THE LION-PHASIS OF THE KINGDOM OF BABYLON
"The Beasts being substituted for the metals of Nebuchadnezzar's Image, they represent of course the same phases of the Kingdom of Men. We learn from Jeremiah that the powers of Nineveh and Babylon were each represented by lions. He says, "Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven them away: 'first the King of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon hath broken his bones" (Jer. 50:17). The Ninevite Assyrian was represented to Daniel as a lion with eagle's wings. Many years before, the Deity had punished the King of Assyria and his land for scattering the Ten Tribes, by transferring the dominion over the Nimroudian empire from Nineveh to Babylon. This revolution is represented by the eagle-wings being "plucked" from the lion's back; while the lion itself was made to stand erect as a man, and to receive in exchange for its lion-heart, the heart of a man. Thus the Lion-Man became the symbol of the Kingdom of Babylon so long as the government continued in the family of Nebuchadnezzar; which with all its faults was more human than that which it succeeded" (http://users.aol.com/bible4/expo0003.htm).
The eagle's head was the god of Sennecherib, Nisroch, with the lion being a symbol of Assyria, depicting Assyria in the first beast:
Dan 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings:
Then the wings were plucked and the lion caused to stand on its feet and given the heart of a man (the king of Babylon):>
Dan 7:4 . . . I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
This idea of the lion being transformed from a flying lion to one nearing the appearance of a man was an evolutionary principle in the Sumerian religion, from which Assyria, and eventually the New Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzer, came:
These early deities took forms which were intrinsically tied to the phenomena they represented; hence Ninurta, the ancient Sumerian thunder-god, was conceptualized as a great winged lion, whose roars thundered across the lands in times of storm. As the society developed, these deities gradually anthropomorphized; slowly taking human form, and attendant human personas, "The gods were detatched gradually from the phenomena of nature and of culture to which they had been tied and took a certain distance from them." With these broadened personalities came broadened roles, as the germ of the numinal phenomena blossomed to cover a wide range of related abstractions. Thus, as the concept of the deity Ninurta progressed, for example, he came to be viewed as possessing a human form; and his role broadened from that of a primitive thunder god, to a God of war and of the spring storms which brought fertility to the land. While society's views of the divine and their roles in the cosmos were expanding, however, the strong ties of these gods to the related numina of the deity would remain a central feature of the Sumerian religion. The central role of mankind in this cosmic scheme was service to the gods. (ADAPA'S TREATISE ON SUMERIAN RELIGION citing Jean Bottéro, Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and The Gods, p. 217).
It is said Babylon was not equal to the terror with which Sennecherib and Assyrian kings treated the other nations around them. I have also read that often other empires' kings were called the king of Babylon besides the kings that reigned over actual Babylon. This is often confusing to me, but that helped my understanding some.
Feet of clay - I thought this was interesting considering the feet of clay in Daniel 2 and the statue:
Dan 2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Could the following have anything to with the statue in Daniel two?:
Nahum 3:14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln.
One home I found made this statement:
In Babylonia and in all of southern Mesopotamia there is lots of clay which people could bake and make into bricks with which to build houses. This helped the development of civilisation in the area (Francis C.S. Butterley, The Life And Times Of The Babylonians
New Testament
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?Old Testament
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
2 Ki 18:32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
2 Ki 18:33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2 Ki 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
2 Ki 18:35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?2 Chr 32:11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2 Chr 32:12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
2 Chr 32:13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?
2 Chr 32:14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
2 Chr 32:15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand? 2 Chr 32:16 And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
2 Chr 32:17 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
2 Chr 32:18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.
2 Chr 32:19 And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.
2 Chr 32:20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
Are there great similarities here in the fifth trumpet?
Nahum 3:13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.Remembering the pit of locusts in the fifth trumpet and that Sennacherib, a king wearing a crown, was killed with a sword, these verses from Isaiah becomes very important:
Nahum 3:14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln.
Nahum 3:15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
Nahum 3:16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and fleeth away.
Nahum 3:17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Nahum 3:18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
- "3:17. THY CROWNED--Thy princes (@Re 9:7). The king's nobles and officers wore the tiara, AS WELL AS THE KING; hence they are called here "thy crowned ones."
- "as the locusts--as many as the swarming locusts (emphasis mine, Ed).
- "thy captains--Tiphsar, an Assyrian word; found also in @Jer 51:27, meaning "satraps [MICHAELIS]; or rather, "military leaders" [MAURER]. The last syllable, sar means a "prince," and is found in Belshaz-zar, Nabopolas-sar, Nebuchadnez-zar.
- "as the great grasshoppers--literally, "as the locust of locusts," that is, the largest locust. MAURER translates, "as many as locusts upon locusts," that is, swarms of locusts. Hebrew idiom favors English Version.
- "in the hedges in the cold--Cold deprives the locust of the power of flight; so they alight in cold weather and at night, but when warmed by the sun soon "flee away." So shall the Assyrian multitudes suddenly disappear, not leaving a trace behind (compare PLINY, Natural History, 11.29)" (JFB).
Isa 14:19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, THRUST THROUGH WITH A SWORD, THAT GO DOWN TO THE STONES OF THE PIT; as a carcase trodden under feet.The similarities here to the fifth trumpet, I think, are outstanding. These are quite interesting passages considering Joel prophesied of the Assyrian and mentioned locusts as the Lord's army at the end of the age. The Lord often used other nations as His servants to try to bring Israel to repentance through chastisements.
Nahum 3:17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and THEIR PLACE IS NOT KNOWN WHERE THEY ARE.
Nahum 3:18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
One last point is the wearing of a crown by Sennacherib who went out to conquer and to conquer in his time. He, as was, as was Antiochus, on a campaign against Egypt when he to "heard a rumor" and turned around and went to Jerusalem.
In Nahum 1:14, it is the Lord assigning Sennecharib (or Ninevah) his (its) grave, like maybe a pit or somethng, although history records Sennecherib was slain in the temple at Ninevah with the sword by his two sons after the Lord turned him away from beseiging Jerusalem?:
Nahum 1:14 And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I WILL MAKE THY GRAVE; for thou art vile.
Nahum 3:4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
I won't insert the verses here, but we are all familair with Mystery Babylon in Revelation 17.
New Testament
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. . . .Old Testament
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. . . .
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. . . .
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
2 Chr 32:21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. . . .
Sennacherib hated the Jews so much that he would kill them and leave their bodies lay in the streets and not allow them to be buried!
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
"Being so terribly overthrown by the blast of Yahweh, Sennacherib returned with the remnant of his shattered forces to Nineveh. His hatred of Israel was enhanced by his late disaster. Instead of making peace with them, and doing homage to Yahweh their God by whom he had been expelled from Judea, he was filled with rage and cruelty against them. Multitudes of them resided in Nineveh, and its subject cities. Every day he caused great numbers of them to be massacred, and their bodies to be left exposed in the streets and broadways, forbidding any man to bury them" (http://user.aol.com/bible2007/nahumint.htm).
"his sons smote him with the sword--Sennacherib's temper, exasperated probably by his reverses, displayed itself in the most savage cruelty and intolerable tyranny over his subjects and slaves, till at length he was assassinated by his two sons, whom, it is said, he intended to sacrifice to pacify the gods and dispose them to grant him a return of prosperity. The parricides taking flight into Armenia, a third son, Esar-haddon, ascended the throne (JFB, 2Kgs 19:37)."
New Testament
Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,Old Testament
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
2 Ki 19:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.In the following verses from Isaiah, both the king of Babylon and the King of Assyria are spoken of, but it seems obvious to me that the Lord is speaking to the king of Assyria as the one who went down into the pit. Is this the Lord "making his grave" as the previous verses said?:
2 Ki 19:7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.2 Chr 32:21 . . . . So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
Isa 37:38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Isa 14:1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
Isa 14:2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of 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.
Isa 14:3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.
Isa 14:4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Isa 14:5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Isa 14:6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
Isa 14:7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
Isa 14:8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.Isa 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isa 14:10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Isa 14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
Isa 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Isa 14:18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
Isa 14:19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
Isa 14:20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Do we have, in the following verses, a "resurrection" or ascension out of the pit by the king of Babylon, in light of the following plans the Lord has for the whole earth involving the king of Assyrian?:
Isa 14:24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:In Danel we read,
Isa 14:25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
Isa 14:26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
Isa 14:27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Dan 9:27 KJV And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for THE OVERSPREADING OF ABOMINATIONS he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.The NIV says,
Dan 9:27 NIV He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a WING OF THE TEMPLE HE will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out
This verse sounds very much like the flood the devil pours out on the woman in Revelation 12 and the spreading of the king of Assyria's abominations all over the area of Jerusalem:
Isa 8:4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and
my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken
away before the king of Assyria.
Isa 8:5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,
Isa 8:6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go
softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
Isa 8:7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters
of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory:
and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
Isa 8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he
shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall
fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
Micah, for instance, clearly predicts that it is the Assyrian that will invade the land of Israel in the last days:
Micah 5:1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Micah 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Micah 5:4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
Micah 5:5 And this man shall be the peace, WHEN THE ASSYRIAN SHALL COME INTO OUR LAND: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
Micah 5:6 AND THEY SHALL WASTE THE LAND OF ASSYRIA WITH THE SWORD, AND THE LAND OF NIMROD IN THE ENTRANCES THEREOF: THUS SHALL HE DELIVER US FROM THE ASSYRIAN, WHEN HE COMETH INTO OUR LAND, AND WHEN HE TREADETH WITHIN OUR BORDERS.
Micah 5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
Micah 5:8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
Micah 5:9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
Micah 5:10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:
Micah 5:11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:
Micah 5:12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
Micah 5:13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
Micah 5:14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
Micah 5:15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
Verse 5 "the Assyrian--Being Israel's most powerful foe at that time, Assyria is made the representative of all the foes of Israel in all ages, who shall receive their final destruction at Messiah's appearing (Eze 38:1-23"; JFB).
Nahum 3:12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Isaiah declared Sennacherib's end:
Isa 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
Isa 30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
Isa 30:29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
Isa 30:30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
Isa 30:31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
Isa 30:32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
Isa 30:33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
"Verses 27-33. God curbs and restrains from doing mischief. With a word he guides his people into the right way, but with a bridle he turns his enemies upon their own ruin. Here, in threatening the ruin of Sennacherib's army, the prophet points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Tophet was a valley near Jerusalem, where fires were continually burning to destroy things that were hurtful and offensive, and there the idolatrous Jews caused their children to pass through the fire to Moloch. This denotes the certainty of the destruction, as an awful emblem of the place of torment in the other world. No oppressor shall escape the Divine wrath. Let sinners then flee to Christ, seeking to be reconciled to Him, that they may be safe and happy, when destruction from the Almighty shall sweep away all the workers of iniquity" (Matthew Henry Commentary).
TOPHET - 8613. Tophteh, tof-teh'; prob. a form of H8612; Tophteh, a place of cremation:--Tophet.TOPHET - 8612. Topheth, to'-feth; the same as H8611; Topheth, a place near Jerus.:--Tophet, Topheth.
TOPHET - 8611. topheth, to'-feth; from the base of H8608; a smiting, i.e. (fig.) contempt:--tabret.
TOPHET - 8608. taphaph, taw-faf'; a prim. root; to drum, i.e. play (as) on the tambourine:--taber, play with timbrels.
This beating of the tamborrine will be a day of rejoicing over God's final defeat of the remnant's enemies.
"Esarhaddon was succeeded by his son Sasduchinus, who is styled in scripture Nebuchod-onosor. This man carried the controversy of the Winged Lion of Nineveh against Yahweh, to its ne plus ultra of impiety. He made proclamation that "He was the lord of the whole earth;" and decreed the destruction of all the gods of the land, "that all nations should worship Nebuchodonosor only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as god." This was assuming the position of the Antichrist of modern times. He commissioned Holofernes, the generalissimo of his forces, to go through all the countries of the West with 120,000 infantry, and 12,000 mounted bowmen, to reduce them to an obedient recognition of his godship. This vicegerent of the Ninevite Deity entered upon his mission with great zeal in the service of his lord, who swore "by his life, and by the power of his kingdom, that whatsoever he had spoken he would do by the power of his hand." Wherever the Ninevite forces appeared, everything belonging to the rebellious was wasted and destroyed. The gods of the nations were abolished, the groves cut down, and the worship of Nebuchodonosor the First established on their ruin."But the little kingdom of Judah, confiding in Yahweh to whom it belonged, refused to acknowledge the Anti-Yahweh pretensions of the old lion, and prepared for war. Achior, the chief of the Ammonites, advised Holofernes to avoid a contest with the Jews, "lest their Lord should defend them." This counsel, however, was opposed by the other chiefs, because "Israel was a people that had no strength, nor power for a strong battle." The clamour against Achior having subsided, Holofernes said, "Who art thou, Achior, and the hirelings of Ephraim, that thou hast prophesied among us today, and has said that we should not make war with the people of Israel, because their God will defend them? And who is God but Nebuchodonosor? He will send his power, and will destroy them from the face of the earth, and their God shall not deliver them; but we his servants will destroy them as one man; for they are not able to sustain the power of our horses. For with them we will tread them under foot, and their mountains shall be drunken with their blood, and their fields shall be filled with their dead bodies, and their footsteps shall not be able to stand before us, for they shall utterly perish, saith king Nebuchodonosor, lord of all the earth; for he said, None of my words shall be in vain.
"This however, was one of those "lies" of which Nahum says, Nineveh was "full;" for many days did not pass over ere Holofernes was a headless corpse by the hand of a Hebrew woman; and their encampment in the plain of Megiddo, the scene of confusion, slaughter, and dismay. Bethulia's widow, the feeble and beautiful Judith, by the help of Yahweh, silenced the vain boasting of the "god," whose myriads "perished by the battle of Yahweh."(Ibid.).
Nebuchodonosor the First, then is a type of antichirst who declares himself to be God.
Isa 34:8 For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.He didn't enter the city because the Lord slew his army just as he did to the Egyptians the night of the Passover, a type of Jesus' second coming:2 Ki 19:32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
2 Ki 19:33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
2 Ki 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.We most often speak of Babylon as having great influence over the empires that followed it, but the Assyrian culture was almost fully absorbed by Babylon from what I've been reading. I have read that it is the failure of Sennacherib to be successful in his attempt to conquer Jerusalem that a contention exists between the Lord and the Assyrian king over who has the right to rule over Jerusalem, Sennacherib's god, Nisroch, or Yahweh. As far as I can see, Sennaacherib's threatened attack on Israel failed miserably at the hand of the Lord and is the only empire to be so "embarrassed. It stands out like a sore thumb. It is said that this is the contention that will played out to a final end at the end of the age. The scriptures from Micah and Isaiah 14 seem to verify that.
2 Ki 19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
2 Ki 19:37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Isa 37:19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Isa 37:20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.37:19. cast . . . gods into . . . fire--The policy of the Assyrians in order to alienate the conquered peoples from their own countries was, both to deport them elsewhere, and to destroy the tutelary idols of their nation, the strongest tie which bound them to their native land. The Roman policy was just the reverse.
I thought this an interesting commentary note by JFB. Sennacherib considered the God of Israel as just another heathen god along with the rest, and he destroyed the places of their sanctuary. Rome, on the the other hand, used the pagan places to compromise the true God by building shrines and churches on pagan sites. The antichrist helps the Jews get their temple in the beginning of the 70th week, but at mid-week, desolates the temple and lays it waste. Is this an indication of a Roman-Assyrian spiritual union? Assyrian spiritual practices were passed through Baylon and the other empires to Rome.
One last point: when Nineveh fell, there were so many soldiers killed that the rivers tutned to blood. Interesting, in the light of the fall of "Babylon" in Revelation.
