What was to be the result of Jehovah’s arousing the bow-bearing Medes against the Babylonians? Jehovah’s decree declares: “And Babylon, the decoration of kingdoms, the beauty of the pride of the Chaldeans, must become as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah [utter desolation as by fire and sulphur (Gen. 19:23-25)]. She will never be inhabited, nor will she reside for generation after generation. And there the Arab will not pitch his tent, and no shepherds will let their flocks lie down there [they will fear it like a haunted place]. And there the haunters of waterless regions will certainly lie down, and their houses must be filled with eagle owls. And there the ostriches must reside, and goat-shaped demons themselves will go skipping about there. And jackals must howl in her dwelling towers, and the big snake [not the “Sirrush,” the dragon representing Babylon’s god Marduk, but a literal snake inhabiting the desolate place] will be in the palaces of exquisite delight. And the season for her is near to come, and her days themselves will not be postponed.”—Isa. 13:19-22.

Such desolation would be one of the features of the vengeance of Jehovah God upon that world-dominating center of false religion, enemy of God from its inception in the days of Nimrod. Though centuries would pass after Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C.E. before this desolation would overtake her, it would come inescapably.

As the time for the end of the seventy-year captivity of the Jews drew near, Babylon’s fall drew even nearer, so the Jews who had faith in Jehovah God and who desired to see his true worship established did not worry or try to run ahead of God by causing a revolt and trying to free themselves from Babylon’s captivity. Today there is a Greater Babylond that is nearing its fall and horrifying desolation, but those who read God’s Word and have seen the fulfillment of many of his purposes exactly on time know that the Greater Babylon will likewise fall to her complete desolation in the very near future, and that it is not their duty to use any force of arms or fleshly weapons to accomplish it, but that it will be done by Jehovah and his invisible heavenly forces, to his own honor. Babylon the Great will be desolated forever, just as was ancient Babylon, which is now nothing more than a desolate ruin. Then pure worship will fill the earth, and the rule of Jesus Christ, the Greater Cyrus, will mean complete liberation for all who delight in his kingdom. Further discussions of Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s prophecies on Babylon will appear in succeeding issues.—Rev. 18:21.

Labdanum—Gift Fit for a Ruler

● This was one of the fine products that Jacob told his sons to take as a gift to one who was a ruler in Egypt second only to Pharaoh. (Gen. 43:11) Sometimes mistaken for myrrh, labdanum is an aromatic gum, the product of a beautiful-flowered, bushy little plant known as the rockrose. The shrub’s large flowers resemble the wild rose. Labdanum is the gum that exudes from the leaves and stems of the little shrubs. It is soft, dark brown or black and has a delicately scented, fragrant odor and bitter taste. It is used in perfumes and, at one time, was also used extensively in medicine.—Gen. 37:25.