TODAY’S RISE AND FALL OF THE TOWER OF BABEL.
(Published with a degree of trepidation)
I used to be a heavy smoker, so addicted that, at times, buying cigarettes had priority over food. I quit, fortunately, 65 years ago, when I saw a friend dying of lung cancer, no more appetite, but inhaling that nicotine drug till the last breath. I decided that this was no Christian way to die, and took up running, even training for a Marathon, which I never ran. There was a time when smoking was an accepted habit. There was also a time when abusing creation was seen as normal.
I stopped smoking, and my wife and I and our 2 young kids went on a three-week camping trip, to help me fight that addiction, and, thank God, I prevailed. Can I also kick the ‘creation-abuse’ addiction?
I wonder, ‘Were the executives of the tobacco industry guilty of murder?’ They did know the consequences of tobacco use. Are our industry and political leaders also guilty of creational abuse? Pursuing ‘growth’ at all costs?
And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
That is a passage from Corinthians 1: 15-20, one of the most poetic and revealing portions of Scripture, placing Christ at the centre of the entire universe. All Things! The Greek says: Ta Panta, everything, all items created by God through Jesus, the Son, who was and is and is to come.
If I interpret the signs of the times correctly, then this reconciliation is about to happen, as the Middle East, where, supposedly, life, that is Biblical Life, began, today has definite ‘end’-time’ features. Just look, how this entire region is in the clutches of death, in the throes of evil, in the embrace of the Enemy of old, aiming for destruction, gearing up for elimination.
Why?
The world has chosen Greed over Creed. It has adopted the opposite of Integer Vitae: instead, it has accepted enmity against God’s Holy Creation, has endorsed anarchy because of an erroneous interpretation of religion, seeing matter as evil, spirit as good, heaven as the goal, the earth as disposable. The Tower of Babel syndrome never disappeared: it lay dormant for centuries, to resurrect itself some 200 years ago.
Today a lack of basic equality, a fundamental failure of understanding the rights of all that lives, all created matter, has caused the continuation of ‘The Tower of Babel’ syndrome. It now basically guarantees the end of history, and heralds the dawn of the New Beginning.
Our quest to dominate creation, as evident in The Tower of Babel, has never stopped. Rather than observing the rhythm of the universe, and live by the natural development of nature, rather than obey the laws of creation, we have discarded caution and ridiculed efforts to be environmentalists. All this is evident in the Middle East that still contains the physical presence of that infamous structure: The Tower of Babel.
Today this symbol re-appears in the fossil fuel that dominates our present machine of life, and is the leading factor in its imminent death. The original quest to ‘be like God’, never ceased: it merely took a detour, and is now visible in its death throws, playing out in the original region of The Tower of Babel.
Guess who will win?
It seems to me that Revelation 18 correctly predicts “The Fall of Babylon”, Babylon the empire synonymous with Babel. The aim of Babel, as found in Genesis 11, is to be like God. This goal has never disappeared. We now too have the dominating language. We now too reach for universality, embodied in AI, in essence the human claim to be like God.
Today, anno 2026, Babylon is personified in our economy. Our economy, despite growing increase in renewables, still runs on Mediterranean Oil, now becoming the object of military possession. It is human nature to destroy what it desires most – look at the way we treat creation. The current crisis in the Middle East will lead to “The Fall of Babylon”, the demise of the world economy.
Here is the glaring description of that situation: In one hour she has been brought to ruin (Rev. 18:19).
Our economy anno 2026, is an intricate entity: the failure of one part guarantees the failure of all parts. Revelation 18 is a prelude to Revelation 19, which has, in my Bible, as heading: HALLELUJAH! It clearly signals the glorious TELOS, the destination of God’s people.
So, be upbeat. The news is glorious. What we are witnessing has been foretold in minute detail. Time is rushing on. Those who build their lives on continuing growth, and increasing prosperity, will see their prospects shattered. Therefore: Pray without ceasing. Maranatha, Parousia, the ultimate destruction of the Tower of Babel is at hand, replaced by God’s New Creation.