Mystery Babylon

[Ps. 137:1] By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
[2] We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
[3] For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. [4] How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land? This psalm appears to be written as a prelude to 138-145. the prophecy begins here with the introduction of Mystery Babylon, thus introducing seven years of Tribulation and concluding with the glorious appearing of the Messiah in Psalm 144, followed by a psalm of praise (145). Psalms 138-145 were written by David. Though Psalm 137 was not authored by him, it nevertheless sets the stage for those events predicted in David’s psalms. The prophetic implications appear to be both progressive and chronological. This psalm addresses the subject of the Babylonian captivity following the destruction of Solomon’s Temple with strong prophetic implications to Babylon’s future mystery daughter, Babylon the Great. Prophetically, the lament of the 144,000 can be seen in verses 5-7:
[5] If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
[6] If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
[7] Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. The memory of the Temple’s destruction is kept alive in every facet of Jewish life. A Jewish home has at least one unpainted rick or board. Every garment has one small part soiled. At every wedding a glass is broken-all to keep the remembrance of a destroyed Temple. Prophetically, a restoration of Temple worship will be forthcoming at or near the beginning of the Tribulation. The Tabernacle of David will be set up on the Temple site (Amos 9:11-12). According to prophets there is at least one more desecration of the Temple site-the abomination of desolation. It is ironic that Edom is mentioned here, for that will be the destination of the fleeing 144,000 when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies and the antichrist commits the abomination that makes the Temple Mount desolate. The Babylonian Captivity set the stage for the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ - a term used to describe, the great world empires which, having begun with Babylon, will end with her mystery daughter, Babylon the Great.
[8] O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Mystery Babylon may be the capital of the antichrist. The great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth (Rev. 17:18), will be destroyed sometime during the Tribulation. By the middle of those seven years the antichrist will move to Jerusalem and take over the government. He will enter the Temple Mount, establish his throne, and claim to be the Messiah. He will demand a mark be accepted in the right hand or forehead of every person on earth as a medium of exchange in the marketplace. From that point, however, his kingdom will began to deteriorate-ending in the Battle of Armageddon.
[9] Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. 8-9 This psalm is just one of six psalms that are generally classified as imprecatory psalms. These are Psalms 55, 59, 69, 79, 109, and 137. There is no author or title to Ps. 137; the scene is pictured as taking place by the river Babylon. Ps. 79 is ascribed to Asaph; the remaining four are from David’s pen, according to the ancient psalm titles. The label imprecatory may be misleading if it is not used to denote its more proper sense of invoking judgment, calamity or curse in an appeal to G-d who alone is the judge of all believers. These invocations are not mere outbursts of a vengeful spirit; they are prayers addressed to the Father. These earnest pleading to G-d ask that He step in and right some matters so grossly distorted that if His held does not come all hope for justice is lost. These are legitimate expressions of longings of OT saints for the vindication that only G-d’s righteousness can bring. They are not statements of personal vendetta, but they are utterances of zeal for the kingdom of G-d and His glory. To be sure, the attacks, which provoked these prayers, were not from personal enemies; rather, they were rightfully seen as attacks against G-d and especially His representatives in the promised line of the Messiah. Thus, David and his office bore the brunt of most of these attacks, and this was tantamount to an attack on G-d and His kingdom! These prayers were the fierce hatred of sin from those who wanted to see G-d’s name and cause victory. Therefore, those whom the saints oppose in these prayers were the fearful byword of wickedness, and praying for G-d speedily to vindicate their own honor and name. In almost every instance, each expression used in one of these prayers of malediction may be found in plain prose statements of what will happen to those sinners who persist in opposing G-d. Happy is used altogether twenty-six times in the book of Psalms. It is used only of individuals who trust G-d. It is not an expression of a sadistic joy in the ruin or destruction of others. It means that G-d will destroy Babylon and her progeny for her proud assault against Him and His kingdom. But those who trust in Him will be blessed and happy. For those who groaned under the terrifying hand of their captors in Babylon there was the prospect of a sweet, divine victory that they would share in as sons and daughters of the living G-d. Dasheth thy little ones against the stones – is usually regarded as being so contrary to the teachings of the NT., but these words are repeated by Y’Shua in Lk. 19:44. The verb in its Greek form is found only in here, the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew text and in the lament of Luke. Y’Shua found no more difficulty in quoting this psalm than He did in quoting the other two psalms most filled with prayers of imprecation, namely, 69 and 109. Little ones – the Hebrew word does no specify age, for it may mean a very young or a grown child. The word focuses on a relationship and not on age; as such, it points to the fact that the sins of the fathers were being repeated in the next generation. That the psalmist has located the site of G-d’s judgment in Babylon not only appears to denote this psalm as being composed while Judah was in exile in Babylon but also that there are figurative elements included in this psalm. One thing Babylon was devoid of was rocks or rocky cliffs against which anything could be dashed. In fact there were not any stones available for building, contrary to the rocky terrain of most of Palestine. All building had to depend on the production of sun-dried mud bricks and the use of bituminous pitch for mortar. Therefore when the psalmist speaks of dashing little ones against the rocks, he is speaking figuratively and metaphorically. Close to this metaphorical use of the same phrase is that of 141:6, ‘their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs.’ But that same psalm adds, ‘and the wicked will learn that My words were well spoken (the literal rendering is sweet).’ If the rulers had been tossed over a cliff, they surely would have had a hard time hearing anything! The point remains: these psalms of cursing do not contain ‘wicked or immoral’ requests or desires. They only plead with G-d that He not let the office of the Messiah or His kingdom be trampled underfoot by the arrogant despisers of those who currently hold that office and throne.