Ruins of the Tower
This story hits really close to home for me. Mankind had once again turned his back on Gods plan for him, and instead started living for themselves, the things of this world, and their pride (Don’t forget that throughout the Bible God seems to have a particular hate for pride). In effect they were making themselves Gods as they worshipped themselves. In every wrong turn I take in my lifetime this seems to be the principle behind my mistakes. I lack the faith to believe in Gods plan for me and the world, so instead I follow my own crooked paths. We seem to think that our plan is often better then Gods.
They say that money is the root of evil; I say its the suspicion that God isn’t good.
On another note some of you may be interested to know that if the historical dates of the Old Testament are true (Which I most definitely do) Then the building of the Tower of Babel would have been carried out during the Assyro Babylonion empire, predating the Egyptians by over a thousand years. In the ruins of Babylon just south of modern day Baghdad there is a stone foundation of what was once a huge tower. Its called Mergut Zigguret in Arabic. It stands besides the ruins of Nebuchadnezzers Babylon (quite young in comparison). The tower is mentioned in many of the ancient texts of the time including the epic of Gilgamesh, The book of Jubilee, and I believe Genesis. It is also mentioned in records from the time of Daniel which say the tower, although it had never been completed was still standing and still in use. Its intersting to note that Genesis 11 says nothing about the destruction of the Tower, just that the building ceased. Most of the records give the tower a height of 2.5km in our money. This fits the scale of the babylonian hieroglyphs when compared with the foundation width there today. This goes way beyond what we can achieve today with even our highest scyscrapers. So often we think that Mankind is gaining more and more knowledge and wisdom then we ever had before. We certainly believe that our generation is better educated then any before us. Yet history and archaeology seem to show that human knowledge has been lost and gained over time. Only 100 years ago the tallest buildings in the world were still the 3000 year old pyramids. The Maori navigated the Pacific and measured their longitude with nothing but the stars. The methods for doing this have now been lost because it was never written down. Only the southern cross on our flag stands testament to their wisdom which is now forgotten.
So often in our Pride we put a lot of faith in our own wisdom and understanding of things. Yet History shows that the only thing that lasts and is constant is Gods Word and His Grace.
Trust in the Lord with all your Heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Prov 3:5-6
Richard Venable
Hannah Venable
johncatmur
Anna S
thereceptionist
owenjohn
ginateal
lulu
shireen
weecw
craigh
feebs
monkiwiland
cherrieanne
Alan Collins
Andrew Fitch
han80
Philip Harvey
nikim
joanna
on November 1st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
thanks for the Babel/Mergut Zigguret info Al, i was thinking about that as i read the passage, and wondering how big it was..!
on November 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 am
When satan asked Adam and Eve “Hath God said?” in Genesis 3, he sowed those seeds of suspicion. He then implied, reading between the lines, that God was withholding his best from Adam and Eve, not permitting them to “be as gods.”
So those first seeds of suspicion of God’s goodness have been multiplying ever since. It comes in the form of “God doesn’t love me” and “If there were a God, there wouldn’t be any suffering” and “If you love me, God, you’ll do such and such for me.” The suspicion results in mistrust and disobedience which leads to all kinds of sin and compounded problems.
Satan wanted to be God. It seems to me that there was quite a bit of jealousy in that. He is spreading around his own insecurities! Jealousy’s roots are in insecurity, a lack of trust in the goodness of God for us. Insecurity is rooted in fear, the opposite of faith.
So when we are jealous of someone else’s gifts, we are really insecure in the path God has shown for us. We are fearful, “worried about many things”. We are lacking in faith in God and His infinite goodness towards us.
The antidote to jealousy, insecurity, and fear is receiving His perfect love for us.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18
Our born-again spirits, seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, know the Truth of His perfect Love, that God is indeed Love.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14, 15)
When we walk in the Spirit, the Spirit subdues the insecurities of our souls and allows us to go through any situation with great faith, knowing that our heavenly Father “who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1)
Wow! HalleluYAH!
PS: The other Scripture you referenced is often misquoted:
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…. (1 Timothy 6:10)
Love of money (idolatry) is the root cause, not money.
on November 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 am
This is a great post. Thanks for the archeological information. It is so true that sometimes we snub our noses at the past and think that we have gotten things all figured out now but in reality we are probably not as a far ahead as think.
C.S. Lewis talked a lot about the dangers of “chronological snobbery”. This is where we think something is better just because it is newer. And if it is outdated, it must be wrong. But there seems to be a lot of danger in throwing out the past like that!
And so, with our own lives, it is easy to have pride to think that we are doing better than some other people around us or better than we used to do in our past. And certainly it is fine to be encouraged by growth in the Lord. But, I think you are right that the constant thing is God’s Word and Grace and that is what we need to trust in.
Hannah
on November 3rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I am not quoting 1 Timothy, Just a common secular saying.