Truth Magazine

By Weldon E. Warnock

The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq has set off a barrage of speculations and predictions by our purblind seers and self-inspired prophets.

Pat Robertson told the viewers of his “700 Club” television show that the confrontation with Iraq, coupled with recriminations against Israel over the shooting at the Temple Mount, point to fulfillment of Bible prophecies that the nations of the world are going to come against Israel.(1)

Jack Van Impe told his national TV audience that four major prophecies in the Bible pinpoint Iraq and the Persian Gulf as the prelude to the Battle of Armageddon, a conflict he says will begin at the Euphrates River in Iraq.(2) Van Impe believes that Iraq is modern Babylon.

Ken Fleming, a professor at Emmaus Bible College, Dubuque, Iowa, identifies Iraq as the prophetic Babylon of Scripture. He wrote, “Prophetically, in the future Babylon will once again be a great nation. The Bible foresees that it will prostitute its political and religious and commercial power in association with a world leader called The Beast (Rev. 14:8-9; 17:11-12) . . . Likewise we note things of interest in Iraq (Babylon) which may have a bearing on the approach of the events surrounding the Second Coming.”(3)

Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, Editor-in-Chief of Pulpit Helps, advertises a cassette of his entitled, “Iraq in Prophecy.” The ad states, “These lessons provide the biblical information to identify Iraq as the modern Babylon.”

Is Iraq modern Babylon? Is Iraq in Bible prophecy? It is true that iraq is located in the area that was once occupied by ancient Babylonia, but that proves nothing, unless the Bible teaches that Babylon would be revived once again into another nation, specifically in the nation of Iraq. This concept we will clearly show is without biblical support, being concocted in the wild imaginations of men.

Babylon’s Past Glory

Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River, about 50 miles south of modern Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Baghdad is located on the Tigris River, approximately 40 miles east of the Euphrates. The Tower of Babel was built there and Hammurabi, the great lawgiver, reigned there in the nineteenth century before Christ. It was from Ur in Babylonia that God called Abraham to go into a land that he would show him.

In the Neo-Babylonia era, Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler (605-562 B.C.) in the height of its glory. It was during his time that Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed (586 B.C.) and the Jews were taken captive for 70 years. From there Daniel was prime minister and from there Cyrus the Persian issued an edict allowing Jews to return to their homeland. It was there that Alexander the Great died (323 B.C.), while planning a new capital. Babylon was overthrown in 539 B.C. by the Medo-Persians.

Babylon’s Rebirth

After hundreds of years of lying in oblivion, we are now told that ancient Babylon has been reincarnated in modern Iraq. They tell us that over the past ten years Saddam Hussein, Dictator of Iraq, has spent enormous sums of money in restoring many historical sites, such as the Southern Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the Processional Way and the Ishtar Gate.

We are informed that Hussein wants to restore Babylon as a symbol of the greatness of the people of Mesopotamia, making it a prime attraction of the Middle East. Hussein would like to move his capital to Babylon, it is reported, in the future. He considers himself as a twentieth century Nebuchadnezzar, leader of a strong empire.

Millennialists reason that since prophecies about Babylon have not been fulfilled, namely, Isaiah 13, 14; Jeremiah 50,51 and Revelation 17,18, we are to look to Iraq for their completion. But let us focus our attention on the prophecies about Babylon and see whether or not they have been fulfilled.

Isaiah and Babylon

The prophet Isaiah, through inspiration, looked beyond 150 years into the future and saw the downfall of Babylon. Listen to him: “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see . . . . Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty” (13:1,6).

God’s judgment upon Babylon is depicted in vivid, figurative language as “the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine” (13: 10). Jesus employs identical language in foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. (Matt. 24:29). These symbolic expressions denote the fall of political rulers, the destruction of nations and the termination of their government (cf. Joel 2: 10; 3:1516).

Using the Medes as his instrument (13:17), God said Babylon would be as when he “overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall neither be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there” (13:19-20). This does not sound like there is going to be a revival of the Babylonian Empire. God said it was finished, forever!

In Isaiah 14:21-22 God says that Babylon will never rise again to possess the land, nor build cities. God will cut off from Babylon the name, remnant, and son, and nephew. In v. 23 it would be swept with the “besom of destruction.” A besom is a small broom to sweep out corners and clear out trash. In light of Isaiah’s declaration, Saddam Hussein is not the modern Nebuchadnezzar and the Iraqi people are not the Babylonian nation, millennialists to the contrary.

Jeremiah and Babylon

It is claimed that Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Babylon in chapters 50, 51 has not been fulfilled because the city of Babylon was to be left without inhabitants as the result of being overwhelmed by a horde of great nations from the north (50:1-10). Babylon did not cease immediately to have inhabitants when Cyrus captured the city in 539 B.C., hence, it is concluded that the prophecy remains to be fulfilled. In fact, there was no fighting when Babylon fell.

Nobody is saying that Babylon was immediately ravaged after its capture by Cyrus. But both Isaiah and Jeremiah’s prophecies were totally fulfilled concerning the city shortly after Alexander the Great’s untimely death in Babylon in 323 B.C. The city, because of a series of events, was weakened and allowed to decay. McClintock and Strong state the following:

The great city of Seleucia, which soon after arose in its neighborhood, not only drew away its population, but was actually constructed of materials derived from its buildings . . . . Since then Babylon has been a quarry from which all the tribes in the vicinity have perpetually derived the bricks with which they have built their cities . . . . The “great city, ” “the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency,” has thus emphatically “become heaps” (Jer. 51:37) – she is truly “an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant” (1:606).

Jeremiah’s prophecy has Babylon invaded by great nations from the north (50:9). Those stationed in Saudi Arabia do not fit this description. Too, the northern armies would use the bow and arrow, lances and ride upon horses (50:9, 14,42). 1 don’t think the United States and its allies will resort to such antiquated weaponry to fight Saddam Hussein and his guns, missiles, tanks, poison gas and planes.

Millennialists also argue that the prophecy pertaining to Babylon in Jeremiah 50,51 has not come to pass because the children of Israel and the children of Judah are to be restored to their homeland (50:4-5), which, they tell us,. did not materialize when the remnant returned under Zerubbabel in 536 B.C. Israel is to be restored after the defeat of Babylon. Israel has not been fully restored, hence, Babylon must yet be defeated, they surmise.

But the Jews have been restored. Jeremiah stated, “For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:10). Notice that the Jews would return after 70 years to this place. Jeremiah did not say, “1948,” or “the 20th century,” but “after seventy years” they would return to this place. Ezra 1:1 and 2:1 show this was fulfilled. They came to Zion under Zerubbabel, and others later with Ezra, joining themselves together in a perpetual covenant (50:4-5).

If Babylon in Jeremiah 50,51 is Iraq, then why does Jeremiah tell Israel to “flee out of the midst of Babylon” (51:6) when there is probably not one Jew today within a hundred miles of Iraq? What will Jews be doing in Iraq?

Revelation and Babylon

Ken Flemming said, “Jeremiah’s prophetic vision of Babylon is clearly linked to John’s in Revelation 17 and 18 regarding events that take place during the great tribulation. Thus we look for a literal Babylon of world importance during the tribulation.”(4)

In Revelation 17:5 Babylon is designed as “Mystery Babylon.” A.T. Robertson says in regard to “mystery” (musterion), “Babylon is to be interpreted mystically or spiritually . . . for Rome” (Word Pictures, Vol. 6, p. 430). The wickedness of ancient Babylon is personified in Rome, the oppressor of the church when John wrote Revelation.

The characteristics ascribed to the Babylon of Revelation fit better the city of Rome than any other city. (1) Rules over the kings of the earth (17:18). (2) Corrupts the nations (17:2; 18:3; 19:2). (3) Sits upon seven mountains (17:9). Rome sits upon seven hills. (4) Center of the world’s merchandise (18:3,11-13). (5) Persecutes the saints (17:6). These traits do not fit Baghdad or Iraq. Only the convoluted logic of premillennial preachers could find Iraq in the book of Revelation, or any other book of the Bible.

Nevertheless, these soothsayers go on confounding and being confounded. They will never stop. Their total failures of the past have not deterred them. They just falsely reinterpret Scripture to fit current events, whether it be a Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, or now, Saddam Hussein.

According to U. S. News & World Reports the Middle East turmoil has sparked a run on end-time prophecies. Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet EArth, has shot up in sales by 83 percent since August, and Zondervan Publishing House is updating the book, Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis by John Walvoord. Other books on the Middle East are selling well. As Jeremiah said, “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof” (5:31).

Endnotes

1. U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 1990, p. 67.

2. Ibid.

3. Interest, Dec. 1990, p. 14.

4. Ibid., pp. 13-14.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 3, pp. 70-72
February 7, 1991

By Larry Ray Hafley

The terms of our topic and title are scriptural ones (Col. 1:13; Rom. 12:2; Lk. 16:22). Unfortunately, they do not occupy the minds and hearts of men and women as they ought to. Very few people give much thought to biblical translation, transformation and transportation. However, these words and the importance of the concepts they convey cannot be exaggerated. All things earthly, carnal and mundane are not to be compared to the themes of these ideas which the Holy Spirit has written.

1. Translated: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col. 1: 13). The Colossians, having been buried with Christ in baptism (Col. 2:12), had been delivered from the power or kingdom of darkness and had been translated into the kingdom or power of God’s dear Son. In ancient times, when one kingdom captivated and subjugated another, it often would “translate” or carry the conquered kingdom from one place to another. Booty, spoil and plunder belonged to the visitors. Hence, they carried their captives away, along with all their goods and gold. This process was called “translation.”

Hence, when the sinner has been delivered from the power of Satan, when he has been called out of darkness into the Lord’s light and life, he may be described as “translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.” A war takes place on the battlefield of the mind. It is the arsenal and artillery of the devil’s deceitful lusts versus the love, grace and goodness of God as expressed in the power of God, the gospel (2 Cor. 4:3,4; 10:3-5; Rom. 1:16; 2:4).

When one with an honest and good heart obeys the truth given by the Spirit, he is mustered out of allegiance to the devil and is translated into the kingdom of light and love (Lk. 8:15; 1 Pet. 1:22). His citizenship is removed and changed (Eph. 2:19-3:6). He is subtracted from the number of the lost and added to the roll of the redeemed, the church (Heb. 12:23; Acts 2:47). While men seek the privileges of freedom and move from one nation to another to acquire life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they remain oblivious to their plight in the kingdom of the devil and to the horrors of the judgment to come. Have you been translated, or are you yet following the course of bondage, death and eternal misery?

2. Transformed: “And be not conformed to the world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24).

With translation into the kingdom there should come transformation of one’s character and conduct. Some are translated who are never perfectly transformed (Lk. 8:13,14; 1 Cor. 3:14). Being conformed and transformed into the image of God’s Son is a daily struggle. It is fraught with frustration, but unto those who are exercised thereby, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. In a sense, perhaps, translation is easier than transformation, as much as being born is easier than the proper development of one’s faculties and functions.

Apart from transformation, however, there can be no salvation. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Christians fervently, and rightly so, stress the process of translation while lightly touching the quest for transformation. As a new born baby dies if he does not grow and develop, so the babe in Christ will expire if he does not go on unto perfection, if he does not transform his conduct in harmony with the guidelines of truth.

3. Transported: “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Lk. 16:22). “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41,42,47-50; 22:11-13).

You may not be translated into the kingdom. You may not be transformed in heart and life, but you will be transported when you die. There can be no doubt about that. All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and all shall come forth. It is an undeniable summons. You may turn a deaf ear to the call for translation. You may reject the appeal for transformation, but you will be given eternal transportation.

When the Lord Jesus shall descend from heaven with a shout, accompanied by ten thousands times ten thousands of his saints and angels, when he shall employ the keys of death, hell and the grave, when the voice of the archangel shall sound with the trump of God, every one of us will receive divine transportation. We shall be transported to meet him in the clouds or cast away from the glory of his power forever and ever.

It is the ultimate end of our transportation that makes our present translation and transformation so vitally important. Imagine being carried by the angels to meet the Lord in comfort or to be cast away unto tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath! Such awesome reflections ought to cause us to contemplate the current state of our souls, for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31).

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 3, pp. 78-79
February 7, 1991

By Lewis Willis

In the long ago, Jeremiah wrote, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23). Even though it is not possible for man to direct his steps, man surely has tried to do so. No amount of warning – no appeal has prevented him from trying.

As people have launched out on their own, they are quite impressed with the course they have devised for themselves. In fact, they are convinced that their way is the best way! Anyone who would dare to question their wisdom is subjected to immediate, harsh criticism. To these folks it is unthinkable that they could be wrong. One is reminded of the words of Solomon in two almost identical passages: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12, 16:25). Convincing folks of this truth is one of the most difficult tasks undertaken by the Church.

Because we cannot devise our own course, and because what would seem right to us would lead to spiritual death, it remained for God to give us the guidance we so desperately needed. Thankfully, that is exactly what he did. Before Jesus went away, he promised to send the Spirit to the apostles. Jesus said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (Jn. 16:13). When the Holy Spirit discharged that responsibility, he not only gave the apostles the thought of truth, but he also gave them the words with which to express the thought. Paul said, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:12-13). Therefore, we were given a reliable, true, and God-protected revelation to guide us where we could not guide ourselves.

It is very comforting to read the words of two great apostles as they referred to that divine revelation which God gave us as a guide. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3). These passages tell us that we will be “perfect” if we will follow the direction of the inspired Scriptures, and that “all things” which pertain to living and pursuing the favor of God have been provided for us therein. What we could not provide for ourselves – a proper course – God provided for us in the Holy Scriptures.

Furthermore, we are assured that God gave us this divine revelation only once. Jude wrote, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful of me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). When James talks about the Bible, he refers to it as “perfect.” He said, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty , and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (Jas. 1:25). The Greek word for “perfect” is a form of the word teleios. It means “finished, ended, accomplished.” Thus, the “once delivered” revelation was the finished product of God which he delivered to us to be our guide. It was and is a complete, perfect, and all-sufficient guide which God has provided us. It will save the soul (Rom. 1:16) and keep it saved (Acts 20:32). We have no need of anything else to guide us, except the New Testament Scriptures.

In spite of this information from the Bible, religious men still make two grave errors. They need to at least be mentioned in this discussion regarding God’s guide for our souls.

1. Some people believe they are receiving additional revelations from God – that God is talking to them. Every doctrine has a consequence attached to it. If the Bible is an all-sufficient, finished, once-delivered guide for man as it claims to be, there cannot be additional revelation. If God is saying anything beyond the New Testament, then it is not sufficient and finished – God’s revelation was not given “once,” but many times. Also, that which is given today would necessarily say that previous generations had only “partial” truth. I am not ready to buy into any of these consequences. I will just affirm, with New Testament authority, that the Bible is our all-sufficient guide.

2. Some who are obviously dissatisfied with the Bible as our all-sufficient guide, have taken upon themselves to write many creeds, manuals, confessions of faith, and catechisms to supplement what God has said. Again, a position has its consequences. If these things are permissible and/or needed, the Bible is not our all-sufficient guide and man can direct his own course. The Bible teaches the very opposite, so we, in Churches of Christ, will stay with the Bible and reject human creeds.

We feel confident of the position we hold. We believe that the passages referred to herein are ample proof that our position is true. We, therefore, appeal to men to accept the Bible as our all-sufficient guide, and, we furthermore, plead with people to renounce human creeds and ignore the false claims of those who say God has said something to them in addition to the Bible.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 3, pp. 75-76
February 7, 1991

By Cled E. Wallace (1892-1962)

The disobedient man often excuses himself by claiming that he “cannot understand the Bible. ” The chances are that he has not made a respectable effort to find out what the Book contains. He is merely excusing himself. Others excuse their lack of harmony with plain Bible teaching by cooly observing that “people can’t understand the Bible alike,” just as though that book were a volume of riddles for purposes of mystery.

Is it really a difficult matter for an honest man to find out what the will of the Lord is? The simplicity of the literary style of the Bible coupled with its profundity of thought amazes literary critics. There are only between five and six thousand words in our entire English Bible. Shakespeare or Browning uses three times as many. Proper names not considered, Bible words are for the most part simple words. More than three-fourths of the words used in the Decalogue or the Sermon on the Mount are monosyllables. They convey power that simple hearts may appropriate.

It is passing strange that a man who can understand another man cannot understand God, when God uses the simpler words. It is the strange malady of closed eyes and ears and a gross heart in the presence of divine revelation. Man cannot understand Christ when he says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”; but he can understand every word that a certain partisan may use in an hour’s speech designed to explain that Christ did not mean exactly what his words naturally convey. He cannot understand a divine ordinance, but he vividly appreciates a human “spiritualization” of it. When Christ says, “This is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me,” the simplest child of the kingdom of heaven can consider the circumstances involved and devoutly appreciate the Lord’s meaning. When a theologian says that “the validity of the service does not lie in the quality of its external signs or sacramental representation, but in its essential properties and substantial realities,” does he make the meaning clearer? He only serves to mystify what the Lord intended for all to understand.

A noted “anthropologist of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington” has found five hundred babies who walk on their hands and feet, can climb upstairs, and have a tendency to take things in the mouths. He infers from this that the human race descended “from animals who lived in trees.” The theory of organic evolution and the consequent rejection of the Bible as the word of God rest on such farfetched inferences as these. It is a pitiful substitute for faith. The conclusions Christians draw from the facts of the Christian religion have to do with remission of sins, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal life in heaven, They are not far-fetched inferences or “cunningly devised fables” like some of the nebulous theories scientists rave over. There is something wrong with a man who can infer animal ancestry from a crawling baby, but cannot find Christ in the experience and life of Saul of Tarsus (Reprint from Gospel Advocate, LXXIII, 14 [2 Apr. 1931], p. 381).

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 3, pp. 68-69
February 7, 1991