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BIBLE MYSTERIES -
the Mystery of
BABEL
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from Reader's Digest MYSTERIES OF THE
BIBLE; copyright © 1988
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Today's church is not generally aware of the importance of the
story of Babel. We know that when people are in agreement, much of a
supernatural nature can be accomplished; Acts 2: 1 states: they were all with one accord in one
place. The result was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on
Pentecost.
Revelation 13:8 states: ...all
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him... [the beast]. It
is the nature of the post-Babel world that great difficulties arise
between peoples who speak different tongues. It therefore follows that
- if all the world is going
to agree - then there must be
only one tongue in use at that time. It was before the confusion of
tongues at Babel that everyone spoke the same language, and that
everyone was turned to rebellion towards G·d.
Indeed, one could say that Babel
was the last time that G·d interfered in the politics of this
world.
How then is the agreement of all the world accomplished? How do all the
languages of the world return to one tongue?
Zephaniah 3:9 states: For then
will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon
the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one consent; verse
11: thou shalt no more be haughty
because of my holy mountain; and finally verse 13: The remnant of Israel shall not do
iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in
their mouth ...
Many feel that the next prophetic event for the Christian believer is the Rapture; this author
believes that this great prophecy quoted here is truly the next event
to take place.
Isaiah continues the prophecy of Zephaniah in 11:9: They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea
[also see Hab 2:14]. Verse 15 completes the whole prophetic scenario: And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea.
What is the tongue of the Egyptian
sea? If G·d's people are given a language of pure truth,
free of deceit, what would be the fate of Satan? Satan cannot survive
in the light of pure truth, because he is a deceiver, the father of all
lies [Jn 8:44]. Satan would react precipitously to preserve his
dominion.
It would seem that the language of Babel must in fact return. This
author believes that perhaps the new language of G·d's holy mountain will nearly coincide
with the Rapture, and the departure of the Elect will establish the tongue of the Egyptian sea. There
has been almost a rage since Babel to return to one language. The
ancient Assyrians uprooted people from their lands and moved them to
distant places where other languages and customs were practised. Stalin
did similarly; indeed, Stalin believed that communism could not survive
unless it controlled the whole world.
In 1957 the well-known scholar Noam Chomsky challenged the world of
linguists by calling for a search for common rules of grammar for all
languages; Chomsky felt that if universal rules for forming language
could be codified, a great advance in understanding the relationship
between the human tongue and the human mind could be established. Now,
about fifty years later, that goal has been all but abandoned.
The Mystery of Babel remains a formidable hurdle to overcome.
