at heart,” boastful in their gods Bel and Nebo, should have paid attention to this notice and warning, so that they should not have acted too haughtily and cruelly toward God’s people Israel while they held them in captivity.

In 539 B.C.E., only two years before the prophesied seventy years of desolation were due to be completed, God sent his swiftly flying bird of prey, Cyrus of Persia, to fly against Babylon to execute his divine counsel on it. (Jer. 25:11) But Babylon was a mighty walled city, considered impregnable. Could Babylon’s gods behind her mighty defenses hold out for years and thereby prevent Jehovah from executing his counsel in his foretold time? Would the two years be enough time for Cyrus to bring about Babylon’s fall and, besides that, be able to get around to the business of liberating the Jews?

Jehovah’s word and name were at stake. It would be a war, not merely between Jehovah and Babylon, just for the sake of his people Israel. It was a war between gods. Jehovah would show his supremacy over these idol gods, which were no gods, and bring them down to the dust in disgrace and defeat. It would be a crushing defeat for Satan and his wicked demons, a foretaste of the defeat and destruction of these opposers of God and the complete vindication of Jehovah against all the gods of all the nations. Therefore the fall of Babylon must happen at God’s appointed time. In the next issue of this magazine we shall follow some of the events of the fatal night of Babylon’s fall.

A Land Prized for Bdellium Gum

◆ Gold and onyx you may know, but do you know what bdellium gum is? The land of Havilah had all three. (Gen. 2:11, 12) It was obviously precious, being mentioned with the onyx stone and gold. It must have been known to the Israelites, because Moses compared the appearance of manna to bdellium gum. (Num. 11:7) This aromatic gum was very much prized in antiquity, being held in high esteem by both Jews and Gentiles. The gum came from a tree, and, according to Pliny, was transparent, waxy, and oily to the touch. It was fragrant to a considerable distance around, having an aroma and taste like that of myrrh but weaker. When burned, bdellium gum diffuses a balsamic odor. The ancients used it like myrrh—in perfumes, incense and medicine.

Most Ancient Dyestuff on Record

◆ It was not so easy in Bible times to dye a cloth a certain color, for no synthetic dyes were then known. Some of the materials used by the Israelites for the Tabernacle were dyed “coccus scarlet.” (Ex. 25:4; 26:1; 35:6) This phrase is used in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, rather than just the word “scarlet,” and refers to what some authorities believe to be the most ancient dyestuff on record. It comes from a small scale insect that lives on the Kermes oak, a dwarf, often shrubby, evergreen oak in the Mediterranean regions, very common in dry places. The males are capable of flight but the females are wingless, living the greater part of their lives almost motionless. The bodies of the females swell after mating, and, at this time, before the eggs are extruded, the round, pea-like insects were collected in great numbers and then dried. When put in water, these dried insects made a beautiful, deep-red dye. The Greeks used this insect dyestuff under the name of kokkos (coccus) and the Arabians under the name of kermes, whence is derived the English word “crimson.” The kermes or coccus scarlet was long used as the most brilliant red dye known.