Today’s Babel

What havoc the original Babel incident caused!

God confused peoples’ languages, forcing them to disperse, teaching them that uniting behind evil is not uniting at all.

What if it happened again?

But this time, God determined the point at which the world was full of language. The last word would be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

And there would be silence.

Silence reverberating around the world forcing us to cease speaking, typing, blogging, and broadcasting our words.

Forget 280 characters. There would be 0 words on the page when you opened your news app, 0 words to express your affection for your family as you leave home, 0 words to tell them anything that happened during the day. 

The second Babel would be complete in its terror and destruction. 

This “what if” has been brought to you by the unifying work of our human population trying to make a name for itself by all the talking heads saying Blah Blah Blah everywhere you look. It has been brought to you by me, joining in when I gossip, slander, or post myself pridefully. It has been brought to you by the most recent political season, full of useless words. 

What a tower we are building as a monument to ourselves, like Absalom when he was bereft of his children (2 Samuel 18:18). 

It is as if we have forgotten that Habbakuk said God raised up the Chaldeans, “that bitter and hasty nation” or that Zechariah prophesied that God would raise up a foolish shepherd “who does not care for those being destroyed” in order to judge unrepentant, wordy nations. God can raise up political figures to judge and silence sin anytime He desires.

Perhaps God has not silenced our words- the proof is in the blogosphere pudding- but should we crow so very loudly in a political outcome that is only good because it was not the “steal, kill, and destroy” agenda of the opposition?

We put a lot of stock in our own words. We think that they will change people’s minds, alter outcomes, or unify the national divide. 

Seeking the unification of our nation is a useless task, a spitting into the wind. The tower of Babel is what results from that sort of unification. 

It isn’t our words that will unite us. It is The Word. He is our Judge. He is our Lawgiver. He is our King. He will save us. Only He is good.

So, when you are confronted by words filled with hatred and vitriol over these recent political outcomes, just remember that your answering words will not unify. Your opinions will not triumph. 

Jesus has the last word because He is the Word, and only His words bring healing and salvation. He is the Definer of Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, and Love and Hatred. His Word can be trusted. Only His Word is eternal.