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isaiah's satire on babylon, aka, america 2025

3/13/2025

homily on the mad state of our rebellion
isaiah’s satire on babylon, aka, america 2025
isaiah 14.4-23

introduction

Ancient Babylon was the seat of two great Near Eastern empires: the Old Babylonian empire (ca. 1900 to 1600 BC) and the Neo-Babylonian empire (ca. 626 to 539 BC). Both empires were the mightiest international superpower of their time. While the empires’ natural borders rested between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, at their most expansive, the two empires’ influence and dominance was felt throughout the Near East--stretching west to the borders of Egypt, north to the southern expanses of Anatolia, east to the Zagros Mountains, and south to the Persian Gulf. While not as brutal as the Assyria empire sandwiched in time between Babylon’s two empires (ca. 1400 to 600 BC), Babylon was feared and hated by nations that it targeted with its violent intimidation and bullying tactics and its well-equipped and well-trained armies.

The level of hatred that other nations felt for Babylon is reflected in a satirical taunt penned by the prophet Isaiah, and found today in Isaiah 14.4-23. In this taunt, Isaiah reflects on the nature of Babylon, imagines its demise, the nature of its demise, and how other nations would view its demise.

This taunt came to mind recently as I thought of the nations of the world’s increasing complaints and criticisms against the man whose name I refuse to utter or write and the nation he seeks to reshape into his own vile and wicked image; reshape into something that looks very much like the Babylon that Isaiah taunted. If that vile man who pollutes the White House and, indeed, the entire nation, is successful, he will have created an even more thoroughly modern Babylon than those who have gone before him have managed to do.[1] Call it Babylon 2.0. Babylon on steroids.

In this homily, I explore Isaiah’s taunt in relation to ancient Babylon. Then, I imagine the taunt in relation to America as reshaped and deformed by the man use name I refuse to utter or write. We are already hearing sharp and justified criticisms from nations with whom we have been allied for generations. Do doubt, that criticism will intensify if the sociopath’s nefarious plans for the nation and the world are allowed to continue, grow, fester, and metastasize. I imagine that if the nations of this world do not already feel toward America what Isaiah felt and expressed in his taunt toward Babylon, they soon will. I, for one, won’t blame this world’s nations, themselves no paragons of virtue, one bit if they begin to hopefully imagine America’s demise and craft an appropriate taunt to commemorate the occasion.

the wonder at babylon’s demise

Isaiah begins his taunt of Babylon with an expression of wonder at Babylon’s demise. Here, the wonder is that of Israel, but one of many targets of Babylon’s self-promoting disdain, bullying, aggression, and violence.

“How hath the oppressor ceased!
   the golden city ceased!”[2]

As can be seen in the KJV’s appropriate punctuation, this “how” is not spoken in the form of question, but in the form of wonder and amazement. This “how” in the form of wonder and amazement is found again later in the taunt, this time in the mouth of the world’s nations who suffered under Babylon’s self-promoting disdain, bullying, aggression, and violence

“How art thou fallen from heaven,
   O Lucifer, son of the morning! [morning star, offspring of dawn]
How art thou cut down to the ground,
   which didst weaken the nations!”[3]

Elsewhere in the taunt, those who imagine/ witness Babylon’s demise do ask questions--questions that express, again, a sense of wonder and amazement at Babylon’s demise. Here are questions that Isaiah imagines world leaders asking who had, themselves, felt the same exceptionalism, inevitability, and invincibility and suffered the same demise as Babylon.

“All they shall speak and say unto thee,
   ‘Art thou also become weak as we?
       art thou become like unto us?’”[4]

“They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee,
   and consider thee, saying,
‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
   that did shake kingdoms;
that made the world as a wilderness,
   and destroyed the cities thereof;
       that opened not the house of his prisoners?”[5]

There are few questions more poignant than this last one which, itself, conveys a level of surprise. With the benefit of hindsight, the nations that Babylon so mesmerized wonder at their infatuation. How was it that the nations had come to think of Babylon as a nation apart, exceptional, invincible, incapable of experiencing the struggles, tragedies, and defeats that they themselves faced, often at Babylonian hands. As they gaze upon Babylon, now abject and fallen, they can’t believe they ever held Babylon in such high esteem. Divine activity has revealed Babylon to be but one more failed nation.

The surprise and amazement at Babylon’s demise flows from the high esteem in which the world’s nations had held Babylon even as it terrorized them. Much of the world viewed Babylon as an exceptional, inevitable, indispensable, invincible, and enduring nation. It was almost godlike. Before Babylon’s demise, nations, including, of course, the Babylonians themselves, could not image a world without them. Doubtless, such thoughts and feelings were the result of Babylon’s success on the world stage, seemingly perpetual. But, likely, it was also in no small degree the result of Babylon’s own international self-promoting propaganda.

“For thou hast said in thine heart,
   ‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
   I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,
       in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
   I will be like the most High.’”[6]

Babylon was not the first nation, and it would not be the last to think itself God’s gift to humanity, thus acting as if it were God--or, at least, like an idolatrous god.

  world response to babylon’s demise

Much to their surprise, then, nations of the world found Babylon’s self-promoting and nationalistic propaganda of exceptionalism, inevitability, invincibility, and godlike status to be a lie. But surprise was not the nations’ only response to Babylon’s demise as Isaiah imagined it. With Babylon’s demise, the entire known world felt and publicly expressed previously unimaginable relief.

“The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet:
   they break forth into singing.”[7]

Babylon’s demise caused worldwide dancing and singing in the streets. As Babylon suffered the pangs of death, other nations not only rejoiced. They stood passively and watched, disinclined to lift a finger to come to Babylon’s assistance.

“He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
   he that ruled the nations in anger,
       is persecuted, and none hindereth.”[8]

Yes, the world was a better place without Babylon.

the nature of babylon

Surprise, joy, and inaction were not the nations’ only response to Babylon’s demise. With Babylon’s demise came a clear-headed understanding of what Babylon really was and what it represented. With this understanding--probably felt, but only whispered previous to its demise--came a willingness to give public expression to the depth of Babylon’s destructive impact on the world’s international stage.

We have already seen the nature of Babylon’s international actions in passages from the taunt quoted above. In the taunt’s initial expression of surprise, for example, Isaiah identified Babylon as “the oppressor,”[9] and called it “wicked.”[10] As the taunt proceeds, Isaiah charges that in its self-justified and celebrated intention to dominate, to put itself first, Babylon “smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke,” and “ruled the nations in anger.”[11] In so doing, it “made the earth to tremble” and “did shake kingdoms.”[12] It “destroyed cities,”[13] “weaken[ed other] nations,”[14] and “made the world as a wilderness.”[15]

All of this describes Babylon’s style of international relations. It is a dark and bleak picture of the world under Babylonian domination. Again, it would not be the first or last nation to cover the earth with its bleak darkness.
death and hell
What goes around comes around, as the saying goes. Karma. These are but statements of what the Book of Mormon calls “The Law of Restoration.” Alma delivered what is perhaps the classic statement of this law to his wavering son, Corianton.

“The meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful… For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.”[16]

Samuel the Lamanite likely alluded to this Law of Restoration when he warned his belligerent audiences that “if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation.”

“And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.”[17]

What, the reader might ask, does all of this have to do with Babylon and Isaiah’s taunt of it? Well, let’s return to Isaiah’s taunt of Babylon and see.

“Prepare slaughter for his children
   for the iniquity of their fathers;
that they do not rise, nor possess the land,
   nor fill the face of the world with cities.
For I will rise up against them,
   saith the LORD of hosts,
and cut off from Babylon the name,
   and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water:
   and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction,
       saith the LORD of hosts.”[18]

Incalculable was the suffering and death Babylon caused through its aggressive and self-promoting actions on the international stage. How many children and sons and nephews had Babylon slaughtered? How many cities had it cut off from the face of the earth? How many cities’ water sources had it polluted and poisoned in the course of warfare or afterwards to keep survivors from reestablishing themselves in a city? It doesn’t matter, I suppose, how many? Babylon would be treated as they had treated others. While this conclusion to Isaiah’s taunt was very literal, the prophet had earlier in the taunt turned to metaphor.

“Thy pomp is brought down to the grave,
   and the noise of thy viols:
the worm is spread under thee,
   and the worms cover thee.’”[19]

“All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory,
   every one in his own house.
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch,
   and as the raiment of those that are slain,
thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit;
   as a carcase trodden under feet.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial,
   because thou hast destroyed thy land,
and slain thy people…”[20]

Here, the prophet likens a Babylon in collapse to a human corpse, of which Babylon had produced many among its enemies. The corpse is purposefully left unburied-- again, as Babylon had literally done to the dead of many a conquered city. Babylon is violated. Babylon, the corpse, is covered with maggots. The imagery is unpleasant, to say the least. But Babylon was an unpleasant human invention. It perpetrated unpleasant things. It had unpleasant things perpetrated against it. This is all consistent with the Law of Restoration.

But Babylon was something more than human unpleasantness. Isaiah understands that this nation that thought of itself and was thought of by other nations as exceptional, indispensable, invincible, and godlike was, in fact, something hellish. It had created a hellscape. And because it made life a living hell for so many, it would find itself living a life in hell.

“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,
   to the sides of the pit. [21]

As with most punishments, Babylon’s punishment of suffering and humiliation in hell--dissolution and chaos--fit its crime of pride and hubris and the dissolution and chaos it brought into the world. Again, in this we witness the Law of Restoration doing its work of restoration.

  america: the newest version of babylon

As regular visitors to this site know, I have largely cut myself off from all news sources. I cannot abide the news that flows from or about the polluted American White House and the irredeemably depraved man who now resides there. Still, things get through my defenses.

I am not ignorant of the incessant, belligerent, bellicose, contemptuous, threatening, vindictive, and bullying rhetoric and actions that the deviant in the White House--assisted by the cowardly silence of those in his party and cheered by an angry and ignorant mob--aims at other nations: Mexico, Canada, Panama, Greenland, Denmark, Ukraine, China, Palestine. The list seems to grow daily, with Europe, Brazil, and south Korea waiting in the wings.

The deviant’s self-harming trade wars are not only unsuited to a global world, but downright dangerous and destructive. His threats of colonialist style territorial expansion are, again, outdated and unsuited to our modern global world. He and those who support his wickedness act out of arrogance, anger, insolence, and aggression. You can see all this on his ugly and deformed mug--the face of a true anti-Christ.

Under the sociopath’s spell, America plays the role of world bully. The deviant’s actions, accented with arrogant bluster, threats, and aggression are a menace to the rest of the world. His twisted and ungodly “America First” mentality reveal him and his movement for what they really are: nothing less than a declaration of war of the rest of the planet. This deformed man and the country that bows to his wicked whims makes every human being on the planet less safe and secure. It turns peace into a pipe-dream. Worse, the vile man and his minions are intent to make a hellscape of the world.

In other worlds, with this despicable man at the helm, America now follows more closely than ever before in Babylon’s footsteps. This irredeemably wicked man’s America is a recreation of Babylon with its perverted ethos and aggression. The authoritarian’s wet dream that might makes right. Power is to be used, both at the private and the national level, to lift oneself and belittle and reduce everyone else. To say this is Babylonian is too little, too kind. It is Satanic.

  conclusion

Ancient Babylon was feared. Then, with its demise, it was jeered, it’s demise cheered. Isaiah’s taunt of Babylon reflects this historical reality. In Isaiah, the prophet comes back to Babylon, its wicked aggression, and its ultimate demise over and over again. Interestingly, Babylon was not a threat during the traditional period of Isaiah’s ministry--that honor belonged to Assyria. One might reasonably conclude, as many have, that a second Isaiah, living later during Babylon’s heyday was responsible for the taunt. Maybe. Probably. On the other hand, perhaps the hatred expressed toward Babylon in Isaiah’s taunt is indicative of Babylon’s symbolic importance. Assyrian never became a symbol for brutal and intimidating aggression, though it was far more brutal, intimidating, and aggressive than Babylon in any of its permutations.

As a symbol, Babylon serves as a warning. Isaiah’s brutal and unrelenting taunt, fulfilled to the letter, serves as a warning to any nation that would be so foolish as to take upon itself the image of Babylon. The warning found in this taunt has been available to nations for nearly three millennia. But one age after another has ignored and flouted its warning. One arrogant, self-serving nation after another has felt the pains of its truth as they ceased to exist, leaving those they oppressed jeering and cheering their demise.

Now, today, another nation, deceived by an arrogant and self-serving sociopath, and led into the heart of international “Babylonianalism” ignores the taunt’s warning and rejects its truths. Predictably, and justifiably, the rest of the world now “narrowly looks[s] upon him” and the nation he pollutes as ancient nations did Babylon. We are beginning to see and hear the disgust the rest of the world feels for him and the foolish nation that madly stands with him.

If the modern Babylonian menace is not stopped, the day will come when the Law of Restoration will kick in. America will be treated as it is treating other nations. With time, it will fall, and, in our global world, take much of the rest of the world with it. No one will be sorry to see America go the way of every other nation in world history. The world will sing and dance in the streets as he and the nation he created is “cut down to the ground;” when the besom of destruction sweeps its filth away; and when it is finally “brought down to hell” where it belongs, and where Hell’s minions can welcome him and it with disdain. In that day, the taunt that flowed from Isaiah’s lips against ancient Babylon will be heard on the lips of many of the world’s nations against modern America as the demon in the White House is intent on fashioning it.

How long can it be before God, Himself, takes up the taunt against America, aka, Babylon? How long before the taunt becomes fact, the latest chapter in the planet’s sorry history of nations that thought themselves exceptional, inevitable, indispensable, and invincible; that thought themselves God; that stood against God. America, like all those who went before will then feel what seems like divine wrath as the Law of Restoration balances the scales and sets the world free of the oppressor.

But Isaiah did more than warn of Babylon’s wickedness and cheer its demise through taunt. He invited the people of God over and over again to leave the nation and avoid the impending catastrophe.

“Go ye forth of Babylon,
   flee ye from the Chaldeans…”[22]

“Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence,
   touch no unclean thing;
go ye out of the midst of her;
   be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.”[23]

Others after him picked up on Isaiah’s invitation to leave Babylon and thus void its impending demise, John the Revelator being one of the more famous examples. Later, Latter-day saints picked up on Isaiah’s invitation. But, for them, it was more than invitation to avoid catastrophe. It was a commandment to reject the siren song of its twisted world view and values.

“Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.”[24]

This call to go ye out, to exit, to flee, to reject Babylon was repeated over and over again in Latter-day Saint scripture. Those of that first generation who heard the call took it very literally. Seeing America of their day as Babylonian, they literally left the United States and headed out into territories outside its control. Imagine that!

And just imagine how much more Babylonian American is today under the spell of the sociopath, the anti-Christ who now sits and pollutes the nation’s White House, turning it black with his irredeemable wickedness!

And just imagine how much more necessary it is for the people of God to go out, exit, flee, and reject not just the ending catastrophe but the deepening Babylonian blaspheme the anti-Christ in the White House preaches and practices!

And just image the added condemnation of those who have fallen prey to the spell of the anti-Christ and his Babylonian blaspheme after so many clear and repeated warnings!

The siren song of the wicked Babylonian sorcerer holds no attraction for me. But my soul vibrates with Isaiah’s taunt, and I say, over and over again, amen, Isaiah. Let it me.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

[1] Since the end of World War II, America has, of course, at times looked and acted a good deal like ancient Babylon. Like Babylon, America has used its military unjustly against nations that dared oppose its own delusional manifest destiny. It has had other nation’s political leaders who dared oppose it assassinated and replaced with more pro-American, presidents, prime ministers, shahs, dictators, etc. It has used its military and economic clout to enrich its own corporations and oligarchs. We could go on. Suffice it to say that all this is very much in line with ancient Babylon’s modus operandi, as texts from that era, including the Bible, describe it.
[2] Verse 4
[3] Verse 12
[4] Verse 10
[5] Verses 16-17
[6] Verses 13-14
[7] Verse 7
[8] Verses 4-6
[9] Verse 4
[10] Verse 5
[11] Verses 6
[12] Verse 10
[13] Verse 17
[14] Verse 12
[15] Verse 17
[16] Alma 41.13, 15
[17] Helaman 14.29-31
[18] Verses 21-23
[19] Isaiah 14.11
[20] Isaiah 14.18-20
[21] Verses 15
[22] Isaiah 48.20
[23] Isaiah 52.11
[24] DC 133.14

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homily on the mad state of our rebellion
isaiah’s satire on babylon, aka, america 2025
isaiah 14.4-23

my head in the sand

dual purposes: caring for the poor and humbling the rich
dc 84.112

a homily on our mad state of rebellion

lies, stories, totems, and tribes
dc 10.25

my confessions and the revelator's beast
revelation 13

american possession

healing our brokenness inadequately (part 9):
the iniquity of inequality... bigger, deeper, higher, grosser than ever

a homily on just society and our mad state of rebellion

healing our brokenness inadequately (part 8):
three strikes and you’re out
isaiah 1.16-20