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262 That the end came as the Age of the Ram was waning was probably no coincidence, either. With the death of Marduk and the fading away of Nabu, all the great Anunnaki gods who had once domi- nated Earth were gone; with the death of Alexander, the real or pretended demigods who linked Mankind to the gods were also gone. For the first time since Adam was fashioned, Man was without his creators. In those despondent times for Mankind, hope came forth from Jerusalem. Amazingly, the story of Marduk and his ultimate fate in Babylon had been correctly foretold in biblical prophecies. We have already noted that Jeremiah, while forecasting a crushing end for Babylon, made the distinction that its god Bel/Marduk was only doomed to “wither”—to remain, but to grow old and confused, to shrivel and die. We should not be surprised that it was a prophecy that came true. But as Jeremiah correctly predicted the final downfall of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon, he accompanied those pre- dictions with prophecies of a reestablished Zion, of a rebuilt temple, and of a “happy end” for all nations at the End of Days. \t would be, he said, a future that God had planned “in his heart” all along, a secret that shall be revealed to Man- kind (23: 20) at a predetermined future time: “at the End of Days you shall perceive it’ (30: 24), and “at that time, they shall call Jerusalem Yahweh’s Throne, and all nations shall assemble there” (3: 17). Isaiah, in his second set of prophecies (sometimes called the Second Isaiah), identifying Babylon’s god as the “Hiding god”—which is what “Amon” meant—foresaw the future in those words: Bel is bowed down, Nebo is cowered, their images are loads for beasts and cattle . . . Together they stoopeth, they bowed down, unable to save themselves from capture. ISAIAH 46:1-2 THE END OF DAYS