- A Malevolent Power
- The Foundation of the Malevolent Power
- A Simple Narrative
- What is the Problem?
- The First Principle
From Genesis chapter 7 through Revelation chapter 18 God’s people and God’s work on this earth are opposed and harassed by a malevolent power.
No, it’s not the serpent, or as he is sometimes otherwise called, the Dragon, Satan, or the devil. He is a personal force, and is present from Genesis 2 through Revelation 19. He is behind and works through the other power. I’m speaking, of course, of Babylon.
- The Foundation of the Malevolent Power
It first appears in Genesis 11. There it is called Babel, but make no mistake, it is the same power — it is Babylon in its most elemental form. Whether it’s a building, an institution, a theory, or an ideology, whatever human beings construct is forever influenced by its foundation. And the story in Genesis 11 is the foundation.
It is in large cities where the arts and many other life-enhancing amenities are possible.
Since Babel, or Babylon, is the continual diabolical force opposed to the followers of God, we do well to understand what it is and what it is not. Over the millennia, Babylon will mutate and metastasize, but it’s DNA will always reflect the elements found in Genesis 11.
First we will look at it as a whole, and in subsequent blogs, in detail, and how it manifests itself. Because wherever and whenever fundamental spiritual health is endangered, there will be be evidence of Babylon’s actions.
At the end of the process, we will discover greater assurance of God’s grace
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a]* they found a plain in Shinar[b]* and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
- A Simple Narrative
The entire episode takes only eight verses, and approximately 200 words in English translation. This, by the way, is one of the hallmarks of the Bible. The foundational stories of other religions and cultures usually take the form of epic poetry and go on for thousands of words.
The creation story in Genesis 1 occupies fewer than 300 words, while the Enuma Elis, a Canaanite Creation narrative, takes up more than 6000. The biblical accounts, as mentioned, are much more economical, and they are straightforward narratives, describing words and actions in simple, vivid terms.
This story is an excellent example. Few words, heavy with significance. The builders of Babel explicitly state their goals.
- let us build ourselves a city,
- with a tower that reaches to the heavens,
- so that we may make a name for ourselves;
- otherwise we will be scattered
- What is the Problem?
So, “What’s the big deal?” you may ask. “So they want to build a city? Why is that a problem?” And they want to build, in essence, a skyscraper. We certainly do a lot of that. And of course, whoever makes a skyscraper wants to trumpet their achievement. And finally, human beings apparently like living close to one another. In fact, it is almost exclusively in large cities where the arts, sports, hospitals, a wide variety of goods and services, and many other life-enhancing amenities are possible.
“Hermeneutics,” is simply a fancy word for interpretation of a text. Pretty much anyone who wants to can do it.
And yet God takes extreme action, action which resounds to this day. In fact, we live today with the consequences of both what the founders of Babel did, and what God did to counteract them. And as Revelation 17 and 18 make clear, that will continue until the end of time itself. The answers to the questions posed by this episode, and in the previous paragraph above, can only be found by being aware of, and applying some principles of logic and sound hermeneutics.
“Hermeneutics,” is simply a fancy word for interpretation of a text, specifically the Bible. While the word is complex, and the process can be difficult, it is nothing to be afraid of. The principles and logic, and the process of interpretation are relatively simple. Pretty much anyone who wants to can do it. But simple does not mean easy.
The difficulty lies not in the process itself, but in ourselves. To “rightly divide the word of truth,” as Paul urges Timothy, is a task assigned to every Christian. In the blogs that follow, we will identify and apply many of these rules and techniques. And at the end of the process, we will not only understand Babylon’s purposes and activities, we will discover greater assurance of God’s grace, and increasingly sound grounds for belief.
- The First Principle
The first principle that we will use in this case, and always important, is the question of context: what had happened before this episode, and what the results of the actions taken and attitudes revealed?
