Every Empire’s Capital is Babylon
KA.Dingir.RA.KI is the word Babylon in Sumerian and the meaning is “city
of the portal of the gods”. It is also the meaning in the Akkadian form as
bab-iluki. The word Babylon is well known in Daniel 1:1ff. regarding
the capital of Nebuchadnezzar where Judah was exiled to.
Many Babylons The first surprise that is coming to you, is that there are many
Babylons. The principle is actually that every capital of every empire is a
Babylon. Babylon is the name of Niniveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire for
some time in the history before Nebuchadnezzar. In earlier empires like Ur,
Isin, Larsa and a long list of them, their capitals were all called Babylon. So what does the Bible say about this? Peter called Rome Babylon in
1 Peter 5:13. Rome was the capital of the Roman empire. This capital is called Babylon
by the disciple of Jesus. So here is the principle of Peter: every capital of
an empire is called Babylon. When Justinian signed off with his coins to be a
soldier in 537 and directed that his coins should show him from 538, his XIIth
year as a theologian with a cross in his hand, it was the end of the Roman
Empire. This will mean that when Ur fell in 2004 BCE it was Babylon fallen.
Damascus in 800 BCE is Babylon fallen, see Amos 5:27 and Acts 7:34, Tyre in
Isaiah 14, is Babylon fallen; Niniveh in 612 BCE it is Babylon fallen because the
cuneiform texts supports that it was called Babylon. Babylon is Babylon.
Shushan is Babylon between 539-333 BCE; Athens is Babylon between 33-60 BCE;
Rome is Babylon as Peter tells us as well as Targum to Isaiah 21:9. So what
about the Vatican during 538-1798? Babylon. What about New York or Washington
of the USA and this empire after the Holy Roman Empire ended in 1798? Babylon. Between
Luke and Peter and Amos one can identify Babylon as a city of an empire. So Daniel was taken in 605 BCE at the first of three attacks of
Nebuchadnezzar of Judah: 605; 597 and last in 586 BCE when he burnt the temple.
Nebuchadnezzar stole the vessels of the Temple and took it to
Babylon. He ordered that the young men from these countries in 605 should
eat his menu and drink his wines as well. Wine? Daniel was taught by his mother
not to defile himself with wine. The Bible use the word defile. Does wine still
defile people in our days? Can one follow the same example of Daniel today? So God loved Daniel first before the chief overseer started to love
Daniel. The overseer allowed them to show him for 10 days how they look. The
Babylonian system works in 6 but he Hebrews in 10. So Daniel wanted 10 days not
6. Daniel accepted a vegetarian only menu for health. They passed the
test and when the final exam was before Nebuchadnezzar, God blessed Daniel and
his friends with wisdom and understanding. Healthful living is a blessing to
all.
Sermon of Koot van Wyk and Sookyoung Kim on Sabbath 21 November in
Chongni Church, Sangju, South Korea.