In the Beginning: A Study in Genesis 1-14Mostra

What Does the Bible Say About Globalism?

Ever since sin entered the world, fallen sinners in every generation have wrongly thought that if they simply came together there would be peace and prosperity on the planet. This idea that globalism is the cure for all that ails us finds its origination at the City of Babel in which was the Tower of Babel.

Genesis chapter 10 opens with a lengthy genealogy of people who will be important for the rest of the book. Genesis is basically written in chronological order with chapters 10-11 being the primary inversion as Moses intent is to establish the nations that were scattered out from Babel to best frame the story theologically. The genealogy breaks down into the descendants of Noah’s three sons, Japheth, Shem, and Ham from whom the Egyptians descended.

Throughout Genesis the concept of going east corresponds to getting farther and farther from God. For example, when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden they went eastward (3:24) as did Cain (4:7). Babylon (also referred to as Babel) is introduced as a nice city not unlike most in our own day where regular people simply sought to build a secular society apart from God. Today, the area is near Baghdad. Some people only speak of the Tower of Babel which was a part of the city likely built to see incoming enemies, but the focus of the story is not on the building of the tower, but rather the building of a city to house a secular society as a counterfeit to the New Jerusalem Jesus will bring as headquarters for the New Earth. The story does not mention any particularly heinous sins that the Babylonians committed other than the simple fact that their hope was to make their name great and not God’s. And, in the building of their great city, their hope was to gather together as a unified people who would not be scattered but would, apart from God’s covenant and blessing, live for themselves by themselves. In fact, this may be the first great city in the history of the world, and its purpose was to stand against all other people and God as a sort of secular seat of authority on the earth and the first attempt at globalism – people pulling together to create heaven on earth without God.

God rightly viewed this centralization of power in the hands of proud sinners apart from Him as a dangerous thing and saved them from themselves and saved others from the potential abuses of power by scattering them and confusing their languages. This scattering of the people and confusion of the languages were two of the primary things these people were seeking to prevent from happening in the first place.

The point of Babel is that the hope for our sin problem is not to be found in proud globalism between nations, nationalism for our people, technological advancement, or the working together of unrepentant sinners, but rather in the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.

Question:

How is Babel a counterfeit of the Kingdom of God (e.g. built by people versus built by God, brought up in pride from people versus brought down in humility by Jesus, for the greatness of our name versus the greatness of God’s name, etc.)?