One of the turning points in the book of Genesis comes with the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). This was an attempt to reach the heavens and so to supplant the Creator. God took notice of these events, of course, and confused the languages of the various peoples so that they could no longer communicate effectively. In the end the tower was abandoned.
Our reading from Revelation today speaks of another tower of sorts, one by which human beings have sought to replace the will of God in their lives. “Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities’” (Revelation 18:4-5). Though this tower is built of sin and not of stone, it nonetheless reaches to heaven, and again God has taken notice. This time the result will not be a confusion of language, but a complete reordering of creation with a new reality, a new Jerusalem adorned as a bride for her husband.
I can think of other structures that humanity has established over the centuries: we have stacked our idols high; we have accumulated acts of violence, one person against another; on a massive foundation of self-interest we have erected cathedrals of apathy and disregard. These are our own Towers of Babel, these are our own monuments to ourselves. It is only by God’s grace that we do not find ourselves cast aside and left to our sinful intentions. Instead we await the new Jerusalem, the fulfillment of God’s coming reign when the only structures will be formed of the grace, mercy, and love of our God.
Prayer: Lord, forgive our sinful nature and our stubborn refusal to follow you. Help us to build true community in this life as we look forward to the coming of your reign. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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