The Birth of the Harlot of Babylon
Part 5 of the Harlot of Babylon Series
Gen 11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
We all know the story of the Tower of Babel. I had always been taught that the purpose of the tower was to protect the people in case of another flood. They could rise above the flood waters. This might be partly true but there is a much deeper reason for the tower.
I have a rabbi friend who lives in Jerusalem. He is the former director of the Temple Institute that oversees the rebuilding of the temple on Mt Moriah. The last time he was visiting us in Colorado he gave me a book. It is called The Book of Jasher or The Authentic Annals of the Early Hebrews. This book goes into much greater detail on the history of the early Hebrews than the book of Genesis. It is not Bible. However, the Bible references The Book of Jasher directly two times in the Old Testament and indirectly one time in the New Testament. Let’s look at these references.
Joshua 10:13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jasher? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.
It is like Joshua is saying, hey, I’m not going to rewrite the whole story here. Just go read it in the book of Jasher. (He probably didn’t have a computer or a printer.)
II Samuel 1:18 Then David chanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.
Again, Samuel is saying if you want to read the song of the bow then go read it in Jasher.
II Timothy 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
These two magicians are not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. We know they are the sons of Balaam from the book of Jasher.
Jasher 79:27 And when they had gone Pharaoh sent for Balaam the magician and to Jannes and Jambres his sons, and to all the magicians and conjurors and counsellors which belonged to the king, and they all came and sat before the king.
Paul assumes everyone reading his letter knows the story of Jannes and Jambres. All the Jews in that day were very familiar with the book of Jasher.
Since the Bible references the book of Jasher, we can use it for historical information to give us more insight into some of the early events in the Bible. As my good friend, pastor Darin told me, we use it to fill in the blanks. This is especially true for what was actually taking place at the tower of Babel. The story of Babel is in Jasher chapter nine. We will start in verse 20.
Jasher 9:20 And king Nimrod reigned securely, and all the earth was under his control, and all the earth was of one tongue and words of union.
21 And all the princes of Nimrod and his great men took counsel together; Phut, Mitzraim, Cush and Canaan with their families, and they said to each other, Come let us build ourselves a city and in it a strong tower, and its top reaching heaven, and we will make ourselves famed, so that we may reign upon the whole world, in order that the evil of our enemies may cease from us, that we may reign mightily over them, and that we may not become scattered over the earth on account of their wars.
22 And they all went before the king, and they told the king these words, and the king agreed with them in this affair, and he did so.
23 And all the families assembled consisting of about six hundred thousand men, and they went to seek an extensive piece of ground to build the city and the tower, and they sought in the whole earth and they found none like one valley at the east of the land of Shinar, about two days’ walk, and they journeyed there and they dwelt there.
24 And they began to make bricks and burn fires to build the city and the tower that they had imagined to complete.
25 And the building of the tower was unto them a transgression and a sin, and they began to build it, and whilst they were building against the Lord God of heaven, they imagined in their hearts to war against him and to ascend into heaven.
26 And all these people and all the families divided themselves in three parts; the first said We will ascend into heaven and fight against him; the second said, We will ascend to heaven and place our own gods there and serve them; and the third part said, We will ascend to heaven and smite him with bows and spears; and God knew all their works and all their evil thoughts, and he saw the city and the tower which they were building.
Verses 25 and 26 contain the historical information we need to understand why God put an end to the building of the city and the tower. Verse 25 says the building of the tower was unto them a transgression and a sin. They were building against the Lord God of heaven! They imagined in their hearts to war against God. The purpose of the tower was not to rise above the water if there was another flood. It was to ascend into heaven to war against God!
Verse 26 says all the people divided themselves into three parts. The first said we will ascend into heaven and fight against God. The second said we will ascend into heaven and place our own gods there and serve them. The third said we will ascend into heaven and kill God!
After the flood, most of the people in the earth came together in an act of corporate rebellion against God. God stopped Babel and dispersed the people throughout the earth. The rebellion, however, continued. This rebellion, that began at Babel, has been going on throughout history. We are seeing the final stages of it today. The book of Revelation goes into detail on this rebellion. John calls it ‘Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots.’ She will continue until she is destroyed, just before the coming of Messiah.
