God’s Instrument of Destruction

10. Whom will Jehovah use to defeat Babylon?

¹⁰ Which power will Jehovah use to bring about the fall of Babylon? Some 200 years ahead of time, Jehovah reveals the answer: “Here I am arousing against them the Medes, who account silver itself as nothing and who, as respects gold, take no delight in it. And their bows will dash even young men to pieces. And the fruitage of the belly they will not pity; for sons their eye will not feel sorry. And Babylon, the decoration of kingdoms, the beauty of the pride of the Chaldeans, must become as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 13:17-19) Magnificent Babylon will fall, and Jehovah’s instrument for bringing this about will be armies from the distant, mountainous country of Media.a Eventually, Babylon will be as desolate as the grossly immoral cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.​—Genesis 13:13; 19:13, 24.

11, 12. (a) How does Media become a world power? (b) What unusual trait does the prophecy mention about Media’s armies?

¹¹ In Isaiah’s day, both Media and Babylon are under the Assyrian yoke. About a century later, in 632 B.C.E., Media and Babylon join forces and overthrow Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. This opens the way for Babylon to become the predominant world power. Little does she realize that about 100 years after that, Media will destroy her! Who but Jehovah God could make such a bold prediction?

¹² When identifying his chosen instrument of destruction, Jehovah says that Media’s armies “account silver itself as nothing and . . . as respects gold, take no delight in it.” What an unusual trait for battle-hardened soldiers! Bible scholar Albert Barnes says: “Few, indeed, have been the invading armies which were not influenced by the hope of spoil.” Do the Median armies prove Jehovah true in this regard? Yes. Consider this comment found in The Bible-Work, prepared by J. Glentworth Butler: “Unlike most nations that have ever waged war, the Medes, and especially the Persians, thought less of gold than of conquest and glory.”b In view of this, it is not surprising that when he releases the Israelites from Babylonian exile, the Persian ruler Cyrus restores to them thousands of gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar looted from Jerusalem’s temple.​—Ezra 1:7-11.

13, 14. (a) Although not interested in spoil, for what are the Median and the Persian warriors ambitious? (b) How does Cyrus overcome the vaunted defenses of Babylon?

¹³ While the Median and the Persian warriors have little passion for spoil, they are nevertheless ambitious. They do not intend to remain second to any nation on the world stage. Moreover, Jehovah puts “despoiling” into their hearts. (Isaiah 13:6) Hence, with their strong bows​—which are used to shoot arrows that will ‘dash to pieces’ enemy soldiers, the offspring of Babylonian mothers—​they are determined to conquer Babylon.

¹⁴ Cyrus, leader of the Medo-Persian armies, is undeterred by Babylon’s fortifications. On the night of October 5/6, 539 B.C.E., he orders the diverting of the waters of the Euphrates River. As the water level falls, the invaders stealthily make their way into the city, walking along the riverbed through thigh-deep water. Babylon’s inhabitants are caught unawares, and Babylon falls. (Daniel 5:30) Jehovah God inspires Isaiah to prophesy these events, leaving no doubt that He is directing matters.