bowing down of Bel, and the stooping of Nebo, and so is linked with Jeremiah

50, where we read:

'Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her

idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces ... In Those

Days, and In That Time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall

come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they

shall go, and seek the Lord their God' (Jer. 50:2 -4).

Here not only Judah, but the so -called 'lost ten tribes' are included in

this restoration:

'Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of

the Chaldeans ... I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an

assembly of great nations from the north country ... and Chaldea shall

be a spoil'.

'Her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord' (Jer.

50:8 -10,15).

Nebuchadnezzar is spoken of in verse 17, but the prophecy of verse 20

awaits a future day.

'In Those days and In That Time' (see verse 4), 'The iniquity of Israel

shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they

shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve' (Jer. 50:20).

Cryptic names for Babylon are introduced, Merathaim (double rebellion), Pekod

(visitation, i.e. in judgment) (Jer. 50:21), looking forward to Mystery,

Babylon the great.  When Babylon is overthrown as was Sodom and Gomorrah, the

Lord will once again have mercy upon Jacob, and shall yet choose Israel, and

set them in their own land.  When this restoration takes place, the people

that take Israel back to their place 'Israel shall possess them in the land

of the Lord for servants and handmaids; and they shall take them captives,

whose captives they were: and they shall rule over their oppressors'.  (This

has never yet been true of Israel) (Isa. 14:1 -3).

The title given to the king of Babylon, 'Lucifer, son of the morning',

together with his blasphemous claim 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt

my throne above the stars of God ... I will be like the Most High' (Isa.

14:12-14), links Babylon and Babylonianism with the Prince of Tyre, the

anointed yet fallen cherub of Ezekiel 28.  Jerusalem is to be a cup of

trembling and a burdensome stone, in the day of the future siege of

Jerusalem, and at that same time, Israel shall look upon the Lord Whom they

pierced and shall go into national mourning for Him (Zech. 12:2 -10).  At the

gathering of all nations against Jerusalem to battle 'His feet shall stand in

that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and

the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee, and the Lord shall

be king over all the earth' (Zech. 14:1 -11).  After the Lord has pleaded

with all flesh by fire and sword, He will send those that escape unto the

nations, who have not heard of His fame, and they shall declare His glory

among the Gentiles.  These same Gentiles shall bring all Israel for an

offering unto the Lord, and Israel shall be as an offering in a clean vessel

in the house of the Lord (Isa. 66:15 -20).  It is evident by this that there

could not have been on the earth, prior to these events, a period of

enlightenment and blessing, with Israel as the centre of blessing, as is set

forth in Isaiah 60.  The conjunction of the overthrow of Babylon and the