Will Babylon Be Restored? Part 1 -- By: W. Glyn Evans
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 107:427 (Jul 1950)
Article: Will Babylon Be Restored? Part 1
Author: W. Glyn Evans
BSac 107:427 (Jul 50) p. 335
Will Babylon Be Restored?
Part 1
Many Bible teachers hold that ancient Babylon will be restored to her former glory and will become once again the center of sin and wickedness. She will be destroyed finally by end-time judgments, culminating in the Lord’s return. On the other hand, other Bible expositors hold that Babylon was destroyed once and for all, and will never be restored. Which of these opinions is correct? What do the Scriptures say?
The two main passages dealing with Babylon’s overthrow are Isaiah 13, 14 and Jeremiah 50, 51. Two other Bible passages are included in the total discussion of Babylon, Zechariah 5 and Revelation 17, 18; but of course are rendered according to the different views taken from Isaiah and Jeremiah.
According to Isaiah and Jeremiah Babylon was to be destroyed literally, suddenly, and completely. Isaiah says: “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there…” (Isaiah 13:19–21). And Jeremiah says: “How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!” (50:23 ); “Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein; and it shall no more be inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall
BSac 107:427 (Jul 50) p. 336
any son of man sojourn therein” (50:39, 40 ); “And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant” (51:37 ).
From this prophecy have arisen two views. First, that Babylon was destroyed according to the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah in 538 B.C. and subsequent years, and that gradually she became a desolation as she supposedly is today. Since the prophecy has been deemed fu...
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