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One of the greatest proofs of the inspiration of the Bible is found in the prophecies concerning the downfall of nations and cities many years before their fulfillment.
The science of Archaeology has made a great contribution to our understanding of many Biblical Truths, and in turn our faith has been greatly strengthened. Through the tablets and monuments that have been found, we learn of these great past civilizations.
The weeping prophet, Jeremiah, describes the downfall of Babylon in chapter fifty-one. “And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions’ whelps” (Jeremiah 51:37-38).
Today Babylon lies in heaps. Scattered over the country on both sides of the Euphrates are a number of great mounds, usually standing single, which are plainly of the same date with the great mass of ruins upon the river bank. For many years these mounds have been excavated by learned men from many countries, who have found ancient cylinders, bricks, seals used by kings, and inscriptions, which have thrown light upon the ancient Babylonians and the scripture references to them.
Ezekiel devotes three chapters to the downfall of Tyre. The prophet says that many nations would come up against her (26:3); she shall be as bare as a rock (26:4); fishermen would spread their nets there (26:5); she would be a spoil for the nations (26:5); her daughters that are in the field shall be slain with the sword. Shalmanesar, King of Assyria, came against Tyre after he had taken Samaria in 721, but was unable to destroy the city. Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city for thirteen years. In 332 B.C. Tyre was attacked by the great conqueror Alexander the Great.
At the time of the Crusades it was still a flourishing city, when it surrendered to the “Christians” in 1124 A.D. It continued for more than a century, but was deserted by its inhabitants in 1291 A.D. upon the conquest of Acre (ancient Ptolemais) by the sultan of Egypt and Damascus. Its present condition is the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, that Tyre would be a place for the spreading of nets and as bare as the top of a rock. It is considered too insignificant to be a port of call for the ships that call at ports along the Mediterranean Sea.
Richard Curry