Babylon and the birth of technology

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. ² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

Genesis 11:1-3

The second point about the Tower of Babel that’s the painting by a medieval artist called Bruegel whether that’s what it actually looked like we don’t know but the Bible describes it as a great tower which was built up uh by in the days of Nimrod and we’re told that Nimrod was the founder of Babylon also he was a mighty Hunter before the Lord the word Nimrod is made up of a verb in Hebrew which is marud which means to Rebel so Nimrod is a rebel against God he’s building up this great tower and he wants to construct a tower to reach into the heavens to make a name for himself and in Genesis chapter 11 you can read the passage which deals with the Tower of Babel won’t go into in too much detail but just one or two points to make from it. It says,

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech and it came to pass as they journeyed from the East that they found a plane in the land of Shino Shino is another name for the area around Babylon and they do up there then they said to one another come let us break bait bricks and bake them thoroughly they made breakfast Stone and they had asphalt for Mortar and they said to themselves let us come let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole Earth but the Lord came down to see the tower the city and the tower which the sons of men are built and the Lord said indeed the people are one they have all one language this is what they begin to do now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them come let us go down and there and confuse their language that they may not understand what another speech so the Lord scattered them abroad over from there over the face of all the Earth and they ceased building the city therefore its name is called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of all the Earth and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the Earth.

Reading this passage actually what God had intended for the people After the flood was that they should spread out over the whole earth and repopulate it instead they decided to come together in this favourable place called Babylon or Babel and to build themselves a city.

And we read that they also said they were going to build a city to make a name for ourselves and his Tower was going to reach up into the heavens so there’s a kind of defiance here against God and making a name for themselves let’s glorify ourselves let’s rebel against God and do our own thing and fight against God.

And so they make this great City and God comes down and confuses them.

One of the interesting things in verse three it says let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly they have breakfast Stone they had asphalt for Mortar we know what brick is and we know what stone is but the word which is used for Asphalt in Hebrew is sounds a bit like the word they’re using for the weapons they’ve given to the ukrainians Hima but that’s nothing to do with it but it says that’s the word which is used it’s only used twice elsewhere in the Bible.

And when you have a word which is not used very often in the Bible sometimes they really don’t know what it is if you look at the authorized version you’ll find it’s translated ‘slime’ if you look in the new the new international version It’s translated ‘tar’ but we really don’t know what this stuff was because there’s no equivalent word in modern Hebrew there’s no reference to anything outside of this passage.

And one other major passage which is in Genesis chapter 14 where Abraham is chasing after the people who’ve taken captive his son his nephew sorry lot and the kings of Sodom fall into the tar pits in the valley of Sadim and it uses the same word.

The question is what do these Tar Pits represent and one commentary says the valley of sidium was full of Tar Pits they could have been natural bitumen Wells of the region where petrol oozes to the surface so did it have something to do with oil? With petrol? Were they discovering something which could help them to make these bricks which would be very hard? And we know that the bricks which they built the Tower of Babel from were very hard and very strong and was this the beginning of Technology it’s interesting that God says let’s go down and confuse them because now they’ve begun to do something and if they continue in this way nothing that they try to do will be withheld from them and so God scattered the languages and Scattered them across the Earth.

Now we’re not told but I think there’s an interesting kind of thing here they’re talking about them developing some kind of technology and God says if they continue down this way then they’re going to build themselves a city which is going to be in defiance against me and it’s going to be something which will be harmful to the future of the human race so I’m going to scatter them so they can’t understand each other and they have to leave off from building the tower and that’s what happens.

That phrase nothing they propose to do will be withheld from them it’s speaking about the fact that there is a incredible potential in human knowledge and this again ties in with the last day’s Prophecies of the Bible

One of the things which it says in the Book of Daniel is in the last days knowledge shall increase a mental go to and fro and they’re going to be an explosion of knowledge explosion of Technology but it’s going to lead to a society which is going to bring people together in a kind of global political and economic system.

Can you see something like that happening today? We see this great uh Splurge of technology and bring people together and things which are being developed and it’s as if they carry on like this they’re nothing they propose to do will be withheld from them.

There’s an interesting man called Yuval Harare I’ve mentioned him before unfortunately he’s an Israeli but don’t take too much on that but he’s also high up in the world economic forum and the New World Order, and he’s spoken about the development of artificial intelligence and that we can now develop a way in which we can improve humans we can hack into them and make them more able to do things by changing their DNA and their nature and he says ultimately we can change them into being gods.

And when I read that I thought God is not going to put up with this they’re going to count on with this then God is going to come down and Scatter it and prevent it from coming to being.

And we see this human potential which is in our generation in particular and God says no no if you carry on down this way I’m afraid it’s going to come to nothing.

And we see in the Revelation where he speaks about Babylon it’s going to become like a place of great technology great power great wealth increasing Goods but also to be doomed and God says he’s going to bring it then to it I think that’s another reason why Jesus has to come back sooner or later probably sooner