But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever. – Jeremiah 25:12

Today's Scripture Reading (July 7, 2023): Jeremiah 25

Nebuchadnezzar II reigned over the Neo-Babylonian Empire from August 605, B.C.E. and the day that his father, Nabopolassar, died, until his own death at the age of eighty on October 7, 562 B.C.E. At the time of Nebuchadnezzar's death, he left an empire that was relatively healthy and strong, and the city of Babylon was likely the largest city in the world at that time, and the first city to grow beyond the 200,000 people mark.

But the Empire didn't stay prosperous. For whatever reason, after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the nation began to decline. While Nebuchadnezzar reigned for over forty years, the Kings that followed him reigned over the Empire from a matter of weeks (the length of time that Labashi-Marduk was able to hold onto power) to seventeen years (for the final Babylonian King, Nabonidus). The Persians defeated the Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C.E., a mere sixty-six years after Nebuchadnezzar rose to power.

As Jeremiah starts this prophecy, he remarks that the prophecy came to him in the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, we know the year that Jeremiah received this communication; it was 605 B.C.E. According to the prophecy, God would punish Babylon after seventy years had passed. It is almost eerie that the Persians defeated the Empire in 539 B.C.E., after a passage of sixty-six years, or almost the seventy that Jeremiah had predicted. It is quite possible that the actual decline of the city didn't begin immediately but began a few years later, possibly closer to the seventy-year mark. However, sixty-six is quite close to the prophesied time that would elapse.

Babylon would never rule over the world again. But the desolation of the nation wasn't immediate. The beginning of the decline might not have been even noticeable to those watching on that day. But by 275 B.C.E., the turmoil in Babylon had left the city virtually empty. Today, over 2,500 years after the rise of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon remains in ruins; the city that once held more people than any other in the world is home only to the inhabitants of the desert.

Saddam Hussein, the former President of Iraq, styled himself as the "Son of Nebuchadnezzar" and had plans to rebuild Babylon as part of his new Presidential Palace. But those plans died with the demise of his presidency, and today, God's curse over Babylon remains in effect.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 26