Before Babylon every really amounts to much, Isaiah warns of her primary weaknesses. Like most pagan kingdoms, the Babylonians had a raft of deities and demi-gods. As empires came and went over that Cradle of Civilization, the Mesopotamian Valley, the names and apparent identities of gods came and went. It contributed to Babylon's fame as the world center of study of religions in ancient times. Her scholars could accurately assess what each god of the many nations demanded in various settings. Thus, Balaam was able to assist Moab regarding Israel's God during the last march toward Canaan Land before the Conquest under Joshua. Canaan called their chief deity Baal, which is more a title than a name, meaning "Lord" -- the same word people used to address the head of household, or any superior person. The Babylonian spelling of that word was Bel, which they considered the god of lower atmosphere (weather) and the dry land.
Bel was said to have a son, Marduk. His son was Nebo, Bel's grandson. Nebo was the patron god of science and academia. With the vast legacy of centuries of royal support for academia in Mesopotamia, Nebo was a major deity. It could easily be a Babylonian saying: "Knowledge is power." Babylon pioneered the use of scholarship in war, knowing so well the details of their enemies' lifestyles and gods. Even today the psychological effect on troops of targeted propaganda is recognized.
Jehovah was not impressed with these two deities. It was symbolic language to describe them as bowing and scraping to Him. He goes on to say they are actually nothing but hardware on which people lavished attention. Compared to Jehovah, who not only predicts the future, but controls it personally, these two famous deities of Babylon did nothing at all. You would think by now the people of Judah would have gotten this message. Isaiah rubs it in, over and over. The reason is they did not get it. From the very beginning, even during the Exodus itself, they carried pagan deities. The very idea there was but one God alone was simply too foreign culturally. For all the scholars' knowledge, this was the primary weakness of Babylon. Since Judah continued to act as if there were other gods out there, there is a certain justice to letting them be conquered and exiled by a nation which knew the name of every deity mankind had ever worshiped.
Today we are less obvious about it. Yet we have easily as many false gods as Babylon, and equally the weakness exhibited by Judah. We keep turning to other things in our lives to which we invest our ardor and loyalty. We allow a host of activities to intrude on our proper service in the Kingdom. Sure, Judah returned from Exile without ever again raising another idol before God. Yet, they were ever raising up a false image of their own God. We are hardly any better today.
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By Ed Hurst
20 May 2009
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