Conqueror Of Babylon

Conqueror of Babylon

In the first few chapters of Genesis, there is a steady movement eastward—away from God. Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden, east of Eden (Genesis 3:24), and Cain settled east of Eden (Genesis 4:16). Genesis 11:2 tells us that after the great Flood, the descendants of Noah “migrated to the east [and] found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.”

The continued movement away from the Garden, where God was known, reflected the inward condition of their hearts—they were not interested in being restored to a right relationship with God. Far away from God, they demonstrated their unbelief and their love of this world as they began to build a tower. In doing so, they weren’t merely turning their backs on God; they were seeking to set themselves up as his rivals. But God was not impressed. And from his heavenly dwelling he mocked them: “Look! . . . The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!” (Genesis 11:6). Then God brought upon them the very judgment they had feared, confusing their language and scattering them all over the world (Genesis 11:7-8).

In time God set up his own city: Jerusalem. Empowered by God, the Israelites established a city for God. But since the problem of sin wasn’t taken care of, the people eventually rebelled, and God sent another city to conquer them. The name of that city? Babylon. The city that sought to set itself in opposition to God was used by God to purify his people.

The people of Jesus’ day were hoping for a Messiah who would defeat the oppressing Babylons of the world for good, raising Jerusalem to its proper place of power and prominence. But Jesus had no intention of responding to the city of man by setting up a rival city here on earth. Jesus came to set up an everlasting city in a new heaven and a new earth, and we who are his are already citizens of that heavenly city.

The day will come when Christ will finally destroy Babylon, the city of men. John detailed that coming defeat in Revelation 18:21: “The great city Babylon will be thrown down with violence and will never be found again.” The city that sets itself against God will be gone for good. And the new Jerusalem will have only just begun.

Conqueror of Babylon, you will not forever tolerate the evil and abomination of the city that sets itself against you. You will one day destroy this city forever, and we will live in the new Jerusalem.