Introduction.

This is about Assyria, Babylonia, Media and Persia. The central point is to show that Media is the second of the great kingdoms in Daniels book, to show that the interpretation of Persia as the second great kingdom is wrong. Those who believe that are not really able to understand later prophecies, as the Book of Revelation, by John.

Then it is about the beast in John´s Revelation.13, the mark and the number of the beast, 666, where it comes from and the meaning of it.

Creation and salvation.

God has created all things and he has a different kind of existence than the physical nature He has created, it is perishable, but He Himself is spirit and is eternal and omnipotent, He is in His eternal heaven and His kingdoms are eternal. We are dust and cannot come to Him unless He comes to us. Yet he said to his people that if they sought him with all their hearts, they would find him. His arm was not too short to save them, but their sins they separated from Him.

But Jesus was the Lamb of God, who bore the world´s sin, he offered himself as a sin sacrifice who was slaughtered to atone for the world’s sin, so that the one sacrifice took away the world’s sin once for all. On that basis, we are allowed to enter into fellowship with God again. Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah of God, who has sat down by God´s right arm in heaven and his arm is still not too short to save. 

We have no way of saving ourselves, salvation is a gift and we can bear receive it as a gift God gives us from heaven. He loved the world so much that he sent his only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God, born of the water of life and the Spirit of God, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Jesus is the bread of life who came down from heaven to give life to the world, the word he has spoken to us is spirit and life. 

Replacement theology?

Replacement theology is that the Christian church replaces Judaism, but it is a question of definition, because what is really Judaism and what is really the Christian Church? It is both Abraham’s faith, he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. He promised him that in his seed all nations would be blessed, those who blessed him would be blessed, but those who cursed him would be cursed. This promise is fulfilled in Christ. 

Abraham demonstrated his faith by showing that he was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to God, thus showing that he believed that God could raise him from the dead. But he got to sacrifice a lamb instead. This is a role model of God loving the world so much that He sent His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. To all who received him, he gave the right to become God’s children. God reconciled the world to himself, by letting his Son die on the cross, to atone for all the world’s sin. By believing that He rose from the dead, we become righteous before God and by acknowledging that He is Lord, we become saved. This good news will be preached to all nations.

I have written about this here:

From David to Solomon.

David was a man after God’s heart, so God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him as king over the people of Israel and it became a success, he became a great and powerful king. Nevertheless, he fell into sin when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and betrayed her husband, so that he fell in the war. The prophet Nathan rebuked him, so that he confessed his sin to God, humbled himself, and begged for mercy and forgiveness, so that he did not have to die for his sin. Nevertheless, he was punished, because there came strife in his house, the eldest son, Absalom, rebelled and wanted to take over the power, so he had to flee. David won the battle that followed, but Absalom was killed. Bathsheba became David’s wife and then he had a son, Solomon, with her, and it was he who should take over the kingship when that time came. In his old age, David was no longer with the army in battle, he got a beautiful young girl, Abisjag, as a maid, she was supposed to keep him warm with the night as well, but not as a whore, that is. 

The second eldest son, Adonijah, tried to proclaim himself as king, but then David had the prophet Nathan to anoint Salomon as king and Adonijah had to humble himself before Solomon. Later, Adonijah asked for Abisjag to be his wife, but Solomon understood it as an attempted coup the kingdom and sent the commander to kill him (1 Kings 2).

Solomon was young when he took over a great kingdom, but he found peace on all sides, he was going to build the temple. God wanted to be his father and gave him great wisdom and made him rich, so that it was rumored about him all the way to Ethiopia. With this, especially with the temple, he was able to secure the kingdom for the heir and descendants. But despite his great wisdom, he left behind a poor foundation for peace, the kingdom was divided, so his son got power over less than half of the kingdom. 

I have written about this here: 

God creates by judging, but also by calling people to Himself and saving them.

King David.

King David was a man after God’s heart, therefore God sent Samuel to anoint him as king when he was young, so he became able to judge rightly, the anointing was a symbol of the Holy Spirit and it gave him advice and guidance and he became a great and powerful king. Nevertheless, he had to humble himself before God and confess his sin to him and ask for mercy and forgiveness and ask him to create in him a pure heart and renew a steady spirit in him.

Psalm 51: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 
¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 
¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 
¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 

This is psychology and it would only be strange if not God’s Word and Christianity were not psychology, psyche means soul, so psychology means soul-logy. 

God saves man for eternity, He creates something that stands forever.

And what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? (Matthew 16:26). God is eternal and his Word is eternal, Jesus is God’s Word and when he saves us, he gives us spirit and life from heaven and it is eternal, so we also get an eternal existence. 

David said to the people that today, if they hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meriba – the well of water, which is the symbol of the fountain of living water, it welled up like a spring from the mountain, and then Moses should speak to the mountain. It is a symbol of Christ, so we are to listen to Him and talk to Him. By believing in him, we get to experience that God still creates with his Word, as in the creation history (Genesis 1-2) and we get to enter into God’s rest, for he creates something that stands forever, as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 3,11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 
12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 
13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. 
14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 
15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. 

The temple is a symbol of the heavenly sanctuary and a symbol of the human body, for it is and should be a temple of the Holy Spirit. Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with gold, which is a symbol of faith (1 Peter 1:7). 

The number of the beast 666; does not enter into God’s rest.

Solomon became rich as a king, he received 666 talents of gold a year. It is the number of the Beast in John Opening.13 and it is likely not a coincidence. God created the land animals and humans on the sixth day, and then on the seventh day he rested after all his work and declared it holy. Therefore, the number seven is considered holy and perfect, we have, for example, the seven-armed lampstand, the stone with seven eyes, and the Lamb of God with seven eyes (Zech. 3:9 & 4:4 John Revelation 1:20 & 5:6). The number 666 may then mean that humans have not yet entered into God’s rest, because they are still struggling with something that is not perfect and becomes slaves. They are kept outside, so they are not allowed to enter. 

Solomon got many foreign wives and when he grew old, they were able to turn his heart away from the Lord. The Lord chastised him for it, but nevertheless he did not humble himself before the Lord and turned to him, like David had done. Therefore, his kingdom was divided after him, his son only got the southern kingdom, Judah. Jeroboam became king of the northern kingdom, and he set up two calf statues to be gods to them, so that they would not return to Jerusalem again, for then they might return to the house of David and him and his seed would lose the kingship to the house of David. This was despite the promise that God’s prophet had made to him. I have written about this here: 

So it came to pass that one king after another took over the power and would avenge what the previous king had done, so that his closest seed was destroyed. It also had to do with ensuring that no one could be able to take back power. In this way, no one could rest and find rest. 

We also see something similar when they came to these great kingdoms. The king of Babylon was to avenge what the petty kings had done to each other and especially to Israel, to avenge their self-worship and to avenge wrongs in trade. Although God called the Babylonian king his servant, he would avenge what the king of Babylon and the daughter of Babylon had done. It was with the next great empire, Media.

Assyria, Babylonia, Media, and Persia.

God used the king of Assyria, as when someone strikes with a staff, but then it is not the staff that swings the one who strikes.

Even though God was not physically visible, he was the one who used the king of Assyria as his wrath-stick, to punish the people, as a stick with which he struck, but then it was not the stick that swung the one who struck. The Assyrians took Samaria in 722 bf.Ch.. Then they tried to take Jerusalem as well, but King Hezekiah of Jerusalem prayed to God for the city and he answered him through the prophet Isaiah. The king of Assyria brisked himself against the God of Israel, but it did not go well.

Isaiah 10,1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; 
² To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! 
³ And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? 
⁴ Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 
⁵ O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 
⁶ I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 
⁷ Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. 
⁸ For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? 
⁹ Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? 
¹⁰ As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 
¹¹ Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? 
¹² Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 
¹³ For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: 
¹⁴ And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. 
¹⁵ Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. 
¹⁶ Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 
¹⁷ And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; 
¹⁸ And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth. 
¹⁹ And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. 

See also 2 Kings 19.

Can the clay say to the potter, why do you shape me like this?

Jeremiah prophesied that the king of Babylon would destroy Jerusalem, God even called him his servant. They were like the clay in the potter’s hand, God did with them as He wanted, as the potter molds the clay into a new vessel. It was brutal, the city was to be destroyed and the people were to be taken away to Babylonia. 

Jer.18,1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 
² Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 
³ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
⁴ And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 
⁵ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 
⁶ O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 
⁷ At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 
⁸ If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 
⁹ And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 
¹⁰ If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. 
¹¹ Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. 
¹² And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. 

Christians use this Bible verse to preach what it is like to turn to Christ and receive the grace God gives us in Him.

The fate was fixed with the king of Babylon, as also with the Beast in John´s Revelation.13.

God judged Jerusalem, so their fate was fixed.

Jer.15,1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. 
² And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. 
³ And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 
⁴ And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 

We can compare this with John´s Revelation 13:10.

Joh.Rev.13,1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 

God wanted to turn the fate of his people.

Jeremiah prophesied that God would turn the fate of his people (Jer.33), so that they would be able to return from Babylonia, to their land. There is also a Messiah-prophecy and a prophecy about the Levitical priesthood (vv.17-22), on the basis of Zech.3 we can know that it is by the Levitical priesthood becoming the type of priestly ministry in the new covenant. Actually, it is being replaced, by Jesus offering a sin offering once and for all, God no longer wanted such sacrifices, yet there is a point in the fact that the priestly ministry in the old covenant is the model for the priestly ministry in the new covenant.

Jer.33,1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 
² Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; 
³ Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. 
⁴ For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword; 
⁵ They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city. 
⁶ Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. 
⁷ And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. 
⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. 
⁹ And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. 
¹⁰ Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, 
¹¹ The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD. 
¹² Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 
¹³ In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD. 
¹⁴ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 
¹⁵ In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 
¹⁶ In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. 
¹⁷ For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; 
¹⁸ Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. 
¹⁹ And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 
²⁰ Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 
²¹ Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 
²² As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. 
²³ Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 
²⁴ Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 
²⁵ Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 
²⁶ Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Notice the logic in the vers 19 and 25. If they could break his covenant with day and night (Genesis 19, Genesis 1:5), then he would break his covenant with David and the Levite priests. It is not the same as promising that he would not break these covenants, but the promises to keep the covenants, come in the vers on 22. If he had not made a covenant with day and night, and had given laws for heaven and earth, he would have cast off the seed of Jacob and David, and would not take any of them to rule over the seed of Abraham. But he has made covenants with day and night and set laws for heaven and earth, so what then? Yes, he will turn their fate and have mercy on them. 

The fall of Babylon.

Jeremiah prophesied that the king and governor of the Media would lead many peoples against Babylonia to tear it down and leave it desolate (Jeremiah 51:28). God called Israel His hammer, His weapon of war (Acts 20 ….), even though he had used others in this case. The people of Israel had only to flee from Babylonia, to save themselves from the warriors.

Jer.51, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; 
² And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. 
³ Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. 
⁴ Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. 
⁵ For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. 
⁶ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. 
⁷ Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 
⁸ Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. 
⁹ We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. 
¹⁰ The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. 
¹¹ Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. 
¹² Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. 
¹³ O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. 
¹⁴ The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. 
¹⁵ He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. 
¹⁶ When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 
¹⁷ Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 
¹⁸ They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 
¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name. 
²⁰ Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; 
²¹ And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 
²² With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; 
²³ I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. 
²⁴ And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. 
²⁵ Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 
²⁶ And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD. 
²⁷ Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. 
²⁸ Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. 
²⁹ And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. 
³⁰ The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken. 
³¹ One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, 
³² And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 
³³ For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 
³⁴ Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. 
³⁵ The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 
³⁶ Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 
³⁷ And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 
³⁸ They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps. 
³⁹ In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 
⁴⁰ I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. 
⁴¹ How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! 
⁴² The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 
⁴³ Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 
⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 
⁴⁵ My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 
⁴⁶ And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 
⁴⁷ Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 
⁴⁸ Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. 
⁴⁹ As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. 
⁵⁰ Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 
⁵¹ We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house. 
⁵² Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 
⁵³ Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. 
⁵⁴ A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: 
⁵⁵ Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: 
⁵⁶ Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. 
⁵⁷ And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 
⁵⁸ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. 
⁵⁹ The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. 
⁶⁰ So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. 
⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; 
⁶² Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 
⁶³ And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 
⁶⁴ And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

This is very similar to John´s Revelation.18. 

Media.

This was probably due to Darius, the “Median”, taking over the power. But this did not become very dramatic for Daniel, until it was demanded that Darius should be worshipped as a god and no one was allowed to worship any other god for 30 days.

Dan.5, ²⁹ Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 
³⁰ In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 
³¹ And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Dan.6, It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; 
² And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 
³ Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 
⁴ Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 
⁵ Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. 
⁶ Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. 
⁷ All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 
⁸ Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 
⁹ Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 
¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 
¹¹ Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 
¹² Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 
¹³ Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 
¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 
¹⁵ Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. 
¹⁶ Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 
¹⁷ And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. 
¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. 
¹⁹ Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 
²⁰ And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? 
²¹ Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 
²² My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. 
²³ Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. 
²⁴ And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. 
²⁵ Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 
²⁶ I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 
²⁷ He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 
²⁸ So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

History.

The “Sin-Flood”.

The story of the sin-flood (Genesis 7) has been confirmed by archaeological excavations on the Euphrates and the Tigris, where a layer of mud, up to three meters thick, has been found. So there must have been a terrible flood disaster 3000 years ago.

Mesopotamia.

In Mesopotamia, there was a river culture, a fertile land with agriculture. Sinar was the land between the estuaries of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Three kingdoms came in Mesopotamia, first Sumer, then Babylonia and then Assyria. In Sumer there were independent city-states, each with its own king. They were not Semites and lived at the lower reaches of the rivers around 3000 bf.CH. This is mentioned in Genesis 11.

Genesis 11,1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 
² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 
³ And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 
⁴ And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 
⁵ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.  
⁶ And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 
⁷ Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 
⁸ So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 
⁹ Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. 

Arabia was the homeland of the Semites and from here came several attacks against Sumer. In Babylonia, north of Sumer, the Semites made themselves masters and around 1800 bf.Ch. they took Sumer as well, so they ruled throughout Mesopotamia.

Assyria.

The Assyrians were a Semitic warrior people who had founded a kingdom at the Tigris and towards the end of 1200 bf.Ch. they took Babylonia. It became a great empire that reached from Iran to Egypt and it was a product of the Iron Age. Isaiah prophesied that God was calling them to punish His people.

Isaiah 5,20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 
23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 
25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 
26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: 
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: 
28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: 
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. 
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

At the end of the 600s, there was a long-lasting throne dispute in Assyria, so the Babylonians and other peoples took the opportunity to revolt and freed themselves from the yoke.

The fall of Jerusalem.

Jehoiachin was only 18 years old, when he became king of Jerusalem and he reigned for only three months, for the Babylonian king´s army encircled the city and then he voluntarily surrendered and was taken away to Babylonia, in 597 bf.Ch.. Then he put Zedekiah to rule in Jerusalem, but he rebelled and Nebuchadnezzar’s army encircled the city again. It fell in 587 bf.Ch., the city was burned, the temple and the city walls were demolished (2 Kings 25).

2.Kings 25,27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 
28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; 
29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. 
30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

Then this would have to be 560 bf.Ch..

The Neo-Babylonian Empire, Media, and Persia.

The Medians were an Indo-European people who penetrated into the country from the north. Together with the Babylonians, they took the capital of Nineveh in 612 bf.Ch.. Nebuchadnezzar II was a great commander and able ruler, under whom the Neo-Babylonian Empire enjoyed a heyday. But later there was a dispute over the throne and civil war and the oppressed peoples rebelled. The Persians pressed on and in 539 bf.Ch., the Persian king Cyrus 2. took Babylon. Thus, the Indo-Europeans took over as rulers from the Semites.

Quotation from https://www.britannica.com/place/Neo-Babylonian-Empire :

Nabopolassar’s eldest son, Nebuchadnezzar II (also spelled Nebuchadrezzar; Akkadian: Nabu-kudurri-uṣur)—named after the king Nebuchadnezzar I, of the unrelated second dynasty of Isin, who had lived centuries earlier—led the Babylonian forces in the Levant.In 605 Nebuchadnezzar crushed the Egyptian forces near Carchemish in a cruel, bloody battle and pursued them into the south. On receiving news of his father’s death shortly afterward, he returned immediately to Babylon to secure his throne. The Babylonian chronicle, a cuneiformtablet that records a number of important events in Neo-Babylonian history, covers the years 605–594, and not much is known from other sources about the later years of this famous king. It records a number of campaigns into the Levant, where Nebuchadnezzar took Ashkelon in 604, fought against both the Egyptians and the Arabs between 601 and 598, and put down a revolt in Jerusalem in 597, after which he returned to Babylonia to fight enemies by the Tigris River in 596. Having put down a revolt in Babylonia with much bloodshed, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned further in the west. He continued these military campaigns throughout his reign, even attempting an invasion of Egypt, the culmination of his expansionist policy, in 568/567. Nebuchadnezzar eventually agreed to a border with Egypt, allowing the two empires to coexist.

A period of instability followed the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. His son Amel-Marduk (Hebrew: Evil-Merodach) reigned briefly, between 562 and 560. His rule was opposed by others in the ruling class who supported his brother-in-law Neriglissar (Akkadian: Nergal-shar-uṣur), who became king after Amel-Marduk’s assassination. During his four-year reign, Neriglissar undertook, with his land forces and a fleet, a campaign in 557 into the “rough” Cilician land, which may have been under the control of the Medes. In 556 he was succeeded by his young son Labashi-Marduk, who was murdered soon after taking the throne.

Stability was restored when Nabonidus (Akkadian: Nabu-naʾid), a man unrelated to the previous kings, took the throne of Babylon. Nabonidus was from Harran, leading some scholars to suggest that he was an Aramaean. His mother, Adad-guppi, is well known, thanks to an inscription written in the first person but almost certainly after her death, which details much of her life. A devotee of the moon god Sin in Harran, she went to Babylon and managed to secure positions for herself and her son at court. When Nabonidus took the throne, Adad-guppi was reportedly 95 years old, making it likely that her son was in his 60s when he became king. According to the inscription, she died in the ninth year of her son’s reign (equivalent to the year 547 BCE), having lived to 104 years of age, and was buried with many fine grave goods after a lavish funeral. Nabonidus, himself devoted to the moon god, revived the position of high priestess of Sin at Ur and appointed his daughter to it. He was assisted in his administrative duties by his son Belshazzar (Akkadian: Bel-shar-uṣur). Despite his age, Nabonidus led several military campaigns during his rule. During his western campaigns he raided Cilicia in 555 and secured the surrender of Harran, which had been ruled by the Medes. He concluded a treaty of defense with Astyages of Media against the Persians, who had become a growing threat since 559 under their king Cyrus II. 

Media.

Quotation from https://www.britannica.com/place/Media-ancient-region-Iran :

Media, ancient country of northwestern Iran, generally corresponding to the modern regions of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and parts of Kermanshah. Media first appears in the texts of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III(858–824 BC), in which peoples of the land of “Mada” are recorded. The inhabitants came to be known as Medes.

…..

it was probably not before 625 BCthat Cyaxares, grandson of Deioces, succeeded in uniting into a kingdom the many Iranian-speaking Median tribes. In 614 he captured Ashur, and in 612, in alliance with Nabopolassar of Babylon, his forces stormed Nineveh, putting an end to the Assyrian empire. The victors divided the Assyrian provinces among themselves, with the Median king taking over a large part of Iran, northern Assyria, and parts of Armenia.

By the victory in 550 of the Persian chief Cyrus II the Great over his suzerain, Astyages of Media, the Medes were made subject to the Persians. In the new Achaemenian Empire they retained a prominent position; in honour and war they stood next to the Persians, and their court ceremonial was adopted by the new sovereigns, who in the summer months resided in Ecbatana.