father, will themselves be taken and actually become court officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”—Isa. 39:1-7.

It may have been with regard to his dealings with the Babylonian messengers of Merodach-baladan that 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 refers, saying: “In those days Hezekiah fell sick to the point of dying, and he began to pray to Jehovah. So He talked to him and a portent He gave him. But according to the benefit rendered him Hezekiah made no return, for his heart became haughty and there came to be indignation against him and against Judah and Jerusalem. However, Hezekiah humbled himself for the haughtiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and Jehovah’s indignation did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.”

The relations of King Sennacherib of Assyria with King Merodach-baladan of Babylon are described in the book Israel and Babylon, page 33:

Sennacherib’s first task was to conquer that “prop of evil deeds,” “that worker of wickedness,” as he quaintly describes him. Babylon was captured but Merodach-baladan escaped and fled. It was at this period, rather than at the time of his earlier conflict with Sargon, that Merodach-baladan sought to enlist help from Hezekiah of Judah as recorded in 2 Kings 20:12-19. Babylon, however, continued to give trouble with the readily granted aid of the Elamites, Merodach-baladan making yet another appearance, if not more than one, on the scene; she was finally crushed in 689, the city being levelled to the ground. Apparently Sennacherib had treated Babylon with great forbearance up to this time, and adopted this terrible policy in sheer despair. [Sidney] Smith thinks [in his book The First Campaign of Sennacherib] that a passage in the annals of Ashurbanipal may be interpreted to mean that Sennacherib was actually engaged in the reconstruction of Babylon when he was assassinated.—1925 edition, by W. L. Wardle, M.A., B.D., London, England.

Esar-haddon succeeded his assassinated father to the throne of Nineveh, capital of Assyria. (2 Ki. 19:37; Isa. 37:37, 38) It was he who rebuilt the city of Babylon and sent back to it the statue of its chief god, Bel-Merodach, besides restoring the temples of other deities. Ashurbanipal succeeded him, appointing a viceroy to rule Babylon. Nabopolassar the father of Nebuchadnezzar II was the last viceroy appointed by Assyria.—The International Standard Bible Encyclopædia, edition of 1955.

Assyria had already suffered a most humiliating defeat at the hand of Jehovah for belittling his name. Would Assyria, “the land of Nimrod,” be able to hold her position as Second World Power in the face of Jehovah’s prophecy that he would bring execution upon her for despising his name and for her bitter enmity against God’s people? She had been able to bring about the fall and destruction of Babylon, but she had not been able to capture Zion, “the town of the grand King.” (Mic. 5:6; Ps. 48:1, 2) How Assyria would have her judgment and how Jerusalem under the rule of the kings of David’s line would have a clash with Babylon will be discussed in the next issue of The Watchtower.

“Jehovah of Armies”

◆ Have you observed that expression in your Bible? What does it mean to you? It is not unfamiliar to Bible readers, because it appears in the Hebrew text 281 times. It should remind you that Jehovah is not only the Creator of the visible army of heavenly bodies, but the Commander in Chief of invisible, angelic hosts or armies that he can use against his enemies to accomplish his irresistible purpose. The expression is one that should strengthen God’s people when they are harassed by apparently overwhelming numbers of those who oppose them. It should remind us that we do not have to stand in our own strength, that we are not alone.—Isa. 47:4.