“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth” (Gen. 11:4,5,6,9).
Before Israel became a nation, even before Abraham was called, the dispersion of nations took place as God confused the tongues of men who sought power and glory by building the tower of Babel. At that time, though God in government had so acted, Asshur of the family of Shem went out of Babylon to build Nineveh. Babylon is seen, at this early stage, the “city” in the center of the earth, representing apostate POWER; likewise Nineveh, a sister “city” in the center of the earth under Asshur, depicting the GLORY of man.
These two are a type of those which, in the last days, will form the two great confederacies, Western (Babylon) and Eastern (Assyrian), to fight against God and His anointed King. They set forth the world in all of its systems of government, idolatry, pleasure, inventions, as well as every evil thing imagined by unregenerate man under the deceit of Satan.
“Nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Gen. 11:6).
The principle of Babylon includes centralization of world power and worship, which the ancient “city” Babylon symbolizes. Thus Satan, working through men as agents, will try to frustrate God’s plan, set forth in Psalm 2, to have Christ as Man in the position of POWER, WORSHIP, and GLORY. Israel will be used to carry the power and glory for Christ on earth.
God had never judged Babylon, that great apostate world system, at its commencement, although He did confuse the tongues at Babel. God has not forgotten that it was through this system that His people were taken captive and oppressed. When iniquity ripens, God will judge. Israel shall again be under the power of Babylon, subject to the Romans, during the seven years of tribulation.
In chapter 2 of his prophecy the prophet Daniel, speaking of the future, relates how the Roman power shall be formed, also its end. He speaks of four great monarchies in succession, first, Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, who was set up by God as carrying the authority of government for the earth. Only Babylon was given this authority. Israel had forfeited that place of dignity because she had turned to the worship of idols.
The second, Medo-Persian, usurping the throne of Babylon, was inferior to the first power. Then Greece took the power and finally the Romans, who have never been succeeded by another monarchy.
The Roman Empire shall rise again for a short time, then fall when the Son of man shall take the kingdom. His kingdom shall be everlasting.
As for the first three, their lives shall be prolonged, showing that God, in patience, will grant them another testimony, namely, the gospel of the kingdom. When the present world system falls, those unrepentant among them shall all fall together, but not as individual powers.
The four monarchies were seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his dream as a great image which represents Babylon. By interpretation, Daniel showed how the image set forth the character and course of these kingdoms, indicating the entire period of the times of the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles will end, and the judgment of the entire image will occur when Jehovah takes His throne to reign.
This shall be the time of deliverance for Israel and the founding of Zion. At this time the yoke shall be removed from Israel forever. Then Israel shall be the representative of power in the earth, the place that they lost when they turned to the worship of idols. At the same time they will carry the glory of the earth. All that is seen under the character of Babylon and Nineveh will then disappear.