Iraqi City Captured by Iranian Invaders

In the territory that forms the borders of Iraq there was a massive invasion of a foreign army from the area now controlled by the Iranian militia. This army has invaded, crossed into the territory surrouding the city of Babylon and attacked. The army of Persians and Medes found a way into the babylonian city and captured the entire population. This event was Prophesized to occur and it has happened Exactly as Foretold in scripture...down to the name of the conqueoring General!

As it turned out there was another Prophet among the Jewish people before Daniel. His name was Isaiah. According to the first Chapter of the Book of Isaiah, this Prophet lived in Israel before it was defeated, the city and temple destroyed and the people carried away to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzer. In fact the very first verse tells us that he lived under the reign of the Jewish kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. The reign of these Kings was well before the reign of the Jewish King Jehoiakim, who as we are told in Daniel Chapter 1, was the leader taken away with the Jewish people into Babylonian Captivity. From this chronology therefore we find that Isaiah was indeed alive at the right time and made the following prediction more than 120 years ahead of the actual events:

Isa44:26-45:2 “confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron”

In this Prophecy the Prophet Isaiah forsaw the coming destruction of Jerusalem and his people carried into captivity by the Babylonians. Then he declares that this prophecy will “be confirmed” and prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that he is God’s messenger! The prophet says that Jerusalem will be rebuilt and where it has decayed and lay in ruin that God will restore it to the Jewish People by the hand of His servant “Cyrus.”

Here we see another amazing detail declared, well in advance, of how God would effect this restoration. Isaiah says that Cyrus will subdue nations and then in dramatic fashion the prophet declares how at least one of these conquests will happen:

“That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:”
… “I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.”

So now the question is, who is this Cyrus and when did he defeat and conquer to effect the will of God as declared by the Prophet Isaiah? And what did he mean by “drying up the rivers” and opening the gates?

We need not speculate because it is a fact recorded in History.

Isaiah’s prophecy states that Cyrus would have Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt. The following account is from King Cyrus himself as found inscribed on a clay barrel, “The Cyrus Cylinder” on display in the British Museum of History.  The inscription tells how Cyrus conquered Babylon, returned the Jewish exiles to their former land, returned the articles of Jewish worship to the sacred city and how Cyrus commanded that the temple where the Jews worshiped be rebuilt. The Inscription reads:

 “The number of men in his army were so great, resembling that of water in a river, which could not be counted, marched forward, their weapons stashed away. Without engaging the enemy, he was able to enter Babylon without causing any damage to the city. Into my hands, Nabonidus was delivered, the king who did not worship him. To the sacred cities located on the other side of the Tigris river, I sent back to the ruins of their holy places, the articles which were used in their sanctuaries.  I also allowed to return to their homes the former citizens of the land. I also made an effort to repair their dwelling places.”

It is interesting how God preserved the record of these events for nearly 2000 years and allowed it to be confirmed by archeology and have it agree with what was written by the Jewish Prophet.
 
So how did Cyrus defeat Babylon? By the wisdom and providence of God? Maybe?

“Who says to the deep. Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’. ..To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut. 'I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze.”

The fulfillment of this prophecy is confirmed by the words of the historian Herodotus: "The land of Assyria possesses a great number of cities, the strongest and most well known being Babylon.” Along the edges of the top walls, the Babylonians built single room structures each facing one another, leaving enough space between them to turn a four-horse chariot. One hundred gates, all of brass, with bronze lintels and side-posts made up the circumference of the wall. The city was divided into two sections by the Euphrates river running through it. At the rivers entry points to the walls of the city of Babylon were low gates in the fence that flanked the river, which were similar in design to the great gates in the outer wall, made of brass, and which opened toward the water.
       
Cyrus marched in the direction of Babylon. A short distance outside of the city walls, the Babylonian army was waiting to fight him. A battle then ensued, in which the Persian king defeated the Babylonians, who then fled into their fortress, the Babylonian city. Here the Babylonians shut themselves in, and even poked fun of Cyrus and his siege, because the Babylonians had prepared against an attack by storing up food within the city that would last for decades! They had seen Cyrus conquering nation after nation, and they were convinced that sooner or later he would try to overpower Babylon. With plenty of food, a river of fresh water running through the city, and archers posted on her walls, the Babylonians were safe and secure from any conquest. Yet the God of Heaven had other plans.
     
Cyrus next effected his plan. Putting a portion of his troops at the place where the river entered the city, and another group of soldiers at the back where the river exited the city, Cyrus ordered his men to march into the city as soon as the river became shallow enough for them to enter under the gates. Cyrus then withdrew back to a place upstream where he had his soldiers dig trenches and thus divert the Euphrates by a canal into an old lake bed, which at that time was low laying marshland. The river began to lower and soon it had lowered to such a level that it was now possible to cross. The Persian army at Babylon now entered the river, whose level now only reached midway up to a man's thigh, and they marched quietly, unnoticed by the Babylonian guard into the city that night.

The Babylonians were not aware of what Cyrus was up to because had they seen the danger, they could have killed the Persians entering the city and would have destroyed his army easily since all the Babylonians needed to do was close all the street-gates which looked upon the river. Then from the tops of the walls along both sides of the river they would have caught their enemy off-guard in a trap and killed them. Providentially for the Persians, the attack was a surprise to the Babylonians and they were able to capture the city. The Babylonians were so sure of the protection of their massive walls that the new Babylonian King called for a festival. In their false security they had failed to close the gates fully below the water at the entry and the exit. While the people were drunk with wine and pagan debauchery the armies of Cyrus entered Babylon unnoticed and captured the city without having to destroy any of its beautiful structures.

The account of the historian Herodotus verified that God allowed Cyrus to subdue many nations before him, dry up the mighty waters and enter Babylon’s open gates of bronze, all while Belshazzar, their King, was throwing what would be the last drunken pagan party of his life. These events are also recorded in Daniel chapter 5 and reveal the providential hand of God moving forward in world affairs.

Thus far from our study of the Jewish Prophets it would seem that Stock in the Prophetic Word is on the increase. Here Isaiah, another Jew, appears to have gotten it right.