Genesis 11:1-9
A few days ago, we looked at this passage and noticed the chiastic structure that it had. We noticed that in the middle of this structure was the phrase “and the LORD came down,” which emphasized that this was the major focal point on which the story hinges. But there is more. When we study the background of this passage, the significance of the LORD coming down is heightened.
Much of the first eleven chapters in Genesis mirror stories and concepts that were prevalent in the Ancient Near East. The tower of Babel is no different. In the Ancient Near East, a popular edifice for worship was the ziggurat. A ziggurat looked like a mix between a pyramid and a temple, but without the pointed top and an added staircase. You can see this from the picture on this post. The ziggurat was used as a portal for the gods. People would build it in order to get the gods to come down. In the ziggurat, there was a room for the gods, in which they could eat and rest. The goal was to “sweeten them up” so that the gods would bless the people. Furthermore, the phrase in Genesis “a tower whose top reaches to the heavens” is an Ancient Near East phrase for a ziggurat.
Thus, in our passage, the people are not trying to build a tall tower, they are trying to build a ziggurat to get Yahweh to come down, so that he would give them what they want and so that they could use God to make a great name for themselves. God would have none of it. The ironic thing is not that God came down, but the result of what happened when he did. Yahweh indeed does come down, thus the great significance of our chiastic structure, but he does not come down to bless, but to judge.
The tower of Babel is meant to show that Yahweh is not like the gods of the Egyptians, Canaanites, Babylonians, or Akkadians. He is not a God that can be manipulated and used for humanities own ends. As a result of their great arrogance, God judges and scatters them.
Revelation 3:14-22
This is a famous passage of scripture that is usually used in evangelistic sermons. It reads:
22 14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"
I highlighted verse 20 because that is the verse from this section of scripture that is used as an evangelistic promise in witnessing to non Christians. In other words, if you, the person without Christ, would just open the door of your heart, Jesus will come in and dwell with you (save you from your sins).
At this point, we need to stop and ask if this is what is really being taught here. Is Jesus speaking to non Christians? The answer is no. Jesus is speaking to believers, namely a lukewarm church that is in danger of being judged and having its light snuffed out. Therefore, verse 20 is Jesus assurance to these disobedient believers that even though they are in such a sorry condition, he still wants to have fellowship with them, but they need to repent (open the door) so that fellowship can be restored.
This means that it is wrong to use this verse as an evangelistic promise to unbelievers. This goes against the context and original meaning, and is not what was intended to be communicated. Rather, the principle here is that those Christians living outside of fellowship with God need to go ahead and repent, because God loves them deeply and wants the fellowship to be restored.
Obviously, there are more instances in scripture where a lack of understanding of the historical context and a disregard for the literary context lead to wrong interpretations. I chose these two passages of scripture because they are passages in which most Christians are familiar with. Next week, we will explore more on how to derive meaning from the text and make application.