Gen 11:9 [the tower/city] was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. (ESV)
Babel seems to have been built by Nimrod the Hunter (Gen 10:8-12) "the beginning of his kingdom was Babel" v10. Babel is made up of the words "bab" meaning "gate" and "el" meaning "god" so Babel seems to mean "Gate of god". If that's what it means they have made a big mistake. Jesus is the only gate of God (John 10:7-9). Attempting to get to God any other way is like drawing a door on a wall with a crayon and trying to go through it. It may work for the road runner but not for us.
A related Hebrew word "balal" means "confusion". My ESV study bible and other sources link Babel with Babylon. I guess the tower was in the city and was probably a ziggurat which were massive Mesopotamian monuments with several stepped levels each smaller than the one below. They were believed to be the dwelling place of the patron god of a city. How sad when there is that level of confusion about God and how to know him and relate to him.
Later Nimrod "went into Assyria and built Nineveh" Gen 10:11. Not a great legacy as Babylon and Nineveh are not good cities in the bible although Nineveh experienced a brief revival under Jonah's preaching. It has been suggested that Nimrod's name is from the verb "let us revolt" which would be rather apt if true.
Cities feature prominently in the bible. The first one we heard about was built by Cain after he killed his brother Gen 4:17. Thus far then they are not presented in a very good light but as we read on we discover that God's final intention is to build a city for man to live in with him. Hebrews 11:10 tells us that "Abraham looked for a city with foundations whose architect and builder is God". In revelation John gets shown a vision of this city, Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, (ESV). This city is also "the bride, the wife of the lamb" Rev 21:9 so it's not bricks and mortar, it's the church! We are being built together like living stones into a glorious temple, a beautiful city, a radiant bride. The whole of the bible could be described as a tale of two cities: Babylon and Jerusalem. One man's handiwork, the other designed and built by God's. One temporary, the other eternal.
So how does all that relate to the fine city I am in right now? I think someone once coined the term "the city within a city" to refer to the church in a city. It was probably Tim Keller and I wish I could find his notes on cities as they were really good. Anyway, my thoughts are these : In a city Christians are to be salt and light. As salt we slow a cities decline, or even, on a good day, help it to thrive. As we do this we keep the lights on so that people have an opportunity to see Jesus, come to him to be built into the eternal city.
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