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The Spirit of Babylon
By J. Jeff Toler for Shenandoah Christian Alliance j.toler@sca4christ.org
- O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock! —Psalm 137:8-9
The Unified Field Theory in particle physics, is an attempt to describe all fundamental forces, and the relationships between elementary particles, a particle (such as an electron or proton) that is smaller than an atom and does not appear to be made up of a combination of more basic things, in terms of a single theoretical framework.
In physics, forces can be described by fields that mediate interactions between separate objects. [https://www.britannica.com/science/unified-field-theory]
The world of politics is developing another theory.
In the politics of this generation, there is a peculiar and unexpected theory, or idea, now being proffered in the campaign coverage of this election. It’s something which both the Democratic party and the talking media, want to promote. They are calling it “a new vibe.” A feeling. Yes—heavy sigh—a vibe.
I think it’s entirely possible to say we have gone down the road called politics as far away as we can from the original definition of politics as, “the science of governance; that part of ethics which consists in the regulation and government of a nation or state, for the preservation of its safety, peace and prosperity.” [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/politics] The politics practiced today by many is the worst form of vulgar politics.
It’s not that we need to take a different approach to politics. We need instead to approach politics entirely differently.
Politics is nothing like it once was in this country. Even the rest of the world is seeing the change in us—especially the last three years. To the discerning, we are becoming Babylon.
We think of Babylon as a place, which it certainly was. The location of the city described in the Bible still exists today. It’s now known as Al-Ḥillah, Iraq, roughly 50 miles south of Baghdad. The ruins of Babylon are today, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Babylon is incredibly ancient—much like sin itself. The Bible says the Tower of Babel was built in the land of Shinar, and thought to have been a territory in south Mesopotamia. Others say Shinar was actually in northeastern Syria, and that the Tower of Babel’s remains are in the Upper Khabur River triangle.
“In fact,” writes Chad C. Ashby, “Babel is a transliteration of the Hebrew word בָּבֶל (“Ba-bel”), while Babylon comes from the Greek Βαβυλῶνος (“Babylonos”). In all 233 occurrences of Babel in the Old Testament, it is translated Babylon in Greek. Moreover, both the ancient Babel in Genesis 10-11 and the more recent Babylon of Daniel’s day are said to be located in the plains of Shinar. —Gen. 10:10; 11:2; Daniel 1:2 [https://chadashby.com/2017/10/25/babel-and-babylon-are-the-same-city/]
But Babylon is much more than an ancient city.
In the Bible, the name Babylon is also a metaphor for the Godless powers in this world. “The rise and fall of Babylon is proud. It’s rebellious. It doesn’t need God, and it’s shameless. It corrupts the innocent. It mocks virtue. It cancels the truth. It’s obsessed with power, and we feel helpless because it will not be stopped. It rises, and it rises, and it rises as every worldly weapon we raise against it seems to fail.” [Answers in Genesis]
God did not place the Prophet Daniel there by accident, anymore than Babylon was an accident. All we need to know and understand is that we are living in Babylon right here and now. To those who think we are living in chaos, it’s because we are if we understand that Babylon represents the spiritual forces of evil.
If they are honest, the American people will confess they have never seen anything like the times we now live in. Extreme situations will not only produce extreme reactions, opinions, and behavior; those who believe think they can survive disaster, will just retreat or make excuses.
Francis A. Schaeffer
“Since personal peace and affluence are so often the only values that count with the majority, politicians know that to be elected they must promise these things. Politics has largely become not a matter of ideals—increasingly men and women are not stirred by the values of liberty and truth—but of supplying a constituency with a frosting of personal peace and affluence. They know that voices will not be raised as long as people have these things, or at least an illusion of them.” —Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture
The of night Tuesday, September 10, offered a glimpse of how it could play out.
There will be no shortage of post-debate debate. We want to know who “won.” We’ll talk about the “zingers” and the barbs, and the stumbles, convincing ourselves these are the things that matter. Really? Do they?
The future should not be determined by debates or polling. Why should they matter? It’s not about politics. It’s about the culture and the spirit of Babylon that politics has ushered in.
If enough people want to place their trust in a politician who promises what should have already been delivered after four years, but never was, then those people will determine our culture and future.
While such a day has yet to happen for western civilization, Babylon, the place, was ultimately destroyed. Repeatedly. For two thousand years, and after continual looting, it lies in ruins. But, just like they say in the monster movie, “it lives!” The culture of Babylon is the result of the spirit of Babylon. Throughout recorded history, that’s all that has ever really mattered.
- For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. —Ephesians 6:12
People today—more than any other in history—will only rely on their feelings. Feelings explain why we worry about micro aggressions and school shootings. We worry if we’re racist. We even worry if we have tampon dispensers in the boy’s bathrooms. It’s a vibe don’t you know.
It should be easy to answer this, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” But, even if you’re happy as a Babylonian, it doesn’t end well. John the Apostle writes:
- “Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.” —Revelation 17:3–6
