuild:
1971 – Unesco commits to helping Saddam Hussein rebuild Babylon
1982-1985 – Saddam begins rebuilding Babylon – starting with Nebuchadnezzar’s palace.

Plans set aside momentarily.
1990 – first Gulf War – Desert Storm

Plans obliterated
2003 – 2nd Gulf War – Enduring Freedom –

Plans renewed
Nov 2008 U.N commits to a project for rebuilding Babylon.
Jan 9, 2009 U.S Commits $700,000 for project to rebuild Babylon

======================

Jeremiah prophesied that Babylon would never be inhabited
Babylon would be a desolation forever (Jer. 51:62)

57And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
58Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever.

Babylon would not be inhabited (Jer. 50:39).

35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

1990 - The Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War[12][13], or often as the Second Gulf War [14][15] and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles,[16] or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response

2003 – Iraq War

In 1971, UNESCO announced that it would help Iraq completely restore the ancient city of Babylon. The reconstruction be under the general supervision of Saddam Hussein, who made his appearance in 1969 as the Iraqi strongman by hanging eight Jews on the streets of Baghdad as a warning for others to hit-the-road elsewhere. In 1978, 1 led a Southwest Radio Church tour of 103 to Iraq. One of the sites we visited was Babylon. There was a four-lane highway between Baghdad and Babylon with brick factories along the way turning out bricks for this tremendous reconstruction project. On one end of the brick was the name Nebuchadnezzar, and on the other end was the name Saddam Hussein who, then and now, envisions himself as a modern Nebuchadnezzar to restore the glory that was once Babylon's.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/560857/posts

In 1982, Saddam's workers began reconstructing Babylon's most imposing building, the 600-room palace of King Nebuchadnezzar II. Archaeologists were horrified. Many said that to rebuild on top of ancient artifacts does not preserve history, but disfigures it. The original bricks, which rise two or three feet from the ground, bear ancient inscriptions praising Nebuchadnezzar. Above these, Saddam Hussein's workers laid more than 60-million sand-colored bricks inscribed with the words, "In the era of Saddam Hussein, protector of Iraq, who rebuilt civilization and rebuilt Babylon." The new bricks began to crack after only ten years.

Saddam compares himself to Nebuchadnezar, the pagan ruler from ancient Babylon.​

(Above. A coin Saddam had minted to that end.) ​

 
Now the UN and the US appear to be ready to step in the gap and pick up where Saddam left off.

A good idea? Or is it like the reunion work in the EU vs Daniel 2 - another sign that we are nearing the end?

in Christ,

Bob

 

[billwald]

More likely a sign that the attempt to build will not be successful. If Iraq sells stock in the project, short it. <G>

 

[Johnv]

The OP is a crock.


Ancient Babylon is a site of Archeological and historical importance. Saddam Hussein, being a narcissist, decided to "rebuild" the city, but he actually engaged in new construction over buried ruins. After Hussein was removed from power, construction ceased. Today, the site is open to tourists and archeologists. Future construction plans call for some archeological restoration, but mostly preservation.

I hope to visit there someday.

 

[BobRyan]

The Bible texts given in the OP turn out not to be "a crock".

The Historic events given in the OP turn out not to be "a crock".

The fact that Hussein placed himself squarely against what Jeremiah prophesied about Babylon -- meant that Hussein's reign was soon to end.

As it turns out -- that is exactly what happened.

The prophecy of Jeremiah was that no one (not even shepherds) would dwell in the city ever again. He also prophesied that it would be a place for wild desert animals to dwell, instead of man. It would stand as a witness to the power of God to curse.

I believe many of those today who suppose they can go in a rebuild the city if they so choose (just as Hussein assumed he could do) are overlooking some inconvenient details found in scripture.

in Christ,

Bob

 

[BobRyan]

In the past - I have remarked that if an atheist really wanted to demonstrate "there is no god" all they had to do was go and rebuild Tyre, rebuild Sodom or rebuild Babylon.

Once the Bible predicts something will never again be rebuilt -- you have a condition that is easily tested.

So far - God's rule is holding.

in Christ,

Bob

 

[Thinkingstuff]

In the past - I have remarked that if an atheist really wanted to demonstrate "there is no god" all they had to do was go and rebuild Tyre, rebuild Sodom or rebuild Babylon.

Once the Bible predicts something will never again be rebuilt -- you have a condition that is easily tested.

So far - God's rule is holding.

in Christ,

Bob

What I think would be a more interesting one is rebuilding Jericho.

 

[BobRyan]

How so?

The city and everything in it were burned; only the vessels of gold, silver, copper, and iron were declared sacred and were reserved for the treasury of the Lord (ib. vi. 21-25). Joshua pronounced a solemn curse on the man who should rebuild Jericho (ib. vi. 26), and this curse was fulfilled on Hiel (I Kings xvi. 34). Still it can not be affirmed that Jericho remained uninhabited till Hiel's time.

Traditional Site of Ancient Jericho


Jericho was given by Joshua to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. xviii. 21), and later, when David's ambassadors had been ill-treated by Hanun, the King of Ammon—he had shaved off one-half of their beards—they were told by David to stay at Jericho till their beards should be grown (II Sam. x. 4-5).
The "city of palm-trees," conquered by Eglon, King of Moab (Judges iii. 13), was probably Jericho (comp. Deut. xxxiv. 3; II Chron. xxviii. 15). After it had been rebuilt by Hiel, the city gained more importance. The sons of the prophets settled there; Elisha "healed" its waters by casting salt into them (II Kings ii. 5, 19-22). Elijah's ascension took place not far from Jericho (ib. ii. 4 et seq.).


Read more: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=235&letter=J#ixzz0UaBh8wQ3

Joshua never said it would not be rebuilt.

 

[Johnv]

The Bible texts given in the OP turn out not to be "a crock".

The Historic events given in the OP turn out not to be "a crock".

No, imo, your take on it is a crock. You seem overly preoccupied with end times theology for some reason, as though beliefs about end times in scripture are doctrinal. They are not. The only doctrinal thing in scripture on future events is that Christ will come again, but what that means is sheer speculation.

Sorry to be so harsh, by brother, but I'm truly surprised at what I'm seeing from you here.

 

[Thinkingstuff]

How so?



Joshua never said it would not be rebuilt.

No but what makes it more interesting is the curses associated with it.

 

[BobRyan]

No, imo, your take on it is a crock. You .

then at some point -- you will need to take the time to point out something I have said that is in error.

Until then -- we all can see that "opinions may vary". My interest is in the Word of God.

in Christ,

Bob

 

[Johnv]

then at some point -- you will need to take the time to point out something I have said that is in error.

The implication that the current state of Babylon is a fulfillment of end times prophecy is an error.

My interest is in the Word of God.

Mine is too. End times claims such as these have, to date, been proved to be in error, based on misapplication of scripture. I oppose any misapplication of scripture.

 

[BobRyan]

The implication that the current state of Babylon is a fulfillment of end times prophecy is an error.

I never stated that the Bible predicts that Babylon WOULD be rebuilt as an end time prophecy.

Rather I stated that the Word of God says it will NOT be rebuilt.

The logic there is pointing to the fact that previous attempts also ended in disaster. And that God stands behind His Word. It is not something to be ignored.

End times claims such as these have, to date, been proved to be in error

Actually -- this particular point as proven to be true - as we saw in the case of Saddam Hussein's efforts to go against what God said would be the future of Babylon.