"Come Out of Her"

This past week, a major event with global repercussions shocked the world.  Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation.  This unheard of announcement from a Pope quickly gained more attention than the more light-hearted news stories, such as the 2013 Grammy Awards.  However, it was at the Grammy Awards that we find what is possibly an even more sinister news item.  The winner for Album of the Year???  Drumroll please........ The Album of the Year was entitled "Babel."  As a Bible-believing Christian, that set off alarms in my head.

We first find Babel mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 11.  "Now the whole world had one language and a common speech" (verse 1, NIV).  That is significant.  The flood has recently occurred and people are now fully engaged in repopulating the earth.  In verses 3-4, the people determine that they should build a city with a "tower that reaches to the heavens" to make a name for themselves (verse 4, NIV).  Next God proceeds to confuse their languages so that they cannot continue in the course they have chosen.  As a result, after the people scattered out from the former building site, it became known as "Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world."

A quick check of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary describes Babel as "a confusion of sounds or voices" and also as "a scene of noise or confusion."  I would suggest that we are living in a scene of noise or confusion today.

We find Babel, or Babylon (built on the site of the original city), showing up later in the Bible when the Israelites are carried off into the Babylonian Captivity.  While there, in Daniel 4:30 we find King Nebuchadnezzar praising his own successes saying, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" (NIV).  The message is clear: Babylon is centered on glorifying humanity and rejecting God as the Source of all Power.  In fact, I recommend reading all of Daniel chapter 4 for more on this story and its implications.

Fast forward some more, to the New Testament book of Revelation, and we find Babylon showing up again.  Spiritual Babylon is our real concern as Christians, and Revelation dwells on the topic at length.  The crowning appeal comes as John hears "another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins'" (Revelation 18:4, NIV).

We find in Revelation 13:14, we find a lamb-like beast, representing the United States, setting up an image in honor of the first beast, representing spiritual Babylon.  And now, our media and pop culture has awarded arguably music's highest honor on an Album entitled Babel.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  Time is short, and soon I believe that, instead of something trivial like the Grammys, the United States will be honoring spiritual Babylon officially.

Babylon represents confusion, and in spiritual Babylon we find all sorts of confusion.  The Bible says to "Come out of her," meaning that we need to know our beliefs and stand firm in them.  Earth's time is short.  There is not time for putting off a decision for Jesus until later.  Accept Him and begin to study His Word today to find out the Truth about what God wants for each of His people.