[Genesis 11:1-9]
Is history worthy of our study? I had a friend in Ukraine who once said, “I’m really not interested in anything that happened in the past. I look to the future.” I then asked him how he expected us to wisely pursue the future if we neglect the wisdom gained from the past. He simply said, “It doesn’t matter.” It is a foolish and arrogant spirit that says “I’m smarter than the people of the past.” The word “progress” is a positive and good term, but not always. While a Bible-believing Christian sees progress as growing closer to and benefiting from the blessings of a Benevolent Creator, many in the world today understand “progress” to mean divorcing everything from all things Christian. Those who ascribe to this viewpoint call themselves “progressives.” Atheists, “progressive Christians” and many others ascribe to a viewpoint that all things past are less-evolved (lacking wisdom) and all things current are more highly evolved (wiser and better than all things past). But history, for those who honestly pursue the study of history, know that “contemporary” does not necessarily mean “wiser.” God tells His people repeatedly, “Remember.” God is counting on our belief in what He has recorded for us, the Word of God, and our study of history to bring us to an inescapable conclusion: God is bringing us to a better place. Unfortunately, “progressives” seek to erase what was to give license to what they want to do. Progressives call the U.S. Constitution “a living document” (meaning that it was never meant to be set in stone –it is “evolving”; we are meant to change, manipulate or even erase its content). They call our Founding Fathers “secularists,” whose real intent was to “eventually remove Christianity’s influence over society.” Progressive Bible scholars doubt the existence of Jesus, call the Bible a “living collection of documents” (that are not meant to be taken literally) and should be allowed to “evolve.” In this sense, God is ever changing, all religion (whether that be Islam, Buddhism, or even atheism) will all lead to “god” –whatever that means, and all of society will evolve to a new “enlightenment.” When discussion arises concerning the Bible, many Bible-believing Christians are confused over how the Bible should be interpreted. This often isn’t because the Bible is so difficult to understand, but rather because so many human voices have attempted to muddy its meaning. Progressives will often say that the Bible should not be taken literally. This is nothing new under the sun. It is within fallen, human nature to try and remove the “stops” that keep mankind from pursing wicked agendas.
Under the leadership of Nimrod, many exchanged the truth of God for a lie. It was in Shinar where man first decided to produce a “substitute” for God and His commands, thus initiating idolatry, and to begin this new, “progressive” form of religion, they began building a tower that they could boast about; they were going to make God in their own image. And rather than spreading throughout the world as God had commanded them to do, the people of Shinar decided to create a city. Building a city doesn’t necessarily sound so bad, until you realize their intent for building a city. The clue to their intent is found in God’s concern: “…then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them…” God knew that if He didn’t act quickly, the rule of Satan would quickly spread throughout the entire earth through mankind. This was not a threat to God because He still reserves power and dominion over all the earth, but it would mean destruction for many people. The tower was really indicative of a new, militant, religious rule –anyone who advocated following the “old” (True) God would soon become an enemy of the state. And the city was indicative of world domination. The political rule of Shinar would certainly impose its rule over the whole earth. God confused the languages of the people of Shinar and this quickly put a stop to world religious and political domination. But think about this –only a few hundred years had passed since the Great Flood. And if you ever read the Epic of Gilgamesh, (an ancient myth surrounding that time period) you will learn that the ancient Babylonians actually conceived part of this tale to explain how Gilgamesh put a stop to Hawawah’s (the Sumerian word for “Jehovah”) plans by defeating him after he “wickedly” destroyed the world with a great flood. The tale relates that he escaped the Great Flood (get this) by building a great tower… The progressivism of ancient Babylon quickly tried to rewrite history so that man could be “god” and Jehovah God would be understood as the problem and detriment to progress. But God called Abram out of the heart of Babylon, a land of wickedness and the birthplace of idolatry, and called him to “cross the river” into the Promised Land (the origin of the word “Hebrew). God then deeded the land to Abraham’s descendants. To the Bible-believing Christian, this promise is still true. To today’s “progressive,” the land doesn’t belong to the descendants of Abraham (at least not to the children of Isaac) anymore. To the Christian, “All who bless you will be blessed and all who curse you will be cursed” still holds true (Genesis 12). To the “progressive,” the Jew and the Christian are the source of all the world’s problems.
The spirit of Babylon is still alive and well. One particular denomination that calls itself “universal” does so not because it is all-embracing, but rather because it’s highest leaders have their eyes on world domination. And even as I write this letter, new legislation is being passed in this country and around the world that awards more power and money to the United Nations; our national sovereignty will soon be taken completely from us and we will be paying unbelievable taxes, on a personal level, to the United Nations. Who would have thought this would happen to America? But when you hear politicians speak of “eliminating hunger” or “eliminating poverty” or “eliminating homelessness,” beware. The agenda is not noble, but rather a tool being used to coax us to “come home” to Babylon. When I hear Christians say (concerning trends in the world), “It’s no big deal,” or “who cares,” it really concerns me. Any discussion over current trends often causes the average Christian to yawn. But people of power are not yawning. Satan is not yawning. He is actively plotting the elimination of all things Christian. However, God has other plans…
Many have been deceived into believing that history cannot be trusted because it was written by primitive, less-evolved, untrustworthy people. But much of history was written by Christians, who dearly wanted future generations to learn from the mistakes and triumphs of the past –true progress. God humbles the proud, but those who humble themselves before God will be exalted. Real progress begins with acknowledging God, our own sinfulness and a need for the Savior. Then God blesses our efforts for Him and lifts us up.
Let’s keep the end result in mind so that we don’t fall prey to the world’s messages that sound like life, but ultimately bring death. The end result for all of us is: “Your Kingdom has come and Your will is done on earth as it was in heaven.” This is our goal, so ask yourself: “How will I actively serve God to usher in the Kingdom today?” Satan will never win. We know the end of the story. But never forget where we have been and where we are going. And God will bless us with true PROGRESS in Jesus’ Name. We need You, God, or we will never gain any progress whatsoever.
Proclaiming the soon-return of Jesus,
George