PPSIMMONS EXCLUSIVE! Tower of Babel has been REBUILT more EPIC than the FIRST!

By Michael D. Shoesmith

An article published this week in The Christian Post reported a statement from Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias in which he discussed the ramifications of social media on society and implied that the Internet phenomenon was like the Tower of Babel from the Bible.

Interestingly I made that exact same correlation ten years ago when I began to explore the ministry opportunities coming alive before my eyes. I saw limitless avenues for outreach to the four corners of the earth at a minuscule fraction of the cost of actually travelling to these places. But I noticed something else as well.

Let us examine the similarities between the ancient Tower of Babel and current online congregation dynamics.

   Genesis 11:1  ¶And the whole earth was of one language, and of 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  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5  ¶And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

After several generations following the great deluge out of which eight souls were spared the Bible says that the earth's population was speaking one language. This makes sense since the eight survivors of the flood were all related through blood and marriage. They came to Shinar, which encompassed Babylon. Shinar`s borders are uncertain but they relate to Mesopotamia - the area which includes modern Iraq.

Imagine this scenario in the theater of the mind. The people began to build a city with a tower that could reach to heaven. They sought out greatness... a name for themselves. Notice it doesn't say they were attempting anything evil per se'. They were merely refusing to fulfill the great commission given to Adam and then to Noah. They abandoned their true purpose - to serve the lord their God. They were making a cozy place where they could be left alone to do their own thing.

They had Nimrod as their leader. The Bible has nothing negative to say about this man. It says he was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
Genesis 10:9

I've heard many explanations for why the Lord destroyed the tower of Babel. Some speculated that Nimrod wanted to hunt God - to build a tower high enough to shoot Him with an arrow. However the name "Nimrod" is only mentioned four times in the entire Bible. And whatever he did he did it 'before the LORD.' There doesn't seem to be any indication that God was displeased with him at all.

However...

God came down and saw the tower they were constructing in order to keep the commune alive. It was this in which the LORD was displeased. They had actually chosen communism... and God would have none of it.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 11:4

This was communism. And God was not pleased. He wanted people to reach out, to explore and fill the earth with potential. He clearly saw this was not going to happen unless they were forced into it. And this is why he confounded their language so they they could not understand each other. He wanted them to disperse, to experience His goodness in the land, and to walk with Him instead of building a name for themselves.

It was as if the Lord tossed a dispersion bomb into the crowd of people. The blast sent the people scattering all over the planet. People were forced out of their comfort zones. They built cultures and civilizations all over the earth.

And now, thousands of years later, the tower has been rebuilt. It is more epic than Nimrod could have ever imagined. Billions of people are now connected by this web of translation software so that, once again, all of humanity speaks one common language. You might say that language is the binary system - the language of computers made up of 1's and 0's. Whatever you call it, the whole world is now fully connected through a web of conversations whereby dates are arranged, homework is coordinated, and dictators are toppled.

Communism is taking root in western culture. Democrat socialist Howard Dean was the first to really take advantage of social networking to build a massive war chest for his election bid. If not for his famous screech he might have made it all the way to the oval office. Since then we've seen Middle-Eastern leaders toppled and nearly every world-wide event streamed live online.

The Tower of Babel has been re-built. The crowd dispersion lost its momentum and the crowds have reassembled... in the new Tower of Babel... the internet.

God said to Adam and Eve... Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:28

Then He said to Noah... Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Genesis 9:1b

And then, when it appeared that the inhabitants of Babylon were unwilling to fulfill this mighty commission it was thrust upon them, like a young lad tossed into the lake with the grinning father yelling out "swim, boy... swim."

It really is that simple. And now, with the tower fully reconstructed, the people are once again building a name for themselves... a name without God... and soon, very soon, He will once again confound the world with His power. The Lord is coming.