THE BABEL EFFECT

Thanks to God’s built in dividers, fallen humanity has no hope of ever uniting again to construct another Tower of Babel; that is, to build a worldwide utopia. Though driven by an unseen force to incessantly try, man is destined to fail in his ill-fated attempts at creating his own heaven on earth. Not only is his failure assured by a myriad of different languages and dialects, but also by additional divisions imposed upon humanity by divinity; such as: continents (1 Chronicles 1:19), countries, culture, and race. While viewed by the world as evils to be overcome, these divinely imposed barriers to worldwide unanimity are actually God’s way of keeping the world from accomplishing unspeakable evil (Genesis 11:6-9).

In his book, From Dawn to Decadence, author Jacques Barzum bemoans the fact that the word “culture” has lost “its authority” in our modern-world. The word “culture,” Barzum argues, has become too burdened with too many meanings, thanks to the expansion of its meaning to include innumerable “mini-cultures.” These mini-cultures, which are formed around ethnicity, nationality, language, dialect, customs, traditions, behavior (e.g. gangs and gays), or even taste (e.g. punk rock and gothic), are really nothing more than separatist groups that are ripping apart our culture as a whole. For instance, today’s America no longer resembles a “melting pot”—a land where the many become one—but a “salad bowl”—a land divided by separatist groups vying for themselves against one another.

According to Barzum, all of these jostling groups should have never been incorporated into the definition of “culture,” since there was already a perfectly good Greek word to delineate them. What is the Greek word Barzum suggests is tailor-made for today’s clashing mini-cultures? It is the word “ethos.” Although “ethos” was used by the Greeks to refer to a herd of animals or a swarm of insects, it was primarily used in reference to a group of people bound together by manners, customs, or other distinctive features. It is from this word that the Greek word “ethnos” is believed to have derived. “Ethnos” is the Greek word from which we get our English word “ethnic.”

It is the Greek word “ethnos” that is translated “nation” in Matthew 24:7. Here, Jesus warns us, “For nation [“ethnos”] shall rise against nation [“ethnos”], and kingdom against kingdom.” That our Lord is not necessarily referring in this verse to nation-states rising against nation-states, but to people groups rising against people groups, may be inferred from Matthew 21:43, where the Greek word “ethnos” clearly refers to the church and not to any particular nation-state. All of this leads to an inevitable question: Are today’s manifold separatist groups, groups that are clamoring for special rights and recognition, the very thing that Jesus predicted would tear apart the fabric of the end time world?

In the second chapter of Daniel, the Prophet Daniel interprets the horrifying image haunting the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar as a panorama of history’s Gentile world powers. Interestingly, each successive Gentile world power decreases in value. Babylon, where the king was supreme, is represented by the image’s head of gold. Medo-Persia, where the law was supreme (see: Daniel 6:12-15 and Esther 8:8), is represented by the image’s silver breast and arms. Greece, where democracy was born, is represented by the image’s bronze stomach and thighs. Rome, the representative republic after which our own government was modeled, is represented by the image’s iron legs. And finally, the image’s feet are representative of the end time Gentile world power, which will prove insufficient for the image’s support and incapable of holding together, since it will consist of a mixture of iron and clay.

Clay in the Bible represents man. For instance, the name of the first man, “Adam,” means “red.” A fitting name for one created by God from the red clay of the earth (Genesis 2:7). In light of this, we may conclude that the end time Gentile world power will be some form of representative government—symbolized by the iron in Nebuchadnezzar’s image—as well as a government doomed to be torn apart by individuals and groups jostling for special rights and privileges—symbolized by the clay in Nebuchadnezzar’s image.

One of the main reasons Bible prophecy is so misunderstood stems from the fact that the most mysterious character in the Bible is misunderstood. Among the dwindling number of those who still believe in a personal devil, the vast majority believe that the devil’s intention is to prove himself in the end an absolute fiend. Nothing, however, could be farther from the truth. The devil’s real intention is, and always has been, to be “like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). Therefore, the devil aspires to create a manmade utopia on earth, one that is not only completely independent of God, but also in total opposition to God. If successful, Satan will have accomplished his age-old objective, as well as successfully usurped the place of God on this planet, where Satan’s only opportunity exists to obtain his diabolical design.

You now know who is behind humanity’s incessant obsession with creating its own heaven on earth. All who advance worldwide utopian plans and believe in mankind’s ability to regain paradise on earth have been taken captive by the devil to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26). Regardless of their alleged good intentions, the chains of utopians and globalists are all being pulled by Apollyon. While the grandiose aspirations of today’s humanists may appear benign or even benevolent, they are at the core most diabolical, for they are in the final analysis nothing more than the defiant fists of fallen men and angels being shaken in the face of the Almighty.

According to the ancient Psalmist, God laughs at man’s foolish attempts to sinfully create under Satan’s control what is only possible under divine blessing (Psalm 2:1-4). Still, the absurdity that God sees in it does absolutely nothing to curb His anger over it (Psalm 2:5-12). The Scripture assures us that all who get caught up in mankind’s utopian schemes will inevitably answer to an angry God!

There is an inexplicable tendency today to ascribe to Satan the incommunicable attributes of God; such as: omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. Though a formidable foe, our adversary is not all-knowing, all-powerful, or present everywhere at once. Such attributes are true of God alone. Satan, like man, is a fallen and fallible creature. Indeed, in many respects he is the antithesis of God; for example, whereas God cannot fail, Satan cannot succeed. Once we come to this realization, we’ll begin to see history in a new light; namely, the unfolding of God’s preordained plans and purposes, not to mention divinity’s effortless thwarting of scores of Satanic schemes designed to conquer the world and usher in worldwide utopia.

Undoubtedly, many will be disturbed by our insistence that divinely imposed barriers, what may be called the “Babel effect,” have rendered fallen humanity incapable of unity. Yet, it is hard to argue with all of the indisputable evidence collected from thousands of years of recorded history. The annals of human history are so littered with the bones of humanity’s failed attempts at unanimity that no one can seriously argue for its possibility in our present-day world. Are we to conclude, therefore, that there is no place where men may come together as one in these contemporary times? Not at all; there is one place, but only one.

It is no fluke of Scripture that God promises to bless all nations through Abraham right after He divided the people at Babel (Genesis 12:1-3)? Of course, the blessing that God promised to the nations was none other than His own Son, Jesus Christ. As Abraham’s descendant and “promised seed” (Galatians 3:16), Jesus Christ opened the true way to heaven for all men. Following man’s ill-fated attempt to build his own tower to heaven and God’s subsequent imposing of different languages upon man as a safeguard against repeat performances, God promised humanity a way to heaven that would unite all who embarked upon it. According to the Apostle Paul, every “wall of partition” separating man from God or men from one another is “broken down” for those who come to Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22).

At Babel, men’s languages were confused and the people were divided. On the Day of Pentecost, however, everyman heard the gospel in his own language and an additional 3,000 people were added to the fellowship of the church (Acts 2:1-12, 41-47). What a stark and striking contrast. The truth is inescapable; the only place in this fallen world where men may unite as one is in the church of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26-28). It is around Christ—God’s way to heaven—that all men may come together in true unity for the glory of God. On the other hand, any attempt on man’s part to glorify himself by gathering around manmade towers—false religions and utopian schemes—is destined to end in disaster.